1. Have You Read?
2. Have You Understood?
3. Have You Believed?

Every Jewish child in Jesus' day was raised on the Scriptures. As soon as they were able, they attended the regular services at the synagogues, where the Scriptures were read, and the Psalms were sung and the Word was preached.

Before attending school, they learned the Scriptures at home. Parents were often reminded in the synagogues of their duties toward their children in the reading of the Shema:

Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

In other words, "Parents, the Scriptures should saturate your lives. You shall think of them often. You shall talk of them often. You shall display them in your home for all to see." Parents in the days of Jesus took these words seriously. Every aspect of their lives was governed by the Torah.

So, even before a Jewish boy (or girl) could speak, he (or she) would hear the Scriptures being spoken often in their home. Their schooling was given at the synagogue, which began at five or six years of age. The Hebrew Scriptures were their primary textbook. They didn't have Dick and Jane books. They didn't have Dr. Seuss. They had the Scriptures.

Children would learn by reading and writing and memorizing the Scriptures. They didn't have much else to read. There were no newspapers in those days. There were no books, only scrolls, but these were expensive. They didn't have the internet to distract them. They would read the Scriptures. They would memorize the Scriptures. They would recite them aloud for all to hear. Many of the children even memorized the entire Torah by the time they were 13 years of age.

When they became teenagers, they were expected to be full participants in the synagogue, attending and participating in the weekly services. The synagogues in Jesus' day were centers of learning where discussion and teaching often took place. Jews were expected to be life-long learners of the law, that they might practice the law, and pass it on to their children.

I say all of that to say that the Jewish people were well-versed in the Scriptures. Yet, on several occasions, Jesus asked the religious leaders and teachers of the day, "Have you not read the Scriptures?" This wasn't really a question. It was more of a rebuke. Jesus knew that they had read the Scriptures. But Jesus was challenging their understanding of the Scriptures, and he was challenging their belief in what the Scriptures taught.

This morning, I want for us to consider this question for ourselves. The title of my message this morning is, "Have You Not Read?" I want for you all to consider your own interaction with the Scriptures, perhaps having a new resolve for 2026.

New Year's is often a time for the writing of "Resolutions" for what you would like to change in the New Year. I like to preach a challenging message for the Sunday between Christmas and New Years, as the New Year is often a time when we consider the year gone by, and consider how the next year might be different.

This year, I want, once again, to press you toward reading the Scriptures. I want to do this by asking you the same question that Jesus often asked the Pharisees, "Have You Not Read?" In the gospel accounts, Jesus asks this question nine times to the religious leaders. In Matthew's gospel, Jesus asks this question six times (12:3, 5; 19:4; 21:16, 42; 22:31). In Mark's gospel, Jesus asks this question twice (Mark 12:10, 26), and in Luke's gospel, Jesus asks this question once (Luke 6:3).

Now, as it works out, the contexts of the questions in Mark and Luke are parallel to the context of the questions in Matthew's gospel. Which means, if we look at the instances of this question in Matthew's gospel, we will cover all of the contexts in which Jesus asks this question, "Have you not read?" So, I ask you, "Have You Not Read the Scriptures?"

I have three questions for you this morning around this theme. Here's the first:

1. Have You Read?

Have you read the Scriptures? Have you read all of the Scriptures? Lifeway Research conducted a survey in 2024 asking Americans these very questions. They found that 40% of those who attended church at least once a month claim to read the Bible on a daily basis. They found that about 20% of those with Evangelical beliefs have read the entire Bible at least once in their lives.^[1]

I don't know the percentages of our congregation in these areas, but I would suspect it to be higher than this, especially as we have been strongly encouraging you all to be on a daily, systematic reading plan to take you through the entire Bible. But I know that there are some of you who have never read through the entire Bible.

For some of you, this is because God and the church and the Bible hasn't really even been a part of your life until this past year. It's totally understandable that you haven't read through the entire Bible in your life. I'm super encouraged that most of you in this situation have taken seriously our challenge to you all to read through the entire Bible. May the Lord continue his grace to give you the desire to finish what you have begun. May the Lord strengthen you to read through it again and again and again.

One of you involved in our reading said to me, "I can't wait until I have read through the entire Bible once. Then, I'll really be able to read it and understand it." Indeed, this is how it works. Every time you read through the Bible, it makes more and more sense to you.

But I also know that there are some of you who have been at Rock Valley Bible Church for years, and have never read through the entire Bible. I don't want to shame you this morning. But I do want you to think about the question that Jesus said on several occasions, "Have You Not Read?"

Now, every time that Jesus asked this question, he isn't really asking this question as if his hearers hadn't really read the Scriptures. Rather, he assumes that they had. Let me show you what I mean.

Turn in your Bibles to Matthew, chapter 12. In the first five verses, we see Jesus asking our question twice. Let's begin reading at the beginning of the chapter:

Matthew 12:1-2
At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, "Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath."

As is often the case in the life and ministry of Jesus, he was accused of breaking the Sabbath, by plucking heads of grain on the Sabbath. It didn't matter to the Pharisees that the disciples were hungry. It was against the law to do this on the Sabbath.

Jesus appeals to the Scriptures:

Matthew 12:3-4
He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?"

At this point, I want to ask you, Have you read this? Have you read this story about when David was hungry, how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence? Do you have any idea of where this is in your Bible? Do you have any idea of what chapter in the Bible this story comes? (1 Samuel 21).

Jesus here assumes that the Pharisees were familiar with this story. Jesus assumes that the Pharisees knew about this story. How well do you know the story? Where did this take place? (Nob) What was the name of the priest in this story? (Ahimelech) What emotion did Ahimelech show when he saw David arrive alone? (He was trembling) What unusual detail about David's arrival made Ahimelech suspicious? (David was alone and had no men with him) What explanation did David give for being on his journey? (He claimed he was on a secret mission from the king and he was meeting up with the young men) How many loaves of bread did David ask for? (five) What condition did Ahimelech require before giving David the holy bread? (That the men had kept themselves from women) Why was Ahimelech careful about giving David the holy bread? (It was only to be eaten by the priests; Leviticus 24:5-9). Did Ahimelech give him the holy bread? (Yes). Do you know why David's men were hungry? (They were fleeing Saul)

You may have struggled with those questions, but I guarantee you that the Pharisees knew the answers to all of these questions, because they had read this portion of Scripture and they knew what it said. Jesus assumes that they had read it and that they knew it. What about you? Have you read this portion of Scripture? I do believe that Jesus wants for all of us to know this story as well.

But that's not the only time Jesus asks these Pharisees, "Have you not read?" Look at verse 5:

Matthew 12:5
Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless?

At this point, I want to ask you, Have you read this? Have you read enough of the Old Testament to feel the tension that Jesus is talking about? How the priests are commanded to offer sacrifices every day, including on the Sabbath? Do you have any idea of where in your Bible this is discussed? Numbers 28 is a chapter that tells about the required sacrifices that the priests were to offer up, every day, every week, every month, and at every feast, including the Sabbath (see also Exodus 29:38-46).

Did you know these things about the priests and the sacrifices? I guarantee you that the Pharisees knew all about these things, because they had read these Scriptures and they were familiar with the concepts about what Jesus said. Jesus assumes that they had read it and that they knew it. What about you? Have you read these portions of Scripture?

But, beyond these stories, are you familiar with some other references to the Old Testament that Jesus talked about in his ministry? Have you read about the blood of Abel (Matthew 23:35)? Have you read about Noah (Matthew 24:37-39)? Have you read about Sodom and Lot (Luke 17:28-32)? Have you read about the Manna (John 6:31-35)? Have you read about the two or three witnesses that the law requires (Deuteronomy 19:15)? Have you read about the Queen of Sheba (1 Kings 10)? Have you read about those in the Old Testament who were risen from the dead (1 Kings 17, Elijah; 2 Kings 4, Elisha)? Have you read about the call of Isaiah to a fruitless ministry (Isaiah 6:9-10)? Have you read about the suffering servant in Isaiah (Matthew 12:18-21; Isaiah 42; 53)? Have you read the passage of Isaiah that Jesus preached from during his sermon in Nazareth (Luke 4:18-19; Isaiah 61:1-2)? Have you read about Jeremiah's take on the "Den of Robbers" (Matthew 21:13; Jeremiah 7:11)? Have you read about Ezekiel's take on the false shepherds of his day (John 10; Ezekiel 34)? Have you read about what Daniel writes about the "Son of Man" (Daniel 7:13-14; Matthew 26:64)? Have you read about Zechariah's take on striking the shepherd (Zechariah 13:7; Matthew 26:31)? Do you know about the blood of Zechariah (Matthew 23:35; 2 Chronicles 24:20-22)?

Jesus refers to all of these events, and assumes that his listeners have read them and have remembered. What about other people in the Old Testament that Jesus doesn't mention in his ministry, that he certainly would assume the people of his day knew about?

Have you read about Melchizedek (Genesis 14)? (The priest-king of Salem who blessed Abraham.) Have you read about Eliezar of Damascus (Genesis 15)? (Abraham's heir before Isaac) Have you read about Jethro (Exodus 18)? (The father-in-law of Moses) Have you read about Korah (Numbers 16)? (Who led a rebellion against Moses) Have you read about Zelophehad (Numbers 27)? (Who had five daughters and clarified inheritance laws). Have you read about Achan (Joshua 7)? (Who coveted the goods of Jericho) Have you read about Jael (Judges 4-5)? (Who drove a tent peg through Sisera) Have you read about Hushai the spy (2 Samuel 17)? (Who thwarted Ahithophel's counsel) Have you read about Doeg the Edomite (1 Samuel 21-22)? (Who betrayed David when visiting Ahimelech at Nob) Have you read about Greedy Gehazi (2 Kings 5)? (The servant of Elisha) Have you read about Jehu the Yahoo (2 Kings 9-10)? (The zealous king) Have you read about Huldah (2 Kings 22)? (Who prophesied grace to Josiah, but judgment to Judah) Have you read about Baruch, Jeremiah's scribe (Jeremiah 36)?

So I would encourage you, with my heart as a pastor, to be reading the Bible. Read all of it. Read it often! So that you are familiar with the people and events of the Bible. So, when Jesus asks you about a story in the Bible, and says, "Have You Read?" You can say, "Yes, I have!"

OK, let's move on. My first point is this: 1. Have You Read? My second point is this:

2. Have You Understood?

Let's continue looking at this passage in Matthew 12. Do you understand this passage? When the disciples of Jesus were hungry, they were plucking heads of grain from the grainfields and eating the grain (Matthew 12:1), and the Pharisees accused the disciples of breaking the Sabbath.

Matthew 12:1-2
At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, "Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath."

Jesus responds:

Matthew 12:3-4
He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?"

Alluding to the story in 1 Samuel 21. Then, he continued by talking about the priests:

Matthew 12:5
Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless?

The priests were required to offer sacrifices upon the altar (Numbers 28; Exodus 29), and they were blameless, even though they were "working" on the Sabbath, doing far more labor than the disciples were doing in picking grain on the Sabbath. Do you understand this? What does this mean?

Jesus gives us the answer in verses 6 and 7:

Matthew 12:6-8
I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. And if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.

His answer is three-fold. First of all, he speaks about himself, saying that he is greater than the temple (verse 6). Do you understand how great the temple was? The temple was everything to the Jews. It was the center of their religious life. It was the place where God dwelt. It was where they came to make peace with God. It was where heaven and earth met together. It was the symbol of God's nearness to his people. It was at the heart and focus of their calendar. Much of their taxes went to support the temple.

Have you read this about the temple? Do you understand what a provocative statement this would have been to the Jews who heard Jesus say that he is greater than the temple?

Second, Jesus quotes from the Old Testament, assuming that his listeners knew the passage. Do you know the Old Testament quote of Jesus? "I desire mercy, and not sacrifice" (Matthew 12:7). Do you understand that Old Testament quote? Do you know who wrote it? (Hosea 6:6)

Do you remember anything about Hosea? Do you remember anything about the people in Hosea's day? "Like Adam they transgressed the covenant; there they dealt faithlessly with me" (Hosea 6:7). Do you understand how provocative this statement would have been? Sacrifices were commanded by God, himself. Sacrifices was how God dealt with sin. Sacrifices were the price of atonement. Sacrifices were the means of reconciliation between God and his people. And here, Jesus quotes Hosea saying that God desires mercy, not sacrifice. (This gives us hope in the gospel.)

Have you read this in Hosea? Have you understood what God really wants from us?

Thirdly, Jesus returns to speak about himself. He says, "For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath" (12:8). Have you read about what the Old Testament says about the Sabbath? Do you understand how central the Sabbath was to Jewish life in Jesus' day? The Sabbath was the crown of creation (God rested on the 7th day). The Sabbath celebration was the central focus of every week of Jewish life. The Sabbath was a day set apart for God. It was one of the Ten Commandments.

Again, do you realize how provocative this statement would have been? So, when Jesus was asked about his disciples eating grain on the Sabbath, he goes after three large institutions given in the Old Testament: (1) The temple (2) The sacrifices (3) The Sabbath. Jesus assumes that his hearers would understand all of these things, and you cannot understand all of these things unless you read the Old Testament.

Let's look at another passage in Matthew. Matthew 19. At this point in Matthew's gospel, Jesus was experiencing great numerical success in his ministry. Look at verse 1:

Matthew 19:1-2
Now when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from Galilee and entered the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. And large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.

But the Pharisees were always willing to bring up the controversy. This time, it's controversy about marriage. Verse 3:

Matthew 19:3-6
And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, "Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?" He answered, "Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate."

Have you read these words? I trust that you have. They are repeated at many weddings. Do you know the quotation of verse 5? "A man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." Do you know who wrote it? (Moses). Do you know where it is found in the Old Testament? (Genesis 2:24).

It's at the very beginning of the Bible. Surely these Pharisees knew these words. Jesus assumes that they knew these words. But do you understand these words? How appropriate they are for us today in this day when homosexuality is met with widespread social approval. But Jesus corrects this false notion, by returning back to Genesis, the very beginning of creation, the very beginning of marriage, the foundation of our society.

Jesus says that marriage is "one man with one woman for life." Jesus assumes that his listeners would know this and understand this. Sadly, our society doesn't know this. Sadly, our society doesn't understand this. Sadly, our society has legalized (so called) homosexual marriage, which God has explicitly said is not his way. Sadly, in many liberal churches, they have gone the way of society. They fly the rainbow flag. They do not understand.

Do you understand? Do you understand what Jesus says about marriage? "One man with one woman for life?" This was the comment that Jesus adds to the end: "So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate" (19:6).

The Pharisees who asked the original question (in verse 3) knew this. They understood this. But they didn't understand divorce. They continue on (in verse 7):

Matthew 19:7-9
They said to him, "Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?" He said to them, "Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery."

God allows divorce because of sin. But God hates divorce (Malachi 2:16). Have you read that in the Old Testament? Do you understand what Jesus is saying? There is much to say about marriage and divorce in the Bible. This is not the only word. Paul also speaks about it in 1 Corinthians 7, referring himself to these words that Jesus spoke.

Do you even understand why this topic came up? Do you remember where Jesus was when he spoke these things? He was in "the region of Judea beyond the Jordan" where John the Baptist had ministered. Do you remember why John was in prison? Because he was making a stand on the marriage of Herod. Herod had a convenient divorce, so that he could remarry to satisfy his lusts. John the Baptist was saying to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have her," and it cost him his life, as his head was served upon a platter.

These Pharisees were likewise trying to get Jesus in trouble with Herod as well. Perhaps Jesus would speak like John the Baptist. Perhaps Herod would imprison Jesus and take off his head. This really draws us to our last question this morning.

3. Have You Believed?

John the Baptist believed what the Old Testament spoke about divorce, and it cost him his life. In our society today, your belief in what the Bible says about marriage (between a man and a woman) just may cost you something. This is really what Jesus was getting at, ultimately, when he asked those around him, "Have you not read?" He knew about their upbringing. He knew that they had read the Scriptures. He challenged them if they indeed believed the Scriptures.

Let's look at our next reference in Matthew. Turn to chapter 21. This is the story of the Triumphal Entry, when Jesus comes into the city on a donkey, and the crowds are going wild! They are shouting out, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" (21:9).

This is a quote from the Old Testament. Have you read it? Have you understood it? It's from Psalm 118:25-26. It's a plea for salvation! This is what "Hosanna" means! It means, "O save us." It means, "O save us now, we pray." This is what they were saying to Jesus, the king, who comes on the donkey according to Zechariah 9:9, which all of the crowds knew and recognized.

Yet, the Pharisees were not pleased. Let's pick up the story in Matthew 21, verse 14:

Matthew 21:14-16
And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" they were indignant, and they said to him, "Do you hear what these are saying?" And Jesus said to them, "Yes; have you never read, 'Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise'?"

Have you read that before? Do you understand what you have read? Do you believe what it says? Jesus is quoting from Psalm 8:2, which speaks of the majesty of God. "O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth" (Psalm 8:1). Right after that comes this quote of infants and babies, praising God, as if to say that God has chosen to bring praise from the mouth of the humble and seemingly insignificant.

Likewise, Jesus is ready and willing to receive praise from the simple folk. He isn't going to quiet them down. The people have understood and believed far better than the Pharisees, who didn't believe. They knew full well what the crowds were saying. They were saying that Jesus is the one who is coming to save! But they didn't believe that Jesus was the one to do it.

So catch this, they read the Scriptures. They understood the Scriptures. But they didn't believe the Scriptures. Then, we read in verse 17, "And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there." Not a lot of discussion about these things. So we will move on as well. Look at verse 42:

Matthew 21:42
Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: 'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?"

This comes after the parable of the tenants, which I can do no better than to read:

Matthew 21:33-41
"Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.' But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.' And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?" They said to him, "He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons."

These Pharisees could understand the parable, and embrace the rage of the master of the house toward those who rejected the son. But they didn't believe the Scriptures.

Matthew 21:42
Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: 'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?"

That quote comes from Psalm 118:22-23, just before the verse that the crowds were shouting out, "Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest!" (Psalm 118:25; Matthew 21:9, 15). I don't think that it was lost on them. They knew Psalm 118 very well, far better than we do. Psalm 118 was one of the Psalms that the Jews loved to sing! Today, Psalm 118 is sung every year at the end of the Passover. They would have known these words as well as you know any hymn.

"Amazing grace (how sweet the sound) that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see." "And can it be that I should gain an int'rest in the Savior's blood? Died He for me, who caused His pain? For me, who Him to death pursued? Amazing love! how can it be that Thou, my God, should die for me?" "O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder consider all the works Thy hands have made, I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy pow'r throughout the universe displayed! Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee; How great Thou art, How great Thou art!"

That's how well the Jews knew these words. They had read them. They had understood them. But they didn't believe them. I say this because of verse 45:

Matthew 21:45-46
When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet.

They understood. But they didn't believe. This is really at the heart of the question of Jesus. When he says, "Have you not read?" He's not so much talking about reading. He assumes that his listeners have read. He's not so much talking about understanding. He knows that his listeners often understood. He's really pressing this last point: Do you believe the Scriptures!

We see this in the last reference we have to look at today in the book of Matthew. We see this in Matthew 22. I want to read the story for you to catch the context:

Matthew 22:23-28
The same day Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question, saying, "Teacher, Moses said, 'If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.' Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother. So too the second and third, down to the seventh. After them all, the woman died. In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her."

Here the Sadducees have come asking Jesus about this problem that they have with the resurrection. It comes through a teaching of the law about what to do when a man dies, and how his brother should marry his sister-in-law. The question then comes about the resurrection: "Whose wife will she be?" Jesus begins with the rebuke:

Matthew 22:29-33
But Jesus answered them, "You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not God of the dead, but of the living." And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching.

On the one hand, their problem is ignorance. But at the root is faith. They didn't believe the Scriptures, when it speaks of the resurrection of the dead. They didn't believe in the power of God, and how the Lord will indeed raise the dead. For us, this is the big application: Do you believe? Do you believe the Scriptures? To believe them, you need to read them. To believe them, you need to study and work at it to understand them.

I have one last exhortation. It comes from Luke 24. Do you remember what Jesus told the two disciples, who were walking with him on the road to Emmaus? They were all discouraged that Jesus had been crucified. Their hope was that he would have come to redeem them from the tyranny of the Romans. But he was dead. Yet there were some rumors of his resurrection. But they were confused and a bit discouraged. Then Jesus said to them:

Luke 24:25-26
And he said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?"

So, church family, I say, are you foolish and slow of heart not to believe in all that the prophets have spoken? In that 2024 Lifeway survey, almost half (44%) of all Americans (Christian and non-Christian) believe that the Scriptures are worthy of being read over and over again. People say this, but much fewer actually do it.^[2]

You have a chance in 2026 to read the Scriptures, to understand and to believe in all that the prophets have spoken. As most all of you know, we are trying to make this as easy as possible, by reading through them for you, that you simply need to listen to our Daily podcast.

But what's the core of our belief? "Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" (Luke 24:26). We celebrate this in the Lord's supper, where we celebrate the gospel. Jesus died for our sins, so that we might live.

This sermon was delivered to Rock Valley Bible Church on December 28, 2025 by Steve Brandon.
For more information see www.rockvalleybiblechurch.org.

[1] https://research.lifeway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Lifeway-Americans-Aug-2024-Bible-Reading-Report.pdf.

[2] Ibid.