![]() ![]() He believes that God provided manna for the Israelites during that same period of wanderings (6:32, 49, 58). He reflects on the ministries of Elijah and Elisha (Luke 4:25-27) and appeals to the account of Moses erecting a bronze snake in the wilderness (John 3:14). He refers back to the days of Noah and then of Lot and the catastrophic destruction that occurred around each of them (24:37-39 par.). He accepts that Jonah remained alive in the great fish’s belly and went on to preach to a repentant Nineveh, and he believes the Queen of Sheba actually lived and visited Solomon (12:40-42 par.). He cites Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom as paradigms of ancient evil cities (11:21-24 par.). For example, he recalls those who persecuted God’s prophets in past times (Matt. He can take it for granted that his listeners share his conviction that these things really happened and that they were recorded to provide authoritative models of good and bad behavior for God’s people in later eras. He frequently appeals to the events in the lives of key Old Testament individuals to support his teaching or justify his behavior. Jesus appears to have viewed Old Testament narratives as historical. Jesus and the Historicity of the Old Testament He sees God as the ultimate author of the Bible and views Scripture’s words as God’s words. He alludes to still more texts and treats them consistently as authoritative for both himself and his audience (John 10:35). He quotes from all three major sections of the Hebrew Bible (the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings) and from all three major kinds of laws, as Christians would later define them (the moral, civil, and ceremonial). He seems to have adopted the identical body of authoritative documents as the Judaism of his world. In many ways, Jesus’ view of the Scriptures of his people would have fallen exactly in line with the attitudes of his fellow Jews. Similarities between Jesus and His Contemporaries A study of Jesus’ view of these Scriptures, therefore, proves crucial, as it should inform believers’ approach to the first three-quarters of their Bible. ![]() Yet they profess to follow Jesus as their Lord. Throughout church history, various Christians have minimized the value of the Old Testament. ![]()
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