Reading the bible and imitating Jesus

So when we read the Bible, we need to read it on two levels at once. We read the Bible in a literal sense as we read any other human literature. But we read it also in a spiritual sense, searching out what the Holy Spirit is trying to tell us through the words. See Catechism 115-119.

We do this in imitation of Jesus, because this is the way He read the scriptures. He referred to Jonah (Mt 12:39) Solomon (Mt 12:42), the temple (Jn 2:19) and the brazne serpent (Jn 3:14) as "signs" that prefigured Him. We see in Luke's gospel, as our Lord comforted the disciples on the road to Emmaus that "beginning with Moses and all the prophets, He interpreted to them what referred to Him in all scriptures" (LK 24:27). After that spiritual reading of the Old Testament, we are told the disciples, hearts burned within them.

What ignited the fire in their hearts? Through the scriptures, Jesus had initiated His disciples into a world that reached beyond their senses. A good teacher, God introduced the unfamiliar in terms of the familiar. Indeed, He had created the familiar with this end in mind, fashioning the persons and institutions that would best prepare us for the coming of Christ in the glories of his kingdom.

Hail, Holy Queen: The Mother of God in the Word of God page 22-23.

Professor Hahn is preparing the reader for the imagery and symbols that he is going to use in coming chapters that prefigure Christ, and also His mother Mary. We are going to see why an understanding of the culture and the times of scripture are so imperative to a correct and holistic approach to the scriptures - pretty exciting stuff!