The Bible Is about Jesus

The seminarian smiled as he walked along, clutching his Bible. Judgment Day was shaping up to be everything he had ever expected, with plenty of earthquakes and lots of angels.

He caught up with another man walking along. “Exciting, isn’t it?†the seminarian said, sighing with pleasure. “I’m 212 for 289 on my theological predictions so far. Not too shabby! How are you doing?†The other man stopped walking. “No mistakes so far,†he said.

The seminarian suddenly felt a bit insecure: “I’m not sure what you mean.â€

The man held out his hand, his wrist smooth except for a white scar. This was Jesus. “Oh,†the seminarian said. “Nice to meet You!â€

He held out his own hand. “You have spoken the truth,†said Jesus. “We haven’t met before. I don’t know you.â€

The seminarian straightened. “What do You mean? I am a theologian! I read the Bible—poured over every passage! See, I still have it with me!â€

“So how come you missed Me? What you should have picked up from reading that‗Jesus gestured toward the book—“was that I AM the Word of God. But you only care about your theological systems and theories. You were so busy picking apart the Bible, you didn’t ever understand it. You focused on finding rules to follow and making predictions, but you didn’t look for Me there. You didn’t find Me there. You didn’t put your trust in Me, the only One who could have saved you from sin and death. You thought you could earn your way into God’s favor by your studying. Your faith was in your work and not in Me.†• Kevin Zeller

In today’s Bible passage, the highly educated religious leaders—who knew the Bible— rejected Jesus. While studying the Bible is very important, the reason we study is to know Jesus better through His Word, which is how He has chosen to reveal Himself to us.

• What’s the point of the whole Bible, according to John 20:31?

• What are the truths about Jesus that unite all Christians? (To learn more, check out our “Know Jesus” page.)

You pore over the Scriptures because you think you have eternal life in them, and yet they testify about me [Jesus]. But you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life. John 5:39-40 (CSB)

Read Verses:

John 5