Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament (Knowing God Through the Old Testament Set)

I have to say this book was very well written. I know how cliche it is to say I couldn't put it down. A perspective very interesting and captivating.

Christopher Wright does an excellent job rooting Jesus in his Old Testament context and demonstrating how the early church saw him in that light. The work itself is fairly accessible, it doesn't rely on previous engagement with the ideas contained within but is informative enough that unless you've spent considerable time parsing through all the intricacies of the Old Testament implications in the new you'll find some great new information. I'll talk briefly about what I considered to be the strongest chapters in the book.Wright's discussion of the Old Testament identity of Christ is powerful and helpful in many ways. Wright asks a poignant question at the beginning of the chapter, simply writing, "But who was Jesus?" (109). A simple question with vast implications. He anchors Jesus in his identity as God's son by referencing Psalm 2:7 and its tie to the Davidic line and its later messianic readings and by anchoring him as the promised son, as an anti-type to Isaac, who was Abraham's promised son (112). Wright goes onto talk about typology and how it should be understood before branching out more widely to discuss what a Father-Son dynamic would have looked like in Israelite culture and later Jewish interpretation. In general, this is a powerful chapter for understanding the context of the dynamic between Jesus and his Father, but more specifically, it gives some highlights for how we can understand Jesus' mission and what it means to be a member of God's family.The ethics and values of Jesus are based in his reading and understanding of the Hebrew Bible. Wright at one point writes, "In short, to 'love your neighbor as yourself' (Lev. 19:18, 34) is not a revolutionary new love ethic invented by Jesus. It was the fundamental ethical demand of Old testament holiness, which Jesus reaffirmed and sharpened in some cases." (202). Here Wright lays out how the Old Testament's seemingly harsh laws for holiness should be understood and how they deeply influenced Jesus. One cannot say, "I love the loving message of Jesus but hate the harshness of the Old Testament." That sentence is incompatible, as all of Jesus' message has its root in the Old Testament. The Old Testament when properly understood is shown to be heavily concerned with the question of justice and love, far and above that of perceived religiosity and self-righteousness.

Over the last few years my eyes have been opened to the parallels between the books of Exodus and Matthew. As my Old Testament knowledge increases the richness and depth of the New Testament becomes that more alive in my life and teachings. Christopher Wright, does an excellent job in this book showing how Israel and Jesus were both to be blessings to the nations. Through each of them, God's grace to mankind is given. "As the Messiah of Israel he could be the Savior of the world." As a pastor I will be doing some self-examining in order to ask, "how much of a blessing my life and our congregation is to our community, county, state, and to the ends of the earth"? I will most definitely be reading much more of Christopher Wright!

I like how the book directs us to see Jesus in the OT, because that is how the early church did it. Their Scriptures were the OT / TaNaKh. The early church saw Jesus pictured in the OT stories. Thus, as you see these Jesus Pictures in the Bible, you can begin to know and discover what the early church did as in Luke 24.

What a good read! Some knowledge of Old and New Testament is required. This is richly rewarded by Professor Wight's friendly, knowledgeable and methodical connection of OT themes with Jesus the messiah. It was a religious experience reading this book.The bonus is each chapter has a review and application questions for in depth study either as a group or serious self-study.

Wright does a great job of exploring the topic coming at it from an unusual approach. He takes the Gospel of Matthew as a starting point to look back at the Old Testament and what it teaches about Jesus. Although he does touch on some of the more familiar Messianic passages of the Old Testament, they are not the primary focus of his study. A lot of thought provoking insights into the Old Testament, the person of Jesus and our faith. I found the next to last chapter to be the most profound of the book. It is not a book to just pick up and read through in a few sittings. It requires a great deal of thought to process the information and implications of what is presented.

This book is not boring at all and does a great job connecting Jesus to the old testament. I like the history and how Israel kept walking away from God.

Chris Wright improved on an already great book on the Old Testament. His deep insights and ability to extract inspiring hope and wise cautions from the testament that is often accused of portraying a schizophrenic God who is cruel and arbitrary. Nothing could be farther from the truth and his treatment of the "easy believism" of the Old Testament Jewish believers that got them in trouble resulting in an 80 year exile should be well taken by modern Christian believers who don't understand that God expects us to live as "signs" of his grace confirming the faith we say we have.

An excellent overview of the OT and how it's teaching was brought to life by Jesus, the One it points towards. An excellent book for new Christians who want to get a handle on the Old Testament. I bought it years ago but am enjoying using it again with the updated study guide.

Thought provoking but also worship provoking. Theologically robust and very readable. Profound yet simple enough for the "ordinary" person to understand. This book provides a deeper understanding of the ministry of Jesus and the purposes of God, and left me in awe of God's wisdom in His ways of revelation of Himself.

love it!