In his early elementary school years, my husband lived in Belgium due to his father’s job. JB played with Belgian children and easily picked up the French language, along with a perfect accent. In college he majored in French and computer science. Years later he drew on those years of language study while interpreting for French-speaking pastors in the Côte D’Ivoire (west Africa,) Haiti, and across parts of the U.S. He found that interpreters are always the last to eat a meal, since every time anyone talks, they are obliged to interpret! After immersing himself in interpreting day after day, JB even found himself waking up thinking in French.
Jesus was bilingual as well, but not in the usual way. Yes, He spoke Aramaic and Hebrew, and perhaps even some Greek–the three common languages used in His locale in those years. But more importantly, Jesus spoke two “spiritual” languages. To those born under the Law, the Jews, He spoke the language of the Law. But to the Gentiles, those not under the Law, He spoke the language of grace! And He always used the right language for each listener.
The best way to study the Bible involves recognizing the audience of any given message, whether written or spoken. This is especially true when it comes to understanding the words of Jesus. To the hardhearted Jews, especially the puffed up religious elite, Jesus always pointed to the Law. He rubbed their noses in it to prove to them that they could not keep the Law. Why? To reveal their need for a Savior–someone who would fulfill all the requirements of the Law for them.
But when He spoke to Gentiles, or to Jews with soft hearts, we hear words of grace, rather than commands to perform! To the Canaanite mother who begged for her daughter’s healing He remarked, “O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish” (Matthew 15:28). When the Roman Centurion asked Jesus to simply “speak the word” and his servant would be healed, Jesus marveled at his faith and healed the servant from a distance. To timid Nicodemus He revealed, “You must be born again,” and explained, “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:7, 17). And He graciously responded to others desiring His help by healing them, forgiving them, feeding them, and pointing to faith as the answer–rather than works of the Law.
Jesus lived under the law, but He also fulfilled all the requirements of the law–so that we might live under grace, through faith in His performance rather than our own. Read correctly, every book of the Bible points to Jesus and the grace He came to give. As we recognize Jesus speaks grace and truth to us, and that He has broken the heavy yoke of having to be good enough to earn God’s approval, we experience unprecedented freedom. Immersed in that truth, we will even find ourselves waking up each morning thinking in the language of grace. There’s no better way to start your day!
