One of the problems with reading the Bible is that it seems so sprawling, messy, and disorganized. God did not reveal himself through a systematic theology book but through a book written by many different people over hundreds of years, using story, history, poetry, and letters. How can we make sense of it all?

In Luke 24, the two disciples from Emmaus were also confused. They thought that Jesus was the Messiah promised in the Scriptures. But now he had been killed. Despondent, they were trudging home.

Jesus met them on the road, but they "were kept" from recognizing him. He asked what they were talking about. They said that he must be the only person around who didn't know what had recently happened in Jerusalem. In one of the truly ironic lines in Luke, Jesus asks, "What things?"

The disciples explained their confusion and disappointment that the one they thought was the Messiah was dead. Jesus, walking along with them, gave what must have been the most wonderful Bible study ever---"Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning himself" (v. 27).

The first principle in learning how to read the Bible as a Christian is that it's all about Jesus Christ. From the story of creation in the beginning to the picture of the new heavens and new earth at the end, Jesus is the center. The apostles quickly learned and applied this. As you read the sermons of Peter and Paul in Acts and in Paul's letters, you realize how they came to see that the Old Testament Scriptures---which was all they had---were ultimately about Jesus Christ.

Peter, for example, in his Pentecost sermon in Acts 2, quotes Psalm 110: "The Lord said to my Lord, 'Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet'" (Acts 2:34-35). Peter says that David, the author, certainly did not ascend to heaven to hear this message. "Therefore, let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah" (Acts 2:36).

If the first principle for understanding Scripture is that Jesus is the centerpiece, the second is that the Bible is one big story stretching from creation to new creation. It tells us of God's great love for the world he made. Once we recognize the arc of the story line---creation, fall, redemption, and new creation---and Jesus Christ as its central character, we can start to make sense of what at first glance seems so disorganized.

After Jesus revealed himself to the disciples in the breaking of the bread (Luke 24:30) and their eyes were opened, they said, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the scriptures to us?" That's what happens when we begin to see God's great loving plan for the world accomplished in Jesus Christ.