Old and New Testament

What are your reflections on the relationship between the Old and New Testaments?

I believe the relationship between the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament begins with Jesus. Jesus, his family, his ancestors, and his followers were Jewish. The Hebrew Scriptures were the holy word for the chosen people. Jesus studied them and proclaimed from them. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill (Matthew 5:17). The early church looked to the Hebrew Scriptures with new eyes, searching for passages that foretold the coming of the Messiah, and how Jesus was the fulfillment of those words. The Gospel of Matthew devotes time to demonstrating how Jesus was the fulfillment of prophecy. Our beginning as a Christian Church is rooted in the Hebrew Scripture.

Those of us who are Christian find the revelation of God’s nature and character in both the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament. For us, we find a new covenant in the words of the New Testament – a new way to relate to God, new promises of salvation, new revelations of the nature of God. We learn about the grace, love, and forgiveness of God. While we do not follow the laws of the Hebrew Scriptures (Paul saw to that), we are inextricably linked to both Testaments. Our God is the God of both Testaments.