Many Bibles use red lettering when quoting Jesus directly. This allows people to quickly see what Jesus actually said. Often, these “words in red” were actually Old Testament verses that Jesus was quoting. When we understand this better, we will see that God’s heart is the same in the Old Testament, New Testament and today.
The only Bible Jesus had was the Old Testament. After His resurrection on the road to Emaus, Jesus described to the disciples why He had to die using the Old Testament.
“Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” Luke 24:26-27
One of the great things about the Bible is that it stays the same. However, truth must be revealed to you through the Holy Spirit today. Without it, the Bible is very confusing. You can find more detail here. Why is the Bible Confusing? – Growing In the Spirit
After Jesus revealed Himself, the disciples recognized that He was talking to them using the Old Testament.
“And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”” Luke 24:31-32
Is your heart burning today when you read the Bible? If so, the Holy Spirt wants to reveal something to you.
Not only did Jesus reference himself in the Old Testament. He also quoted the Old Testament regularly.
According to a Liberty University study, about 10% of Jesus’s words in the New Testament were either direct quotes from or references to the Old Testament. This publication from Liberty provides a nice summary comparing the New Testament and Old Testament verses. Old Testament Passages Quoted by Jesus Christ – Willmington, Harold, “Old Testament Passages Quoted by Jesus Christ” (2017). The Second Person File.
Below are deeper studies into times Jesus either quoted or fulfilled Old Testament verses.
The Greatest Commandment
We often think about the Old Testament being filled with a lot of rules. Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was. When He answered with “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind” I thought Jesus was merging all the old rules and creating a New Covenant Rule, but I was wrong. Jesus was quoting Deuteronomy 6:5. Love your neighbor as yourself is Leviticus 19:18. Jesus gave us context of what He meant as well if we look closer around the Old Testament verses.
The Temptation
When Jesus was tempted by Satan in the Gospels, there was an epic Old Testament Bible debate going on. Satan quoted the Old Testament to Jesus to convince Him to submit to Satan. Jesus then responded with now famous verses like “Man shall not live by Bread Alone” Luke 4:4 and Matthew 4:4. Did you know that Jesus was quoting Deuteronomy 8:3? When you look beyond the verse, the surrounding context of the Old Testament even describes the temptation.
The Crucifixion
When Jesus was on the cross, He cried out several things. Some like “I thirst” were to fulfill prophecy. Others like, “My God My God Why have you forsaken me?” sound like Jesus calling out in agony questioning God. In reality, Jesus was quoting Psalm 22:1. If you read the whole chapter of Psalm 22, you will see the answer to the question. It describes the crucifixion and the reason for it.
Abraham Sacrificing Isaac
Other times in the Old Testament, we see very confusing accounts like when God told Abraham to kill Isaac. This is painfully difficult to read and caused me to struggle wondering why God would that and would He ask me to do it too? Through a deeper understanding of this passage through the lens of Jesus, we see that God asked Abraham to do the same thing that He would have to do Himself with Jesus.
Modern Quotes
Common figures of speech today are credited to those that made them popular.
Abraham Lincoln said “A house divided cannot stand” when referring to the US Civil War. He was quoting Jesus.
The Spider-Man series is attributed with the phrase, “with great power comes great responsibility,” Jesus said this nearly identical phrase when sharing the parable of the talents.
