How to Read the Bible through the Jesus Lens by Michael Williams

How to Read the Bible through the Jesus Lens by Michael Williams. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012. Pp. 267. $18.99 paper.

With his new book, Michael Williams, Professor of Old Testament at Calvin Theological Seminary, has given the church a wonderful tool to facilitate her following Jesus’s command: “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:20 ESV).

With refreshing simplicity, Williams’s Jesus Lens takes seriously Jesus’s own interpretation of the Bible’s ultimate unity: the Scriptures testify of me (John 5:39). Thus he aims to teach Christians how to read the Bible as Jesus did—not as a discombobulated collection of random stories but as a single story whose climax and scope is Jesus Christ. “Reading the Bible through the Jesus lens is reading it the way it was intended. It keeps our reading, understanding, teaching, and preaching properly focused on God’s grand redemptive program that centers on his own Son” (p. 9).

“The goal of this book,” continues Williams, “is parallel to that of Christ for the disciples he joined up with on the road to Emmaus” (p. 10): “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27 ESV). This is why this book is a wonderful gift to the church: it facilitates a basic understanding of the Bible’s overarching story line in every book of the Bible, and it does so in a clear, concise, and non-technical way.

For example, in treating Genesis, Williams highlights God’s activity of separating throughout the book. This separation culminates in the call of Abraham, which, when viewed through the Jesus lens, ties in directly to Jesus’s fulfillment of the Abrahamic promise (see, e.g., Galatians 3:7–8). “Jesus is the one to whom all God’s separating was always meant to lead, and Jesu is separate from all others in his ability to bring the promised divine blessing to the nations” (p. 15; see Acts 4:12). God continues his work of separating in his church today (2 Corinthians 5:18–20), and he calls us to pass on the Abrahamic blessing we have received in Christ (pp. 15–16).

Because this book is written for normal readers (not scholars), it can be used in many ways. You can give it to a non-Christian who wants to know what the Bible is all about. You can give it to a new Christian who is seeking to grow in understanding God’s Word. You can use it to teach a Sunday School class. Additionally, if you want to attend a class on this book, you can take an online class taught by the author himself.

Related Media

• Read Contents and Ch. 1: Genesis of Jesus Lens
• See Zondervan’s accompanying blog tour
• Watch Williams describe what his book is and why he wrote it:

• Read one of Professor Williams’s other books:

   

Henry Ainsworth on Shadows and Types in the Torah

In the propounding of all these things [i.e., the five books of the Torah], Moses had a veil drawn over his bright and glorious face: for, in the histories [there] are implied allegories, and in the laws [there] are types and shadows of good things that were to come, the body whereof is of Christ. In Genesis (which history ends with the going down of Israel into Egypt) we have the image of a natural man, fallen from God, into the bondage of sin. In Exodus is the type of our regeneration and [of our] state [which is] renewed by Jesus Christ. In Leviticus [we see] the shadow of our mortification, while we are made sacrifices unto God. In Numbers [we see] the figure of our spiritual warfare whereunto we are mustered and armed to fight the good fight of faith. In Deuteronomy [we see] the doctrine of our sanctification and preparation to enter into our heavenly Canaan (after Moses’ death) by the conduct of Jesus the Son of God.

–Henry Ainsworth (1571-1622), Annotations upon the first book of Moses, called Genesis Wherein the Hebrew words and sentences, are compared with, & explayned by the ancient Greek and Chaldee versions: but cheifly, by conference with the holy Scriptures (Imprinted by Giles Thorp in the year 1616), fol. 2 recto. (NB: Taken from the Preface; Spelling modernized and punctuation altered.)

Fesko Interviewed on The Rule of Love

Listen to the latest Christ the Center interview with Rev. Dr. John Fesko on his latest book, The Rule of Love: Broken, Fulfilled, and Applied. In this instructive interview Fesko answers questions such as:

• How does Jesus relate to the 10 commandments?
• Why is the prologue to the Decalogue often ignored, yet important?
• What use is the law for Christians today?
• What role does culture play in how the law is applied?

Listen and learn how the law is a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your path in Christ.

Preaching and Living “By Faith Alone”: An Interview with Dr. Scott Clark

What is the difference between Dr. Phil and Christianity’s Gospel? Not much (sadly!) in many explanations of Christianity. But in the Sacred Scriptures, the two could not be further apart! For, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is by faith alone; Dr. Phil-type behaviorism is by works alone. The one is law and gospel, the other is law only.

In the following interview, professor R. Scott Clark discusses how the law relates to the Gospel in Christianity, how to avoid moralism and antinomianism, and how real change/growth/sanctification takes places in a Christian’s life. Listen to professor Clark explain the world of difference “by faith alone” makes in understanding Christianity (MP3):

[odeo=http://odeo.com/audio/17122523/view]

(Source: Creed or Chaos Interview Pt 3)

Greg Beale summarizes his book: The Temple and the Church’s Mission

Listen to Greg Beale give the overview of his thought provoking book on the biblical theology of Scripture’s temple motif, The Temple and the Church’s Mission (ISBN: 0830826181). Dr. Beale creatively argues from a thorough exegesis of the Hebrew Scriptures that the Garden of Eden was the first (typological) temple. He explores Adam and Eve’s role as that of extending the Garden/temple throughout the whole earth.

(HT: Greg Baus; Audio source: Christ Reformed Church)