OTHCC Chapter 27: items 521 - 540

The Old Testament in the Heart of the Catholic Church < > All Chapters

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In 1 Sam 16:11-13, David's anointing

a.   caused a great earthquake in the land.
b.   caused the Spirit of the Lord to be upon him.
c.   enabled him to defeat his brothers in battle.

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The anointed ones are anointed in and by

a.   the kingdom of David.
b.   the Law and the Prophets.
c.   the Spirit of the Lord.

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Read Is 61:1-3. Those who have the Spirit of the Lord come upon them are often said to be

a.   anointed.
b.   blessed.
c.   cursed.

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Read Jeremiah, Jer 23:5-6. This prophecy, along with Isa 11, fueled the hopes of the people of Israel for

a.   a messiah who would save Israel.
b.   a victorious general of the army.
c.   the return of King David.

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The messiah that the people of Israel gradually learned to hope for would be anointed by the Spirit of the Lord.

a.   Maybe.
b.   No.
c.   Yes.

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The ''Servant Songs'' are passages from the book of Isaiah in which ''The Messiah's characteristics are revealed above all.'' [CCC 713] They proclaim that the Messiah's identity is linked with the triumph of the Cross, not with earthly glories, and that it is through the Cross of Jesus that the Spirit will be poured out to all men. Read Isa 42:1-9. In this Servant Song it is plain that the servant who is to come

a.   is the Messiah.
b.   will fail in his mission.
c.   will suffer and die.

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Recall that the Messiah is the one upon whom God puts his Spirit. That is what makes him the Messiah, the anointed one of God. <<

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Read Isa 49:1-6. The Messiah is to be a light

a.   to Israel alone.
b.   to the nations.
c.   to the nations alone.

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Read Isa 50:4-10. In this Servant Song the Catholic Church sees it foretold that the Messiah

a.   will be a king.
b.   will not suffer.
c.   will suffer.

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Read Isa 52:13-53:12. The Catholic Church sees in this passage the revelation of the Passion and Death of Jesus, the Messiah. This passage is read every year at the liturgy of Good Friday. <<

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Read Isa 61:1-2. Who first said that the life and mission of Jesus is the fulfillment of the meaning of this passage?

a.   Jesus.
b.   St. Augustine.
c.   St. Paul.

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(Now read Luke 4:16-21). <<

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That Jesus is the Messiah, the fulfillment of God's promise to Israel,

a.   is something all Jews should have seen immediately.
b.   is something that anyone would find reasonable.
c.   was not something that Israel could reasonably have expected.

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Making the claim that Jesus is the Messiah, the fulfillment of God's promise to Israel, and therefore that the Old Testament has more than its literal meaning and should be read in the light of the New

a.   is arrogant, unreasonable, and blasphemous.
b.   is a totalitarian privileging of meaning.
c.   would be a sin, if Jesus were not God.

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Jesus is the Messiah, the fulfillment of the promises made to Israel. The Catechism itself calls this ''surprising'' [CCC 591] and calls this intervention of God in history ''unprecedented'' [CCC 579]. That is, the children of Israel could not have come to this knowledge about the true nature of the Messiah on their own. On their own, they could never have imagined that God would speak his Word in the way he actually did.

Also, as is fully proper, no mere man, but only God himself, can say what his promises to Israel truly mean.

Thus it is correct and fully in accord with reason to see the New Testament hidden in the Old, to see the meaning of the Messianic promises not violated but fulfilled in Jesus.

However, this is correct and reasonable only if Jesus is God made man. Then and only then is it God himself who says what his promises to Israel truly mean. >>

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Who are you, to tell God what his Word means? If Jesus is not God made man, if the sacraments are not real and the New Testament is not true, then no academic argument in the world can ever justify what the Catholic Church has always done. Indeed, Jesus himself can not justify his use of the Old Testament unless he truly is the Word of God. [compare CCC 581]

Please get this straight: the whole issue of whether it is proper and reasonable to read the Old Testament as if the sacraments were real and the New Testament were true, is NOT finally an academic argument. All an academic argument can discover is that doing such a thing is proper and reasonable ONLY if Jesus is exactly who the Catholic Church professes him to be.

Reading the Old Testament in the light of the New is a surprise, a meaning God himself, and God alone, gives to the Old Testament. The Catholic Church would NEVER have read the Old Testament in the light of the New, if she did not believe her Lord, who taught her to do just that.

If you want to draw close to Jesus by drawing close to his Catholic Church, then you too must learn to read the Old Testament as she does in her heart.

Just so you're clear: the Catholic Church reads the Old Testament in the light of the New Testament because Jesus is the Lord. There is absolutely no other good reason - academic or otherwise - to read the Old Testament in the light of the New. Only God himself could reveal to us that this is what his Word means. <<

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According to the Catechism [CCC 203], the ''name'' of a person in biblical times

a.   expresses his essence and identity and the meaning of his life.
b.   is given by his family as a way to indicate his status in society.
c.   says little about his eventual role in God's plans for man.

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The Hebrew name ''Jesus'' means

a.   ''Holy is God.''
b.   ''God is near.''
c.   ''God saves.''

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Sin is ''rejection of God and opposition to him.'' [CCC 386] In other words, the reality of sin means that

a.   God is real and man has actual freedom to move toward him or away from him.
b.   God is real but man has no actual ability to reject God and move away from him.
c.   ''sin'' is an outdated name for flaws, weakness, mistakes, unjust structures, etc.

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Man can come to understand the reality of sin clearly [CCC 387]

a.   by his unaided reason.
b.   only with God's help.
c.   with very little problem.

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