Study Roads Lead to Jesus

by Curtis McGinnis

You have undoubtedly heard the expression, “All roads lead to Rome.” The idea comes from the fact that all the roads built during the Roman Empire's history connected the capital city of Rome to all parts of the empire. Similarly, when I moved to Cincinnati to begin seminary at Cincinnati Christian University, I soon learned on the city's west end, “All roads lead to Glenway.” This proved helpful innumerable times as the roads in Cincinnati are like spiderwebs, and it was easy to get lost. My wife and I learned that if we just stayed on any road long enough, we would eventually end up at Glenway and be able to find our way home. I wish I had known this when we first moved to Cincinnati, and we stopped to look for Glenway on a map for 45 minutes; if we had driven a couple more blocks, we would have run into Glenway! (Those were pre-cell phone days). 

You may be thinking, what does this have to do with studying Scripture, which is the theme for our articles this month?  Simple, where does all scripture lead?  The famous British pastor C.H. Spurgeon once told a young pastor, “… from every text in Scripture, there is a road to the metropolis of the Scriptures, that is Christ. And my dear brother, your business is when you go to a text to say, ‘Now what is the road to Christ?’ and then preach a sermon, running along the road to the great metropolis—Christ. And I have never yet found a text that has not got a road to Christ in it.” Spurgeon had soaked up the lesson of Jesus’s words in John 5:39 (NLT is quoted). “You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me!”  

Early in my preaching career, I learned that the safest and best thing I could do was point people to Jesus in every sermon. If I did not or could not point them to Jesus through whatever I was speaking on, I had not done my job, and my sermon wasn’t finished yet. If I spoke eloquently or explained a text with precision but didn’t get to Jesus, I had not fulfilled my task, my job, my vocation, and my calling. Spurgeon “beelined” every sermon to Jesus, and I found I would do well if I did the same. 

This month's topic is Studying Scripture, and our theme for the year is “All Eyes on Jesus.” As we study Scripture, we must continually keep our eyes on Jesus. The Old Testament continually points forward to the coming of the Messiah, the Gospels show us the person, nature, and work of Jesus, and the rest of the New Testament teaches us how to live out our lives in the way of Jesus. As we study Scripture, we must continually keep one eye on Jesus and one eye on the text; this will help us maintain a Christ-centered view of Scripture as we study.  

 I have a copy of this painting on my office wall (Artist Sister Grace Remington, a Cistercian nun at Our Lady of the Mississippi Abbey in Iowa). It reminds me that from the early chapters of Genesis to the end of Revelation, Jesus is present if you look for him. The thread of redemption made possible through Jesus Christ is woven throughout Scripture, and we would do well to study all scripture with this in mind. One way I have done this is by using the Jesus-centered Bible (Jesus-Centered Bible. Carol Steam, Illinois: Lifetree; Tyndale House Publishers, 2015). Throughout the Old Testament, it provides references to Jesus, and each book of the Bible contains an introduction pointing people to Jesus. The editors of this Bible selected 700 texts to highlight references to Jesus in the Old Testament, but there are undoubtedly numerous more. This Bible has helped me to seek out Jesus when I study. This can be hard sometimes when reading about genealogies, battles, or the seemingly endless downfall of various judges. I would encourage you to utilize this Bible as you seek to study and find Jesus as you study Scripture. I’m reminded of one of my longtime favorite worship songs, “Jesus at the Center” by Israel Houghton.  

The first verse of the song goes like this: 

“Jesus at the center of it all 
Jesus at the center of it all 
From beginning to the end 
It will always be it's always been 
You Jesus” 

When we study Scripture with a view toward Jesus, we truly see that Jesus is at the center of it all!