Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament: A Book Review

Introduction

In contemporary times, many modern and postmodern Christian churches and denominations focus almost exclusively on deconstructing passages in the New Testament to reinforce the value of Jesus and his effect on Christianity. As such, there has been a dearth of emphasis on the Old Testament and its role in not only facilitating the New Testament, but also in influencing the life and position of Jesus as the Messiah. Christopher Wright, who holds a doctoral degree from Cambridge in Old Testament ethics and has authored a number of books related to the Old Testament's place in Christianity, has written another book that attempts to rectify this oversight. Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament focuses on the continuity between both testaments of the Bible to demonstrate their collective impact on Jesus. The Christ did not operate in a vacuum; to the contrary, he was part of a lengthy lineage of prophets and individuals with whom God established covenants to assert his will, his land, and his religion. The author attempts to emphasize the value of the Old Testament in influencing Jesus and Christianity as it is known today.

Summary of Wright's Argument

Wright's approach to proving this particular point is decidedly systematic. Approximately the first fifty pages of the book are devoted to contextualizing the Old Testament and establishing its preeminence as a source for the New Testament and Christianity. It was during the Old Testament era that the tradition which Christ would eventually continue was first established, most prominently with Abraham. Abraham was the first prophet whom God selected to give birth to the nation of Israel; it was also to Abraham that God promised to deliver many descendants, land, and prosperity. This particular covenant helped to set the stage for the rest of the covenants in the Old Testament, which included God's pacts with David and Noah, among others. Essentially, Wright establishes the fact that Jesus was part of a tradition of Old Testament figures favored by God, and uses this as the foundation for the book's central premise. It is also important to realize that in establishing this groundwork, Wright is emphasizing the commonalities between Israelites or Jews and Christians. The information about Abraham in particular reinforces the notion that the lineage of these two different religions is the same. In doing so, he is successfully able to convey the sentiment that the Old Testament does not apply simply to Jewish people, but to Christians as well.

In approximately the next fifty pages of the book, the author explains how, even though God established covenants with different representatives — Abraham, David, Jesus, and others — it was always the same covenant, simply using a new vehicle, or person, to further the same goal. This aspect of the book is vital to the author's argument, since it enables readers to understand that their belief in Jesus is simply an extension of the belief of others in Abraham. Whatever distinctions people may perceive between the Old and the New Testament, or between God's relationships with David, Abraham, and Jesus, are not ultimately important — all of these individuals helped to establish Christianity and, most importantly, the situations and circumstances that would result in the glory of God's son, Jesus. Wright explicates the fact that the birth and passion of Christ is the fulfillment of the original promise that God made to both Abraham and David — a key idea that emphasizes the continuity among these individuals, God's presence in the world, and the connection between the Old and the New Testaments.

In the remainder of the book, the author focuses on various facets of the life of Jesus that demonstrate just how integral the Old Testament was to his maturity and to his gaining the requisite knowledge and understanding of the divinity within him to fulfill his role as the savior of the world. This final portion of the book is perhaps the most convincing for Wright's premises, since he offers key passages in the Bible in which Jesus invokes and studies the Old Testament. Moreover, the wisdom Jesus attained from these books assisted him a great deal. The author widely implies that Jesus, in this way, was fulfilling the prophecies of the Old Testament by recognizing the divinity within himself and ascending as the righteous son of God.

Critical Interaction

It is quite clear that Wright is an evangelist of the Old Testament's importance. Such a characterization is not meant to belittle his points, but it certainly helps to elucidate them and give the reader the proper context for internalizing the book's content. Wright's entire premise is to underscore the fact that the Old Testament has value — value that is ultimately found in the New Testament, which serves as a completion of the groundwork initially laid in the Old Testament. In attempting to unify these two different sections of the Bible, he is also attempting to unify the various religious adherents of God from the Christian and Jewish faiths. He does so by stressing both that the Jewish religion widely discussed in the Old Testament was the precursor to Christianity, and that Jews and their religion were God's originally chosen people.

As such, virtually all of his major assertions are buttressed with Old Testament passages and events that he uses to champion his evangelism of this part of the Bible. Viewpoints supported by New Testament text largely pertain to Jesus's interaction with the Old Testament in the form of lessons and scriptures. When utilizing the former approach, Wright is perhaps at his best when he discusses the direct impact of the Old Testament on Jesus himself. It is pivotal to recall that during the life and times of Christ, the New Testament had not yet been written — a point which Wright notes on more than one occasion.¹ As such, Christ had no other textual or spiritual reference to study and incorporate into his life but the Old Testament. Acknowledging this reality is pivotal to supporting Wright's conviction, because it implies that if the wisdom and authority of the Old Testament was sufficient to guide Jesus, then it certainly should be applied to Christians in contemporary times.

The author buttresses this contention by referring to Christ's numerous quotations of scripture, both in times of peril and in times of peace. When tested by Satan, Jesus quoted scriptures that underscored his sense of reserve and steadfast faith and that served to rebuke the adversary's attempts. He also utilized many Old Testament passages in his ministry and teaching, which supports the notion that he was well versed in those books and that they played a substantial role in his life. The following quotation shows that Wright believes the Old Testament was critical to forming Christ's identity: "the Hebrew scriptures… he found a rich tapestry of figures, historical persons, prophetic pictures and symbols of worship. And in this tapestry, where others saw only a fragmented collection of various figures and hopes, Jesus saw his own face. His Hebrew Bible provided the shape of his own identity."²

Other strengths of the book include the critical element of continuity that the author establishes between the events and figures of the Old Testament and their culmination within Jesus himself. The author cites critical biblical texts to emphasize this point, including the passage: "And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring."³ Additionally, it is worth noting that these commendable aspects of Wright's work ultimately serve to justify his evangelism of the Old Testament — or rather his reason for championing it. That reason is the basic premise upon which the entire book stands: that the exploration of the Old Testament, its personalities, and its principles, are ultimately an exploration into the heart, motivation, and formation of Christ himself.⁴

Conclusion

There is a degree of validity in Wright's central premise: that the Old Testament played a crucial part in the development of Jesus, and that Christ was actually the culmination of covenants and traditions dating at least as far back as Abraham. One of the most profound aspects of the book is the fact that it traces the similarities between the Christian and the Hebrew faith, and actually leaves the reader wondering whether these two faiths will ever be fully reconciled and unified again. The book also prompts the reader to think about the commonality among all humans, regardless of religious faith. God's covenant with Abraham was inclusive of the majority of the people in the world — it seems as though there should be more unity among them.

Bibliography

Catherman, Bryan. "A Critical Review of Knowing Jesus Through The Old Testament by Christopher J.H. Wright." The Salty Believer. 2013.

Rydelnik, Michael. "What Does the Hebrew Bible Say About the Coming Messiah?" In The Apologetics Study Bible: Real Questions, Straight Answers, Stronger Faith, ed. Ted Cabal, 1351–1352. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2007.

Wright, Christopher J.H. Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1992.

End Notes

¹ Christopher J.H. Wright, Knowing Jesus Through The Old Testament (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1992), IX.

² Wright, Knowing Jesus, 108.

³ Galatians 3:29.

⁴ Wright, Knowing Jesus, IX.

⁵ Bryan Catherman, "A Critical Review of Knowing Jesus Through The Old Testament by Christopher J.H. Wright," The Salty Believer, 2013.

⁶ Michael Rydelnik, "What Does the Hebrew Bible Say About the Coming Messiah?," 1351.