to carry around in the desert (as many have claimed) because other peoples of the era carried around much larger tent-shrines. See Kitchen, Reliability of the Old Testament, 279–83. Also, Kitchen notes, Deuteronomy’s statements prohibiting worship at sites other than where YHWH places his Name (Deut 16:6, etc.) does not necessarily designate the temple in Jerusalem (Jerusalem is never mentioned or implied!), but rather simply refers to a place God designates (Reliability of the Old Testament, 302). Even if it did designate Jerusalem, from the perspective of faith, this does not pose a problem in that God who knows the future can reveal things to the prophets. This only becomes a problem if one, due to their worldview, rejects rectilinear prophecy.
198. See similar argument in Leithart, House for My Name, 130–31.
199. This is Peter Leithart’s insight in a personal conversation.
200. Kraus, Psalms 1–59, 132.
201. Augustine interpreted this purely messianically and suggested that the “today have I begotten you” was the today of eternity. See Augustine, Expositions of the Psalms: Psalm 2:6; NPNFb 8:3. He writes:
Although that day may also seem to be prophetically spoken of, on which Jesus Christ was born according to the flesh; and in eternity there is nothing past as if it had ceased to be, nor future as if it were not yet, but present only, since whatever is eternal, always is; yet as today intimates presentiality, a divine interpretation is given to that expression, Today have I begotten You, whereby the uncorrupt and Catholic faith proclaims the eternal generation of the power and Wisdom of God, who is the Only-begotten Son.
In this he was followed by most of the western exegetically tradition.
202. Hengstenberg, Christology of the Old Testament, 1:150–52; Leupold, Psalms, 41–58.
203. Leithart, 1 and 2 Kings, 32.
204. Hengstenberg, Christology of the Old Testament, 1:130–49.
205. Kraus, Psalms 1–59, 131.
206. Eichrodt, Theology of the Old Testament, 1:448.
207. Mowinckel, He That Cometh, 172; von Rad, Old Testament Theology, 1:320.
208. Brueggemann, Theology of the Old Testament, 606–7.
209. Kraus, Psalms 1-59, 131–32.
210. Hengstenberg, Christology of the Old Testament, 1:130–52.
211. Ibid., 1:57–98; Leupold, Genesis, 2:1176–85.
212. Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary, 1:220–23.
213. Leupold, Isaiah, 2:179–80. Leupold concludes that the Servant must be divine, in that he serves as a light to the nations in a way that only God could.
214. Hengstenberg, Christology of the Old Testament, 1:89–90. Also see Leupold, Isaiah, 1:185–86.
215. Daniélou, History of Early Christian Doctrine, 333.
216. Hengstenberg, Christology of the Old Testament, 2:37.
217. Hummel, Ezekiel, 2:1003–7. Dr. Hummel sees this as a prediction of the Davidic Messiah unification of the Church. Nevertheless, he also sees an ultimate fulfillment in Christ’s theandric nature, in that he is a ruler who unifies divine and human rule.
218. A. Pieper, Exposition of Isaiah 40–66, 436. Also see argument in Block, “My Servant David, 17–56. Block makes the argument that the Servant is clearly a Davidic king.
219. See A. Pieper, Exposition of Isaiah, 436. Pieper disagrees and claims that “dry ground” refers to the political situation.
220. See a defense of this interpretation of Isaiah and its application to Christ in Gibbs, Matthew 1–11, 99–104; Hengstenberg, Christology of the Old Testament, 2:44–50; Leupold, Isaiah, 1:155–57; Niessen, “Virginity of the ‘Almah,” 133–50; Rydelnik, Messianic Hope, 152–54; E. Young, “Immanuel Prophecy,” 97–124. Also see a Jewish defense of the word “almah” (virgin) in C. Gordon, “Almah in Isaiah,” 106.
Chapter 3: Christology and Atonement in the New Testament, Part 1
The Christology of the Gospels
Introduction
Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the entire Old Testament. He is the true mediator between God and humanity (1 Tim 2:5). He is the one who finally brought an end to universal exile brought by the fall of our first parents. This theme of exile and return, which we have traced throughout the Old Testament, will be important in our treatment of how the New Testament authors understood Jesus’s atoning work as the final end to the universal exile of creation from its creator God. This would take the form of the return of divine presence, renewal of creation, and fulfillment of the law through eschatological judgment. In order to reverse the state of universal exile, we will observe that Jesus is God’s own self-donation and entry into the story of Israel and humanity. As we saw in the previous chapters, God in his faithfulness elected mediators in the Old Testament period in order to fulfill the law and thereby represent himself in faithfulness to Israel. Mediators also served as an embodiment of Israel remaining faithful to him. Jesus is the true prophet, priest, and king, who fulfills God’s own faithfulness by coming in the flesh. As an ultimate fulfillment of his faithfulness, God literally gives himself to Israel by donating his person to them. From within our nature, God finally wins a victory over sin, death, the devil, and the law, thereby enacting a true and everlasting testament of his love.
The Synoptic Gospels: Mark
In discussing the Synoptic Gospels, we will begin first with the shortest gospel, Mark.221 Mark’s gospel works from an alternating pattern of humiliation and exaltation. It is a book of glory and of the hiddenness of glory sub contrario. In it, Jesus is the divine Son of God, the Son of Man, and the divine kavod come in the flesh to fulfill the pattern of exile and return prefigured in the history of Israel. He thereby forgives sins, renews creation, and overcomes demonic forces.
