Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 120:480 (Oct 1963)
Article: Literary Keys to the Fourth Gospel Part III: The Old Testament and the Fourth Gospel
Author: Merrill C. Tenney

BSac 120:480 (Oct 63) p. 300

Literary Keys to the Fourth Gospel
Part III:
The Old Testament and the Fourth Gospel

Merrill C. Tenney

Between the revelations of the Old and New Testaments a strong bond of unity exists. Augustine’s little couplet, “The New is in the Old concealed; the Old is by the New revealed,” expresses the relationship quite accurately. Apart from the New Testament the Hebrew canon is a truncated cone, solid but incomplete, its lines pointing to an apex yet unrealized. Without the Old Testament the new revelation is devoid of an adequate foundation, for its presuppositions are left unexplained and its place in the total purpose of God is undefined.

According to the record, the Old Testament was the basis for preaching the new message. The earliest sermons of the apostles recorded in Acts are filled with excerpts from the law, the prophets, and the psalms, which, they said, were prophetic of Christ (Acts 2:16–21, 25–31; 3:22; 10:43; 13:32–38). The Gospels substantiate this practice, both by Jesus’ own use of Scripture and by the Evangelists’ procedure. Mark commences his narrative with a double quotation from Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3, but does not thereafter quote directly except when reproducing the discourses of Jesus. Luke and Matthew employ more Scripture in the body of their text. Matthew, being concerned especially with the fulfillment of prophecy, introduces frequently the formula, “that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet,” or some similar expression (Matt 1:22; 2:5, 15, 17, 23; 3:3; 4:14; 8:17; 12:17; 13:14, 35; 21:4; 27:9). The epistles and Revelation are

BSac 120:480 (Oct 63) p. 301

permeated with Old Testament language and teaching. Revelation alone contains nearly three hundred quotations or allusions.

Identification of quotations is not always ea...