TEACHING
parents, with these words: “You nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down.” Or Matthew 22:29, where he told the Sadducees with regard to the resurrection: “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.” Second, we have to cut out large parts of the New Testament too, as almost all books quote the Old Testament, many of them numerous times. So Jesus said in Mark 12:10, “Haven’t you read this passage of Scripture: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’?” (Psalm 118:22). In other words, Jesus expected his listeners to know the Old Testament, to respect its authority and to see its relevance. The other New Testament writers likewise assumed that their readers knew the events described in the Old Testament, and built their theological arguments upon it. For instance, in a long passage about Abraham, Paul wrote, ‘What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness”’ (Rom 4:3).
Missing out
As those two passages demonstrate, another thing we lose if we ignore the Old Testament is an understanding of the context into which Jesus came and the way he saw himself and his mission. So in the synagogue at Nazareth Jesus read from Isaiah 61 and added, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:21). In effect Jesus pointed to the prophet’s writing and said, ‘That’s me!’ Or on the road to Emmaus, ‘beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself’ (Luke 24:27). Wouldn’t we love to have a fuller record of that conversation? But God leaves us to do the work for ourselves, which means immersing ourselves in the Old Testament, reflecting on it and making the connections Jesus made. Finally, if we cut out the Old Testament we deprive ourselves of much that even critics of the 20
Hebrew Bible recognise as worth treasuring: the riches of the Psalms, the ten commandments, stories like that of Ruth, the foreign widow who becomes David’s greatgrandmother and much more. I was fascinated to read an article in Good Housekeeping magazine in 2000 by the broadcaster Jenni Murray. She describes organising the funeral of a BBC colleague who had no religious faith, and how difficult it was to find something appropriate for the committal, when the mourners say their final goodbye. She eventually chose something suggested by the British Humanist Society: ‘To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose on earth...’ clearly unaware that she was quoting Ecclesiastes 3!
An unchanging God
It’s also important to emphasise that there really aren’t two different gods in the Bible, the angry one of the Old Testament and the loving one of the New. For a start, if we study the Hebrew Scriptures we discover that the God revealed there is the God of the Exodus, who rescues his people from slavery and demonstrates his character in these words: ‘The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin’ (Ex 34:6-7). This description of God runs like a scarlet thread through the Old Testament: see Numbers 14:18, Nehemiah 9:17, Psalms 103:8 and 145:8 and Nahum 1:3.
someone suggested that I go through the gospels and highlight all the promises of Jesus. I did, and it was great! But a few years later I noticed that Jesus also gave many threats and warnings, so I decided to highlight those in a different colour. I was amazed and slightly shocked at the number of times Jesus warned people to sort themselves out and respond to God - or else! Passages like this one from the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant: “In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart” (Matt 18:34-35). So the Old Testament speaks of judgement, but it also speaks of grace, and the New Testament is exactly the same. The God of the Hebrew Bible is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and if we’re followers of Jesus, which for me is a pretty good definition of a Christian, then we should ‘read, mark, learn and inwardly digest’ (from The Book of Common Prayer) the Old Testament as well as the New. For as Paul says, these are the scriptures which ‘are able to make you wise for salvation’ (2 Tim 3:15); they reveal the Father to us and they point us to Jesus. In the next article we’ll look at two more false solutions and the first helpful thought. For further reading I’d recommend The God I Don’t Understand by Chris Wright.
Jesus clearly identifies his Father as the Old Testament God. See for instance John 6:45: “It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me.” What’s more, Jesus speaks just as much of judgement as he does of mercy. When I was a baby Christian
Simon Coupland Simon leads St Paul’s Kingston Hill and a local New Wine Network, together with his wife Heather. He’d love to write a book on ‘Burning issues that preachers prefer not to touch’, of which this would be one.