The use of the Old Testament in the gospel or the
interpretation of the Scripture is often said to reflect a common promise
fulfillment theme. What the Old Testament promises to have been fulfill in Christ.
The gospel writers believed those promises to have been fulfilled in Christ.
The gospel reflects the situation in which the Pharisees
were dominant and it is well known that Jesus was severely critical for them.
What is perhaps more severe is that his criticism centered on question of
biblical interpretation to which he provided a unique and most unsettling
answer.
Jesus agreed with his contemporary that the “torah” was the
word of God in its fullest sense of the term. And its authority was foundation
for its own teaching but at the same time he re-interpreted the scriptural
texts in numbers of ways.
First of all he exalted Abraham and his faith as a
model for true religion of Israel. Secondly, Jesus declared that He was
superior even to Abraham who had actually known him and who had actually
awaited his future coming. Thus, the whole of Israelite religion was a looking
forward to the revelation of God Jesus Himself. The Pharisees failed to see
this because they were so focused in the legalistic detail of the Torah.
Furthermore, His use of
term such as “Son of Man”, “Servant of the Lord” etc. to refer to Himself and in
his ministry all point to Pesher type of interpretation. Its uniqueness lies in
the fact that Jesus offered Himself as comprehensive and the only key to understanding
the scripture.
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