Have you ever been reading an Old Testament passage and thought, How can this crazy story be in the same Bible that reveals the glorious character of Jesus? Or maybe you’ve been faithfully serving in a church for years but have heard few sermons out of the Old Testament, leading you to wonder, How does the Old Testament relate to the Christian faith? If you’ve asked either of these questions, then please know you aren’t alone. In fact, David Murray, professor of Old Testament at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, wrote Jesus on Every Page: 10 Simple Ways to Seek and Find Christ in the Old Testament to help you answer these types of questions so that you can begin to see that the entire Bible testifies to the person and work of our marvelous Savior, Jesus Christ (Luke 24:27).
Is This Book Necessary?
There’s been a deluge of books about Jesus in the Old Testament as of late. In the past couple of years alone, several new works deal with this subject: The Scriptures Testify About Me: Jesus and the Gospel in the Old Testament (Crossway, 2013); Is Jesus in the Old Testament? (P&R, 2013); How to Read the Bible Through the Jesus Lens (Zondervan, 2012); The Son of David: Seeing Jesus in the Historical Books (Crossway, 2013); and Jesus the Messiah: Tracing the Promises, Expectations, and Coming of Israel’s King (Kregel, 2012). And this is only a partial list!
Murray’s book, however, provides a much-needed perspective on this subject in at least two ways. First, it’s written for the average church member and isn’t technical like so many other treatments on this subject. Second, instead of giving readers all the answers for where and how to see Jesus in the Old Testament, Murray equips us to “seek and find” Jesus in the Old Testament. This book, then, is not only helpful but even a necessary addition within a field that has seen a lot of recent publications.
Helpful Ways to Read About Jesus in the Old Testament
Murray draws the reader into the subject by giving several personal anecdotes about his struggles to understand how the Old Testament testifies about Jesus (chapters 1-6). In doing so, he offers a surprisingly refreshing perspective by starting with the New Testament. I love the quote he offers from Graeme Goldsworthy:
Jesus on Every Page: 10 Simple Ways to Seek and Find Christ in the Old Testament
David Murray
Jesus on Every Page: 10 Simple Ways to Seek and Find Christ in the Old Testament
David Murray
We do not start at Genesis 1 and work our way forward until we discover where it is all leading. Rather we first come to Christ, and he directs us to study the Old Testament in the light of the gospel. The gospel will interpret the Old Testament by showing us its goal and meaning. (15)
Murray then guides the reader through 10 ways to see Jesus in the Old Testament by viewing Jesus in creation (chapter 7), characters (chapter 8), appearances (chapter 9), law (chapter 10), history (chapter 11), prophets (chapter 12), types (chapter 13), covenants (chapter 14), proverbs (chapter 15), and poems (chapter 16).
Two Minor Critiques
While the vast majority of this book is commendable, I do have two minor critiques. First, and I realize that this is a bit picky, all of the biblical references are found in endnotes. So when he quotes or references a passage you have to flip to the back of the book to see which one he’s referencing. It would have been much better to embed them into the sentences.
Second, while the vast majority of Jesus on Every Page provides great tips for accurately interpreting the Old Testament in light of Christ, sometimes Murray appears to reach too far. You can see this problem where he writes about how Jesus and the apostles used the order of creation to discuss salvation (48-49). While I would affirm some of the connections he makes in this section, they can be vague and speculative. His connections do show the New Testament authors discussed the doctrine of salvation by using creation language, but none of the texts mentioned focuses on the order of creation being analogous to the order of salvation.
Presuppositions
It is also important for the reader of any book to understand the presuppositions of its author. Murray writes from the perspective of a covenant theologian. He thoroughly traces out this view in the first section (chapters 1-6) where he describes how he began to understand Jesus in relation to the Old Testament. There are a few other key places where Murray’s understanding of covenant theology is prominent in his presentation of Christ in the Old Testament, most notably in chapter six and his chapters on covenant and law.
All this to say, if you have reservations about a covenant of grace or the covenant theology view of law then you will not agree with all of his points in these chapters. I would argue that in these chapters Murray sees so much continuity between the testaments that at times the newness of the new covenant is diminished (this may be why he feels the need to discuss what’s new in the new covenant on pp. 171-174). But even in these chapters, those who disagree with covenant theology will find things that are beneficial and that show the glory of Jesus in the Old Testament.
Who Should Read this Book?
To truly appreciate Jesus, we need to understand the Old Testament. It is difficult to understand how Matthew presents Jesus in the first five chapters of his Gospel (as the son of David, son of Abraham, fulfillment of prophecy, and new Moses) without having a firm grasp of the Old Testament.
Despite some critiques I am thankful for Murray’s clear passion for helping people love their Savior more by seeing him in the sometimes-dusty pages of the Old Testament. His book will provide a helpful starting point for anyone wanting to read the Old Testament in a Christ-centered way.