“There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him…” – Isaiah 11:1-2
As we’ve discussed previously, you cannot make sense of the New Testament, especially Hebrews, without understanding the Old Testament. Because the New Testament has roughly 300 explicit Old Testament quotations, as well as upwards of 4,000 Old Testament allusions, it is not surprising to find that the New Testament also has much to say about the Old Testament. These statements can be grouped into three general categories.
- The New Testament clearly, repeatedly, and emphatically declares that the Old Testament is divinely inspired, sacred Scripture and the very words of God. (Matt. 21:42, 22:29, 26:54,56; Luke 24:25–32, 44–45; John 5:39, 10:35; Acts 17:2,11, 18:28; Rom. 1:2, 4:3, 9:17, 10:11, 11:2, 15:4, 16:26; 1 Cor. 15:3–4; Gal. 3:8,22, 4:30; 1 Tim. 5:18; 2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:20–21, 3:15–16)
- The New Testament makes many statements about the truthfulness and usefulness of the Old Testament. For example, the Old Testament comes with God’s power (Heb. 4:12), was written by God’s inspiration (2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:19–21), is sufficient for all that we truly need to know about God (Luke 16:29–31), is true and the source of truth (John 17:17), is for all people regardless of their culture or nation (Rom. 16:26), is necessary to raise children (2 Tim. 3:15), and ultimately is to be obeyed so that it is not merely a source of information but rather a means of transformation (James 1:22).
Like the Old Testament itself, the New Testament uses poetic images to reveal to us how we are to receive the Old Testament. The Old Testament is a sword for battle against Satan, sin, and demons (Eph. 6:17; Heb. 4:12), a seed that God plants in us that grows up as a life of fruitfully faithful living (Luke 8:11-15), and milk that nourishes us for life and growth, not unlike the feeding of a newborn baby (1 Pet. 2:2).
Jesus taught us to trust the Old Testament. He summarized the Old Testament Scripture as existing in three parts: the Law, Prophets, and Psalms (Luke 24:44). He accepted the Old Testament canon as it exists today without any modifications and came to fulfill it (Matt. 5:17). As a rabbi (or preacher and teacher of Scripture), Jesus’ entire ministry involved the instruction and application of the Old Testament. Jesus’ public ministry even began with Him reading from the Old Testament book of Isaiah and stating that His ministry was to fulfill the Old Testament promises about His coming (Luke 4:16–21).
In summary, Jesus taught that the Old Testament was perfectly inspired and totally truthful Scripture. Jesus devoted His ministry to teaching the Old Testament, defending the Old Testament, fulfilling the Old Testament, and using the Old Testament.
Having established the authorship of the Old Testament and reflecting upon what the Old Testament, New Testament, and Jesus have to say about the Old Testament, in the coming weeks we will examine the opening chapters of the New Testament book of Hebrews, which serves as a commentary on much of the Old Testament.
What is your favorite reference about Jesus from the Old or New Testament?
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