What is Christ’s relationship with the OT? Berkouwer writes,
“Christ himself declares that the Old Testament scriptures “are they which bear witness of me” (John 5:39). The Old Testament to him was not a book of significance to the Jews only but a book having direct bearing on him and his work. This point of view he applied concretely when, after the Resurrection, he was in conversation with the two men on the road to Emmaus about the central cause of their extreme depression. He ascribed it not to a misunderstanding of, but to their unbelief toward, the Old Testament prophecies: O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Behooved it not the Christ to suffer these things, and to enter into his glory? (Luke 24:25–27) And although we do not know the details of the instruction which then followed, we do hear of a program: “And beginning from Moses and from all the prophets he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.” (Berkouwer, Studies in Dogmatics: The Person of Christ)
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Luke is a pastor-theologian living in northern California, serving as a co-lead pastor with his life, Dawn, at the Red Bluff Vineyard. Father of five amazing kids, when Luke isn’t hanging with his family, reading or writing theology, he moonlights as a fly fishing guide for Confluence Outfitters. He blogs regularly at LukeGeraty.com and regularly contributes to his YouTube channel.
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