Session 1: Lesson 6 - Why believe the Bible is God's book?

As we come to the end of this session, we ask if the Bible could be more than a book?

As you come to this session, take a moment to pause, to breathe and ask God to be with you.

Watch

Read

Luke 4.16–21

¹⁶And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. ¹⁷And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

¹⁸“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, ¹⁹to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour.”

²⁰And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. ²¹And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Review

The Bible was endorsed by Jesus – he read it, studied it, memorised it and loved it. Click the buttons below to see three examples of where Jesus quoted from the Old Testament.

John 6.31

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day … (Exodus 16.4, ESV)

Mark 10.7–8

Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. (Genesis 2.24, ESV)

Luke 4.8

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me. because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor … (Isaiah 61.1, ESV)

The Bible’s miraculous harmony includes the sheer number of prophecies, written hundreds of years before, that Jesus fulfilled, over many of which he had no control. Look through this short list and see for yourself:

Jesus would be born in Bethlehem – prophesied in Micah 5.2, fulfilled in Matthew 2.1
Jesus would come from the line of Abraham – mentioned in Genesis 12.3, fulfilled in Matthew 1.1
Jesus would be born of a virgin – prophesied in Isaiah 7.14, fullfiled in Luke 1.26–31
Jesus would be crucified with criminals – prophesied in Isaiah 53.12, fulfilled in Mark 15.27–28
Jesus would be given vinegar to drink on the cross – mentioned in Psalm 69.21, fulfilled in John 19.28–30

Reflect

‘Scripture is like a lion. Who ever heard of defending a lion? Just turn it loose; it will defend itself.’
Charles Spurgeon (London preacher, 1834–92)