In the ongoing debate over the meaning of the OT, let me succinctly state my view: the central message of the OT is its Messianic vision. It is breathtakingly beautiful—because he is. May you see it, and may he capture your heart.

For over two millennia, the Old Testament has been a heavily contested text (Jer 8:8), and the heart of this debate concerns its witness to Christ (or “Messiah”) and the new covenant. Is the OT a document of the “old covenant,” focusing on the Sinai/Deuteronomic law? What then of its direct predictions of a “new covenant” (e.g., Jer 31:31-34) and of a suffering Messiah (Is 52:13-53:12)? As such, does the OT bear a coherent message with respect to Christ and the Sinai/Deuteronomic law? Modern scholarship often asks additional questions: does the OT bear direct prophetic witness to an eschatological Messiah, or is its message confined to its historical circumstances in the ancient near East? How much could (and did) the authors of the OT know about a coming Messiah?

Jesus, Paul, and Apollos on the OT’s Witness to Christ

Jesus himself was involved in this sometimes-heated controversy. Whereas Jews who rejected him often cited his (apparent) breaking of the OT Sabbath law as clear evidence that he was not the Messiah (John 9:16; cf. 5:16, 18; 7:21-23), Jesus boldly declared that these same (OT) “Scriptures … bear witness of me” (John 5:39) and that “Moses … wrote about me” (John 5:46). Taking it a step further, Jesus even declared that Moses, this great lawgiver-prophet to whom his opponents were so passionately devoted (John 9:28), would accuse them before the Father for misunderstanding and disbelieving his writings, i.e., the Pentateuch (John 5:45-47). Jesus was certainly aware that the Pentateuch gives extensive attention to the Sinai/Deuteronomic law (John 7:19), but the Pentateuch is more than its laws (e.g., Genesis). Indeed, Jesus holds readers accountable for recognizing the Pentateuch’s testimony to the Messiah (cf. Luke 24:25). Moreover, Jesus’ characterization of Moses as an accuser suggests that Jesus understood this prophetic Messianic testimony as a central part of the Pentateuch’s authorially intended message.[1]

Within this stream of interpretation authorized by Jesus himself, Paul in a Thessalonian synagogue “reasoned with them from the [OT] Scriptures, explaining and demonstrating that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, ‘This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ” (Acts 17:2-3). This passage implies that Paul was able to derive a Christology from the OT itself, even one that included the Messiah’s suffering, death, and resurrection (cf. 1 Cor 15:3-4). Jesus, he argued, fits the OT’s profile of the Messiah and so should receive the worship and allegiance of all the earth. When before Agrippa, Paul reiterated that Christ’s suffering and resurrection were “nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would happen” (Acts 26:22-23). Relatedly, Apollos “vigorously refuted the Jews in public, proving through the Scriptures Jesus to be the Christ” (Acts 18:28). Given Paul’s background as a Pharisee trained under the respected Gamaliel (Acts 5:34; 22:3; 23:6), both his previous understanding of the OT had been overhauled, and his new and improved way of understanding the OT had to (and did) stand up to verification and counterarguments. Indeed, the Berean Jews are commended in Acts 17:11 for “examining the Scriptures daily” to see if Paul’s preaching was in accordance with the OT. When these passages in Acts are viewed together with Luke 24:25-27, 44 (cf. 16:31), it seems that the author Luke himself also held to and emphasized the intrinsic Messianic meaning of the OT.

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