Devotion 1: “But I Say To You”
Jesus said, “You have heard it was said…but I say to you.” In this statement, the OT is put in its place. It shows that one era has passed, and the promised “age to come” has arrived. The NT now becomes our pattern for living. So many are stuck here: “You have heard it said.” They can quote it accurately. The OT version of the Ten Commandments and all the other commandments are their chapter and verse. That’s where they live. That’s what they know. They have never graduated to this: “But I say to you.” They have never allowed His version of the commandments to dig them up and replant them (Matthew 5-7). They are stuck in a self-righteous moralism that can never give them the freedom found in living out the teachings of Jesus. They have never truly heard the Sermon on the Mount, because they are camping at Mount Sinai. Make it your goal to really hear Rabbi Jesus’ words, “But I say to you,” and live in His age to come. -(Build on the Rock, by H. Lamar Smith)
Devotion 2: Interpreting the Bible (1)
OT books, beginning with Deuteronomy, through the prophets and Psalms recapitulated (reinterpreted and reapplied) the story of Israel for each new generation. Jesus not only reinterpreted the story, He became the final fulfillment of Israel’s story. This became the nature of NT preaching as seen in the sermons of Stephen, Peter and Paul (Acts of the Apostles). Jesus is the final interpreter of the Father and thus the final interpreter of Scripture. Remember He said, “You have heard it said, but I say unto you…”. Soak in Jesus if you want to know what the Bible really says. His Person, His practice, His Presence are what makes us move beyond the page to embrace Jesus as the presently-abiding Living Word.
