When you have to describe someone to another person, what do you say?  Usually you offer something that’s readily identifiable as you manage a game of Taboo, avoiding anything grossly superficial or politically incorrect. When Scripture introduces someone to us, it doesn’t abide by our cultural norms. Sometimes we don’t get much information at all. Consider how Abraham enters the scene in Genesis 11 - a seemingly mundane mention in a genealogy. That’s it for a man who later becomes the father of many nations and is commended for his faith. Contrast that with a short description, as in Sarah, whose  introduction to us is as a barren woman with no child. Scripture essentially repeats itself here by saying that she was both barren and without child. That’s a particularly rough way to go down in posterity. 

I have come to see the beauty of these descriptions Scripture gives us. I think we can all relate to the humanity of each. In Abraham we see that he was essentially plucked from the narrative without qualification. In Sarah we all know what it means to long and be without. Their stories speak of a faithful God, able to redeem us from our humanity. 

The other day I was reading about Joseph of Arimathea in Mark 15:43 - “a respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God.” This desire led him to “[take] courage and [ask] for the body of Jesus.”  Here we have a man who risked his reputation because he was in search of that which was greater. And this led him to be very bold. In the example of Joseph of Arimathea we learn that God calls us to faith out of our various circumstances. It is true that characters in Scripture not only identify with our humanity, but teach us how to transcend them. Oh God, help us so that we may be known for our hope beyond this life.

To say that you have an exclusive claim on truth is a practical crime these days, quite literally. And yet unless you settle on something absolute, there is no rest. Even if you declare that there are no absolutes you are yourself commending an absolute.  In a world of angst, I find Scripture to be an anchor. As things appear worse in the world, Scripture reminds me there is nothing new that hasn't been seen before (Eccesiates 1:9-10). When Jesus prayed for us to be sanctified in the truth He declared God's word to be truth (John 17:17). It's piercing (Hebrews 4:12) and when preached (Acts 2:37) it cuts the heart. But yet God's word is simultaneously sweet and pleasurable (Psalm 119:103). It's altogether precious (Psalm 139:17). And I believe what it says. 

Sola Scriptura. 

One of the highlights of my trip to London this March was visiting the British Library and seeing their collection of manuscripts from the Magna Carta to hand scrawled lyrics of Beatles songs. It's amazing how written words have such power to speak. They transcend time, still potent and latent with meaning. How significant, then, that out of all the ways that God could have revealed His gospel to forthcoming generations, He chose the written word. There's something to be greatly prized in this! If this makes me more of a language snob, so be it.