Jesus On Every Page Paperback – August 20, 2013

The author, Dr. David Murray, is professor of Old Testament and Practical Theology at Puritan Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan. For me, reading Jesus on Every Page: Ten Simple Ways to Seek and Find Christ in the Old Testament is like looking at a piece of antique furniture covered with multiple layers of veneer. As I read through the book, layer after layer of veneer was stripped off until a beautiful original masterpiece sparkled in dazzling glory. At least four layers come to mind as modern obstacles to reading the Old Testament as a work about Jesus.Peeling Back Layer 1: We Can See an Approach That Is BiblicalThe book shows an approach that is modeled in the Bible itself, although this method of interpretation is often hidden by layers of academic "scholarship" that sometimes asserts as truisms rules such as "one cannot use the New Testament to interpret the Old Testament." Dr. Murray shows, from the Scriptures, that Jesus and the apostles had other ideas, as they believed that the Old Testament spoke of Him (John 5:46; Luke 24:27, 44), and Old Testament authors such as David knew it (Acts 2:25-31; cf. Psalm 16:8-11). Whether law, prophecy, poetry, promises, or wisdom literature, Jesus is shown to be the focus of the whole Old Testament.Peeling Back Layer 2: We Can See an Approach That Is BalancedWe must not avoid the ditch of denying that the Old Testament is about Jesus, when the New Testament clearly demonstrates that it is, but must also avoid the ditch of seeing Jesus in ways that abuse the true intention of the text. Some have failed to see the richness of the Old Testament's witness to Jesus because fanciful allegorizations that toss away the historical significance of the text have deterred them.Chapter Thirteen, "Christ's Pictures," is especially helpful in its treatment of typology, which some view with suspicion due to some flagrant abuses in interpretation. The author warns of getting to Jesus "through various unpredictable leaps of logic and irrationality" (137) and offers a constructive definition of typology: "a type is a real person, place, object, or event that God ordained to act as a predictive pattern or resemblance of Jesus' person and work, or of opposition to both" (138). Types must also have a fulfillment that is enlarged, clarified, and heightened in Christ (148).The careful definition and explanation of the typology in the Bible helps guard against abuse, but should also give us confidence that there are types beyond the ones explicitly identified as such, so that we should not be ashamed to see people like Joseph as real historical figures who prefigured Christ's work of redemption: "Limiting ourselves only to explicit types would mean that while minor characters such as Melchizedek and Jonah are types because they are identified as such in the New Testament, major biblical personalities such as Joseph and Joshua are not" (140).Peeling Back Layer 3: We Can See an Approach That Is AccessibleFor some, seeing Christ in the Old Testament is obscured a thick overcoat of seemingly cold, complicated jargon. This book's personal, simple approach makes it easily accessible. Dr. Murray begins the book with his personal journey on the "Emmaus Road," which would lead him to wonderful vistas of seeing Christ in the Old Testament. It is encouraging to hear that, just as this doesn't come easily to many of us, that the author is a fellow traveler who has been changed on the journey and is passionate to share that experience.Furthermore, the book uses a simple, popular style to treat a subject that has been handled academically. While there is a place for technical, exhaustive treatments, the Lord has richly blessed us with a resource that covers the main topics, gives practical suggestions and examples, is relatively brief (just over 200 pages of generously sized and spaced font) and is not hard to digest.Make no mistake - the burden of this book is to radical alter conventional thinking about the Old Testament, but it is possibly to be helpful and persuasive without limiting oneself to an audience of specialists.By "putting the cookies on the bottom shelf," as some have described similar approaches, the author has produced a work that is useful for the average individual as well as the pastor or the scholar with more training in academic literature.Peeling Back Layer 4: We Can See an Approach That Is Full of FaithFor some, the main obstacle to seeing Jesus in the Old Testament is a veneer over their own hearts; a veil that separates them from seeing clearly because of their unbelief. This book demonstrates faith in God, in the words of Jesus, in the words of the Holy Spirit communicated through the prophets and apostles - a faith that turns on the lights, and without which we can only see shadows in the Old Testament.This is a veneer that only the Holy Spirit can pull back (2 Corinthians 3), and I pray God will place this book in the hands of some that will read these Scriptures with a new understanding for the first time, and put their faith in Christ.In addition, this book has some other uses I can commend. For students taking a Bible class in college, particularly an Old Testament one, it could be a great tool for a potential scenario where the professor (even if conservative) may advocate a method of Old Testament interpretation that downplays the New Testament. The man or woman in the pew would be edified by reading this work, and could get more out of their Old Testament Bible reading as a result. This would also be a great textbook - I hope to use it in my teaching of Bible study methods to adults, as well as a high school Old Testament survey class. Bible professors and pastors should eagerly ingest this book. As I am preparing to go share God's Word as a guest speaker this weekend, I have more passion and clarity in my mind about this topic as a result of reading this book, and a desire to continue learning and seeing Jesus in His Word -- all of it, New Testament and Old.Thanks, Dr. Murray, for your part in helping to strip off the veneer to display the beauty of the Old Testament.--I received a digital review copy of this book from the author, with the freedom to give it an honest review, which I have done.

I am using this book to lead a ladies Bible study group at our church. It is written in a way that can be appreciated by those with extensive study skills but is not intimidating to the new believers who are still working on the basic Bible message. I would really like to have a study guide to go along with this book but I am doing my best to create one that we can use to review the main message of each chapter. Love the message of this book.PS Silly me after getting into the book I discovered a study guide is contained in the back of the book . It is perfect for our needs.

This book is an accessible summary of the way the Old Testament points to Jesus. Murray notes that there are many connections to draw to Jesus, and attempts to provide a reasonably complete survey of these connections.Murray is basically correct in his approach. He sees Jesus on every page, though not necessarily, it seems, in every verse. That is, every story can be connected to Jesus even if we have to be careful not to press the analogy in every detail. Murray makes a lot of 1 Peter 1:12 (" It was revealed to them [the prophets] that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been reported to you") in arguing that the Old Testament prophets knew about the New Testament era that was coming. The Old Testament "things" is the same as the New Testament "reports".Murray is spot on at many points. For example, he correctly points out, on the basis of Acts 2:30-31, that in Psalm 16 David was a "believing Christian speaking of Christ as his only hope" (p. 194). I also appreciate Murray's alliteration in arranging his subpoints: his chapter on Jesus and Creation has the headings "The Arrangement of Redemption," "The Arena of Redemption," "The Aim of Redemption," "The Accessories of Redemption," "The Assistants of Redemption," "The Advance of Redemption," "The Analogy of Redemption," "The Advantages of Redemption," "The Apex of Redemption," "The Author of Redemption," and "The Application of Redemption".There are, however, numerous points at which I disagree with Murray, either because he makes a dubious assertion or because he omits a critical point. I will restrict myself to three examples.Firstly, Murray tends to see Jesus as doing everything in the Old Testament. For example, he argues that "the Son of God is the usual way God appears to humanity" (p. 76). Yet this has the effect of diminishing the work of the Holy Spirit. If we are going to apportion divine deeds among the different members of the Trinity (and that in itself is fraught with peril), then many Old Testament acts must be seen as the work of the Spirit (e.g. Nehemiah 9:20).Secondly, in looking at Jesus in the prophetic books, Murray omits the idea that Jesus is the one on whom the judgement falls. He talks about Jesus being the judge of the nations (p. 128) but we can also look at judgement the other way: when Nahum 1:2 says "The Lord is a jealous and avenging God; the Lord is avenging and wrathful", we have to remember that this wrath against sin fell on Jesus. This is a glaring omission in what attempts to be a complete catalogue of connections between the Old and New Testaments.Thirdly, in talking about covenant signs, Murray claims that "the crown on David's head reminded him and all Israel of God's promise of an everlasting king and kingdom" (p. 167). There is, however, no reference to David being crowned until he obtains the crown of the King of Rabbah in 2 Samuel 12:30. David was anointed with oil (2 Samuel 2:4) but the crown is not itself a Davidic symbol. It is used in the Psalms (89:39 and 132:18) to refer to the later monarchy, and perhaps this is where Murray gets the idea.Thus, Jesus on Every Page is a rather annoying book. It is helpful in many ways, but it could have been so much better. The numerous points of disagreement I had prevent me from recommending it wholeheartedly.

This book is excellent. I would definitely recommend this book for anyone who wants to understand more about how the Old and New Testaments integrate. Once you understand how God‘s redemption plan spans all of the Bible and all of time, you will praise God more and marvel at His wisdom.

Jesus is not simply a New Testament character. John 5 says, "You search the Scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me...For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me." With that Murray opens the Scriptures and shows us how Jesus is found on every page in the Bible; in creation, in Old Testament characters, in the law, in the prophets, the covenants, the pictures, the wisdom of Proverbs and of course in the Psalms.I have never read a book like this one. I confess, it's not a book I would generally pick up, but I'm very fond of the author and so I gave it a try. Ironically, this book has now become my top read of the year. I have learned so much! With every paragraph I read, old things became new in front of my eyes and heart. I'm reading the Old Testament differently now. I'm hunting for Christ in the pages. Dr. Murray has done so much of the heavy work through this book, and has given me all the hints of where I'm going to find my Savior in those Old Testament books. Dr. Murray may be a professor of Old Testament studies in a seminary, but he didn't write in a 'scholarly' way. He wrote this book using regular language for regular people like you and me.

Clear and easy to read. An excellent overview of the various ways in which the Old Testament points to Jesus, is about him, and indeed includes him in person.

This book delivers what it promises.In a relatively short space, it manages to clearly articulate and give examples of the many ways that Jesus Christ is present in the Old Testament.Among them what truly stands out is the fact that Jesus is really present and active in every page of the OT, He doesn't just patiently wait for His incarnation, He has been and always will be the Saviour of His people.It really is an eye-opener to the beauty both of the written Word and the living Word, Jesus.Highly recommended to beginning Christians and experienced preachers alike! The church needs preaching that is Christ-centered. That is what the Bible is all about, after all.Dr Murray has done an excellent job, to our beautiful triune God be all the glory!

Great help to understand the OT!