From Matt. 16 it is evident that there were many theories circulating about Christ during His ministry. He was popularly believed to be John the Baptist (risen from the dead), or Elijah or Jeremiah, or some other prophet (likewise returned from the dead). That uncertainty over His identity is seen in John 10:24 where they accuse Jesus of keeping them in suspense. Probably there were those who asked in good faith whilst there were those who wanted some statement that would stand up in a court of law to have Jesus accused of blasphemy and put to death. Jesus replies that He has already told them and they just don’t believe. He knows that in the estimation of men words are easy to say and can be cheap, but He reminds them that His works testify to His identity. They had seen them too but had not drawn the right conclusions because of their hearts – they weren’t His sheep – they weren’t attuned to Him but rather to their own prejudices and political agendas.
Jesus testifies to His identity by saying He can save – give eternal life (v.28) – who can do that but God (Isa. 43:11)? To be able to give eternal life is to be able to forgive sins and who can forgive sins (against God) but God (Mk. 2:7)? He equates being in His hand as being in the Father’s hand and then He says plainly, I and the Father are one (v.30), which He equates to the same as saying I am the Son of God (v.36). Not a one of us would make such a claim: this is not some generic claim to the status of being a child of God was we might legitimately claim. This is a claim to Deity and the import of this was not lost on the Jews who took up stones to kill Him for blasphemy.
Jesus again tries to help their prejudice by drawing their attention to His deeds: For which of my works do you stone me? They can’t focus and give reflective consideration to His works but their minds are dominated by His claim to Deity. Jesus doesn’t resort to false modesty and subterfuge by saying, Oh you’ve obviously and thoroughly misunderstood what I said. I make no claims to being Deity. His problem was this: how does God in the flesh convince people of His identity when He is in the image of sinful flesh and when people don’t want to accept such a concept? Is that the ultimate challenge of lateral thinking? If so they failed it and He had to resort to argument.
He refers to Ps. 82:6 showing that even the Psalms were considered to be part of the whole body of authoritative revelation grouped together as the law. The reference was where God called the judges of Israel, gods, inasmuch as they fulfilled a role of authority, justice and mercy, even as God does. The argument was this: if the scriptures call mere men “gods”, then what is wrong with Jesus being called the Son of God? It is an argument from the lesser to the greater: similiar to how “rise and walk” gives credence to “thy sins be forgiven thee”.
Jesus’ argument rests upon, among other considerations, the authority of Scripture. His respect for the Law of God is manifested clearly in this statement of His: the Scripture cannot be broken. It denotes the permanent significance of the Word of God. It is unbreakable. It has often been observed that though we use the term “break the commands”, God’s commandments are not broken. Perhaps a better expression might be “failing to obey or respect God’s laws”. A man might walk over a cliff but he will not break the law of gravity – the law of gravity will break him. Jesus’ generation claimed to be believers of Scripture, but when push came to shove they elevated their personal philosophy and wisdom above Scripture. In an age when science and human wisdom is perceived to be superior to God’s wisdom, we need to be reminded of this truth – THE SCRIPTURE CANNOT BE BROKEN! It has been the elevation of human wisdom that has gotten man into so much trouble over the years as he has constructed his societies and lifestyles as he thought best. Jeremiah 10:23 is a timeless verse: O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man that walks to direct his steps.
The scripture cannot be broken concerning the Home. Current attitudes toward marriage and divorce are at an all-time low in this country. Whilst divorce statistics may be a cause for little concern by some, many enter into marriage with the thought that divorce will be an option if “things don’t work out”. It’s as if “it’s no big deal”. God still hates divorce, not only because it is a breach of faith, but also because of what it does to men, women, children, and society. It is destructive, not a walk in the park. There is no such thing as a painless divorce, either before, during, or after it. It is not without cost to families and the nation at large. Jesus’ teaching in Matt. 19:1-12 cannot be broken. As he points out, there are those who will not accept His teaching, but the scripture will not be broken. Many who have entered into unions approved by the government and have justified them by all manner of arguments will find on that day that what men call marriage, God will call adultery. This is not new. In the time of Ezra men had entered into marriages contrary to the law of Moses, but the scripture could not be broken and the day came when Ezra made them split up. The last verse of Ezra is so sad, but this wouldn’t have happened if men had not contravened the law in the first place. Truly, the way of the transgressor is hard.
The scripture cannot be broken in rearing children. A child must be trained in the way in which he must go. No child must be left to himself but rather be nurtured in the admonition of the Lord. He must learn that to fear God is the beginning of wisdom and to fear God and keep His commandments is the whole duty of man. The Scriptures teach corporal punishment as can be seen from such passages as Prov. 13:24; 19:18; 23:13,14; 29:15,17. We have a generation that are growing up without it. They do not receive it; not from parents; not from teachers; not from Police. They “know their rights” and all this is in the name of love. We are told that we have progressed beyond the simplicity and barbarity of Biblical times and that we know better than the God who authored the Scriptures. I have every confidence that the wheel will come full circle and men will be driven back to the truth and wisdom of the Scriptures by the failure of modern philosophy, but at the expense of how many children?
It’s all done in the name of love. Men cry “God is love”, and that’s a true statement, but many of them have little idea of Biblical love. Many are heading to the grave and judgement unprepared but foolishly trusting in what they understand to be the love of God. Men say that God loves men but they really don’t want God to love them:- they want God to ignore them and let them live their life as they please and have no expectations of them. That’s not love. What father would pretend that to let his son live as he pleased and end up a delinquent socially and lost spiritually was an expression of love? Yet that is a common idea of God’s love toward them. Hear the Scripture:- Heb. 12:6-11
The scripture cannot be broken with respect to morality. Our infatuation with science, so called, has reached an all-time level in that we think we can replace morality with it. Probably close to fifty years ago now, Joseph Fletcher, the renowned promoter of situation ethics, said; “the cult of virginity seems to me to be making its last stand against the sexual freedom which medicine has now made possible”. He was speaking against the background of the invention of the contraceptive pill. We’ve gone on as a people and now there’s an expectation (nay, a demand) that governments must provide all manner of medical treatments to cure AIDS and STD’s. Where did the AIDS and the STD’s come from? They are a direct result of the sexual promiscuity of our brave new world. Listen, it won’t matter how many governments decide to call evil, good, and good, evil, in suggesting that homosexuality is perfectly okay. Rom. 1:27 is still true. Reap what you sow is still true. Don’t believe the propaganda that says AIDS has nothing to do with morality – that it doesn’t discriminate – that it is a heterosexual problem as well as a homosexual problem. There’s enough truth in that statement to be dangerous. It’s true that a child can contract AIDS or some STD from its mother – it’s true that wife can contract AIDS from her husband – it’s true that one can contract it from a blood transfusion, but we need to understand that homosexuality was the breeding ground of the disease which is now loose in our community and homosexuals are still the ones at greater risk. Life expectancy stats will show this. God believes in safe sex- He invented it when He restricted sexual activity to a husband and his wife.
We could go on looking at various subjects in the same manner, but let us end with one: the scripture cannot be broken in giving to the Lord. How many scriptures could you quote with respect to giving? “Give and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over”; “God loves a cheerful giver”; “he who sows sparingly shall reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully” etc. We know all these truths but how often do we hope to break down these eternal verities by giving little and expecting much. The universal truth is we reap what we sow.
Every word of God is pure and given for good reason. Every principle authored by God is for our good always and we ignore them at our peril.