Grateful Discipleship: Old Testament Reflections

I often hear two comments from many church goers about the place and value of the Old Testament in their prayer lives. The first is, “I do not read it, and I do not need it because I have the New Testament.” The second is, “I do not understand the Old Testament stories.”

One of the reasons to read the Old Testament is that Jesus of Nazareth read it and he was formed by it. He read the Hebrew Scriptures, which was the story of God’s life with the Israelites. If we are to be like Jesus, then we must understand who he was, how he formed his identity, and how he saw his place in history. Jesus was above all a devoted Jew who followed the Torah and prayed according to the Jewish tradition. Many of the rites and customs we celebrate in the church today have their origins within the Jewish expression of faith. I want to read because I want to know what Jesus of Nazareth read. I want to know what it meant for him to follow God’s command within the faith tradition of his youth.

The Old Testament contains different parts and different forms of prayer. Let’s take a look at the first section: The Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, speak about the God of Creation. God gave us a model for speaking for when God speaks, God creates. Therefore, when we speak, our words must build up and create new possibilities for relationships. The Pentateuch is also about God’s gift of the Law and the covenant. The Torah writes about the right relations we need with God and with our neighbors.

Jesus fulfills and perfects the Torah, and therefore, it is important for us to know what he read and how he interpreted it. He told his followers that in him the Law was fulfilled because he adhered to God’s will for the Torah uniquely. He summed up the entire Torah by saying, “Love your God with all your heart, with all your strength, and with all your soul,” and “love your neighbor as you love yourself.” Loving our neighbors well and being in right relationship with them shows that we love God as God intends.

The historical books relay to us the story of humanity’s creation in God’s image, the fall from grace, the effects of unreconciled actions, and the deconstruction spiral caused by human will and freedom. It contains the great stories of Noah and the flood, the Tower of Babel, the faithfulness of Abraham, the stories of Isaac and his son, Jacob (Israel), and the Hebrew’s survival in Egypt. The great story of deliverance lead by Moses, Aaron, and Joshua brings the people out of slavery, into the desert wilderness, and finally to the land of milk and honey.

The people of Israel construct a nation, first led by judges and prophets, and eventually by King David, who made the nation into a powerful force. The Temple gave the Ark of the Covenant a home and the Torah was kept as the people’s most prized possessions. When the kingdom dissolved, it eventually was conquered by the Babylonians (Iraq) who demolished the religious traditions, customs, and practices of the people as they were being assimilated into the Babylonian nation. The prophet Isaiah writes about the time in the not-too-distant future when Israel will return to her land and the Temple will be restored. All nations will come to worship the God of Israel. With a restored nation, the people look toward the Day of the Lord when the Messiah comes to restore the people to God in the time of Judgment. Keeping the Torah was essential to hasten that propitious day.

The Hebrew Scriptures also contain fine literary pieces. It reminds us of the primacy of praise because we owe our lives to God, and it is only right that our first response is one of thanks. Prayers of Lament punctuate the Old Testament to help the people cope with the struggles and suffering of the people who are given the responsibility to be the models of faith for the world. Salvation is promised through the Jewish response to God. The Psalms give us the whole range of human emotions so that we know we can present to God any complex emotion we are experiencing.

The Old Testament provides us with a rich blend of Wisdom literature that teaches a disciple how to live in right relations with God and neighbor. Prophets, sages, and wisdom figures, like Solomon, teach us how we are to experience God in daily life. It reminds us that life with God is in the “here and now” and that our actions and words matter. The Book of Job teaches us how to deal with the question that affects every religion: If God is good and all-powerful, then why does God permit suffering, especially of the just and the innocent.

Throughout all the teachings, the authors want us to experience God as kind, merciful, slow to anger, and rich in understanding. Jesus knew this well and made it the foundation of his teachings.

Mostly, we are saved because of the obedience Jesus had to God. Jesus learned obedience through his daily reading of Scripture, his time spent in prayer, learning from his parents and community, and discerning how to honor the Torah in his decision making. As Christians, we are called to be like Jesus. By reading the Old Testament, we begin to understand how God was speaking to him.

It is important for us today to learn about our Judeo-Christian tradition. We must learn our history. We become Grateful Disciples when we expand our consciousness by studying, praying, and meditating. We learn much about God, The Spirit, and Jesus when we give our time to devotional reading of Sacred Scripture. We will know better the mind of Jesus as we are filled with greater knowledge of the Lord.