Sermon Illustration Tuesday (3.26)

In his wonderful book, God’s Big Picture, Vaughan Roberts gives readers an overview of the Bible, focusing on the importance of context for developing a deeper understanding of holy scripture. In this short illustration, he points out the importance of keeping Jesus (the king) at the center of the greater narrative of the Word of God. Thus, when the king is at the center, we are more likely to find a faithful reading of a text than when we do not:

Two boys were bored on a rainy summer’s day, so they began to do a jigsaw puzzle. (That tells you how bored they must have been.) They made no progress until one of them turned the box lid over to see the picture they were trying to create. It was of a medieval court scene with a king surrounded by his courtiers. One of the boys cried out, ‘Now I see it – the king is in the middle!’ Once they recognized that, the puzzle was easy and they were soon able to finish it.

Just as the king was in the middle of that picture, so God is in the centre of the world that he has made. But, since the fall, human beings have refused to accept his right to be there and have tried to depose him. The results have been catastrophic: everything is spoiled. But we need not despair. From before the creation, God has had a plan to put the world right by re-establishing his kingdom through his Son, the Lord Jesus, so that once more he is glorified. And, when the King is in the middle, everything else falls into place.

Taken from God’s Big Picture by Vaughan Roberts. ©2003 by Vaughan Roberts.  Used by permission of InterVarsity Press, P.O. Box 1400, Downers Grove  IL  60515-1426. www.ivpress.com