Perhaps the most famous biblical story is David and Goliath. So many people understand this to be a call for us to trust God in the face of the giants we face, but the Bible isn’t about us. It’s about Jesus Christ. So if the story of David and Goliath is ultimately about him, we read it differently.
David is an unlikely hero. He’s small in stature. Not military trained, but a shepherd boy. He is offended by the mocking taunts of the giant, Philistine warrior, Goliath. So, in an incredible display of courage, David takes on and defeats the giant giving hope and life to an entire nation.
Jesus is the true and better David. Born in a stable on the outskirts of a rural village and raised as a carpenter, he hardly had the reputation of being a societal elite. He wasn’t a cultural trend-setter. Conventional wisdom labeled him a “nobody.” But he took on and defeated the ultimate giant. Not a warrior with a sword, but death with the teeth of eternal separation from God and everything that’s good. In defeating this giant, Jesus has given greater hope for a better life to millions of people across hundreds of generations and nations.
The Bible is not a collection of isolated stories, but a single, unified story ultimately about Jesus Christ. The Bible is not primarily good advice on how to behave. It’s good news about what God has done that is meant to melt our hearts and leave us awestruck bowing before the King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus Christ.
