At least two-thirds of the Bible is Old Testament, which means that, if you are participating in The Bible Project Reading plan or if you are working your way through the Bible another way, you will be spending a good amount of the year in the Old Testament. If you are using The Bible Project Reading plan you will be in the Old Testament until the end of August. The question that usually arises for most people when they are working through reading the entire Bible is, “If Christians are focused on Jesus, why read the Old Testament?”
The one bad thing about this question is that it assumes a bit of a false dichotomy. The question assumes that there is a difference between the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament. This is not something that will be addressed during this short article but will be addressed later on. The good thing about the question is that, at the heart of it, the question is seeking to better understand the Bible—and we all ought to be working towards that end.
Again, the question is, why read the Old Testament if we should be focused on Jesus? In order to give a good answer to the good question, it is probably best to turn to what the New Testament and, especially Jesus, have to say about the Old Testament.
“And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” (Luke 24:27)
During the walk to Emmaus with the two disappointed disciples, Jesus sets out to explain to them why the Christ (the Messiah) had to suffer the things that Jesus suffered. The most interesting thing about this story in Luke is that Jesus does not explain to them the reasons by appealing to an outside source. Instead, Jesus goes to the Old Testament (Moses and all the Prophets; all the Scriptures) and expounds on what was written there. Jesus appeals to the Old Testament because it explains why these things have happened to Jesus. JESUS APPEALS TO THE OLD TESTAMENT BECAUSE IT WAS WRITTEN ABOUT HIM.
“Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”(John 5:45-47)
Here, Jesus makes the claim that if the Jews trusted Moses (the one who wrote the first five books of the Bible) they would be trusting Jesus because Moses wrote about Jesus. What we should then do is go to Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy in order to see for ourselves what Jesus was talking about. It may not be clear right now how Moses could have been writing about Jesus but there is one thing that is clear. JESUS APPEALS TO THE OLD TESTAMENT BECAUSE IT WAS WRITTEN ABOUT HIM.
“Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” (John 8:56)
Here, we read of Jesus referencing Abraham as he is talking to the Jews around him. The amazing thing is the way in which Jesus references Abraham. Jesus makes the statement that Abraham (who lived long before Jesus) delighted in the fact that that he would see the day of Jesus. And then Jesus goes even further by saying that Abraham did see it. This statement is more than amazing; it is astounding in the implications that are within it. How can Jesus possibly say that one of the monumental figures in the Old Testament saw the day of Jesus and rejoiced? There is an answer to that question but the answer is not required for this topic (see Hebrews 11 for further explanation on this fact). What is required is the understanding that again we see Jesus directing people to the Old Testament in order to instruct them about himself. JESUS APPEALS TO THE OLD TESTAMENT BECAUSE IT WAS WRITTEN ABOUT HIM.
All this being said, we are left with a choice to make. Either we ignore the way in which Jesus appeals to the Old Testament concerning himself or we resolve to work our way through the Old Testament trusting that our time spent there will show us more of Christ.
It is my prayer that you employ the latter!