"Distortion" : Day #3 Lent

Then the devil took Jesus to the holy city, Jerusalem, and he had Jesus stand at the very highest point in the holy temple.

 Devil: If You are the Son of God, jump! And then we will see if You fulfill the Scripture that says, "He will command His heavenly messengers concerning You, and the messengers will buoy You in their hands So that You will not crash, or fall, or even graze Your foot on a stone."

Jesus: That is not the only thing Scripture says. It also says, “Do not put the Eternal One, your God, to the test.” - (Matthew 4:6-7) 

 I've often thought about the ways Satan tempted Jesus in this story. What struck me today is the way something pure and holy was distorted in an attempt at manipulation.

The Bible has been misused to promote so much evil over the course of history. As depicted in the Oscar winning film, 12 Years a Slave, slave owners justified their actions and racism with the Bible. Few examples exist that show how twisted this can get.

Although Satan quoted Scripture, Jesus put everything in perspective repeatedly. I love how it is translated in "The Voice". Jesus tells Satan that "that is not the only thing Scripture says." Yes! That shall become my new favorite reply to those who are so self-assured that they know exactly how to interpret a passage.

How many times have I been told, "The Bible clearly says...."? Interestingly, I cannot think of too many times when a preacher follows that with "Love your enemies." That is one of those verses where there are all kinds of elaborate explanations about why we don't really have to follow it.

Jesus replied to Satan's distortion of the Bible with His own quotes from the Bible. That really speaks to me as well. Just because someone is doing something horrible with God's word, it doesn't change the original intentions. It is the messengers delivering the distortion that are at fault, not God. I must constantly remind myself of that.

Of course, for every Christian who appealed to Scripture to oppose abolition, integration, women’s suffrage, and the acceptance of a heliocentric solar system, there were Christians who appealed to Scripture to support those things too. But these quotes should serve as a humbling reminder that rhetorical claims to the Bible’s clarity on a subject do not automatically make it so. One need not discount the inspiration and authority of Scripture to hold one’s interpretations of Scripture with an open hand.  -Rachel Held Evans, "The Bible was 'clear'.."