Jesus and the Old Testament

I decided to go through the Gospel of Matthew and record all the references to the Old Testament. This might seem odd, but the reason I thought about doing this is that I was thinking about the debate over the interpretation of the creation account in Genesis. A while ago, I attended a panel at a church about creationism and evolution, and the basic view presented there was one of agnosticism toward the subject and an openness to theistic evolution. I realized that Jesus and Paul (original sin from Adam in Romans 5) both use the literal details of the Genesis account of creation to establish doctrine.

Realizing how Jesus and the gospel writers viewed the Old Testament tells us how we should view and interpret Scripture. So, without further ado, here is my list from Matthew. It's probably not perfect, and you can probably find this in a book somewhere.



1:23 Matthew quotes Isaiah 7:14, prophecy that the Messiah would be born to a virgin

2:6 Scribes and priests quote Micah 5:2, prophecy about Messiah

2:15 Matthew calls Hosea a prophet and quotes Hosea 11:1

2:17, 18 Matthew calls Jeremiah a prophet and quotes Jeremiah 31:15

3:3 Matthew says John the Baptist is he who was spoken of by Isaiah 40:3

4:4 Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 8:3 in response to Satan's temptation

4:6 Satan quotes Psalm 91:11,12 to tempt Jesus

4:7 Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:16

4:10 Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:13

4:14-16 Matthew attributes current events to the prophecy of Isaiah 9:1, 2

5:17-19 Jesus says He did not come to destroy the Law or the Prophets, but to fulfill. He confirms their inerrancy by saying that not "one jot or one tittle" would pass away till all was fulfilled.

5:21 Jesus quotes Exodus 20:13 or Deuteronomy 5:17

5:27 Jesus quotes Exodus 20:14 or Deuteronomy 5:18

5:38 Jesus quotes Exodus 21:24, Leviticus 24:20, or Deuteronomy 19:21

5:43 Jesus refers to Leviticus 19:18

6:29 Jesus refers to 'Solomon in all his glory,' a historical reference to I Kings

7:12 Jesus sums up the Law and the Prophets with the golden rule

8:11 Jesus makes historical reference to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (told of in Genesis), referring to future events in which they will be involved.

8:17 Matthew says Isaiah 53:4 is fulfilled in Jesus

8:20 Jesus refers to Himself as the 'Son of Man,' a clear Messianic reference to Daniel 7:13. By calling Himself by this title, Jesus was claiming to be the fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy, the Messiah and the King of 'all peoples, nations, and languages.'

9:13 Jesus quotes Hosea 6:6

10:15 Jesus speaks of literal, future events involving Sodom and Gomorrah (specifically, the day of judgment). The story of Sodom and Gomorrah is from Genesis, and this saying of Jesus is proof that the Genesis account is literally and historically true.

10:35, 36 Jesus quotes Micah 7:6

11:10 Jesus quotes Malachi 3:1

11:21 Jesus makes reference to past and future events involving Tyre and Sidon (references to which are found in multiple books in the Old Testament)

11:23, 24 Jesus refers again to Sodom

12:3-5 Jesus refers tot he story of David eating the showbread found in I Samuel 21

12:7 Jesus again quotes Hosea 6:6

12:18-21 Matthew quotes prophecy that is fulfilled in Jesus, Isaiah 42:1-4

12:23 Multitudes refer to Messianic prophecy asking if Jesus is the 'Son of David'

12:29 Jesus refers to the prophet Jonah and the historical city of Nineveh

12:42 Jesus refers to the Queen of the South visiting Solomon, an event recorded in I Kings 10

13:14 Jesus calls Isaiah 6:9, 10 'prophecy' and quotes it.

13:35 Matthew refers to Messianic prophecy fulfilled by Jesus, Psalm 78:2

15:3-6 Jesus quotes Exodus 20:12, Deuteronomy 5:16, or Exodus 21:17 to rebuke the Pharisees, and He saya that those passages are the 'commandment of God.'

15:7-9 Jesus quotes Isaiah 29:13

16:4 Jesus again refers to the sign of the prophet Jonah

17:3, 4 The transfiguration: Moses and Elijah appear, corroborating the life of Moses as written of in the Torah and the life of Elijah as written of in I and II Kings

17:10-12 Jesus and his disciples refer to the prophecy of the coming of Elijah before the Messiah, found in Malachi 4:5

18:16 Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 19:15 to establish doctrine of church behavior

19:4-6 Jesus quotes Genesis 1:27, 5:2, and 2:24. He refers to the literal details of the creation account of Adam and Eve to establish the doctrine of marriage.

19:18 Jesus explains why Moses allowed divorce, a historical reference to the Torah

19:18, 19 Jesus quotes parts of Exodus 20:12-16, Deuteronomy 5:16-20, and Leviticus 19:18

21:5 Matthew attribute Jesus' actions to the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9

21:9 The people quote Psalm 118:26 to praise Jesus

21:13 Jesus quote Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11 in one sentence

21:16 Jesus quotes Psalm 8:2

21:42 Jesus quotes Psalm 118:22, 23

22:23-28 The Sadducees refer to the Torah and the law of a brother raising up children with his dead brother's wife if she has not yet had a children.

22:29 Jesus rebukes the Sadducees rebukes the Sadducees for not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God.

22:31, 32 Jesus quotes Exodus 3:6, 15 and says that these passages were 'spoken to you by God.' This is a direct and unequivocal statement by the Lord Jesus Himself that the words of Scripture, penned by a human being, are in fact the words of God.

22:37 Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:5, the first and great commandment

22:39 Jesus quotes Leviticus 19:18, the second great commandment

22:40 Jesus says that on these two commandments hang the Law and the Prophets

22:43-45 Jesus quotes and refers to Psalm 110:1

23:2 Jesus confirms Moses' authority

23:23 Jesus rebukes the Pharisees for neglecting matters of the Law more weighty than tithing

23:25 Jesus makes historical, literal reference to the murder of Abel (written of in Genesis 4) and the murder of Zechariah (written of in II Chronicles 24)

23:39 Jesus quotes Psalm 118:26

24:15 Jesus quotes Daniel 11:31 and 12:11, speaking of 'Daniel the prophet'

24:36 Jesus refers to the events of the days of Noah (written of in Genesis 6-10) to explain the end times

26:24 In reference to His impending death, Jesus says that he goes 'just as it is written of Him'

26:31 Jesus quotes Zechariah 13:7, a Messianic prophecy

26:54 During His arrest in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus says that the things that were happening to Him at that time were a fulfillment of the Scriptures.

26:56 Speaking of His arrest, Jesus says, "all this was done that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled."

27:9 Matthew says that Judas' betrayal and surrounding events were the fulfillment of the prophecy of Jeremiah 32:6-9

27:35 Matthew tells of the dividing of Jesus' garments and says that was the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecy of Psalm 22:18

27:46 While hanging on the cross, Jesus cries out with a loud voice quoting Psalm 22:1, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"

27:47, 49 Some references to Elijah by onlookers to the crucifixion

28:1 Matthew refers to the Sabbath, an article from the Law of Moses



Some interesting facts about the Old Testament from the Gospel of Matthew:

Jesus quotes Scripture from twelve (12) Old Testament books: Deuteronomy, Exodus, Leviticus, Daniel, Hosea, Micah, Malachi, Isaiah, Genesis, Jeremiah, Psalms, and Zechariah.

There are seventy (70) references to the Old Testament, including quotes, historical references, and corroborating evidence, almost all of which are made by Jesus or Matthew, to a total of sixteen (16) books: I and II Kings, I Samuel, Jonah, and the books listed above which Jesus quoted.

Jesus makes eight (8) literal refences to people or events written of in Genesis, including the existence, past and present, of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; the existence and future judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah; the creation of Adam and Eve 'at the beginning' as male and female and that as a basis for the doctrine of marriage; the murder of Abel, the son of Adam and Eve, and the guilt for that murder being placed on the certain people; the events of the days of Noah and that as a picture of the events of the end times.