The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown (11 page)

The inclusion of the rest of the OT is directly related to the office of prophet that was central to the religious fidelity of Israel. The prophet's role was tied directly to the covenant relationship between Israel and God. The prophets were called not to be mere seers but to keep reminding Israel of her duties in the covenant. It is best to understand their role as “covenant enforcers.” What they speak is “the word of the Lord.” The call of Jeremiah makes this explicit: “Then the Lord reached out His hand, touched my mouth, and told me: Look, I have filled your mouth with My words” (Jer 1:9). Just as God commanded Moses to write down his words, so many of the writing prophets were enjoined to write down God's words (see Jer 36:28; Ezek 43:11; Hab 2:2). The recognition of an OT book as canonical also seems to be directly related to being written by one with the gift of prophecy.
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R. L. Harris stated, “It seems that prophecy was the only institution in Israel for imparting new revelation of God's Word.”
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These works were considered authoritative almost immediately. Daniel, for example, read and received the book of Jeremiah as “the word of the Lord” (Dan 9:2; see Ezra 1:1; 2 Chr 36:22).

The character of these writings is directly related to their source, that is, God. Two psalms are particularly explicit in their recognition of God's words in Scripture. Psalm 19
affirms the Scriptures to be “of the Lord.” Thus they are perfect and trustworthy (v. 7), right and pure (v. 8), and “reliable and altogether righteous” (v. 9). The longest chapter in the entire Bible, Psalm 119, is devoted in its entirety to the praise of the word of God. The psalmist describes the word as coming from God, and therefore as the “word of truth” (vv. 43,142) in its entirety (vv. 86,151,160) and as altogether righteous (v. 172). Since it is God who is speaking in various forms and through various prophets, there are some clear assumptions about the veracity and authority of these words. Since God cannot lie (Num 23:19; 1 Sam 15:29; Prov 8:8; Ps 89:35), his word is truth (see Jesus' similar affirmation in John 17:17). And since God never fails (Zeph 3:5), neither can his word.

Moreover, God's word, as delivered to the prophets, was inviolate. It was not to be edited.
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This was made explicit by Moses who stated, “You must not add anything to what I command you or take anything away from it, so that you may keep the commands of the Lord your God I am giving you” (Deut 4:2; see 12:32). What is more, the writer of Prov 30:5–6 extended the principle beyond the law to every word of God: “Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. Don't add to His words, or He will rebuke you, and you will be proved a liar.”

Thus, even though the OT books span a variety of genres, feature different rhetorical forms, and represent the work of different prophets, they all share as their major common element the divine source of their words. As Grudem stated, “The written words are seen as God's words in every way that direct speech by God and God's speech through the mouths of people are seen as God's words. The form of communication differs, but the character, authority, and truth status of the words do not.”
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To be sure, these general observations are of necessity preliminary since it is impossible for the OT to proclaim regarding itself in its entirety something that, by definition, had to await the completion of its entire corpus of writings.
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The NT looks back to the OT and registers some important affirmations regarding it and, by extension, regarding itself as well.

Jesus' Use of and Approach to OT Scripture

First, it is instructive to consider Jesus' affirmations regarding OT Scripture. According to Jesus and his contemporaries, the OT Scriptures were the authority from which doctrine and practice were to derive. Thus Jesus challenged his opponents to understand the Scriptures: “Have you never read in the Scriptures?” (Matt 21:42/Mark 12:10). Likewise, Jesus asserted that ignorance with regard to the OT Scriptures was the reason his opponents were wrong: “You are deceived, because you don't know the Scriptures or the power of God” (Matt 22:29// Mark 12:24). On another occasion Jesus judged a practical question—“Who is my neighbor?”—with an appeal to Scripture: “What is written in the law?…How do you read it?” (Luke 10:26). In John 5:39, Jesus observed that the Jews
“pore over the Scriptures because you think you have eternal life in them, yet they testify about Me.” A host of other Gospel citations describe the Word of God, the Scriptures, the Law, and the Prophets as the guide for life.
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It is clear that Jesus and his hearers considered the OT to be the Word of God and authoritative. To this may be added the fulfillment quotations in the Gospels—OT quotes introduced with a formula such as “this happened in order that the words spoken by the prophet were fulfilled,” occurring especially in Matthew and John—that presuppose that the readers had the highest regard for OT Scripture.
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Significantly, in the Gospel references there is no distinction between the human words of Scripture and the words of God. Men who spoke in the OT are described in the Gospels as God speaking. For example, Isaiah's words in Isa 7:14 are described by Matt 1:22 as “spoken by the Lord through the prophet,” which reveals that Scripture in its totality was considered to be the Word of God.
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But this was not just a belief of the Gospel writers; it was also the view of Jesus himself. Luke's account of the encounter on the road to Emmaus records Jesus' affirmation that the disciples should have been quick to believe what was written about Jesus in “all the Prophets” (Luke 24:27)
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A few verses later, the reference is to “all the Scriptures” and “the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms” (Luke 24:44).
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Not only were the OT Scriptures in their entirety the Word of God, but Jesus also affirmed their special nature. In John 10:35–36, Jesus countered the charge of blasphemy with an argument from the lesser to the greater: “If He called those whom the word of God came to ‘gods’—
and the Scripture cannot be broken
—do you say, ‘You are blaspheming,’ to the One the Father set apart and sent into the world, because I said: ‘I am the Son of God?’”
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The reminder that Scripture cannot be broken is a tacit acknowledgment of its status as the Word of God. Thus the argument is that Scripture cannot be charged with error or it would be broken—that is, rejected as the Word of God.

Jesus very succinctly said something similar in John 17:17: “Your word is truth.” But even here there may be a connection with new covenant documents. Thus when Jesus affirmed, “I have given them Your word” (17:14), he may have implied more than merely “I taught them the Bible.” In John's Gospel the statement is connected with the concept
of truth. Jesus, who is “the truth” (14:6), gives the “Spirit of truth” (14:17; 15:26; 16:13), who leads believers “into all the truth” (16: 13).
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And this truth is “Your [God's] word.” This indicated what would serve as the foundation for new covenant documents: Jesus' words as the words of God. While this implies a connection to the NT as Scripture, other passages clearly point to the revelatory status of Jesus' words. For example, the affirmation that Jesus spoke God's word lies at the heart of the pronouncement in John 3:33–34: “The one who has accepted His testimony has affirmed that God is true. For God sent Him, and He speaks God's words, since He gives the Spirit without measure.”

One of the most striking passages related to Jesus' use of and approach to OT Scripture is found in Matt 5:18, where Jesus affirmed that he would not destroy the law: “For I assure you: Until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or one stroke of a letter will pass from the law until all things are accomplished.”
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The appeal here is to the smallest letter (
iota
, in Hebrew the
yodh
) or one stroke (
keraia
, lit. “a horn,” most likely a tittle, an ornamental mark above a Hebrew letter, or a serif) being absolutely firm. Down to the minutest elements of an individual written word, Jesus affirmed the enduring authority of the OT.
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The similar statement in Matt 24:35 points to the equal status of Jesus' words: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.” In both verses Jesus affirmed the dissolution of heaven and earth and offered a declaration regarding the enduring nature of God's words: in the first, the pronouncement pertains to the OT Scriptures; in the second, to the words of Jesus. While the immediate context is the Olivet Discourse, the parallelism is too strong only to suggest that the affirmation is limited to this one speech. Jesus' words are the words of God on a par with the Law and the Prophets and thus equally permanent and authoritative.
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Jesus' own use of Scripture also paves the way for the NT. Jesus' stance toward Scripture was striking on two fronts. First, Jesus submitted himself to the Scriptures as any human being would. This can be seen in the account of Jesus' temptation by the devil (Matt 4:1–11; Luke 4:1–13). When faced with these various temptations, Jesus did not assert divine privilege but simply affirmed and obeyed the word of God. As Bengel stated long ago, “Jesus does not appeal to the Voice from heaven: He does not reply to the arguments of the Tempter: against those arguments He employs the Scripture alone, and simply cites its assertions.”
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At other places, Jesus claimed to be the fulfillment of Scripture, such as in his address at the synagogue in Nazareth (Luke 4:18–21). He used Scripture in his arguments with religious opponents (Matt 21:13; Mark 7:6) and employed it in his teaching (Mark 9:13) and in his description of himself (Mark 14:21, 27). At the same time, he
taught with unusual authority, not as one of the scribes (Matt 7:29; Mark 1:22). What was shocking to Jesus' hearers was that his interpretation was Christological in its focus. Jesus saw the entire contours of his ministry in the OT.
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He thus became the fulfillment of God's purposes for and promises to Israel.
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The Early Church's Use of and Approach to OT Scripture

Jesus passed on his approach to OT Scripture to his disciples.
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In this way Jesus' method of interpretation and teaching “provides the groundwork for Jesus' authentication of the New Testament.”
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Jesus himself promised his disciples that the Holy Spirit “will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you” (John 14:26). From John's perspective, writing in the 80s or early 90s, this promise most likely served also as an affirmation of at least his memories of Jesus' words (if not of the memories of all the apostles) recorded in the Gospel(s).

The apostles and their followers continued to use the OT Scriptures as Jesus did, namely, as their authority for life and doctrine.
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This can be seen in a variety of contexts, both in scriptural quotations and in explicit statements regarding the nature of Scripture. Scripture provides the dual warrant for the replacement of Judas (Acts 1:20). An OT citation helps adjudicate the issue of Gentile inclusion in the NT church at the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15:16–17). The Scriptures were the standard by which the Bereans judged Paul's claims concerning Christ (Acts 17:11). Key OT passages provide the basis for Paul's teaching in Romans regarding justification by faith (Rom 1:17; 4:3), the sinfulness of all humanity (Rom 3:10–18), and election (Rom 9:6–18). The same is true for other letters of Paul and the General Epistles.
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Peter saw a continuity between the OT and the word of the Lord that declared the gospel to his hearers (1 Pet 1:23–25).

The book of Revelation provides a fascinating and unique study in the use of the OT. It does not feature a single citation of an OT book by name. However, Revelation is replete with allusions and contextual references to the OT, which requires readers to be familiar with the OT. Clearly, the OT—particularly prophetic books such as Ezekiel or Daniel—is the key to unlocking the apocalyptic imagery found throughout the book.
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The apostles and NT writers, however, went beyond the mere affirmation and use of the OT. They continued to value the prophetic writings, but they also were deeply interested in the words of Christ. Acts 11:16 indicates that Peter confirmed direct Gentile Christian conversion because he remembered the “word of the Lord” (a reference to a saying of Jesus). Paul also cited an otherwise unwritten saying of Jesus (called an
agraphon
): “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). And he commanded the married—“not I, but the Lord” (1 Cor 7:10)—and later on passed on what he “received from the Lord,” namely, the institution of the Lord's Supper (1 Cor 11:23–24). The letter of James often echoes Jesus' teachings (see Jas 1:22 and Matt 7:24).

The NT writers also placed their remembrances of Jesus on a par with the OT.
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A case in point is the statement in 2 Pet 3:2 where Peter affirmed that he wrote “so that you can remember the words previously spoken by the holy prophets, and the commandment of our Lord and Savior given through your apostles.” That Paul had no direct word from the Lord in dealing with the unmarried (1 Cor 7:12) provides indirect evidence for the esteem of the words of Christ as authoritative. It is unclear whether Paul had in mind some sort of hierarchy, but he clearly expected his words on the matter to be obeyed as if they were the words of the Lord. Later in the book Paul made this explicit: “If anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual, he should recognize that what I write to you is the Lord's command. But if anyone ignores this, he will be ignored” (1 Cor 14:37–38).

The writer of Hebrews declared the continuity between God's revelation in the OT and the NT: “Long ago God spoke to the fathers by the prophets at different times and in different ways. In these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things and through whom He made the universe” (Heb 1:1–2). The communication of the word of God is continued in Heb 2:3: “It was first spoken by the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him.” The eyewitness nature of the apostles makes them the authoritative guarantors of the gospel message (see 1 John 1:1–5).
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Their message is the very word of God (1 Thess 2:13). What they speak—the gospel message—is also called “the word of God.”
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Clearly, Paul and the other apostles understood their mission and message to be from God with all that followed from this conviction.