As a writer who loves metaphor, symbol and analogy, I love the
Hebrew Bible, (the Old Testament.) It provides beautiful images of Jesus. But
more than that it offers the reality of God’s promises concerning the Messiah. And
here and there one sees glimpses of the eternal Son in person. Read the story
of the “angel of the Lord” who appears to Samson’s parents in Judges 13. He
calls himself Wonderful.
And I must quickly say
it is also the truthful narrative of God’s promises to and covenant with the
Jewish people. The Hebrew Bible is, in reality, two stories that
intertwine. It is the history of Israel
and God’s dealings and care for them. It is also, from beginning to end, the
story of God’s redemptive purposes and promises. And the Messiah of God, Jesus,
the begotten God in the bosom of the Father, looms large in the text.
Why am I writing this? Because a Presbyterian on a
Presbyterian site I belong to, posted an advertisement for a Bible entitled The Jesus Bible. The ad states, “There is No B.C.: Sixty Six Books, One
Story, All about One Name, Jesus.” That
is placed within the midst of the names of all of the books of the Bible. I don’t
think the commenters, who mostly didn’t like the ad, realized that this
particular Bible, published by Zondervan, is meant for young people. It is
meant as a study Bible. But many felt that because the ad was saying that Jesus
was also in the Old Testament that it sounded anti-Semitic.
I want to emphasize that the Hebrew Bible cannot be read out
of context. A great deal of it is definitely the history of the Jewish people. The
rest is their wonderful Writings and Prophets. But within the text is the
glorious promises of the coming King and Messiah, a suffering King and a
Suffering Messiah. Remember the very first Christians had only the Hebrew
Scriptures as their Bible.
In the book of Acts, the history of the early church, we read
the story of the Ethiopian official who on his journey home is reading Isaiah 53.
He asks the disciple Philip who the author is speaking of, himself or of someone
else.
“He was led as a sheep
to the slaughter; and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he does not
open his mouth. In humiliation his judgement was taken away; who will relate
his generation? For his life is removed from the earth.”
If we fail to open the texts of the Hebrew Bible and teach
others of our Lord Jesus Christ we fail to be his disciples.
One of the commenters in the thread I was reading reminded us
all that Jesus in fact turned to the Hebrew Bible to explain who he was and how
it was that he should be, and suffer crucifixion, and rise again. The apostle
Luke writes of Jesus’ words and actions:
“Oh foolish men and slow
of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and enter
into his glory?
Then
beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, he explained to them the things
concerning himself in the Scriptures.”
Beginning in Genesis with the promise to Eve (and one might
say to Satan also because it is God’s foretelling and curse to him) “… I shall
put enmity between you and the woman. And between your seed and her seed; he
shall bruise you on the head and you shall bruise him on the heel,” there are
promises of the Messiah throughout the Old Testament.
I think one of my favorites was given by a man who wanted to
curse Israel but was only allowed to bless her:
“I see him but not now;
I behold him but not near;
A star shall come forth from Jacob,
A scepter shall rise from Israel … (Numbers 24:17a)
I'm the one who posted that ad you refer to and I think you missed the point of my post. I do not deny that we Christians can see Jesus active in the Hebrews Scriptures. What concerns me is the blatant disregard for Jewish history that underlies the claim, "There is no B.C." The common usage of BC (or BCE if your preferred) and AD in HISTORICAL reference cannot be ignored just because you are promoting a Jesus Bible. To claim that Christ was in the beginning (as the Gospel of John clearly does) is not the same as claiming there was no historical time before Jesus. To do so, as that ad appears to do is inappropriate in my opinion and should be discarded.
ReplyDeleteSome people use that same reasoning to undermine the whole “Christ” in BC/BCE/AD pertaining to Jesus, regardless of the chronological history. I don’t think it was intentional but I can see how it can rub off as that. As a side note I work at this reformed Jewish synagogue named Emanuel and it’s interesting that only the Cantor at our staff knew that “Emanuel” means “God with us” (the name for Jesus) It came up because we are sharing a space with a non-denominational Christian church.
DeleteThomas I realize the ad in some ways was meant to grab people's attention but in another way it was simply saying that the Son existed before the New Testament. I don't think it was meant to disparage Jewish history at all. Some people commenting gave me the impression that they did not believe that the eternal Son was the incarnate Christ Jesus, that they could be separated. But I think that the beauty of the incarnation is that now humanity resides in the Godhead. And we with Him if we are in Christ.
ReplyDeleteI can totally get the advert. Everything in the Old Testament points to Jesus, that was the whole purpose of it. God inspired the writers to set down on paper the way that pointed to the One Way, the Truth and the Light.
ReplyDeleteYou cannot separate the first half of the story from the last half, no matter how some try to. "The Jesus Bible" doesn't do that, in fact it reinforces the fact that the Jewish people were the thread that God used to weave the plan through the centuries until the time was right for the One to come.
Thank you Reformed Catholic-you put it just right and beautifully.
ReplyDeleteCurious exchange. It was a Jewish expectation for a Messiah that Jesus fulfilled. And from the very beginning it was controversial whether he did or not. But not "everything" points to it. Much of it points to the fact that worshiping God does not require a physical temple. A radical thought at the time. That being said, the Jewish expectation, which Matthew quotes in the beginning of his Gospel, does say that He Is from all eternity. There is no BC according to that prophesy (Micah 5):
ReplyDelete“But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Too little to be among the clans of Judah,
From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.
His goings forth are from long ago,
From the days of eternity.”
Deliciously, Micah combines future, present and past conjugations into one single eternal present tense.
Jodie Gallo
Los Angeles Ca
Thank you for your comment Toni. Some progressive leaders in the PCUSA, which I once belonged to, now I'm EPC, refused to use the BC/BCE/AD because they felt it was not diverse enough. That is just foolishness.
ReplyDelete