06 September 2011

Jesus and the Old Testament

Chris Wright:
The New Testament delights to portray Jesus as the one in whom the reality of the scripture promises is found, even in surprising ways. . . .

It was only as the church reflected on their experience of Jesus in the light of the resurrection that they came to see, as Paul put it, that 'all the promises of God are Yes in Christ.' He was the singular seed of Abraham, through whom that seed would become universal and multi-national. He was the one in whom all nations would be blessed. . . . He was the passover lamb protecting God's people from his wrath. His death and resurrection had achieved a new exodus. He was the mediator of a new covenant. His sacrificial death and risen life fulfilled and surpassed all that were signified in the tabernacle, the sacrifices and the priesthood. He was the temple not made with human hands, indeed he was Mount Zion itself, as the focus of the name and presence of God.

He was the son of David, but his Messianic kingship was concealed behind the basin and towel of servanthood and the necessity of obedience unto death.
--Christopher J. H. Wright, Knowing Jesus through the Old Testament (IVP, 1995), 74-75

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