The Old Testament with its strange laws, warfare, and sacrifices embarrasses many Christians. The temptation to disavow it in some way is an old one that often recurs. But the Church, following Christ and his Apostles, embraces the Old Testament as the very Word of God: �The New is in the Old contained, the Old is in the New explained.� Jeremiah promised a �new� covenant to replace the one God gave through Moses. Jesus brought that new covenant, inaugurated at his death. As he said at the Last Supper, �This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you.� Under the Old Covenant, Christ�s salvation was revealed in the shadows and types of the sacrificial temple worship, in the promises made concerning a coming Savior, indeed in the whole life of Israel. That covenant is obsolete, but it is still the Word of God given by inspiration of God and able to instruct God�s people about God, man, and how we should live. But the new covenant in the simplicity of the Word preached and the sacraments observed bring us Christ in the sunlight and is superior to the Old Covenant. It is for all the nations, not just Israel. It is God�s last and permanent Word to mankind until Jesus himself returns. The Old Covenant leads us to Christ, as Jesus said to the Pharisees. �You search the Scriptures because you think that in them is eternal life, and these are they which testify of me.� |
