New Testament vs Old: Fulfillment or Supersession

        Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, “You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews” (John 4:22). Jesus is a Jew and his apostles forming the early Church are all Jews. In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, he told the crowds, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished” (Mt 5:17-18). As such, it is important for Christians to understand that the New Testament is a fulfillment of the Old Testament but not a supersession of it.

       The idea of supersession was originated among the Christian communities as early as the mid-second century. Marcion believed that Jesus is the savior but rejected the Hebrew Bible and God’s salvific deeds for the Israelites. Marcionism held it strongly that the Old Testament had to be set aside because the prophets in the Old Testament were only messengers for the Jewish people and the words of God in the Old Testament were spoken by the God of Israel to the Israelites, and this “God of Israel” is different from God the Father as revealed by Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Despite that Marcionism was denounced by the early Church as heresy, Christians should continue to be careful not to fall into the same trap that the New Testament contains a complete set of new laws that has replaced the Old Testament; neither is the New Covenant an entirely new covenant which invalidates the Old Covenant, “for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Rom 11:29). So Jesus has made it clearly, “I have come not to abolish but to fulfill”.

        To enable the understanding of the New Testament is a fulfillment of the Old Testament, it is essential for biblical exegesis to adopt a historical-critical method to interpret the biblical texts. As God has revealed Himself continually in human history, the biblical passages cannot be correctly understood without an examination of the historical circumstances that shaped them. As a result, "diachronic" research is indispensable in biblical exegesis. In the Old Testament alone, the development of God’s covenant with the Jewish people has undergone several stages: from the Abrahamic Promise which is unconditional, to the Mosaic Covenant which requires the adherence to a set of laws and commands for the people to receive God’s blessings, and from the transgressions of the people and their exile to prompt them to realize that YHWH is their one and only God, to their return from exile in awaiting for God’s fulfillment of the messianic promise. Under this development, the covenant code (Ex. 21-23) is not to be replaced by the other law codes preserved in Deuteronomy (Deut 12-26) and the holiness code in Lev 17-26. Furthermore, the biblical texts written at a later period in the Old Testament demonstrates an enhanced understanding of God’s salvific plan than the earlier texts as God’s mystery has gradually unveiled over time.

        In the New Testament, Jesus as the Son of God establishes a new covenant with the peoples of all nations through his death and resurrection. His deeds and words further unveil God’s mystery in the Old Testament and make the people who believe in him better understand the biblical passages in the Old Testament through a re-reading to discover their hidden meanings. For example, it is not difficult for Christians to identify Jesus as the savior who conquers sin in Gen 3:15 and as the suffering servant who surrenders his life for the salvation of mankind in Isa 52:13-53-12. The New Testament also contains numerous pointers to the Old Testament to attest that Jesus is the Messiah in fulfillment of God’s promise to His people. Moreover, the hidden mystery of the Trinity in the Old Testament is also revealed in the New Testament.

        If we look further into the future, God’s people in the Old Testament, i.e. the Israelites and His people in the New Testament, i.e. the Christians tend towards similar goals. They await the coming (or the return) of the Messiah to rule over a new creation of God where there is no longer suffering and death, in a similar scene as the garden of Eden before sin penetrates into mankind. It signifies a final fulfillment of God’s salvific plan. To the Jews, even though they did not recognize Jesus as the Messiah on his first coming, will also have their covenant with God realized as prophesied by the prophets in the Old Testament such as Second Isaiah and Daniel. Paul wrote, “We know the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies” (Rom 8:22-23). With hope and endurance, both Jews and Christians will eventually realize the final fulfillment of God’s promise which is originated from His creation of mankind and progressively developed and revealed to them until the end of time.