Ang Totoong Bida ng Bible

I want you to know one thing that I learned about the Bible. All of its stories point to the greatest story of them all: the story of God’s one and only Son, Jesus Christ.

He is the new Adam born in a manger together with sheep, cows, and goats.

Unlike Cain, Jesus is a “brother’s keeper” who sacrificed His life for us.

Like Moses na tinawag para pamunuan ang walang kasing kulit na 12 tribes of Israel, Jesus is a leader who never gave up sa Kanyang twelve disciples.

Like Ezra, Jesus taught people again the meaning of God’s commandments.9 Like Joseph, Jesus stood up to temptations and did not sin.

Like Jonah, tao din Siya, naisip na mag-eskapo, at nagtalo din ang kalooban Niya whether to follow God’s will or not.

But like Noah, He did not quit and instead accomplished the mission that God asked Him to do.

Jesus could have chosen to just enjoy the easier path of success and fame, but like Esther, He instead chose the lonely and risky path of saving a people.

Like David, nagpakatotoo Siya in God’s calling for His life: He brought hope to the poor and the needy in this world.

Jesus Himself knew that the stories of the Bible are the story of His life. Kaya’t bago Siya bumalik sa langit, He talked with two of His disciples at ipinakita Niya sa dalawa what the Bible says about Him from Genesis to Malachi.15 Kung titingnan mo ang backdrop ng buong Bible, brick by brick, layer by layer, story after story, it builds up para sa pagdating ni Jesus dito sa ating mundo. He was called “Emmanuel” which means “God with us.” At tunay nga, with the coming of Jesus, God Himself came as a human being and lived with us (see John 1:14). Ang ginamit na Greek word sa verse na yan literally means “pitched his tent among us.”

Any Jew familiar with the Old Testament would recognize that this refers to how God would occasionally reveal His glory sa loob ng isang tabernacle during the time when the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness of Canaan.16 But Jesus stayed, walked the dusty roads of Palestine, grew up in Nazareth, hung out with fishermen, tax collectors, drunkards, prostitutes, and even rebels in Galilee and Samaria. Nakipagtalo Siya sa mga Jewish leaders sa renovated Temple in Jerusalem faced the Roman officers and soldiers, at namatay sa harapan ng lahat ng tao sa bulubundukin ng Golgotha right outside the city.

In Jesus, God could not have been more present and visible. Sabi ni Jesus, “ang nakakita sa akin ay nakita na din ang Ama.”17 Later on, sabi ni Apostle Paul, Jesus is “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15). Ibig sabihin nito, “all the fullness of God dwells in him in bodily form” (verse 19). Yung best friend naman niya na si John, ganito ang sabi, “No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him” (John 1:18, NASB). Well, that is the story of the mission of Jesus – to show and to tell us who God is and make us feel His heartbeat. Ginawa Niya ito para ipakita sa atin na kahit sumasablay tayong mga tao na hanapin ang Diyos at abutin ang Kanyang kalooban, Diyos na mismo ang gumawa ng paraan para makilala natin Siya ng lubos.

This is an excerpt from Boring Ba Ang Bible Mo? by Rei Lemuel Crizaldo.

(Note: This book is written in conversational Tagalog-English)

Are you ready to have your mind blown? Can you find the names Melchor, Gaspar, and Baltazar in the Bible? Why does Saint Peter have a chicken? Whose faith is like a cockroach in its “staying alive” power? Give a second look at what you once thought as a boring book. Here you will meet memorable characters like The Hot Chicks, The Chick Boys, The Epic Failures, The Second Rates, The Success Stories, The Nerds, The Starving Artists, The Castaways, The Loners, and The Kontrabidas (Villains). In the midst of all thestories of these people, can you find your story? Ever wonder how—and why—you fit in the BIG story? Learn the answer to these questions and settle once and for all if your Bible is boring or not.

This book is available at OMF Lit and Passages Bookshops. PCBS, and our online store, passagesbooks.com for only P75.