“The Whole Old Testament is About Jesus”
Book Review By David P. Craig
There is currently a resurgence of interest on books on Jesus in the Old Testament. Many of these books are very scholarly and technical. Duguid’s primer is a welcome addition to this mix. He writes for the novice, or lay person with relation to how rightly interpreted, the whole Old Testament focuses on and prepares us for Christ’s sufferings and glories that will follow in the gospel.
Duguid points out first of all that the Gospel is the center of the Bible and as such three important implications result from this fact:
(1) This means that the gospel (the good news about Jesus’ death and resurrection is not merely the starting point of the Christian life from which move on, but that it is the very heartbeat of our lives as Christians – the central focus to which we must return again and again.
(2) Being gospel focused helps us realize that our sanctification is rooted in, and flows out of our justification. The gap in our understanding of Scriptures isn’t so much in our knowledge, but in our lack of obedience due to a faulty dichotomy of segregating the law from the gospel (i.e. “moralism”).
(3) Duguid writes, “Our aim in studying the Scriptures (both OT and NT) is not merely to know more ancient history or to learn useful life principles, but rather to be brought to see in a new way the glory of God in Jesus Christ and to bow our hearts before him in adoration and praise.”
Dr. Duguid goes on to give examples of several wrong ways we read the Old Testament and how this can be remedied by viewing each passage through the lens of the overall plan of God which is completely fulfilled by Jesus in the New Testament. One of the ways we can do this is by asking the some of the following questions of an Old Testament passage:
“How does this event our story advance God’s program and point us to the great work that God is accomplishing in this world, which is the work of salvation through the gospel?”
“How does this passage show us the sufferings of Christ and the glories that follow? For example, does it uncover the sins for which Christ had to come and die?”
“How does it demand our demonstrate the righteous behavior that Jesus came to perform in our place?
“How does this gospel then teach us to live in light of this specific portion of God’s Word, out of gratitude fro what God has done?”
In the bulk of Duguid’s book he gives us a history of the Old Testament and demonstrates how its incompleteness, and thus fulfillment can only be met in the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He cogently demonstrates how all of history is the story of God carrying out his grand plan in this world for the redemption of his people in Christ. Jesus applies all of Israel’s history in the Old Testament to himself (Matt. 12:3). As a prophet, Jesus authoritatively declares God’s word to his listener’s (Matt. 5:27). As the archetypal wise man, Jesus embodies wisdom in human form (Matt. 6:28, Luke 2:40; Col. 2:3). In other words, as the Old Testament consists of law, history, and wisdom books – Jesus fulfills in himself all three divisions of the Old Testament: he is the ultimate sacred historian, prophet, and wise man. All the prophets, kings, and priests point to Him.
Duguid masterfully tells the story of redemption from the Old Testament and how it’s fulfilled in Christ in three primary ways: (1) Jesus comes first of all as the new Adam (Rom. 5:18-19; 1 Cor. 15:22); (2) Jesus is also the true son of Abraham (Matt. 1:1; 2:15); (3) Jesus is the new David (Acts 13:22). In talking about Jesus’ roles as Priest, Prophet, and King – Duguid writes, “The ministry of Christ in his suffering and resurrection is thus the central focus of the whole Old Testament: he is the one toward whom the whole Old Testament is constantly moving, the one for whom as well by whom it exists…the Old Testament shows us repeatedly why no one and nothing other than God himself in human form could possibly be the answer to our deepest need and provide deliverance from our sins.”
I highly recommend this book as an excellent primer that will give you the big picture of the Bible as the gospel is threaded from Genesis to Revelation making a continual bee line to Christ’s glorious Person and work for our redemption and restoration.
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