Jesus had an uncanny knack of asking penetrating questions. Here’s one of them, admittedly it is more open-ended than most, but it still gets to the core of things: Luke 10:26 “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” How do we read the OT?
As we have gone through this series in Numbers, which we will conclude today, we have read the OT in a number of ways:
- We have noticed a theme from the passage and linked it to an overarching biblical theme, e.g.; pilgrimage.
- We have read a whole chapter and gleaned the message from the passage as it applies to us, e.g.; complaining.
- We have sought to see how the passage finds its fulfilment in Jesus, e.g.; family criticism against the prophet.
- We have noticed structural patterns and thematic patterns that highlight the message of the gospel, e.g.; how the role of the intercessor is used by God to deal mercifully with his people.
- We have employed the apostles’ perspective and read OT passages with NT eyes, e.g.; spiritual sources of rebellion.
So how do we read the OT? Holistically, Christ-centred, apostle-tutored, gospel-focussed, spiritually discerning, and open-hearted. That’s got to be a good start!
Pastor Paul
