CYPRESSWOOD CHURCH OF CHRIST
April 11, 2004
PLEASE PRAY FOR:
Our congregation David and Leon in the Navy
Our college students Our nation, military and leaders
Various friends, relatives and co-workers The Stolte’s in Germany
Yevette’s mother has acute leukemia and her dad
is having open heart surgery soon
EVENTS:
May 6 - National Day of Prayer
May 9 - Mother’s day pot luck
June 6-12 - Encounter
THE BIBLE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH
“But I have had God’s help to this very day, and so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen” (Acts 26:22).
We have been blessed to have the entire Bible to use and study. But that hasn’t always been the case. When Peter began to preach the good news on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2), what scriptures were available to the Jewish Christian? What did the church use during this time? What scriptures did the noble Bereans search (Acts 17:11)? What scriptures did the Apostles use in the Gentile world? And if we are going to follow the example of New Testament Christians, should we not be studying those same scriptures as well?
The evidence is clear. The scriptures of the first century church was the Hebrew Bible or what we call the Old Testament. Hopefully this will make us think about our studies. I knew an elder who had his entire New Testament marked with notes, with the exception of Revelation, but considered the Old irrelevant. Why? We are New Testament Christians. Let’s take a closer look at this. It would take sixty years or so before all the New Testament was written and another three hundred years before the twenty seven books would finally be accepted as God breathed scripture (see 2 Timothy 3:16-17). The church needed something to examine during this period of time, and we need to examine those same scriptures today is as important.
Almost all of the New Testament books make use of the Old either by direct quotations or indirect references. In my opinion, Matthew, Mark and Luke were the earliest to be written, probably before 50 AD (following John A.T. Robinson and Gordon Wenham). Matthew was written to Jewish Christians, Mark and Luke to Gentile Christians. Luke is clear on his purpose: to write carefully about what they had been instructed (Luke 1:1-4). It appears that Luke wrote his gospel and after that began to research the continuing work of Jesus (Acts 1:1), eventually working with Paul in his Gentile mission work. They probably came in contact in the early 50s. The book of Acts ends around 62 AD with Paul in prison in Rome. It could be that Luke’s gospel was the basis for the Gentile churches knowing about Jesus Christ, along with Mark’s gospel.
With all the references to the Hebrew Bible, the Gentile churches needed more scripture, and that was available in the form of the Greek Old Testament translation known as the Septuagint. When Paul preached in Asia Minor (modern Turkey), he came into contact with Jews, proselytes and God-fearing Gentiles. It isn’t surprising that he expounded on Jesus by using the Hebrew scriptures (see Acts 13:17-41). As the message spread, the likelihood of Gentiles being familiar with the Hebrew faded, so the Septuagint became the reference point for Christians. When we read Paul’s letters we see him making points, quotes, illustrations and allegories from the Old Testament. Consider Paul’s use of Hagar and Sarah in Galatians 4. He connects baptism to the Moses and the Red Sea and then told the Corinthians that what was written about the Wilderness is a warning for them (1 Corinthians 10:1-12). To the Romans he quotes from the Old (chapter 3), uses Abraham (4), the Law (7), refers to God’s connection to the Jews (9-11), and then states that what was written before was for instruction and hope (Romans 15:4). The Bereans had scripture to refer to (Acts 17:11). With all of this, the point is clear that the Gentiles churches were being taught from the Hebrew Bible or its Greek translation.
The Gospel of Matthew was written to Jewish Christians so they would have understood and would be familiar with the Old. Hebrews, James, 1st and 2nd Peter as well as 1st and 2nd Timothy were written to Jewish believers, some with Gentile concerns, using extensive use of the Old. No surprise there. Yet a background to the Hebrew scriptures is important in understanding these books today.
John’s Gospel and letters appear to be the last written, I believe after 70 AD. He was addressing a situation (gnosticism) that was beginning in his day. By this time there were strong churches in many areas. The book of Revelation cannot be understood without one being familiar with the Old Testament, for it has many references to it and follows Jewish apocalyptic literature.
In my experience, and because of our slogan theology, we tend to think that one can look at the Old briefly but that we really need to spend time in Acts and the letters because we are New Testament Christians. If we were consistent, we would see the importance of spending time in the Old. I’m happy to report that this is changing. More scholars and preachers in churches of Christ are seeing the importance of Old Testament study. There is so much that we can add to our understanding of God, suffering, punishment, grace, and many other ideas by studying the scripture of the New Testament church. When Paul defended himself before the Romans and Jews, he said that he taught nothing but what Moses and the prophets taught (Acts 26:22-23). If it was important enough for Paul, it should be for us as well. Jesus opened the minds of His disciples and caused them to understand scripture (Luke 24:27, 45). I am thankful that we take the time to understand the Old as well as the New and that you allow me to preach from the Old without criticism of doing such. That has not always been the case in some places.
May God bless us in searching the scriptures.
George B. Mearns