Parents’ Introduction to Jesse Tree

Taking Jesus’s Words about the Old Testament Seriously

When the resurrected Jesus met discouraged disciples who had not yet learned of the resurrection, he encouraged them with a lesson in christological interpretation of the Old Testament:

"Then Jesus said to them, “You foolish people! You find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures. Wasn`t it clearly predicted that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his glory?” Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself…. Then he said, “When I was with you before, I told you that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. And he said, “Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day. It was also written that this message would be proclaimed in the authority of his name to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem: ‘There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.’” (Luke 24:25-27, 44-47)

The Old Testament pointed forward to the person and work of Jesus Christ. And failure to read it that way is a failure that Jesus even calls “foolish” and a failure of faith (v. 24). We definitely want to teach the faith to our children, and we believe we can do that from all the Scriptures.

Avoiding Moralizing

Reading this as material that looks forward to Jesus Christ helps us to avoid the error that Bible scholars call “moralizing.” Of course we can teach and learn morals from the Old Testament. Indeed, we must do so (2 Tim 3:16-17). But “moralizing” is the term used to describe describing “the moral of this story,” even if that’s not what the story was ever about. And it describes failure to understand the story’s true role in redemptive history and how the New Testament understands it.

For example, we shouldn’t read the story of Adam and Eve then tell our children, “Don’t disobey God, or you will get in a lot of trouble.” As true as that is, it’s not the point of that story. Rather, the point is that in Adam’s disobedience we all fell into sin and therefore need a savior (Rom 5:12-21). We shouldn’t read the story of Ruth then tell our children, “Be loyal to your mother-in-law, and your second marriage will be to a prosperous man, and you’ll live happily ever after.” Rather, the story is about Ruth’s willingness to identify not only with Naomi’s people, but with Naomi’s God—the only true God, whom Israel served. And by God’s sovereign ordering of things, this Moabite girl became the mother of Obed, the grandmother of Jesse, and the great grandmother of king David! One final example or moralizing. We shouldn’t read the story of David and Goliath then tell our sons, “Be brave, and you can kill giants.” David is not so much a forward looking symbol of every believer; rather, he is the forward looking manifestation of God’s elect “son” who sits on God’s throne, ruling over God’s people. David was a type of Jesus Christ, not a type of your little boy—let alone your little girl the giant killer. Instead, God’s sovereign appointment of the Davidic dynasty encourages us to believe that the “Son of David” will rule with God’s sure blessings.

The moralizing approach to these stories extracts “morals” for these stories that we could just as well extract from stories found in Grimm’s Fairy Tales, or from Jesus’ parables. It doesn’t matter at all whether those stories ever “happened.” Rather, they depict moral truth that are independent of God’s specific covenantal promises. But the Bible points to God’s acts in history, and to God interpretation of his acts in history, saying it’s all fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

Pointing Forward to Life in Christ

The characters in these stories enabled the covenantal line to proceed on to fulfillment in Jesus Christ. If Noah had disobeyed and drowned in the flood, we would not have had the faithful line that led to Jesus Christ. If Ruth had married a Moabite widower there would have been no Obed, Jesse, or David. If Goliath had killed David, the throne of David would never have been established and the “son of David” would have been meaningless as a theological phrase. And to the degree that we share their story, we share it “in Christ Jesus.” “For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding ‘Yes!’ And through Christ, our ‘Amen’ (which means ‘Yes’) ascends to God for his glory” (2 Cor 1:20).

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