Matthew 22:29
Jesus answered them, “You are wrong because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.”
This verse is in the context of the Pharisees and Sadducees testing the Messiah. The Pharisees tried to trap Him with a question of taxes. The Sadducees brought up marriage and resurrection. During this discussion of resurrection, Jesus declares them wrong because they don't know the Scriptures.
This verse has been ringing in my head for a couple of days. I hear it in this manner: "You err because you do not know the Scriptures." It strikes me as convicting and a root problem with us individually and as a church whole.
I tried to dig into the phrases looking for deeper meaning by looking at the translation of "err" and "Scriptures." I was looking for some deep "gotcha" angle, but the words are the words. They are simple and straightforward. You err because you do not know the Scriptures.
The statement is very revealing. First, the point of error lies with the person. "You err," the Messiah says. It is not the Word that has the issue but you. There is a responsibility for us to know and understand what the Word says. Secondly, we do not understand the Scriptures. It is the Scripture we must understand. We aren't responsible for knowing any doctrine or teaching outside of what the Scripture says. We have to be Bereans (Acts 17:11) and search for ourselves to see the truth.
I think there is an important contextual point we must see here. The Sadducees quoted Deuteronomy 25. Jesus points out their error. The Scripture that Jesus is referring to is what we call the Old Testament. These are what they would have known as the Scripture. Error is made not knowing or understanding those teachings.
Paul writes in Romans 15:4, "For whatever was written in the former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope." Paul writes in 2 Timothy 3:16, "all Scripture is inspired by God." We have to consider then the historical context of these letters. To what was he referring? The only thing he could be referring to is the Tanakh (the OT writings).
We should also consider the actions of the Bereans in Acts 17 in response to Paul's teaching. Their response was to search the Scripture to see if what Paul was teaching was true. To what could they have referred? The only writings they would have had were the OT writings.
What, then, shall I/we do? There must be a realization that we can, do, and will err. We won't always get it right and must be willing to correct what we discover is wrong in our thinking. Our thinking, our beliefs, must be based on Scripture. I believe that means we must get a full grasp of what the Tanakh teaches, which is the basis of the NT writings. Our error starts there according to the Messiah. Paul concurs in Romans. If we don't understand the OT teachings, we will make wrong decisions concerning NT writings.
One last point occurs in Luke 24:44-46. Jesus was visiting His disciples after His resurrection. He reminded them of what the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and Psalms said of Him. "Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures." Context is key. What were the Scriptures opened? The OT writings. These were the basis of the Messiah's life, His teachings, and actions. These were the writings that spoke of Him.
We must make a return to the Tanakh. It is for us, and it is the basis for the NT writings. We can no longer afford to ignore or misunderstand the instruction in those teachings. We can no longer afford to err because we don’t know the Scriptures.
Shalom.
Larry