Jesus Christ & The Old Testament

Today’s reading from Acts finds Peter in the midst of a sermon given to many devout Jews who were in Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost. We began by examining the purpose of Peter’s use of Old Testament Scriptures in his sermon and how Jesus Christ comes from the Old Testament tradition. The only way in which Jesus’ message can be properly understood is to have a fundamental understanding of the Old Testament Scriptures; to understand Christ in the light of the Old Testament. In this way, the Old Testament has “control” over our understanding of Jesus. We are prevented from making Jesus into whatever we want, or into some common historical figure. We concluded by highlighting how the message from Peter ‘cut them to the heart’ as his hearers realized the Scriptures were condemning them and their self-righteousness. Like the pious Jews in the book of Acts, devout Christians today must also come to this realization of our own self-righteousness, and be cut to the heart.