On several occasions Jesus quoted Old Testament texts that predicted future events and affirmed that these events would take place in the future. John the apostle also does this in Rev 1:7. This is true for events such as the reward for the righteous, the abomination of desolation, cosmic signs, the Messiah’s coming on the clouds, and the Messiah’s rule over the earth and consequent reign of His saints. We call this category of NT usage of the OT—"Affirmation of OT Prophetic Text Whose Fulfillment Is Still Future."
With Matt 5:21-48, Jesus quotes several statements from the Law as He is describing what He expects from His followers. On six occasions Jesus refers to an OT command but then follows these with, "But I say to you" to indicate that He was about to intensify or alter the OT commands. Thus Jesus quotes the OT passages contextually but then offers more. We will call this usage of the OT—"Literal Restatement of OT Passage with Intensification or Alteration"
A second category of NT use of the OT that we will look at now is "Literal Application of a Timeless Moral or Theological Point." This occurs when a NT writer or person applies a moral or theological point found in the OT to the present. Below is a sampling of this type of usage of the OT:
In my last entry I offered nine examples of Literal Prophetic Fulfillment of OT passages in the NT. Below are eleven more examples:
Matt 21:4-5 / Zech 9:9
"This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
‘SAY TO THE DAUGHTER OF ZION,
"BEHOLD YOUR KING IS COMING TO YOU,
GENTLE, AND MOUNTED ON A DONKEY,
EVEN ON A COLT, THE FOAL OF A BEAST OF BURDEN."'"
On many occasions the NT writers used the OT to indicate a literal fulfillment of something explicitly promised or predicted in the OT in verbal form. Thus, what was explicitly promised in the OT is now said to be fulfilled in the NT. We can call this category of OT usage "Literal Prophetic Fulfillment." This category is usually accepted by most Evangelicals and is one of the least controversial of the categories. Since the examples of Literal Prophetic Fulfillment are numerous we will have to document these cases in multiple blog entries. Below are nine such cases:
