Christ’s View of the Old Testament
Christ’s View of the Old Testament
Take the Old Testament first. There can be no doubt, as any careful reader of the Gospels will agree, that Jesus gave his reverent assent to the authority of Old Testament Scripture, for he submitted to its authority himself. I will give three examples to demonstrate this.
First, Jesus submitted to the Old Testament in his personal conduct. Thus, he countered each of the temptations of the devil by an apt biblical quotation. It is sometimes said that he quoted Scripture “at the devil.” This is not so. It would be more accurate to say that he quoted Scripture at himself in the presence of the devil. For when the devil offered him the kingdoms of the world if he would fall down and worship him, Jesus replied:
Away from me, Satan! For it is written: “Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.” (Matt. 4:10)
Jesus was not applying this text to Satan, but to himself. He knew from Scripture that worship was due to God alone. Therefore he would obey. As man he would worship God, not Satan. The simple word gegraptai (“it stands written”) was enough for him. There was no need to question, discuss, argue or negotiate. The matter had already been settled by Scripture. This voluntary, personal submission of God’s Son to the authority of God’s Word is extremely significant.
Secondly, Jesus submitted to the Old Testament in the fulfillment of his mission. He seems to have come to an understanding of his messianic role from a study of Old Testament Scripture. He knew himself to be both Isaiah’s suffering servant and Daniel’s Son of Man. So he accepted that he could enter into his glory only by the road of suffering and death. This explains the sense of necessity, of compulsion, which constrained him:
The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected … and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. (Mark 8:31)
Why “must”? Because the Scripture said so. Voluntarily and deliberately he put himself under its authority. He was determined to fulfill what stood written in his mission as in his conduct. So when Peter tried to prevent Christ’s arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, he told Peter to sheathe his sword. He had no need of human defense. Could he not appeal to his Father for legions of defending angels? Then why did he not do so? Here is the reason he gave:
How then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way? (Matt. 26:54)
He was of the same opinion after the Resurrection, and confirmed it both to the two Emmaus disciples and to the wider group of his followers:
Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory? … This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms. (Luke 24:26, 44)
Thirdly, Jesus submitted to the Old Testament in his controversies. He found himself engaged in continuous debate with the religious leaders of his day, and whenever there was a difference of opinion between them, he regarded Scripture as the only court of appeal. “What is written in the Law?” he would ask. “How do you read it?” (Luke 10:26). Again, “Haven’t you read this scripture?” (Mark 12:10). One of his chief criticisms of his contemporaries concerned their disrespect for Scripture. The Pharisees added to it and the Sadducees subtracted from it. So to the Pharisees he said:
You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! … Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. (Mark 7:9, 13)
And to the Sadducees:
Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? (Mark 12:24)
It is beyond question, then, that Jesus Christ was himself personally submissive to Scripture. In his own ethical standards, in his understanding of his mission and in debate with the Jewish leaders, what the Scripture said was decisive for him. “Scripture cannot be broken,” he affirmed. And again,
I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. (Matt. 5:18)
There is no example of Christ contradicting the divine origin of Old Testament Scripture. Some people have supposed that he did so in the six antitheses of the Sermon on the Mount, in which he said, “You have heard that it was said … but I say to you….” However, it is not Moses with whom he was at odds, but the scribal perversions of Moses; not Scripture (which is God’s Word), but tradition (which is man’s).All the available evidence confirms that Jesus Christ assented in his mind and submitted in his life to the authority of Old Testament Scripture. Is it not inconceivable that his followers should have a lower view of it than he?