Jesus on Every Page

I remember sitting on the porch of Kenyatta house in a tiny village in Nairobi, Kenya. I remember the early morning sun streaming across the porch, across the faces of those gathered, both black and white. I remember sitting across from Yeen-Lan, the village director, and listening as she told the story of Esther. And I remember it being the first moment I realized that Jesus was on every single page of the Bible, not just the New Testament.

Yeen-Lan was sharing from Esther 5.  At this point, Esther had already been named queen and she had uncovered the plot Haman had to kill the Jews. It was for such a time as this that she had came, to save her people.  She knew she could not remain silent.  But she also knew that if she approached the king uninvited, to plead on behalf of her people, the law declared she must be put to death.

But still she went to the inner court.  And the king stretched out his golden scepter, indicating his acceptance of her presence.

Yeen-Lan went on to say, "There is Jesus, right on the page, right in the middle of Esther, extending the golden scepter, letting us know we are welcome in his presence."

Ever since then, ever since hearing Yeen-Lan say, "It is Jesus on every page," I have been haunted by this idea.  Could he really be on every page? And not just in the New Testament, but in every book of the Bible, on every page of Scripture?  And if he is, how did I miss this?  How did I miss him?

I joked with a friend of mine as I explained to her this fascination I now had with finding Jesus on every page of the Bible.  She told me it would make a great thesis. Due to my aversion for academic writing, I told her I would probably spend the rest of my life writing it.

It turns out David Murray beat me to the punch and saved me the hassle.

And the name of his book?

Naturally.  

I forgive him for squelching my dissertation that I never planned on writing.   

Let me tell you what, though.  This book is rocking my world and completely altering how I view the Bible unlike few other books have.  I got a free advance copy through BookSneeze, and I have to say, it's probably been my favorite BookSneeze book yet, next to Love Does by Bob Goff.  Murray walks through ten key principles of how Christ is scattered throughout the Old Testament - through prophets, through creation, through characters, through history, through types, through covenants, through proverbs, and on.  You name it - and you will find Christ in the midst of it.  I can't get enough of this book - which makes me want the Bible all the more.  To read it, to soak it up, and to find Him - to find Christ on every page.  

I love the quote from Gleason Archer that Murray includes: "How can Christian pastors hope to feed their flock on a well-balanced spiritual diet if they completely neglect the 39 books of Holy Scripture on which Jesus and all the New Testament authors received their own spiritual nourishment?" 

And to that I say, it's not even Christian pastors, but Christians period!  How can we hope to feed ourselves on all that is Christ when we so often gloss over the entire first half of his Holy Word?!

He is there on every page. And he is worth finding.

Get the book Jesus on Every Page.  It is worth every penny.  

"And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, [Jesus] explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself."   Luke 24:27