OT/NT Echoes

“A Prophet Like Me”

In two earlier editions of the Gardener, I shared with you that the New Testament often echoed another passage in the Old Testament (See www.sfefc.org). In fact, sometimes the NT could echo not just to a verse or a few verses in the OT, but to its great story. In other words, the OT stories so filled the minds of the NT writers that they would interpret the ministry of Jesus as well as their relationship to Him, through the lens of the OT stories. In turn, these writers would express their perception similarly. Let’s look at how Luke portrays the mission of Jesus with Moses as background.

In all four Gospels, only Luke uses the name of an OT book to describe what Jesus did in Jerusalem:

Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. (Luke 9:30-31)

The word “departure” in Greek is “exodus,” the name of the second book in the OT. It is because of this name, this passage of Luke readily brings the readers back to the work of Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt. In a way reminiscent of Moses who said, “The LORD was angry with me because of you, and he solemnly swore that I would not cross the Jordan and enter the good land the LORD your God is giving you as your inheritance” (Deut 4:21), Jesus also prophesied that “the Son of Man must suffer many things . . . and he must be killed” (Lk 9:22) and “As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem” (Lk 9:51). From the outset, it appears that Luke 9 is full of signposts pointing back to the wilderness records of Moses.

Beginning with Lk 9:8 where it says “and still others that one of the prophets of long ago had come back to life,” the verb “had come back to life” is the same as “raise up” in Deut 18:15 (The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him). We will find that in volume 2 of Luke-Acts, Luke once again in Acts 3:22 refer to the words of Moses in Deuteronomy to prove that Jesus was the prophet like Moses.

Then in Luke 9:12, the writer reminds the readers that Jesus and his followers were in a “remote place.” This is the same as the “desert” where Moses and the Israelites were in (Deut 8:2 and 8:16). It becomes more obvious as we move on to Lk 9:28 where Luke says that Jesus “went up to the mountain to pray,” just as Moses was the only one who conversed face to face with God (Deut 34:10, Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face). In the time of Moses, the mountain “was ablaze with fire” (Deut 5:23) and “The LORD our God has shown us his glory and his majesty” (Deut 5:24). In the time of Jesus, Luke says “as he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning”(Lk 9:29) and “they appeared in glorious splendor” (Lk 9:31). When Luke reports in 9:35 that there was a voice, it recalls Moses’ repeated warnings to the people to hearken to God’s voice (Deut 5:22-26). Even the content of that voice, “you must listen to him,” is followed only by Luke of all the Gospels faithfully in its Greek words and order as found in Deut 18:15.

Even the way the disciples behaved recalls that of the twelve tribes following Moses. Again, Luke was the only one Gospel writer who made a note here that the disciples slept through the conversations Jesus was having with Moses and Elijah. As soon as he woke up, Peter was speaking out his folly and had to be interrupted by clouds and God’s voice. And the disciples became “afraid” similar to what took place in Deut 4:36 (From heaven he made you hear his voice to discipline you).

The ensuing behaviors of the disciples were even more like unto that of the Israelites during the exodus. They failed to drive the demons out and Jesus had this to say: “O unbelieving and perverse generation . . . how long shall I stay with you and put up with you?” (Lk 9:41). The words that Jesus used were familiar to Jews who had learnt the Five Books of Moses, recorded in several places in Deuteronomy:

They have acted corruptly toward him; to their shame they are no longer his children,

but a warped and crooked generation. (Deut 32:5)

“I will hide my face from them,” he said, “and see what their end will be; for they are a perverse generation, children who are unfaithful. (Deut 32:20)

But how can I bear your problems and your burdens and your disputes all by myself? (Deut 1:12)

Jesus’ disciples, like those Israelites blasted by Moses, had no understanding: But to this day the LORD has not given you a mind that understands or eyes that see or ears that hear. (Deut 29:4)

As if they had not misbehaved enough, the disciples degenerated into arguing “who would be the greatest.” (Lk 9:46). At this juncture, Jesus brought into the scene a “little child,” pointed out the disciples’ problems “in the hearts” (NIV translates as “their thoughts” in Lk 9:47), and showed them what kind of people would be able to “hearken to the voice of God.” The drama of bringing in a “little child,” acts out the fulfillment spoken by Moses to those adults following him in the deserted place: “Not a man of this evil generation shall see the good land I swore to give your forefathers. . . And the little ones that you said would be taken captive, your children who do not yet know good from bad—they will enter the land. I will give it to them and they will take possession of it” (Deut 1:35 and 39). Like Moses, “the prophet like me” prophesied in Deuteronomy 18:15-19 also had to face a “warped and crooked generation,” lead them to a second exodus, and in the course gave up his own life for the promise to be inherited by the new generation. There is no need for great men in that generation, let alone “the greatest.” The generation of promise needs only “little child” who would “hearken to the voice of God.” We shall see that the new generation of promise stands up in volume 2:

For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you… And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.’ (Acts 3:22, 25)

So far, Chapter 9 of Luke has sketched out the ministry of Jesus in the mold of the great prophet Moses in his 40 years of wandering in the desert with a crooked generation. Luke would further detail it in the central traveling sections from chapters 9-19. When one can be brought to hear the bigger OT story of the Exodus by some NT reverberations, it may even help to appreciate why the NT writers structure his presentations in a larger section of a book.

(By Pastor Raymond, from David P. Moessner, Lord of the Banquet, 56 – 70)