A Tale of Two Halves
I was watching the first half of a Wildcard NFL Playoff Game between the Tennessee Titans and the Kansas City Chiefs. The Kansas City Chiefs, who were the home team, looked dominant and confident. The Tennessee Titans looked confused and sloppy. The Kansas City Chiefs were leading in the game 21-3 at Halftime. I comfortably turned off the game and decided to get some things done. At the end of the evening I checked the results of the game almost certainly that the Chiefs dominated the entire game ending in an enormous amount of points scored. To my astonishment, the Tennessee Titans were victorious with a final score of 22-21. The Titans scored 7 points in the third quarter and 12 points in the final quarter while holding Kansas City scoreless. I didn't know what happened, I only knew the results of the game so I found myself watching highlight plays trying to see how the score came to be. There were two halves of football to be played that led to the final score. I realized the same is true for the Bible. There is an Old Testament (covenant) and a New Testament (covenant). Both "halves" tell one complete story. The Bible tells the story of God's creation, the fall of mankind, redemption and restoration of God's Kingdom. I know of too many people, and I was one, who tend to read the New Testament only. Perhaps because people find The New Testament easier to read and pronounce the names as was my case. Regardless of the reason, there is only one half of the story being told. Both halves point directly to Jesus and are important. The Old Testament points directly to the New Testament as the fulfillment of the story found in Jesus, while it is really difficult to fully understand the New Testament in its depths without knowing the Old Testament traditions and background. It is like a jury making a decision after listening to either the plaintiff or the defendant but not hearing both sides and looking at the evidence. It truly is a tale of two halves, let us not search for the highlights of the Old Testament to tell us the entire story. Perhaps we need to take time, read and study the entirety of Scripture to know the entire story.