Revelation 1: The Old Testament, Christ and the Church
What would happen if Jesus of Nazareth plopped down in Tucson, AZ?. Without a Jewish background to understand or interpret him, what could you possibly of made of him? The Hebrew Scriptures, what we Christians call the Old Testament, gives the interpretive context within which to understand the Gospels. The Old Testament is a library, not a book. It began, probably, as oral history and was at some point put in writing. It has been arranged in and order that tells a story. Christians and Jews believe that the Old Testament is the inspired Word of God. The details of that inspiration is, of course, another matter. This evening we will discuss the story of the Old Testament in the Cliff Notes version focusing on the role of priest (the Temple and Altar) the prophet (the ethical teaching) and the King (leadership) in the story of Israel.