Lesson 10 | Quotations & Allusions
Consider Redemptive History
The Bible is the true story of God’s saving work that climaxes in Christ. The timeline of this story is called “redemptive history.” And the way to understand how the Bible quotes and alludes to itself is often discovered by considering where each piece falls in redemptive history. Consider this video from our Interpretation Course.
Christ as the Answer Key
Once again, there is so much to be said about the centrality of Christ in understanding the Bible—more that we can lay out here. But simply grasping the concept does a lot to point you in the right direction.
Get started by asking the following questions with regard to a quotation or allusion.
Where does this cf fall within redemptive history?
How does that relate to where my primary passage of study falls?
Let’s take a look at an example.
What does Jesus mean when he quotes Exodus 20:14 with the words, “You have heard that it was said… But I say to you…”?
This is a tough question. But noting the placement of both Exodus 20 and Matthew 5 in redemptive history helps us tremendously.
First, we need to understand that Exodus 20:14 is a part of the Ten Commandments. It is a part of the law that God gave to his people to demonstrate their need for a Savior (Romans 3:19-20). Next, we need to understand that Matthew 5 is reinforcing this same need. Jesus is up on the mountain (Matthew 5:1) delivering the law of God just as God did at Sinai.
And his purpose is the same: to drive folks to desperation for a Savior (see Matthew 5:20,48). Exodus 20 is early in redemptive history but points us all the way forward to the cross and resurrection. Matthew 5 is almost there and yet still pointing us forward to the cross and resurrection. Exodus 20 is showing us our sinfulness with primarily external commands that no one can keep their whole life. Matthew 5 is showing us our sinfulness with internal commands that no one can keep for even a week straight.
So what did Jesus mean with his “You have heard that it was said… But I say to you…” formula? He meant to show us that our desperate condition is even more desperate than we realized. He is not correcting or contradicting the Ten Commandments; he is interpreting them in their full strength, amplifying their good purpose to lead people to him.
Can you see how noting the placement of each piece in redemptive history helps us understand better?