Our series on the Bible – where it came from, what’s in it, and how to use it – is underway. Last week we looked at scripture as “inspired from below,” a way of saying that the Holy Spirit worked in the lives of people and they then shared their faith with others in ways that eventually were written down. As the Jewish people collected the Hebrew scriptures and as early Christians collected the New Testament, people chose letters and books that they felt were faithful and important. They didn’t worry about if they all agreed on all the details or had only one theological position, they asked if they were helpful at framing the big picture. In the New Testament the central concern was “does this point people to the crucified and risen Jesus?”
As we look at what these people collected, this week we include a reading from Jonah. The story of Jonah is a fable of sorts – a story about a guy who doesn’t want to do what God wants done. So instead of obeying God he flees on a ship, trouble ensues and eventually he’s tossed overboard to save the crew from joining Jonah in his struggle and having the ship sink. Jonah ends up in the belly of a big fish where he stays for three days before being spit out. Jonah then begrudgingly heads to Nineveh to do what God wanted in the first place.
A fable is a story with a message – a point or moral. Jewish people didn’t think that there really was a fish that Jonah lived inside for three days before coming out unscathed to resume his mission. They told the story to help people remember that obedience to God’s call matters – a sort of “don’t be a Jonah” reminder.
But the Bible has lots of other things as well – history, testimony, letters, poems, songs, stories – all written by someone who wanted to share something important and all included in the Bible as a part of a collection of materials developed to share faith and inspire generations to come to tell the stories and write and share new ones.
For Christians, the Bible grounds us in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. It bears witness to the incredible impact his life had on people who knew him. It shares the amazing transformation that happened when he died on a cross and returned from the grave to continue to share the love of God with people. That’s what the Bible is for – when you meet Jesus, it has done its work!
