Preaching Christ from the Old Testament: A Contemporary Hermeneutical Method

Preaching Christ from the Old Testament: A Contemporary Hermeneutical Method

Extracted from Ordained Servant vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 45-48

Sidney Greidanus, Preaching Christ from the Old Testament: A Contemporary Hermeneutical Method (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999), paperback, 373 pp., list price ($22). Reviewed by Brian D. Nolder.

Sidney Greidanus' new book may be the most important book to be published on preaching since... well, since his last book on preaching![1] This is not a book about sermon delivery or pulpit presence. Rather, as the subtitle suggests, this is a book about interpreting the Old Testament in a Christian, Christ-centered way, in order that preachers may feed God's flock with the life-giving of Gospel of grace from all of God's word in a way that is hermeneutically responsible. Consequently, though it is obviously geared for preachers, its clear and simple style will help any Christian to understand and appreciate Augustine's famous quote, "The New Testament is in the Old concealed." I can think of few more richly biblical and truly useful books that I have read on the important subject of preaching the Old Testament.[2]

Greidanus begins his book with a simple thesis in two parts: The first is that ministers must preach Christ. Not just the Law, and not simply God, though preaching should certainly be theocentric (p. 286)[3] —but Christ, the one who has explained the Father (John 1:18) and in whom all the fullness of deity dwells (Col. 2:9). After all, that is what Jesus did: "After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news [gospel] of God" (Mark 1:14). But what is that Gospel of God if not the "good news" about Jesus? What is it to proclaim the kingdom of God if not proclaiming his King, the Lord Jesus (Acts 28:31)? Greidanus says that this is preaching about Christ's person (who he is) and his work (what he has done on behalf of sinners in his death and resurrection). But he also adds a helpful third category to expand our vision of preaching Christ, that of his teaching (Christ is not only our Priest and our King, but he is also our perfect Prophet).[4]

The second part of the author's thesis is that ministers must preach the Old Testament. Think about it: It pleased God to have the Holy Spirit inspire over 75% of God's Word before the Promised One we read about in those pages came into the world! There are a host of reasons that the author lists for preaching the Old Testament—as well as why it has been neglected over the past few centuries (strangely, the author ignores or is unaware of how dispensationalism contributed to this neglect within more orthodox circles)—but just consider this one: We like to quote the verse where Paul tells us that all Scripture is inspired by God (II Tim. 3:16). But do we remember that it was the Old Testament Scripture that he was referring to? That it is the Old Testament Scriptures that are profitable to equip the man of God for "every good work"?

The problem, of course, is: if we're supposed to preach Christ and preach the Old Testament, how do we preach Christ as we preach the Old Testament? How do I preach Christ from the Old Testament? How do I do it without forcing the OT to say something it does not seem to say? How do I do it without allegorizing? This book was written to answer just these kinds of questions.

After these opening chapters, Greidanus gives us a brief but helpful survey of the history of preaching Christ from the Old Testament. A healthy typological approach that paid attention to the historical context and the intention of the original authors developed right from the start, culminating in the school of interpretation associated with Theodore of Mopsuestia and the church of Antioch (pp. 91-94), and modeled in the Homilies of John Chrysostom (pp. 94-96). However, it was quickly eclipsed by the allegorical approach (pp. 70-90), which developed into the more sophisticated "fourfold sense" of Scripture (in today's lingo, historical, spiritual, moral and eschatological) that dominated the medieval era (pp. 98-109). While unhealthy in the long run, part of the impetus for the allegorical approach's development was to demonstrate that the OT, just as much as the NT, was the "book of the Church": in response to Judaism, which disputed the Church's claim that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah prophesied in the OT (p. 74), and Gnosticism, which said that the OT and its God was far too earthy and violent and therefore was unnecessary for Christianity (p. 70). The Reformation helped restore the primacy of the "literal sense," though Greidanus also demonstrates how Luther frequently slid back into allegory (p. 126), and Calvin often used the OT simply for moral instruction and believers' general experiences of God (pp. 150-51).

In preaching from the OT, Greidanus says that a lack of proper hermeneutics often causes preachers to fall into three basic (but sadly, frequent) errors: Moralizing (as if the point of Gen. 9 was, "Noah got drunk. Don't get drunk like Noah did."), Generalizing (treating the unique, redemptive-historical events in the lives of OT characters as if they were the experiences of Everyman or Every Believer; "Have great faith like David and you'll be able to conquer the Goliaths in your life!") and Allegorizing (the four rivers in Gen. 2 represent the four gospels; though this was Origen's ancient error [pp. 82-87], Greidanus documents how Spurgeon frequently succumbed to it [pp. 157-59]). A subset of allegorizing would be Typologizing: While the author strongly commends typological interpretation, typologizing is the habit of trying to find types in incidental details rather than the grand events (e.g., the Exodus) and institutions (e.g., the OT offices, the sacrificial system) that genuinely contribute to the progress of redemptive history. Perhaps the classic example of typologizing is identifying the cord hanging on Rahab's window as a type of Christ's blood shed on the cross since it was scarlet, the color of blood (Josh. 2:17-21).[5] It is important here to remember Vos' admonition that for something in the OT to be a type, it must have had a symbolic purpose in its original historical context (i.e., to Israel), e.g., the tabernacle/ temple (Heb. 9:24), the sacrificial system (Heb. 10:4), Canaan (Rom. 4:13), etc.[6]

In contrast to these approaches, Greidanus calls for a "Christocentric" approach/method of interpreting the OT (pp. 227-77). The use of such a method does not deny that we have to initially interpret an OT text according to its original literary-historical context, i.e., "as if" there were no NT (pp. 284-86). However, we must be honest and acknowledge the fact that we are interpreting the OT as Christians who live after the Resurrection—a reality, by the way, which Paul himself says is "according to the [OT] Scriptures" (I Cor. 15:34). We do not so much "read the NT back into the OT" as follow the NT itself by acknowledging that an OT text is not rightly interpreted until it finally tells us about Christ and the realities of the New Covenant (Luke 24:44-48).[7] We must recognize that Christ "filling up" the Law and the Prophets (Matt. 5:17) has given them a fundamentally different "color" that must affect the hermeneutical process.

In developing this method of interpretation, Greidanus does a helpful survey of how the NT authors themselves use the OT (pp. 182-225). Though all of the NT authors are authoritative in their use of the OT, not all of their methods are therefore appropriate for us to use in interpreting the OT (e.g., Paul's "allegory" of Hagar and Sarah in Gal. 4 would be appropriate for a sermon on Gal. 4, but not for one on Gen. 21 [8]). That said, Greidanus shows seven "ways" that the NT authors use the OT, and these become the basis of his Christocentric method of interpreting the OT: redemptive-historical progression (showing how the meta-narrative of Creation, Fall and Redemption/Consummation—which forms the backdrop to and is constantly being interacted with in Israel's history—is fulfilled in Christ and his Church); promise-fulfillment (e.g., the messianic prophecies in Isaiah and the Psalms and their fulfillment in Christ); typology (found primarily, though not exclusively, in narrative and the Law: though we should not typologize, we are not restricted only to those types explicitly mentioned in the NT; this is an extensive section that deals with this difficult, controversial topic, and the author helpfully draws from, among others, the prior work of Vos and Clowney in this area); analogy (which Greidanus admits is more of a homiletical tool than a hermeneutical principle); longitudinal themes (Greidanus' term for the even less transparent term, biblical theology; unlike the previous ones that deal with the history of redemption, this one and the next draw on the history of revelation); New Testament references [9] (though, again, with the proviso that NT authors are not always giving the definitive interpretations of OT passages they quote, but are sometimes simply making use of them to support their particular point; note for example how Paul uses Psalm 19:3 in Rom. 10:18 to talk about the spread of the Gospel, whereas David was obviously referring in the psalm to God's general revelation in nature); contrast (somewhat like redemptive-historical, but highlighting the "how much more"—newness aspect of the New Covenant, the presence of the kingdom which was not present before the coming of King Jesus, the way the Gospel solves OT dilemmas, etc.; it also puts a check on inappropriate analogies, e.g., that the Church is to conquer the world for Christ in a physical way as Israel was to conquer Canaan; cf., II Cor. 3; Heb. 8-10 [10]). The author gives extensive examples of how these different ways are found in the different genres of the OT (narrative, prophecy, psalms, etc.).[11]

The author concludes with some practical steps on how to construct an OT sermon that makes use of this Christocentric method (pp. 279-92). He gives a lengthy example from Gen. 22 (pp. 292-318), showing whether any or all of the seven ways are found in the passage and which one(s) contribute to the central point of that passage. The final chapter contains several brief discussions of other OT texts to help the reader practice using the Christocentric method and to show how it differs from allegorical interpretation (pp. 319-46). Two appendices further discuss sermon preparation, but the basic principles could also be applied to preparing Bible studies.

The helpful thing about Greidanus' approach is that it liberates us from relying on simply one way to preach Christ from any particular OT passage. Some passages may present many ways to Christ (though only some or one of which may contribute to that passage's main point in its original context), while others may only present one, and that one may not always be easy to identify! (In a recent series on Judges, I found myself relying on contrast again and again, even though the judges are certainly kingly types, and God's kingship and covenant fidelity are certainly longitudinal themes throughout the book.) It also helps us realize that the Gospel really can be preached from the OT in a way that is not artificial but genuinely arises out of the text, confirming Augustine's famous quote above. The Gospel really is there! It will become that much clearer if we "make questioning the text about its witness to Jesus Christ an ingrained habit" (p. 319).

I am convinced that Preaching Christ from the Old Testament is one of the most significant books to come along in a long time, not simply on preaching, but on how all Christians should interpret the OT. It is easy to read and straightforward in its presentation. Though the bibliography is a gold mine, the book's greatest weakness is that there is no author index. It is highly recommended for all pastors and others desiring to faithfully teach and preach the OT with the sweet-smelling fragrance of the Gospel of Christ.

Endnotes

[1] Sidney Greidanus, The Modern Preacher and the Ancient Text: Interpreting and Preaching Biblical Literature (Grand Rapids/Leicester: Eerdmans/IVP), 1988.

[2] A good place to get Christian books at a discount is the Westminster Bookstore, 888-WTSBOOK or bookstore@wts.edu.

[3] The author rightly criticizes the Christomonism of Barth and neo-orthodoxy (and as that tendency is found in Lutheranism), as if Christ was the only subject of the Scriptures (p. 178). Strikingly, he says that there is tendency toward Christomonism in "Christian communities where the Psalms are no longer sung..." (ibid.)

[4] One can immediately see how this category can make preaching Christ from wisdom literature (e.g., Proverbs) possible, showing connections with the Sermon on the Mount and how Christ has become for us "wisdom from God" (I Cor. 1:30).

[5] I have a study guide on Joshua, and the title of the chapter on this passage is entitled, "Saved by the Blood." The destruction of Jericho and the salvation of Rahab and her family are certainly typological. The point is that we do not have to point to the color of the cord in order to argue that point or to show how the atonement is its ultimate fulfillment.

[6] Geerhardus Vos, Biblical Theology: Old and New Testaments (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1948; repr. 1991), pp. 144-48. "The bond that holds type and anti-type together must be a bond of vital continuity in the progress of redemption. Where this is ignored, and in the place of this bond are put accidental resemblances, void of inherent spiritual significance, all sorts of absurdities will result, such as must bring the whole subject of typology into disrepute. Examples of this are: the scarlet cord of Rahab prefigures the blood of Christ; the four lepers of Samaria, the four Evangelists." Ibid., p. 146. The fact that later biblical authors in the OT (or the NT) never reflect on Rahab's cord and its color shows that it did not have symbolic import in Israel, confirming that it is indeed dubious to view it as a type of Christ's blood (in contrast to, e.g., the passover Lamb; cf., I Cor. 5:7).

[7] Luke 24:44 is not saying that only certain parts of the OT (i.e., "the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms," the traditional tripartite division of the OT Scriptures, with Psalms standing for the Writings [ketubim] as the first and largest book of that section) are about Christ. Rather, as v. 25 makes clear (he opened their minds to understand "the Scriptures" [tas graphas], a term that refers to the entire OT), it was all of the OT that must be fulfilled, precisely because all of it is "concerning [Christ]."

[8] "...Paul's illustration of Hagar and Sarah, even if allegorical, offers no warrant for interpreting Genesis 21 allegorically. As Theodore of Mopsuestia said 1600 years ago, it is only an illustration." Greidanus, p. 188. As Greidanus helpfully notes, ". . . the New Testament writers did not set out to produce a textbook on biblical hermeneutics. Simply to copy their methods of interpretation in preaching on specific Old Testament passages is to go beyond their intent." Ibid., p. 189. Though this point may seem to threaten the analogia fide ("analogy of faith")—the principle of Scripture interpreting Scripture (cf., WCF I. 9)—it is somewhat of a different issue.

[9] One very helpful tool that Greidanus turned me on to here is appendix 4 of the Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece ("location of citations and allusions"; in the 27th ed., pp. 770-806). Besides the OT, it also has allusions to apocryphal, pseudepigraphic and other intertestamental literature.

[10] It is disappointing to see the author deal with the so-called imprecatory psalms only in this section on contrast, implying that they are thereby inappropriate for NT Christians to pray today (pp. 274-75)—much the way C. S. Lewis called them "terrible or (dare we say?) contemptible Psalms" (Reflections on the Psalms [New York: Harcourt, Brace & Janovich, 1958], pp. 21-22). The Psalms are not simply private prayers but given to teach the people of God how to address God in worship. I have a hard time conceiving of why God would allow his people to be taught through these psalms how to pray sinfully, i.e., with an unrighteous indignation. While we should not necessarily pray Ps. 137:8-9 against any particular person whom we know today, we should so love God's justice that we rejoice that he will one day repay the children of spiritual Babylon (cf., Rev. 17-18). Granted, we are not those today who are to "dash infants against the rocks," but we should bless God that in his perfect justice he will one day do exactly that to those who do not repent. After all, did not that same justice dash his own Son "against the rocks" so that we could be rescued from Babylon and made partakers of Zion?

[11] The author's earlier book (cf., note 1 above) is tremendously helpful in recognizing, interpreting and preaching the different genres of Scripture.

Brian D. Nolder is a licentiate of the Presbytery of Ohio and pastoral intern at the Bethel Presbyterian Church, Wheaton, IL.