The Old Testament Witness to Christ and His Kingdom, Student Workbook, SW09

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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

a. Isa. 65.1

b. Isa. 55.5

5. All the ends of the earth would remember and turn to the Lord, Ps. 22.27.

6. All the nations would flow in the latter days into the house of the Lord, Isa. 2.2-3.

7. In that day [the day of God’s vindication and glory] Messiah would be a Signal for the peoples of the world , Isa. 11.10.

Jesus Is the Hinge between the Salvation of Israel and Hope of the Nations

The Gentile mission of the early church is another important clue to an understanding of the aims of Jesus. Scholars who have researched the question we started with in this chapter, ‘What were Jesus’ aims and intentions?,’ point out that at least part of the answer is found by noticing what immediately preceded and what very quickly followed his ministry. John the Baptist came first. And all the New Testament traditions stress that Jesus began his ministry from John. We have already seen how that indicates that Jesus shared John’s vision that the expected restoration of Israel was being accomplished. And very soon after his death, we find that the little group Jesus left behind had become a dynamic movement committed to taking the good news to the Gentile nations, willing to face all the problems that it caused–practical, geographical, cultural and theological. Jesus was launched by a revival movement for the restoration of Israel. He launched a movement for the blessing of the nations. He himself, therefore, was the hinge, the vital link between the two great movements. He was the climax and fulfillment of the hope of Israel and the beginning of the hope of the nations.

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~ Christopher J. H. Wright. Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament . Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1992. p. 166.