Jesus Unpacked

What Did Jesus Do?

“Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road,
while he opened to us the Scriptures?”
Luke 24.32


Jesus was the world's greatest exegete. If you are unfamiliar with what exegetes do, well, they unpack. Specifically, exegetes unpack, that is they open up, explain, and interpret, Scripture. From a very young age, throughout His ministry, and even after the Resurrection, Jesus unpacked the Word of God.

By the age of twelve Jesus was already amazing people with the breadth of His knowledge and understanding of Scripture, and with the depth of His answers (Luke 2.46-47). It really isn't surprising, after all, the Lord is the Word Incarnate, the flesh and blood unpacking of the Word of God. Jesus unpacked.

Take the time the Lord was in the wilderness being tempted by the devil (Luke 4.1-13). Though Satan was familiar enough with the Scriptures to throw proof-texts at Jesus, Christ rebuffed the devil by unpacking deeper and fuller meanings of the Word than Lucifer could ever understand.

Then there were the times when the Son exegeted, unpacked, the truths of the Father's Word for the people by employing the “You have heard...But I say to you...” technique. In particular this helps us to understand the Law without falling into legalism, by unpacking the real intent of the Law-giver, and not relying solely on the letter of the Law. (See Matthew 5.21-48)

Jesus warned that it is vain to search the Scriptures while refusing to come to Him, the One who unpacks their truths (John 5.39). Reading Scripture while rejecting Jesus is to look upon the Word with closed eyes, leaving its lessons, its comfort, its power locked away. We might as well never open our Bibles if we are unwilling to let Jesus unpack its meaning for us.

Of course, there is some “heartburn” involved when Christ unpacks the Word. Just ask the two despairing disciples on the road to Emmaus. Confused, disillusioned, grieving, they could not work through the horror of the crucifixion or make sense out of the reports of the women who said they had seen the risen Lord. But when a man fell in with them, and took the time to unpack all the Scriptures concerning the Christ, the cold, dead hearts of the mournful disciples were fanned into passionate flame. (See Luke 24.13-35) The fuel that nurtures the fire of faith was revealed when Jesus unpacked.

It is a good idea, whenever we open the Bible, for personal study, and certainly when sharing it with others, to pray for Jesus to come and unpack its Truth. There is salvation and eternal life in the Word when it is unpacked. That's what Jesus did.

S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4