I suspect that if I told you to read your Bible ‘Cross-Eyed,’ you might be thinking that self-isolation was affecting my brain.
However, that is exactly what I am suggesting that you try and do.
Obviously, I’m not talking about ‘Convergent Strabismus!’
That is the fancy name for when a person’s eyes don’t properly align with each other when looking at an object. {Some of you might recall comedian Marty Feldman, whose ‘Convergent Strabismus’ made some of his skits even more hilarious.}
If I don’t mean cross-eyed in the physical sense, what do I mean?
Let me explain:
Jesus is the fullness of God’s revelation. {Hebrews 1:1-2}
He is the way God is encountered and known.
He is the definitive expression of God’s heart and desires.
“If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.” {John 14:9}
Everything we read in the Bible either moves towards Him {the Old Testament} or flows from Him {the New Testament.}
All Scripture, correctly interpreted, finds its ultimate meaning in Him
Take a moment and read Luke 24:13-27, 44-46 and John 5:39
If Jesus is the Centre of Scripture, His story has its own Centre — it’s the Cross.
It’s the ‘Bulls-Eye’ that marks the very heart of the Bible story.
Jurgen Moltmann in his classic book, ‘The Crucified God,’ states,
“When one sees the Cross and Jesus’ suffering, one sees the heart of God towards men.”
To try and read the Bible ‘Cross-Eyed,’ is to read every page and story colored by the ultimate revelation of God in Jesus and in the Cross.
I suspect many people find the Old Testament in particular hard to read and wonder about its relevance. Once you get the hang of reading ‘Cross-Eyed’ it can come alive.
Author Warren Wiersbe comments,
“Look for Christ and the Old Testament will become a new book to you.”
Karen and I would like to wish you all a Happy Easter season and may you rejoice in being more and more ‘Cross-Eyed.'
Don
