Matthew in History

In preparing for the sermon series on Matthew I have been reading a book called Matthew in History by Ulrich Luz. At one point he says:

to understand a New Testament text does not mean to understand the words of the text only but to understand the living Christ to whom it testifies and the life situation that was shaped by him, and to understand both as a gift, a question, and a challenge for our own lives.

Ulrich is saying that to understand the bible we need to move beyond simply understanding the words. The bible should lead us into an encounter with Jesus. An encounter with Jesus is gift. It will cause us to ask new questions. It will challenge our very lives.
Makes me wonder how many passages in bible I have truly understood?