The New Testament's Use of Old Testament Texts
Monday, September 23 Matthew 4:12-17; Isaiah 9:1-5
“This fulfilledwhat God said through Isaiah”
Johnthe Baptist had been the herald of Jesus the Messiah, announcing the coming ofthe King and his Kingdom. John’sfearless preaching and his ethical integrity in holding men and womenaccountable led to his arrest and imprisonment. The arrest of John, which led to his execution, focused the attention ofsociety upon Jesus, the new teacher of righteousness who emerged upon the scenein Galilee.
The main body of the Gospel begins in verse 17 as Jesus “from then onbegan to preach” the message of repentance and participation in the Kingdom ofGod. The final event of Jesus’preparation for ministry that Matthew finds significant enough to narrate ishis move from Nazareth to Capernaum as his Galilean residence. Matthew sees in this move an explicitfulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah. Zebulun and Naphtali were the Old Testament territories closest tofirst-century Galilee. Jesus is thelight drawing the people of those regions, including Gentiles as well as Jews.
You are the light of the world, Jesus,bringing me out of darkness. Amen.
Tuesday, September 24 Matthew 11:2-5; Isaiah 29:18-21, 35:5-7
“Tell John what youhave heard and seen”
It is natural for John to experience perplexity as he languishes inprison, much as had earlier prophets such as Elijah (e.g., 1 Kings 19:1-18)when their human experience did not fully correspond with God’s message throughthem. John rightly expected the Messiahto be a judging figure, so events are not unfolding as he anticipated. The divine judgment and time of messianicblessing do not seem to have arrived as he projected. Jesus is not carrying out judgment; rather, itlooks like he is concentrating on healing and helping. John needs to have his understanding of themessianic program reconfirmed.
Jesus reiterates to John’s disciples that the way his ministry hasunfolded is in line with the prophetic promises. In Jesus’ ministry are fulfilled prophecies thatdescribed the coming messianic ministry in these very terms: the blind receivesight (Isaiah 29:18; 35:5), the lame walk (Isaiah 35:6), the deaf hear (Isaiah29:18-19), the dead are raised (Isaiah 26:18-19), and the good news is preachedto the poor (Isaiah 61:1).
Your work, Jesus, gave evidence that youare the Messiah. Amen.
Wednesday, September 25 Acts 13:44-49; Isaiah 49:1-6
“A light to theGentiles”
Onthe Sabbath, Paul and Barnabas had shared the gospel of Jesus Christ in thesynagogue in Antioch. Their message wasso well received that they were asked to speak again the following week, and“almost the entire city turned out to hear them.” But some of the Jews became jealous, and theyopposed Paul’s message with abusive talk. Paul and Barnabas responded to this by stating what became a feature oftheir ministry and of Paul’s theology. They would preach to the Jews first, but if their response was unworthyof eternal life, they would go to the Gentiles.
The refusal of the Jews to believe serves as a reason for the apostlesto go to the Gentiles who are equally included in God’s purpose of salvation aslaid down in Scripture. The Lord hasgiven them his command, which they find in the words of Isaiah 49:6, to be alight to the Gentiles, bringing salvation to all the world. While Paul spoke with confidence on thisoccasion about his ministry to the Gentiles, this phenomenon of Jewish rejectionof the gospel hurt him deeply and inflamed his desire to yearn and pray fortheir salvation (Romans 9:1-3; 10:1).
I praise you,heavenly Father, that your salvation is for all people. Amen.
Thursday, September 26 Romans 9:30-33; Isaiah 28:14-19
“They stumbled over the stone”
While all whobelieve, whether Jew or Gentile, become part of the Kingdom of God, Jews andGentiles have arrived via different paths. The Gentiles had not been pursuing their own righteousness; ignorant ofGod’s promises and excluded from the covenant God made with the Jews, they hadno concept of right standing with God. But when God offered it to them in his grace and through the preachingof the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ, they responded in faith and soobtained it.
The Jews, on theother hand, had been pursuing their own righteousness through obedience to thelaw; they were the recipients of God’s promises and partners in a covenant withGod. Like a walker so intent on pursuinga certain goal that she stumbles and falls over a rock lying right in her path,so Israel, myopically concentrating on the law and its demands, missed Christ,“the stone” that God placed in her path. Instead of turning to Christ, most kept right on pursuing righteousnesswith God through the law.
Having put mytrust in you, Jesus, I have not stumbled over you. Amen.
Friday, September 27 1 Corinthians 15:51-57; Isaiah 25:6-8
“Death is swallowedup in victory”
Our mortal,earthly body, which is susceptible to death and decay, must be transformed intoan immortal, heavenly body which will never die nor experience decay, so thatwe may live eternally in heaven with God. This transformation will take place at the Second Coming of Christ. By citing Isaiah 25:8, Paul ties God’striumph over death to the resurrection of the body. For Paul, resurrection is necessary for us toreceive eternal life, a life that death cannot spoil for death itself has beendestroyed.
Paul celebratesGod’s final victory over death, both in the resurrection of Christ and in itsimplications for all humanity, by quoting Hosea 13:14. The rhetorical questions asked of death serveas a defiant sneer at death’s impotence in the face of God’s powerful act ofmercy and forgiveness in Christ. Death’sdominion over the whole earth has been ended, its “sting” drained of potency asit is no longer able to eternally separate us from God. While believers experience physical death, itno longer contains the poison that kills us spiritually.
I need not fear death, Lord, for it cannotseparate me from you. Amen.
Saturday, September 28 Hebrews 2:11-18; Psalm 22:22-24; Isaiah 8:16-18
“Jesus and we whoare made holy have the same Father”
When theauthor of Hebrews speaks of us as “sons,” he has specific reasons for doingso. The concept of sonship flows fromthe author’s view of Jesus as the Son, and of all who believe in the Sonof God being given the right to become themselves sons of God. The author uses “sons” to refer to the peopleof God, male and female, as God’s honored children. So when a female Christian reads that Jesusbrings “many sons to glory,” she should interpret the statement as meaning “Jesusbrings me to glory as an honored child of God.”
The term“brothers” is taken from the Old Testament text of Psalm 22:22. In ancient culture the image of brotherhoodspoke of the intimacy of relationship, shared experience, and loyalty. Thus, the image communicates a closeassociation between Jesus and those who have placed their faith in him. Jesus proclaims God’s name to all, male andfemale, who have come together in the name of the Father, for they worship togetherwith their “big brother” in the harmony of God’s love.
Iam your child, Father, for you have adopted me into your family. Amen.