Integration of the Old & New Testaments

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this lesson is to affirm the integration between the Old and the New Testament which was introduced in Unit 1, but more emphatically to explain how the New Testament is used in understanding the Old Testament.

Review - 7 Minutes

Start the lesson by reviewing the important concepts from Unit 1, because this unit is very integrated with the previous unit.

INTRODUCTION - 10 Minutes

The Orthodox Church holds firm the unity of the two testaments. Both sections of the Bible are considered Christian, and belong to the Church.

The foundation of this was the Lord's statement, "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill" (Mat 5:17)

  • Christ accepted the authority of the Old Testament and pointed to the Ten Commandments as a way to eternal life.
  • Christ's work was the fulfillment of the Old Testament heritage, Jesus lived fully within the tradition of His people. But, as He Himself is the fulfillment of the Old Testament's Law, Sacrifices, and Prophets the church has to understand the Law, Sacrifices, and the Prophets from this perspective.
  • In a modern world language, Christ would be the image needed to put together a thousand pieces of a puzzle.

The New Testament is Concealed in the Old Testament - 15 Minutes

It was still the Lord who expounded to His disciples how The Law, and The Prophets, speak of Him:

"Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory? And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself." (Luke 24:25-27).

In a sense, it was the Lord Himself, who set the disciples on the road to proper Biblical interpretation of the Old Testament.

To put things in perspective, there are 54 direct quotations from the Old Testament found in the Gospel of Matthew, 27 in the Gospel of Mark, 24 in the Gospel of Luke, and 14 in the Gospel of John. Taken within context, these numbers reflect the integrity and fulfillment accomplished by the Lord to Old Testament prophecies.

The unification and the fulfillment between the Old Testament and the New Testament don't stop only at direct quotations in the New Testament, or at the person of Christ alone, but it incorporates other figures, and elements like the Church, Baptism, etc. The apostles, the apostolic fathers, and later on the church fathers were able to draw connections between elements in the New Testament (anti-type) and their harbinger (type) in the Old Testament.

The apostles had their eyes opened by the Holy Spirit they were able to see the fulfillment of the Old Testament in the New Testament and they spoke of it to their audience:

"Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ" (1 Cor 10:1-4).

Of course, it is obvious that St. Paul is making a connection between the clouds and baptism, the Manna and the spiritual food, and Rock from which they drank and Christ Himself. One can easily see that the Rock from which the Israelites drank was a type of Christ since both became a source of life. Also obvious, that the cloud which guided them, and crossing the Red Sea was a type of Baptism, both included passing through or under water to a new life.

It wasn't only St. Paul who made these connections between the Old and the New after the Lord, St. Peter also in 1 Peter, although implicitly, he makes the connection between the Old Testament sacrificial system and the One True Perfect Sacrifice of Christ when he spoke about the "sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:2).

In general, it is safe to say that the Church after the Resurrection of the Lord directed her attention immediately to the Old Testament to uncover the fullness of meanings that were hidden from the Patriarchs and the Prophets.

St. Cyril of Jerusalem speaks on this in his catechetical lectures saying:

"Now these the divinely-inspired Scriptures of both the Old and the New Testament teach us. For the God of the two Testaments is One, Who in the Old Testament foretold the Christ Who appeared in the New; Who by the Law and the Prophets led us to Christ's school." (St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Lecture 4:33)

Case Study - 10-15 Minutes

Spend the next 10-15 minutes going through an example of an Old Testament's type and its anti-type in the New Testament, emphasizing the unity between the two.

The connections drawn between the type and the anti-type should be reasonable, and beneficial. Drawing exaggerated connections convolute the youth's understanding and causes more confusion, so use discretion. The servant should be careful not to impose meanings on the Bible either spiritual or in typology.

Common examples, please use only one example, if the participating youth are already familiar with these, use other examples:

  • Isaac and the Lord's crucifixion, Genesis 22:1-19, (these connections are by no means comprehensive)
    • Isaac carried the wood for the fire, and the Lord carried the wood of the cross.
    • Isaac offered complete and perfect obedience to his father, and the Lord offered complete and perfect obedience to His Father.
    • Isaac was placed on the altar, and upon the wood, and the Lord was nailed to the wood of the cross.
    • Isaac returned to his family, and the Lord overcame death by His resurrection.
    • Provide as many beneficial and reasonable connections between the two, please don't make connections that are far stretched.
  • The Ark and the Church, Genesis 6-8, 1 Peter 3, John 10, etc.
    • Noah is saved by being in the Ark, the Christians are saved being in the Church.
    • The water around the Ark symbolizes the water of Baptism.
    • The Ark had only one entry door, and the Church has only One Entry Door, that's Christ.

This section of the lesson is the servant's responsibility to cover. In the following section, the servant should let the youth draw their own connections between the type and the anti-type.

APPLICATION (Action) - 10 Minutes

Provide the youth with other biblical examples from the Old, and the New Testament and have them see the connections for themselves. Maybe they work in smaller groups to read two references from the OT, and the NT and draw their connections.

Comments & Notes to Servants:

  • This lesson isn't intended to cover allegory, typology, prophecies, and parables but to show the youth that the New Testament is concealed in the Old Testament and that the Old Testament is revealed in the New.
  • If the case study shown above is too simple for the class, choose a different more advanced case study. For example, Boaz as a type of Christ, the Tabernacle and the Church, Rahab and the Gentile church, etc.
  • This lesson isn't intended to be for intellectual entertainment or challenge, but to show the uniformity of the whole Bible, hence strengthening the faith of the youth.

SERVANT RESOURCES

Harakas, Stanley Samuel. Orthodox Christian Beliefs About the Bible: Real Answers to Real Questions from Real People. Minneapolis: Minnesota: Light & Life Publishing Company, 2003.

Stylianopoulos, Theodore G. The New Testament An Orthodox Perspective: Scripture, Tradition, Hermeneutics. Brookline, Massachusetts: Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 1996.