Episode Summary
What do you do when an Old Testament passage upsets you?
Fr. Tim has reached the fourth and final rule in his series on how to read the Old Testament as a Catholic, and he calls it “the key to all the other rules.” It is easy to remember: “Jesus is the final interpretive key.” He says we read the Old Testament “already knowing and being convicted” who Jesus is, and he adds, “You cannot understand the beginning without understanding the end.” The Church teaches the same thing in its own way: the Old Testament keeps its permanent value, and it finds its fullest meaning in Christ.
Then he faces the hard part head on. The Old Testament has “so much evil,” and he says rules one through three “only gets us so far.” The rest depends on the cross. “Jesus’s cross is the ultimate revelation of what God does with evil.” So when a passage leaves you scandalized or upset, his tip is simple: “look to Jesus and be reminded of who Jesus is,” then go back to the difficult passage.
To show how Old and New fit together, Fr. Tim describes marble reliefs in the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome, with Old Testament scenes on one side and New Testament scenes on the other. Jonah and the whale sits across from the resurrection. Isaac carrying the wood sits across from Jesus carrying the cross. Joseph, betrayed by his brothers, sits across from Jesus, betrayed by Judas. His closing point is that Jesus is not “God 2.0.” He is “the beginning and the end,” and “the fulfillment of it,” not God’s correction of the Old Testament. This is part 4 of the series, so it brings the four rules together.
Episode Transcript
Editor’s note: This transcript preserves the speaker’s words, spoken in a relaxed, conversational style. The Church teaches that the Old Testament is an indispensable part of Sacred Scripture and keeps its own permanent value, and that Christ is the center and heart of Scripture, so the Old Testament finds its fullest meaning in Him. The description of the artwork in the Basilica of St. John Lateran is Fr. Tim’s own.
[00:00:00 –> 00:00:04] Jesus’s cross is the ultimate revelation of what God
[00:00:04 –> 00:00:08] (Music)
[00:00:08 –> 00:00:22] part, the fourth part of the series, all about the Old Testament and how to really read the Old Testament as a Catholic and how to understand that our God is not an angry God.
[Editor’s note: This does not deny the language Scripture uses about God’s anger. The Church teaches that God is good and just, and that Jesus reveals the same God who spoke in the Old Testament.]
[00:00:22 –> 00:00:28] And so we’ve been going through the rules and the fourth rule is the key to all the other rules.
[00:00:28 –> 00:00:32] And the fourth rule is really easy to remember. The fourth rule is,
[00:00:32 –> 00:00:36] Jesus is the final interpretive key.
[00:00:36 –> 00:00:41] where we can understand everything. Without Jesus, the Old Testament makes no sense.
[00:00:41 –> 00:00:44] Jesus, the New Testament makes no sense.
[Editor’s note: This does not mean the Old Testament lacks meaning or value in itself; rather, Christians read it in the unity of God’s plan, fulfilled in Christ.]
[00:00:44 –> 00:00:55] you have to have the Old Testament, you have to have the New Testament, you have to have Jesus. He is the final key to everything. You cannot understand the beginning without understanding the end.
[00:00:55 –> 00:01:02] When we read the Old Testament, we read the Old Testament already knowing and being convicted that Jesus Christ
[00:01:02 –> 00:01:03] was God,
[00:01:03 –> 00:01:06] proved it, rose from the dead, and made our church.
[00:01:06 –> 00:01:10] one of the things with the Old Testament is that we see so much evil,
[00:01:10 –> 00:01:20] and we can look at rules one through three, which can help us understand this. But again, that can only get us so far. Rule one through three only gets us so far.
[00:01:20 –> 00:01:30] It’s rule four. It’s Jesus being the interpretive key where everything makes sense. There was a lot of evil. There was so much bad that happened in the Old Testament.
[00:01:30 –> 00:01:31] But the cross,
[00:01:31 –> 00:01:37] Jesus’s cross is the ultimate revelation of what God does with evil.
[00:01:37 –> 00:01:42] so when Jesus and the cross are not in our minds and hearts, when we read the Old Testament,
[00:01:42 –> 00:01:45] the Old Testament will make no sense and will get discouraged.
[Editor’s note: This does not mean the Old Testament lacks meaning or value in itself; rather, Christians read it in the unity of God’s plan, fulfilled in Christ.]
[00:01:45 –> 00:01:50] The cross is the final ultimate revelation of what God does with evil.
[00:01:50 –> 00:02:05] helpful tip when you are reading the Old Testament and you may be struggling and you’re looking at a scripture passage and you don’t get it and you’re kind of scandalized or you’re upset, look to Jesus and be reminded of who Jesus is.
[00:02:05 –> 00:02:10] And especially return to the place in scripture God reminds you of who he is
[00:02:10 –> 00:02:18] and then go back to the Old Testament, then go back to that passage that is really, really difficult. Let Jesus be the final interpretive key.
[00:02:18 –> 00:02:25] So we see this in a very beautiful way in a lot of the Old Testament with a lot of the Jesus Christ figures,
[00:02:25 –> 00:02:29] people who foreshadow Jesus, events that foreshadow Jesus.
[00:02:29 –> 00:02:35] one of my favorite ways of explaining this is in the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome.
[00:02:35 –> 00:02:54] John Lateran’s Basilica, there are incredible reliefs, huge reliefs, marble reliefs of images from the Old Testament and the New Testament. On one side, there are images of the Old Testament and on the other side are images of the New Testament and of Jesus.
[00:02:54 –> 00:02:56] The things that are on the Old Testament side
[00:02:56 –> 00:03:11] directly foreshadow what happens on the New Testament side. So events that happen in the Old Testament are revealed and fulfilled and foreshadowed in the New Testament. It’s so cool. So there’s this relief
[00:03:11 –> 00:03:18] of Jonah and the whale. Jonah disappears into the whale for three days and after three days, he’s spit out.
[00:03:18 –> 00:03:20] And then guess what’s on the other side?
[00:03:20 –> 00:03:28] The resurrection. Jesus Christ enters into the tomb, dies for three days and then rises from the dead.
[00:03:28 –> 00:03:44] On one side, there’s a relief of Isaac. Isaac in the Old Testament carrying the wood for the sacrifice, going up the mountain, Mount Moriah. And then guess what’s on the other side? We have Jesus carrying the cross.
[00:03:44 –> 00:03:49] same mountain range, carrying the wood of the cross for the sacrifice.
[00:03:49 –> 00:04:03] my favorite of all of them is Joseph. Joseph in the Old Testament, who is betrayed by his brothers. The beloved son who was betrayed by his brothers and sold into slavery.
[00:04:03 –> 00:04:14] Guess what’s on the New Testament side? It’s Jesus being kissed by Judas. Jesus being betrayed for 30 pieces of silver and entering into his passion.
[00:04:14 –> 00:04:20] you look at all of these passages in the Old Testament, Jesus is the final interpretive key.
[00:04:20 –> 00:04:43] especially as now we have all four rules, we can get it out of our minds that Jesus is God 2.0, the better version of God in the New Testament. No, he’s the beginning and the end. He is everything. And he is the one that helps us to understand the heart of a good father in horrible situations in the Old Testament.
[00:04:43 –> 00:04:49] is not God’s correction of the Old Testament. Jesus is the fulfillment of it.
[00:04:49 –> 00:04:54] So pray like saints, read the Old Testament like saints.
[00:04:54 –> 00:04:59] rules to really help you read the Old Testament like a Catholic.
[00:05:00 –> 00:05:04] Love you all, praying for you. This is Spirit Juice, peace.
Watch Fr. Tim’s full answer, part 4 of his four-part series on how to read the Old Testament.
Key Takeaways
- Rule 4 for reading the Old Testament: let Jesus be the final interpretive key.
- Fr. Tim calls Rule 4 “the key to all the other rules,” and says rules one through three “only gets us so far.”
- The Catechism says the New Testament lies hidden in the Old and the Old Testament is unveiled in the New, and that the Old Testament keeps a permanent value of its own.
- Fr. Tim says, “Jesus’s cross is the ultimate revelation of what God does with evil.” The Catechism teaches that God is in no way the cause of moral evil, and that from the murder of His Son He “brought the greatest of goods: the glorification of Christ and our redemption.”
- When a passage scandalizes or upsets you, Fr. Tim says to “look to Jesus and be reminded of who Jesus is,” then go back to the passage.
- Fr. Tim describes reliefs in the Basilica of St. John Lateran that pair Old Testament scenes with the New: Jonah with the resurrection, Isaac with Jesus carrying the cross, and Joseph with Jesus betrayed by Judas.
- Fr. Tim says we can “get it out of our minds that Jesus is God 2.0.” In his words, Jesus is “the fulfillment of it,” not a correction of the Old Testament.
What This Means for Prayer and Daily Life
The next time an Old Testament passage bothers you, try Fr. Tim’s tip. Stop reading for a moment, look to Jesus, and ask Him to show you who He is. You are not trying to make the question go away. You are putting it in the right light.
Then return to a passage of Scripture that helps you see who Jesus is, as Fr. Tim suggests. Reading one of the Gospel accounts of the cross is a good place to start. When you return to the hard passage, read it with the Church and take your questions to the Catechism, a Catholic study Bible or your parish priest. You don’t have to work it out alone.
Keep one thing straight as you read. God is one, and the Old and New Testaments are one story of His plan. Fr. Tim rejects the idea that Jesus is “God 2.0,” and the Church has always vigorously opposed the idea of rejecting the Old Testament. Its books keep their permanent value, and they find their fullest meaning in Christ.
Finally, bring your own hard moments to the cross. The Church teaches that God is never the cause of moral evil, and that from the murder of His Son He brought the greatest of goods: Christ’s glorification and our redemption. That does not explain every question, but it tells you that evil does not have the last word.
A simple prayer for this week:
“Lord Jesus, You are the key to all of Scripture. When I read a passage I do not understand, turn my eyes to You and to Your cross. Help me trust the goodness of the Father and read His Word with the mind of Your Church. Amen.”
FAQ Section
Rule 4 is that Jesus is the final interpretive key. Fr. Tim calls it “the key to all the other rules.” He says we read the Old Testament knowing who Jesus Christ is, because “you cannot understand the beginning without understanding the end.” The Church reads Scripture the same way, with Christ at its center.
The Catechism teaches that Scripture is a unity because of the unity of God’s plan, and that Christ Jesus is the center and heart of that plan. The Old Testament prepares for Christ, and the Church calls the way its people and events point ahead to Him typology. Fr. Tim’s words for this are that Jesus is “the final key to everything.”
No. Fr. Tim says we can get “out of our minds that Jesus is God 2.0, the better version of God in the New Testament,” and that Jesus is “the fulfillment of it,” not a correction of the Old Testament. The Catechism teaches that the Church has always vigorously opposed rejecting the Old Testament, because its books are inspired and keep a permanent value.
Fr. Tim says, “Jesus’s cross is the ultimate revelation of what God does with evil.” The Catechism teaches that God is in no way the cause of moral evil, and that He brought the greatest of goods, the glorification of Christ and our redemption, out of the murder of His Son. The cross does not answer every question about hard passages, but it shows that God does not leave evil with the last word.
It means that people and events in the Old Testament point ahead to Christ, which the Church calls typology. Fr. Tim gives three examples from the reliefs he describes in the Basilica of St. John Lateran: Jonah and the whale beside the resurrection, Isaac carrying the wood beside Jesus carrying the cross, and Joseph betrayed by his brothers beside Jesus betrayed by Judas. As the Catechism puts it, the New Testament lies hidden in the Old and the Old Testament is unveiled in the New.
Fr. Tim’s tip is to “look to Jesus and be reminded of who Jesus is,” then go back to the difficult passage. It also helps to read with the Church, use a Catholic study Bible or the Catechism, and talk with your parish priest. A hard passage does not have to be solved in one sitting.
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