“The thesis is ‘that Christ’s view of Scripture can and should still be the Christian’s view of Scripture’—no more and no less.”
John Wenham, Christ and the Bible, Third Edition (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2009), 7.
Did Jesus quote the Old Testament (Hebrew) Scriptures? Yes, and often! Jesus utilized the Hebrew Scriptures for theological debates, for teaching, as well as to show those around him that he was the only one who could fulfill the numerous prophecies pointing to the Messiah (Luke 24). The following paragraph includes biblical perspectives gleaned from Dr. Gary Habermas’s article, “Jesus and the Inspiration of Scripture:”
“Central to a Christian world view is the conviction that Scripture, both the Old and New Testaments, comprises God’s word to us.” Dr. Habermas, distinguished Research Professor of Apologetics and Philosophy at Liberty University in Virginia, states that “Jesus’ testimony concerning Scripture combined with His resurrection can provide a firm foundation for our belief in the doctrine of inspiration, so the inspiration of Scripture in turn provides the necessary groundwork for Christian theology. The benefits of having such an underpinning are tremendous. Given a firm foundation, believers are free to build a Christian world view, being careful to base their ideas on the same footing laid by Jesus Himself.”
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”
Jesus (Matthew 5:17-18; see Isaiah 40:6-8)
“Then he said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.’ 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things.’”
Jesus (Luke 24:40-48)
The chart shared below contains a sample of Scriptures demonstrating that Jesus quoted the Scriptures regularly. Friends, we can easily deduce from the clarity of Scripture that Jesus viewed/views the Old Testament Scriptures as the authoritative words of God. Jesus had/has a high view of Scripture; therefore, we as Christians should, too.
“…To our Lord the Old Testament is true as to its history, it is of divine authority, and its very writings are inspired by God Himself.”
John Wenham, Christ and the Bible, Third Edition (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2009), 34.
If you want to dig into this topic heavily, please check out D.A. Carson’s and G. K. Beale’s Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament: A Comprehensive Bible Commentary on Old Testament Quotations, Allusions & Echoes That Appear from Matthew through Revelation.
| Matthew | |
| Jesus’s Words | Old Testament |
| “He answered, ‘It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4:4 | “He humbled you by letting you go hungry; then he gave you manna to eat, which you and your ancestors had not known, so that you might learn that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” Deuteronomy 8:3 |
| Jesus told him, “It is also written: Do not test the Lord your God.” Matthew 4:7 | “Do not test the Lord your God as you tested him at Massah.” Deuteronomy 6:16 |
| “Then Jesus told him, ‘Go away, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’” Matthew 4:10 | “It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear. ” Deuteronomy 6:13 |
| “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Matthew 5:4 | “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed meto bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;” Isaiah 61;1-2 |
| “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” Matthew 5:5 | “But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace.” Psalm 37:11 |
| “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.” Matthew 5:21-22 | “You shall not murder.” Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17 |
| “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’” Matthew 5:38 | “fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him.” Leviticus 24:20 |
| “Give us this day our daily bread,” Matthew 6:11 | “Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me.” Proverbs 30:8 |
| “Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9:13 | “For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” Hosea 6:6 |
| “You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.” Matthew 12:34-35 | “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” Proverbs 4:23 |
| “But he answered them, ‘An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.’” Matthew 12:39-41 | “And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.” (v5) Jonah 3:5-10 “And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.” Jonah 1:17 |
| “And the disciples asked him, ‘Then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?’ He answered, ‘Elijah does come, and he will restore all things. But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands.’ Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.” Matthew 17:10-13 | “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.” Malachi 4:5-6 |
| “He answered, ‘Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.’” Matthew 19:4-6 | “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” Genesis 2:24“ |
| Mark | |
| Jesus’s Words | Old Testament |
| “and said to him, ‘See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them.’” Mark 1:40 *Jesus acknowledged that Moses was a real, historical figure. *Jesus demonstrated the authority of the Old Testament. | “This shall be the law of the leprous person for the day of his cleansing. He shall be brought to the priest,” Leviticus 14:2 |
| “And he said to them, ‘Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?’” Mark 2:25-26 | “Then David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech came to meet David, trembling, and said to him, ‘Why are you alone, and no one with you?’ And David said to Ahimelech the priest, ‘The king has charged me with a matter and said to me, ‘Let no one know anything of the matter about which I send you, and with which I have charged you.’ I have made an appointment with the young men for such and such a place. Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever is here.’ And the priest answered David, “I have no common bread on hand, but there is holy bread—if the young men have kept themselves from women.’ And David answered the priest, ‘Truly women have been kept from us as always when I go on an expedition. The vessels of the young men are holy even when it is an ordinary journey. How much more today will their vessels be holy?’ So the priest gave him the holy bread, for there was no bread there but the bread of the Presence, which is removed from before the Lord, to be replaced by hot bread on the day it is taken away.” 1 Samuel 21:1-6 |
| “And he said to them, ‘To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so thatthey may indeed see but not perceive,and may indeed hear but not understand,lest they should turn and be forgiven.’ And he said to them, ‘Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?’” Mark 4:11-13 | “And he said, ‘Go, and say to this people: ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive. Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.” Isaiah 6:9-10 |
| “And he said to them, ‘Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,“This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” Mark 7:6-7 | “And the Lord said:‘Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me,and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,’” Isaiah 29:13 |
| “‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh.” Mark 10:7-8 | “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” Genesis 2:24 |
| “And he was teaching them and saying to them, ‘Is it not written, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” Mark 11:17 | “Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the Lord.” Jeremiah 7:11 |
| “And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?” Mark 12:26 | “And he said, ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.’” Exodus 3:6 |
| “David himself, in the Holy Spirit, declared, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet.”’ Mark 12:36 | “The Lord says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand,until I make your enemies your footstool.’”Psalm 110:1 |
| “And Jesus said to them, ‘You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’” Mark 14:27 | “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way;and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (v6) See: Isaiah 52:13–53:12 |
| “‘And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?’ which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’” Mark 15:34 | “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?” Pslam 22:1 |
| Luke | |
| Jesus’s Words | Old Testament |
| “And Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” Luke 4:4 | “And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” Deut 8:3 |
| “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4:18-19“And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’” Luke 4:20-21 | “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;” Isaiah 61:1-2 |
| “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.” Luke 6:21 | “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.” Isaiah 55:1-2 “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.When shall I come and appear before God?” Psalm 42:2 |
| “Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry.” Luke 6:25 | “Therefore thus says the Lord God:‘Behold, my servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry; behold, my servants shall drink, but you shall be thirsty; behold, my servants shall rejoice, but you shall be put to shame;’” Isaiah 65:13 |
| “And he answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them.’” Luke 7:22 | “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert;” Isaiah 35:5-6 |
| “This is he of whom it is written,‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’” Luke 7:27 | “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.” Malachi 3:1 |
| “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.” Luke 10:27 | “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” Deuteronomy 6:5 |
| “For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” Luke 12:52-53 | “for the son treats the father with contempt, the daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own house.” Micah 7:6 |
| “But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’” Luke 13:27 | “Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.” Psalm 6:8 |
| “Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.” Luke 18:20 | “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. You shall not murder.”Exodus 20:12-13 |
| “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Luke 19:10 | “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. We have blessed you from the house of the Lord.” Psalm 118:26 |
| “But Jesus looked straight at them and said, ‘Then what is the meaning of that which is written: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’?” Luke 20:17 | “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” Psalm 118:22 |
| “For I tell you that this scripture must be fulfilled in me, ‘And he was counted with the transgressors.’ For what is written about me is being fulfilled.” Luke 22:37 | “Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors;yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.” Isaiah 53:12 |
| “And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with powerfrom on high.” Luke 24:29 | “Let your priests be clothed with righteousness, and let your saints shout for joy.” Psalm 132:9 “until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is deemed a forest.” Isaiah 32:15 |
| John | |
| Jesus’s Words | Old Testament |
| “And he said to him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.’” John 1:51 | “And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!” Genesis 28:12 |
| “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” John 3:14-15 | “And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.’ So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.” Numbers 21:4-9 |
| “It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me—” John 6:45 | “All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children.” Isaiah 54:13 |
| “This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” John 6:58 | “And he rained down on them manna to eat and gave them the grain of heaven. Man ate of the bread of the angels; he sent them food in abundance.” Psalm 78:24-25 |
| “In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true.” John 8:17 | “On the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses the one who is to die shall be put to death; a person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness.” Deuteronomy 17:6 |
| “Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” John 8:58 | “God said to Moses, ‘I am who I am.’ And he said, ‘Say this to the people of Israel: “I am has sent me to you.” Exodus 3:14 |
| “Jesus answered them, ‘I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:25-27 “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” John 10:28-30 | “Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,” Psalm 95:5-8 “See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me;I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.” Deuteronomy 32:39 “Also henceforth I am he; there is none who can deliver from my hand; I work, and who can turn it back?” Isaiah 43:13 |
| “Jesus answered them, ‘Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’?” John 10:34 *More on this important passage: Atheist Reads John 10 Like a Jehovah’s Witness… | “I said, ‘You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you;” Psalm 82:6 *Erik Manning from Testify and Is Jesus Alive explains that prior to the words recorded in John 10:34 (quoting Psalm 82:6), Jesus was “clearly claiming divine authority,” and the Jews demontrated awareness of this for they picked up stones to kill Jesus for blasphemy (v33). Manning points out that Jesus doesn’t correct these men but instead, doubles-down regarding his divinity. Erik: “His point is a classic Lesser to the Greater argument, even if corrupt rulers can bear the title gods in some sense, how much more can he, the one consecrated and sent by the Father, rightly be called the Son of God. And notice the twist in his words. He says in verse 35 that those gods were the ones whom the word of God came. But then in verse 36, he identifies himself as the one whom the Father sent into the world. Now rewind. Let’s read in context and go back to John 1. Jesus is the Word, which means he’s not one of the rulers being judged. He is the Word of God who comes to judge them. And that’s exactly what John’s gospel keeps saying. John 5:22, the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son. John 9:39, for judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind. So Jesus isn’t retreating from divinity. He’s actually raising the stakes.” (source) |
| “Fear not, daughter of Zion;behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” John 12:15 | Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he,humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Zechariah 9:9 |
| “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart,lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.” John 12:40 | And he said, “Go, and say to this people:“‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”Isaiah 6:9-10 |
| “But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’” John 15:25 | “Let not those rejoice over me who are wrongfully my foes,and let not those wink the eye who hate me without cause.” Ps. 35:19 |
| After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” John 19:28 | “They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.” Psalm 69:21 |
Hold Fast Apologetics 