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<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cJesus quotes the Old Testament, therefore he affirms everything in it.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
How many of you have heard a statement like this? I know I have. Multiple times by multiple Christians. The problem here is that it\u2019s illogical, and thus, meaningless. It may be true, or it may not be, but the burden of proof is on the one saying it, and frankly, those who think like this don\u2019t have any proof to back them up. In fact, it\u2019s quite the opposite; there are many instances where Jesus tinkers with the Old Testament.<\/p>\n
Now, before I show you where and how this happens, allow me to make a disclaimer: Jesus is well within his rabbinical right to do this. Judaism, for the most part, isn\u2019t like modern evangelicalism. In the rabbinic tradition \u2013 the tradition Jesus hails from \u2013 you\u2019re allowed to be creative. You\u2019re allowed to be flexible. The first reason is that in this tradition, you don\u2019t just have the \u201cwritten Torah.\u201d You also have the \u201coral Torah,\u201d which wasn\u2019t allowed to be written down out of fear of it becoming rigid and static. Of course, even the oral Torah can be used to create static and rigid laws, but that\u2019s to miss the spirit behind the tradition, which brings me to my second point. For Jesus, Scripture isn\u2019t just something that is either written down in \u201cthe Bible\u201d or passed down orally from the rabbis before him, it\u2019s what the spirit behind the words point to. In other words, what\u2019s the deeper truth<\/em> behind the text?<\/p>\n
Case in point: The message on murder. In the traditional application of Moses\u2019 command, there were limitations. \u201cYou shall not kill\u201d was often taken literally and at face value, but that rendering misses the point entirely. Jesus fleshes this out and gets to the heart of the matter in Matthew 5 when he says that anyone who harbors anger in their heart is already guilty. In other words, Jesus moves us past the act of killing to the heart of the problem.<\/p>\n
In other instances, Jesus gets even more creative. Moving further along in Matthew 5, we should notice that there is a certain theological claim about how God doles out blessings and curses. Verse 45 includes the phrase, \u201che makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.\u201d This is how the writer describes God\u2019s \u201cperfection\u201d (verse 48). The problem here is that this is not what Deuteronomy 28 says. In the theology of Deuteronomy 28, God sends rain only to the righteous, but dust to the wicked. That is to say, those who are righteous are blessed with rain for their crops but those who are wicked are cursed with dust, and anyone who has ever gardened knows what happens next: Your plants die.<\/p>\n
Again, it\u2019s not enough to say Jesus \u201cagrees\u201d or \u201cdisagrees\u201d with Scripture. He\u2019s simply drawing out the deeper meaning in the text. Deuteronomy 28 got us so far, and Jesus, being the creative rabbi that he was, takes us further along in the interpretive journey.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s where the exciting part comes in, and why I still value the Bible: Deuteronomy 28, while limited, got us really far along in the journey. If we look at the broader context of the Ancient Near East, having a God who blesses anything<\/em> is a move in the right direction. If you\u2019re familiar with something like the Babylonian creation narrative, you\u2019ll know that human beings weren\u2019t blessed at all. In fact, humans were created by the gods as afterthoughts whose only function was indentured servitude. In other words, humans weren\u2019t made in the image and likeness of God (like the text from Genesis 1 says), but were made to be slaves. We weren\u2019t blessed at all, but cursed from the beginning.<\/p>\n
Now, does that mean we should stop there and think, \u201cthis move was good enough?\u201d No. Like much of Scripture, we have to keep going. We have to keep digging deeper and deeper.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s something Jesus does in his very first \u201csermon\u201d in Luke 4. It\u2019s as if Jesus is trying to make a big splash with the people, and he\u2019s going to use his \u201cBible\u201d to do it. He\u2019s handed the scroll, and opens right up to Isaiah 61. His Jewish brothers and sisters, being that they were under Rome\u2019s oppressive thumb, know right where Jesus is going. He reads:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe spirit of the Lord\u00a0God<\/span>\u00a0is upon me,<\/span><\/span><\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>because the\u00a0Lord<\/span>\u00a0has anointed me;<\/span><\/span><\/em>
\nhe has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,<\/span><\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>to bind up the brokenhearted,<\/span><\/span><\/em>
\nto proclaim liberty to the captives,<\/span><\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>and release to the prisoners;<\/span><\/span><\/em>
\nto proclaim the year of the\u00a0Lord<\/span>\u2019s favor,<\/span><\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>and the day of vengeance of our God;\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\nSermon finished, right!? We are oppressed and God\u2019s vengeance is going to come down like a nuke from heaven and lay waste to Caesar and all his minions!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
Well, not exactly. Jesus doesn\u2019t read that last part. It actually goes like this:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Spirit of the Lord is upon me,<\/span><\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>because he has anointed me<\/span><\/span><\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>to bring good news to the poor.<\/span><\/span><\/em>
\nHe has sent me to proclaim release to the captives<\/span><\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>and recovery of sight to the blind,<\/span><\/span><\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>to let the oppressed go free,<\/span><\/span><\/em>
\nto proclaim the year of the Lord\u2019s favor.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\nJesus then rolls up the scroll and says \u201ctoday, this Scripture has been fulfilled.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wait! What is going on here?<\/p>\n
Again, Jesus is drawing out the deeper truth in the text. Isaiah believes a day of jubilee is coming, and naturally thinks that the only way that is going to happen is through force. There will be a violent uprising and vengeance is coming down like the Thor\u2019s hammer. Jesus, however, believing that Isaiah was on the right track, uses his popular text and \u201cupdates\u201d it based on his own understanding of \u201cdeliverance.\u201d People were expecting a roaring lion, but Jesus was going to deliver his people by being a lamb.<\/p>\n
Now, I could go on and on, including many more references where Jesus takes a creative approach to biblical interpretation. The point being: Don\u2019t be lazy and think that just because Jesus quotes something, he interprets it in the same way as the original author. Further, don\u2019t just assume that he interprets it in the same way as you. It\u2019s likely he doesn\u2019t. We have to dig deeper and see where things differ, perhaps even more than where they are the same.<\/p>\n
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