The Old Testament Witness to Christ and His Kingdom, Mentor's Guide, MG09

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T H E O L D T E S T A M E N T W I T N E S S T O C H R I S T A N D H I S K I N G D O M

There are picture puzzles in many children’s books which are designed to fool their little eyes. Pictures of items, animals, and things are hidden within a picture of an ordinary scene. They are warned that they are there, but often times, the little ones are not able to see them. Once they are pointed out, how silly we feel that we didn’t see them in the first place! How are we to understand the life and ministry of Jesus Christ–what is the best way to grasp the meaning of what he came to do ? Such a question always lies at the heart of doing real spiritual business with God. God has revealed his Son in the record of his work in the OT; the pictures are there, it simply requires a readiness and preparedness to see it. Our answer regarding the meaning of the life and work of Jesus of Nazareth is given the greatest import in the NT. Jesus seems, in every situation depicted in the Gospel, to be aware of who he is and what he is called to do in the world . This sense of identity and purpose affected every conversation, every encounter, every situation he found himself in. The apostolic testimony is clear: he had no need that anyone teach him about human beings, for he knew perfectly what their intentions and thoughts were (cf. John 2.25). In our text in Matthew 12, Jesus encounters some of the scribes and Pharisees who, in answer to Jesus’ own testimony about his unique inauguration of the Kingdom of God into this present age, followed up his testimony with a request for a sign: “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” Jesus answers them back, as if knowing that the intention and motive of their desire had nothing to do with his own testimony about himself. In verses 39-40 we read his answer to them: “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. [40] For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Jesus links his own work before the Jewish authorities to the sign of the prophet Jonah . In the same way Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, Jesus says, so he will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Jesus here interprets his own identity and ministry in light of a special character type in the OT. This habit of referring to himself in the context of an OT character or account , points carefully to a right use of the OT to provide a witness to the person and work of Christ. In the case of this text the sign was truly a sign of judgment . Their inability to recognize his identity through the plain acts of Messianic power

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