Why Read the Old Testament? (3)

 

 Dear Friend,

 

“…all that the prophets have spoken!” (Luke 24:25).

 

“…the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.” (Luke 24:27).

 

As we move forward in our ponderings, I want to again emphasize that Jesus Christ is revealed in all of the Old Testament. I also want us to wrestle with the idea that to read the Old Testament primarily through an evidentiary lens is to read it amiss, it is to read it out of focus and thereby miss Jesus Christ in most of the Old Testament.

 

If we read the Old Testament primarily in an evidentiary fashion, then it could be argued that we need only read those passages that have been identified as Messianic. However, if we “see” that the entire Old Testament is Messianic, that it all reveals Jesus Christ, then by rejecting, overtly or covertly, the Old Testament, we are rejecting the revelation of Jesus Christ – we are also repudiating the very way that Jesus revealed Himself.

 

If we’ve not thought about this, it may be difficult to see this. Sadly, many, if not most, students in seminary are not taught to “see” Jesus in the Old Testament – and I include seminaries which profess a high regard for the Bible. We are not taught to look for Jesus, instead we are taught to employ primary methods that only require naturalistic intellectual effort – we treat the Biblical text little differently than a lawyer or judge might treat the Constitution. (See 1 Corinthians 1:17 – 2:16; Hebrews 11:1 – 6; and John 15:26; 16:12 – 15 for further insight into how we should be reading and understanding the Scriptures).

 

You may need to be patient with me as we work through this, for again, if we haven’t thought about it, we may not see it right away, even if it is right in front of us in the New Testament. The images in our minds, our preconceptions, are often stronger than what our eyes see and our ears hear. And for those of us who have been academically trained, well – we have the pressure to conform and to keep our jobs and our standing with our peers…we ought not to minimize this pressure and we ought to be charitable about working with one another within it.

 

“‘Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?’ Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in the Scriptures.” (Luke 24:26 - 27).

 

Now I want to ask you to try something along with me, it is something we may have to work on for a bit. And may I gently say to some who may read this, that there are times we need to read things we may not understand; how else can we grow? Sometimes I receive a note from a reader who says, “I didn’t understand this.” Or “This was too hard to read.”

 

This is why our Sunday school and small group curriculum is usually about as dumb as we can make it; we think if we don’t serve our drinks from sippy cups or blend our food so that infants can eat it that churches and ministries won’t purchase it…and I suppose we’ve arrived at the point where that is true.

 

I’ve been reading the Scriptures for about 60 years and I’m still pumping iron with it, and I still need training partners. I’ve been reading some other authors for about the same length of time, and I’m still working on “getting it” as I read them.

 

It’s one thing for someone to say, “I’ve been thinking for a few days about what you wrote, can you help me out with what you mean?” It’s another thing for someone to say, “I just read what you wrote and it’s too hard to understand.”

 

Preachers and teachers, in fact leaders in general, who give closure to everything don’t help folks grow – they make people dependent on them. Think about it.

 

Okay, back to Luke 24:26 – 27. I want to ask you two things.

 

When you read the word “Moses” what do you think of? When Luke writes, “…beginning with Moses…” what do you think of? What does Luke mean?

 

Here’s the next question, when Jesus says, “Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” what is behind Jesus’ question? Why is He asking this?

 

If you asked this in a small group, what responses do you think you’d receive?

 

Please give these two questions some thought…some deep thought.

 

We’ll pick this back up, the Lord willing, in our next reflection. (I need to give you some time to think about this!) Ha!

Much love!