Donald Guthrie

Jesus' View of the Old Testament

"The importance attached to what a teacher says is inextricably bound up with what kind of person he is. In the case of Jesus this is supremely important...Jesus saw himself, and other came to believe him to be, both man and God. In this case he is unique among men and his teaching must carry with it a unique authority. What Jesus says about the Old Testament must be regarded on the same footing as what he says about his mission. It will be clear from the following evidence that he had the highest possible regard for the Old Testament text and recognized in its words the voice of God.

We first note that Jesus did not question the historicity of the many Old Testament persons or events to which he refers. Such people as Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Lot, from the patriarchal age are treated not as myths, but as actual persons. The same applies to Moses, David, Solomon, Elijah, Elisha and Jonah. The sayings in which these are mentioned would lose some of their authority if the historicity of the persons concerned were in doubt."