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

9 8 /

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

The Absolute Seriousness of Having Fun in the Lord

Those who study the ceremonies, celebrations, feasts, and festivals of Israel have often seen interconnections between them and the person and work of Jesus of Nazareth in his revelation of the Father and redemption of his people. These events in Israel’s experience and history speak of the one who actually is the Passover, is the one who brings atonement on the day of redemption of Jesus’ death on the cross, and so on. The fact that the redemption of Jesus is embodied in these annual celebrations of God’s redemption of his people has prompted a new generation of the Church to embrace the notion of festival and feast as a spiritual discipline that grows out of a true application of the OT witness to Christ. Some segments of the evangelical church are seeking to find ways to celebrate spiritually in the way God commanded his people in the OT. They argue that if in fact the occasions were prefigurings of the work of Jesus, what they celebrated in shadow ought to now be celebrated in substance. Jesus has come, died, and been raised from the dead. Along with the Lord’s Supper, we ought to celebrate and feast in the same way his people did of old. These Christians are not arguing that we are under the law; no, Christ has redeemed us from the law and its condemnation, they believe. Rather, they are suggesting that, in full knowledge of our freedom in Christ, we ought to develop liturgies, litanies, and celebrations that recognize the work of Christ in such a way that we take festival and fun as absolutely serious work. What do you think of this growing movement among evangelicals in the Church—are they taking the idea of festival and feast too far—or not far enough? The simple definition of type is “an object, event, happening, image, or reality that prefigures in the OT a reality in the NT, usually focused on Jesus Christ (as its antitype ).” The typological approach of the study of the OT Scriptures as related to the revelation of Christ was the method employed by both Jesus and his apostles, making clear the Bible’s own connection of many representations and images in both testaments. The major aspects of biblical types suggest that types (and their antitypes) are historically real, they illumine the person and work of Christ, that true types of the OT are always contained in the NT, they are connected to God’s redemptive work in Christ, and they illumine the teaching of God on the matter they cover. Using typology in biblical hermeneutics must be done properly, focusing on Christ as connections are drawn between the Old and New Testaments, appreciating the relevance of the type through the antitype . The experience of Israel, the descendants of Abraham and the people of God, represent an analogy which can

2

Restatement of the Lesson’s Thesis