Christ and the Word

by Leland M. Haines

Introduction

Man is repeatedly confronted with the question of authority in religious matters. When Christ was teaching the people in the temple, the chief priests, scribes, and elders came to Him and asked, "Tell us, by what authority thou doest these things? or who is he that gave thee this authority?" (Luke 20:2). Christ answered them by returning a question: "The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men?" (v. 4). The priests and scribes discussed this among themselves, trying to find an answer. They knew if they would say, "From heaven," Christ would ask, "Why then believed ye not him?" They also knew if they would say, "From men" (v. 5), they would be stoned because the people were convinced that John was a prophet. So they did not answer Jesus' question. Either way they would have answered, they would have damaged their own position. If they admitted that John was a prophet sent to foretell the people of the coming of the Messiah and to prepare them for His coming, they would have to accept Jesus as the Messiah (Christ). If they said John was not a prophet, they would have undermined their authority and credibility before the people.

Since the religious leaders refused to answer Christ's counter question, He did not answer them. This does not necessarily mean that Jesus did not want these Jews to know where He received His authority. Throughout His ministry He did "miracles and wonders and signs" that clearly proved He was the Christ (Acts 2:22; cf. John 20:30, 31). It was never Jesus' intention to force people to accept Him as the authority in religious matters.

The priests and scribes raised the question all men must facežauthority in religious matters. Men have abundant proof that there is a God. But the question all must answer is, What is the authority in religion? The answer is found in God's revelation of Himself to man in historical events.

God created man in His image, and man enjoyed perfect and open communion with Him. God gave man the freedom to choose to be obedient or not. Man chose, first through Eve and then Adam, at the prompting of Satan, to be disobedient and thus rebelled against God. The consequence of this sin was man's alienation from God. God promised He would put enmity between the evil one and his children and the woman and her seed. The evil one would be excluded from friendship with man (Gen. 3:15).

The details of this promise would be revealed later through a chosen people. God would show His grace and goodness, and would ultimately redeem man through the Messiah. The Messiah would come, and by His death and resurrection He would atone for man's sin. This would make it possible for man to become a new creation, who would want to live in harmony with and obedience to his Maker. These events are history. God has provided for man's redemption by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for man's sins and thus restore his relationship to God. This redemption is available to man through repentance, the new birth, discipleship, and faith in Christ. The answer to man's quest for religious authority is found in God's revelation of Himself in the historical events associated with His redemptive plan for mankind.

The knowledge of these historical events is ours today solely through the Bible, which shows us the relation of these historical events to Scripture. Although we assume there is a clear relation between these two, it is seldom explained. We should not take such a fundamental point of the Christian faith for granted, but we should clearly understand the relationship.

Christ and the Written Word

"God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son," wrote the author of Hebrews (1:1, 2). God spoke in the Old Testament times about the coming redemption through His prophets, but in the New Testament times He has spoken through Jesus, the Son of God.

In his Gospel John describes these historical events: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not" (John 1:1?5). This Scripture teaches that Jesus Christ made God's plan of redemption possible. Christ was the Word made flesh who brought life through His death and resurrection. Through Christ God's redemptive plan became a reality. His Son has clearly revealed "the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, but now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith" (Rom. 16:25, 26).

This mystery is the new covenant that Christ instituted as He explained at the Lord's Supper, when He took the cup and gave it to His disciples, saying, "This is my blood of the new testament [covenant], which is shed for many for the remission [forgiveness] of sins" (Matt. 26:28). The writer of Hebrews quoted from the Old Testament to show this was promised beforehand--"I will make a new covenant" (Heb. 8:8)--and wrote that Christ "is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance" (9:15 RSV). "New covenant" is the Latin translation of the Greek terms kaine diatheke, which in English is the New Testament. The relation of "covenant" and our use of "testament" can be seen in Paul's use of the term old covenant when he wrote, "When they [the Jews] read the old covenant. . . . to this day whenever whenever Moses is read" (II Cor. 3:14, 15; cf. 6; Heb. 8; 9 RSV), to refer to a part of the Old Testament.

Today we know of no writings of Jesus Christ. The only evidence we have that Jesus ever wrote anything is found in the story in John 8:1-11, where He wrote a few words on the ground with His finger. Since this is true, how can His Word be identified with the twenty seven-book New Testament canon? At first it might appear that to attempt to construct a relationship between the historical events and the New Testament canon is an a posterior matter. The first list of the twenty-seven books canonized in the New Testament was not made until A.D. 367, when Bishop Athanasius of Alexandria listed them in his annual Easter letter to the church. And it was not until the fifth century that disputes about which books belonged in the canon generally ceased.

The late date of this list shows that the New Testament canonization took place after the historical redemptive events and therefore should be considered a part of church history, not a part of the events. There is however, another point to be considered: What makes the twenty?seven New Testament books the Word of God revealed to man? The answer to this lies in the relation of these books to Jesus Christ and the attitude of the early church toward these books.
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