Don't Let Jesus Trump the Bible

Over the last year or so I have adopted a very Christ-centered hermeneutic. That is to say, I read the Bible through the lens of Jesus. The Bible tells us that Jesus is the “visible image of the invisible God” since he is the “exact representation of his being.” Even Jesus refers to himself as the “fulfillment of the law.” Because of this, I filter what I read in the Bible through Jesus. How does the Law point to Jesus? How does Jesus embody the words of the prophets? How does Jesus reorient what we think the Bible says when he says, “You have heard it said, but I say to you…”?

On the one hand, I think this is the right way to read the Bible. The Bible points forward to Christ and God’s redemptive work through his death and resurrection. Christ is the very centerpiece of what God is doing as he restores a broken world. So yes, by all means, read the Bible through the lens of Jesus. Because it’s all about him.