Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” And Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:45-51)
And the Jews marveled, saying, “How does this Man know letters, having never studied?” (John 7:15)
An egregious error in religious education is the spirit of skepticism and an academic or scholastic approach to the Bible. Far too many are led astray by a hyper-critical view of the scriptures that elevates man’s studies and conclusions to the status of the scripture they claim to study.
It is interesting and instructive to note that Jesus did not choose a single disciple from the religious institutions, leadership consortiums, priestly families, thinkers, philosophers, or intelligentsia of His day, but fishers, tax collectors, zealots, and the like.
The religious leaders and thinkers of the day were dumbfounded by Jesus Christ, the Word Himself, thus proving their ignorance of everything they claimed to know. That ignorance gave way to scorn and contempt, which partnered with their pride and jealousy to make them incapable of seeing what was right before their eyes — “Behold, the Lamb of God.”
Help us, Lord!
The study of God’s Word is a wonderful and admirable thing, but a critical approach to anything scriptural is wrong at the very start. God’s ways and thoughts are higher than ours, and spiritual things must be spiritually discerned. No one knows anything spiritual as they ought to know it unless the Holy Spirit reveals it.
Let’s Pray — Lord, help avoid the trap of religious pride and arrogance. May we receive the ingrafted Word in our hearts by faith, and refuse doubt, scorn, and skepticism. Amen.
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