Why Read the Old Testament? (10)

 

 

Dear Friend,      

 

As we’ve seen, Psalm 22 has two great movements to it; we might call the first movement (22:1 – 21) Christ’s Suffering, and the second movement (22:22 – 31) Christ’s Glory.

 

Christ’s Suffering concludes with, “From the horns of the wild oxen You answer me,” and Christ’s Glory begins with, “I will tell of Your name to my brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will praise You.” When we recall that chapter and verses numbers were added much later, we can see that this transition is seamless; Christ’s suffering and cry to the Father results in victory and glory – Christ’s glory is born of Christ’s suffering, and His suffering is in anticipation of His glory.

 

Now here is the thing, the very first element of His glory concerns you and me, it concerns us, the People of God, the Family of God, the Brethren of Jesus Christ. The very first element of Christ’s glory has to do with Him sharing the Name of His Father with His Brethren, with sharing (imparting) the Nature of Our Father with us.

 

We see this dynamic in Hebrews 12:2 when we read of Jesus, “…who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” The “joy set before Him” is the redemption of the People of God – note the context of Hebrews 12:2 – we see the People of God preceding this verse and we see the People of God following the verse.

 

This, of course, follows what Jesus says in John 12:24, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of what falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”

 

This, in turn, speaks to us of the Incarnation. We see this in the grand tapestry of Hebrews Chapter 2, one of the great Incarnation passages in Scripture – though sadly a passage little taught during Advent…or any other time. You’ll have to read and meditate on the entire passage to begin to see its beauty, but I’ll highlight a few thoughts for now.

 

“But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honour, that that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.” (Heb. 2:9).

 

Do you see incarnation, suffering, and glory in this verse?

 

“For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect that author of their salvation through sufferings.” (Heb. 2:10).

 

Can we see, once again, suffering and glory?

 

We also have the idea of the Father “bringing many sons to glory” – and so here we see “glory” being extended from the glory of Jesus in verse 9, to the “many sons” in verse 10. This is in keeping with Jesus saying to the Father, “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them…” (John 17:22). Paul writes that if we are children then we are “heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.” (Rom. 8:17). We are called to participate with Jesus Christ not only in His glory, but also in His suffering (Phil. 3:10).

 

Then in Hebrews 2:11 & 12, “For both He who sanctifies [Jesus Christ] and those who are sanctified [us] are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will proclaim You name to My brethren, in the midst of the congregation I will sing Your praise.”

 

As the writer of Hebrews contemplates the suffering of Christ (2:9, 10, 14), he “sees” Psalm 22, and as he sees Psalm 22 he invokes the first cry of the second movement, “I will proclaim Your name to My brethren, in the midst of the congregation I will sing Your praise.”

 

Here is the Elder Brother, leaving the House of the Father, to seek out and redeem His younger brethren, His sisters and brothers, so that He might bring them back to the Father’s House. The Elder Brother calls us Home by declaring the Name of the Father to us.

 

Is it any wonder that Paul writes, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.” (Romans 8:18 – 19).

 

O dear friend, if our Elder Brother, Jesus Christ, proclaims the Name of our Father to us, then we ought to also proclaim our Father’s Name to one another. If our Elder Brother’s mission is to bring His brethren Home, then that ought to be our mission as well. Jesus says to us, “As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.” (John 17:18). And Jesus says again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” (John 20:21).

 

O the glory in Christ of Sonship! A glory portrayed in Psalm 22, a glory which unfolds throughout the Gospels and the Epistles and in Revelation. A glory which we are called to receive and to participate in – a glory in which we discover the koinonia of the Trinity.

 

The root and depth of this glory is in the Old Testament. Our House is not built just on the apostles, but on the “apostles and prophets” (Ephesians 2:20) with Jesus Christ Himself being the cornerstone. To reject the Old Testament is to reject the Way that Jesus revealed and reveals Himself (Luke 24:27, 44). To reject the Old Testament is to reject the glory of Biblical Sonship.

 

Let us not allow others to rob us of our inheritance in Christ. Let us pursue Jesus as He reveals Himself in both the apostles (NT) and the prophets (OT) – for they are One Book….just as we are One Body.