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The teachings of Jesus are found only in the New Testament. The words He spoke during His earthly minisry are found
almost exclusively in the Gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. There is a little more in the book of Acts.
We cannot pretend that the Old Testament is not important just because we're learning from the Master in the New Testament, however.
In fact, to understand the Master, we must understand the Jewish Scriptures that dominated His thoughts and understanding.
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Jesus, a Jew Teaching Jews
The Old Testament is more than
just an ancient collection of great stories of giants and a large fish, an ark and the Plagues. It is also the
only revelation of God's expectations for humanity before Jesus comes along. It is in the Old Testament we learn what
God wants and doesn't want from His people. It is here we see that life is precious, truthfulness is necessary,
what fairness looks like, etc. And, of course, it also contains the promises and prophecies about the coming of the
Teacher/Savior/Lord - Jesus Christ.
When Jesus was twelve years old, He was left behind in the temple at Jerusalem
for three days while His family headed back home. While there, He was "in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers,
asking them questions" (Luke 2:46). Even as a child, Jesus was soaking up the truths of the Old Testament and shaping
His view of God and the world through them.
The Old Testament Fulfilled
Jesus didn't just learn from the
Old Testament; He fulfilled it. What does that mean? It means He completed it. He did this in a few ways:
1. Jesus fulfilled many of the prophecies about the coming Messiah (He'll fullfill the rest in the
future).
"We are going to Jerusalem,
and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled..." Luke 18:31
"And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what
was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself." Luke 24:27
"Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law
of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms." Luke 24:44
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When Jesus began to preach and teach about the kingdom of God, He did it through the
lense of the Old Testament also. This is why He quotes the Law, the Prophets and Psalms so often. He was a Jew
teaching Jews.
Because of these things, we have to come to Jesus' teachings with some respect for and
knoweldge of the Old Testament Law and prophecies. Without these, we'll be very easily confused or misled about the
meaning of the Master's teachings.
For this reason, I will be drawing a lot of connections between the teachings and
prophecies of the Old Testament to the things Jesus teaches us. It's really the only way to understand HIm properly.
You, as a student of the Master, must be prepared to dive deep into the Old Testament as well. Don't ignore the connections
- they must be understood to understand where the Master is coming from.
2. Jesus lived up to the demands of God's ethical and ceremonial laws. Only Jesus has perfectly
followed God's commands, and so He completely fulfilled the Old Testament's picture of the righteous person. In fact,
in teaching the people Jesus was careful to clarify what the Old Testament's laws and commandments really meant - which is
one of the great themes of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7).
"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." Matthew 5:17
We must not lose sight of the link between Jesus and the Old Testament; we
need to be concerned with all of God's revelation to mankind.
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"A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained
will be like his teacher." Luke 6:40
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