“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 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. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:17-20).
Several years ago, at my present church, an older woman came forward during the invitation. (For those not familiar with evangelical worship, the invitation, also known as an altar call, is the part of the worship service that comes after the sermon. It is an opportunity for someone who has come under conviction of the Holy Spirit to come forward and seek prayer, make a confession, profess their faith or seek church membership.) She didn’t come forward for any particular reason other than she wanted to affirm our church and my ministry. I was appreciative of her words, but one thing she said interested me. She said she wished I preached more from the Old Testament.
I knew she had an interest in Old Testament Scripture. She had built a scale model of the Tabernacle and had made presentations about it to small groups. She had a passion for Israel. She was Christian woman who was fascinated by the Old Testament.
As she mentioned she wished I preached more from the Old Testament, my first thought was that our church was a New Testament church and that the New Testament spoke more to the needs of our church and our individual members.
But her question did raise an issue for me; namely, what is the proper relationship between the Christian and the Old Testament?
- Jesus and the Old Testament
Throughout His earthly ministry, Jesus was challenged on His interpretation of the Law and the Prophets, what we now call the Old Testament. Repeatedly, Jesus was questioned about various Mosaic laws and His interpretation of them.
At the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew 5-7, Jesus made the statement that opened this chapter. At first glance, it would seem that Jesus is teaching that we are to be observant of the Old Testament laws and customs. As we read on in the Sermon, though, it soon becomes apparent that Jesus is a strong advocate of the spirit of the law, not the letter of the law. Throughout the remainder of the Sermon, Jesus shows that God’s judgment isn’t on the actual law but on the attitude of the person. The Law says don’t kill; Jesus says don’t even get angry. The Law says don’t commit adultery; Jesus says don’t lust after someone. He addresses the issues of divorce, oath-taking, an eye-for-an-eye, prayer, fasting, money. The conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount is the Golden Rule: “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Laws and the Prophets” (Matthew 7:12).
In John 8:1-11, Jesus is confronted with the Mosaic Law concerning adultery. In a passage that is not found in earliest and most reliable manuscripts but is included in the Bible nonetheless, a woman is brought to Him because she has committed the sin of adultery. Leviticus 20:10 and Deuteronomy 22:22 are very explicit: the penalty for adultery is to death. Under the Law, she was to be stoned to death for her sin. Yet Jesus’ response was, “If any of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7). Her accusers eventually drifted away without throwing a stone. She was left standing alone in front of the only person who was worthy to throw a stone, but Jesus’ response was, “Neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin” (v.11). Jesus’ didn’t deny the sin; He denied the condemnation.
These are just two examples of Jesus’ way of fulfilling the Laws and the Prophets. His ministry was centered on the Old Testament command known as the Shema: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One. Love the Lord our God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength (cf. Deuteronomy 6:4-5). And the second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself (cf. Leviticus 19:18)” (Mark 12:29-31—the Old Testament cites added). While Jesus never disputed that there were numerous sins and duties listed in the Old Testament, He understood that the purpose of the Law and the Prophets was to bring people to God, and that the best way to do so was not to condemn, but through unconditional love.
- The Early Church and the Old Testament
The early Church began in Jerusalem and drew predominantly from the Jewish community. This community had spent their lifetimes learning and seeking to practice the Law and the Prophets. Their new-found relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ must have raised some questions, but for the most part little conflict.
The trouble came when Gentiles started to believe and became a part of the Church. To address the concerns of the growing Gentile population outside Israel, a council was held in Jerusalem (Acts 15:1-35). There were those in the council who wanted a strong adherence to the Old Testament. “Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, ‘The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the Law of Moses’.” (v. 5). Peter’s response was to testify about what he had experienced in Gentile conversion experiences, and concluded his remarks with, “Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, must as they were” (vs. 10-11). Finally, James, the brother of Jesus, reached this conclusion:
It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood” (vs. 19-21).
The remainder of the New Testament shows repeated attempts by Judaizers to convince new converts that the true Gospel is one of faith in Christ completed by obeying the Law. Paul’s letter to the Galatians is a strong rebuttal of that argument, as are John’s first letter and James’ letter. James 2:10 says, “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.”
- Today’s Church and the Old Testament
When I was a youth, the topic of capital punishment was raised in our Sunday School class. The teacher who raised the issue cited Exodus 21:12, 14: “Anyone who strikes a man and kills him shall surely be put to death. But if a man schemes and kills another man deliberately, take him away from My altar and put him to death.” This passage was used to argue that capital punishment should be a part of our penal system in Texas. Many Christian people in our state hold to this, citing this passage as the reason for it.
There is no question that murder was and is a capital offense under the Mosaic Law. But just as adultery was a capital offense, we need to interpret this passage through the filter of Christ’s love and compassion. Jesus was not willing to condemn the woman caught in adultery; it isn’t too far a reach to believe He would not be in favor of capital punishment.
Also, read the next few verses in Exodus and it becomes quickly apparent that capital punishment applies also to attacking one’s parents, kidnapping, and cursing one’s parents. There are other capital punishments found in the Old Testament that we no longer consider capital offenses in America. When was the last time someone suggested an adulterer should be executed?
I wonder if we might not consider James’ warning in James 2:10 to also remind us that if we are going to demand obedience to one of the Laws, then we better demand obedience to all of them. In light of Jesus’ examples and teachings, coupled with the letters of the New Testament, it seems that the fulfillment of the Old Testament is found in compassion of Christ and the grace of salvation.
Should we then ignore the Old Testament? I don’t think so. The passages of the Old Testament are filled with God’s relationship with His people, both corporately and individually, and we would do well to learn from these relationships. We would do well to study the Law to see how God defines what it means to be holy, but not as a means of condemning others for their sins.
The Old Testament is also useful for helping us to see how God wants us to live in a society. The laws given to Moses were to assist a people to establish a nation, a theocracy under God’s guidance. While the United States is not a theocracy and shall never be one, there are lessons we can learn from God’s instructions regarding living in society.
There are also good lessons on how to live in community with other people. We find instructions on lending, on love, on grace, on corporate and individual responsibility and expectations. The Old Testament shows us how to respect each other, how to value each other.
We learn how to praise God through the Psalms; we find great wisdom in Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon. The Minor Prophets warn us about turning away from God and the dangers that such rebellion entails. There is much that we can learn from the Old Testament, and Christians today would be foolish to completely ignore it.
CONCLUSION
Jesus came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. His assurance is that it will last, in all its glory, for the life of this world. For this reason, we honor and learn from the Old Testament.
But we need always also remember that we as Christians are people of grace, not law, and that we are to follow the example of the One Who redeemed us through His sacrifice. We are to embrace the command to love one another as Christ loved us (cf. John 13:34-35) and that we are to live out the Golden Rule with the guidance and strength given us through His Holy Spirit. We are a New Testament people who can learn from the Old, but not to be dictated to by it.
© 2017 Glynn Beaty