Is Jesus the New Moses?

so today i'd like to focus on typology in the gospels in particular how the evangelists deliberately present jesus as a new moses hi i'm scott hahn i'm founder and president of the saint paul center and here on this youtube channel what we're doing is going deeper into the bible when i introduce the bible i usually like to summarize my approach in terms of saint augustine's line how the new testament is concealed in the old and the old testament is revealed and fulfilled by the new there's a word for that pattern that convergence and the technical term is typology what is typology well the catechism explains it in paragraphs 128-130 and it is how the new testament is concealed in the old and how the old testament is revealed and fulfilled in the new but especially in jesus christ christ is not only the hinge on which it all turns from the old to the new he is the plan a i mean this is what god has from the very beginning but how does that actually happen well you know if you were to ask somebody in ancient israel what is the main event i think they would practically all say well that would be the exodus that's when god led us out of egyptian bondage to mount sinai to renew the covenant and then ultimately into the promised land to become a nation a national family consisting of these 12 tribes and on they'd go i think the four evangelists know this especially saint matthew because what he does in the opening chapters of his gospel is he presents jesus as the savior who at long last has come to save his people but as soon as he's born the savior himself needed to be saved because of this decree from a tyrant named herod where have we heard that before well you go back to exodus and god had sent a savior named moses and when he was a baby he was targeted and he was targeted by a tyrant named pharaoh what does god do well god saves the savior in matthew by working through a man named joseph who delivers the holy family all the way to where egypt of all places you go back to the old testament and sure enough what did god do to make provisions for his people he worked for a man named joseph the son of jacob just like saint joseph he's described as righteous he's given dreams so he takes the holy family of israel down to egypt of all places the parallels are rather notable but the pharaoh targeted all of the hebrew male children there in exodus just like herod targeted all of the hebrew male children in bethlehem aha so the flight into egypt is a familiar move in a certain sense to these jewish christian readers who are reading this and having an aha moment it's almost like a new moses except it's not almost he is the new moses and as you continue reading you begin to sense that the pattern is growing because at the appointed time of course the tyrant dies and when they hear about herod dying the holy family comes out of egypt and we hear about how they pass through the water well jesus does he passes through the water of the jordan and he's led by the spirit out into the desert and once again another eureka moment wait a second rewind go back to the old testament because in the book of exodus when pharaoh dies god empowers moses to lead israel through the water of the red sea and then out into the desert and what does moses do he proceeded to fast for 40 days and for 40 nights during which time israel underwent temptations these trials what happened to jesus he goes out in the desert he undergoes 40 days of fasting and temptations but of course he passed the tests that came to him the very test that israel had failed and how does jesus pass the test by quoting scripture but what scripture does he quote all three temptations he goes straight to deuteronomy chapter six through eight precisely where moses had corrected those foolish israelites for having failed the test because man doesn't live by bread alone not even if it's the miraculous bread called manna you live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of god and then jesus also quotes the idea that you worship the lord and him alone not that golden calf you made while i was away and finally jesus says you do not put the lord your god to the test especially if he is putting you through the test so jesus seemed to know exactly where to go and what to quote and it was the early church fathers who showed me that they were tracking our lord in the new testament precisely in light of the old because the evangelists want us to see a new moses and so what happens well after the 40 days moses gets the law and brings it to the people of god and what do we call it we call it the ten commandments but we also call it the law of mount sinai what does jesus do as soon as the 40 days of fasting is over he gives what we call the sermon on the mount the language comes from saint augustine he sees a new mountain because there is a new moses he sees a new law because there is a new covenant but jesus begins the sermon on the mount by saying i have not come to abolish the law and the prophets but rather i have come to fulfill them as moses gave the law to the 12 tribes of israel so jesus gives the new law as the new moses to all of the people there on the mountain but what else does he do something like moses moses realized that even with the law of god he would still need assistance and so from the 12 tribes he chose 12 princes to assist him in governing israel what does jesus do as soon as the sermon on the mount is finished he chooses from the thousands who are following him 12 disciples huh what a coincidence not even close he says you will help me judge the 12 tribes of israel and so this is deliberate this is very intentional and it's also highly significant but with the help of the twelve princes in the law of god moses still found it difficult so on another occasion he chose the seventy elders and anointed them to assist him and the twelve princes in governing the people of god the people of israel well likewise jesus looks out and he sees the crowds growing and he said to the twelve the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are too few and so on that occasion what did he do he chose the seventy additional disciples i mean it kind of reminds me of what mark twain once famously said he said history does not repeat itself but it sure does rhyme i don't know if he had the old and new testaments in mind but we can take that saying and apply it to scripture and find these riches that are there but only when we read the old and the new testaments not in tension but in harmony and as you look more closely you begin to sense that even with the help of the 12 and the 70 moses still found it a wearisome task so what did he do on one occasion he decided to spend the whole day alone in prayer in god's presence that's a smart thing for all of us who does he take up with him to the top of the mountain well he he takes aaron and two others who are closest to him and what do they witness well when he comes back from his time of prayer his face is a glow with the glory of god from having spent that time in intimate conversation and discourse with the lord well this reminds us of what the mount of transfiguration where our lord grew weary and so he spent the whole day on top of a mountain alone with god in prayer but from the 12 who did he choose peter james and john and they accompany him up at the top of the mountain and what do they witness this spectacular transfiguration when suddenly who should appear but moses and elijah the law and the prophets moses gave the law elijah was the greatest of the prophets and they also happened to be the only two men who have fasted for 40 days and live to tell about it in luke we read that what they discussed was jesus departure which was soon to take place in jerusalem except when you look closely you discover that the word jesus used for departure in the greek is exodus wait a second what do you mean your exodus you're with moses he's mr exodus himself unless there is a new moses and a new exodus and if they had bothered to compare notes i think moses would have detected that pattern moses could have pointed out that before the exodus occurred i had to perform signs ten of them which is what jesus did yeah but the the first sign i did among the first was to turn the water of the nile into blood jesus could point to the first sign he performed and that was turning water into wine the best wine at the marriage at cana in galilee well moses could say i turned it into blood i think jesus would say keep your eyes on that wine i'm not through with it yet when i'm done it will be the blood of the new covenant yeah but i also healed people i hear to heal the leper jesus would have said check yeah but i was opposed by the leaders double check you know and you could see how moses could point to the fact that he fed the multitudes in the wilderness with the miraculous manna and jesus could say yeah and i took five loaves and two fish and i fed the five thousand and we filled twelve baskets of leftovers to evoke the memory of the twelve tribes of israel whoa but what was the thing that led to the main event of the exodus out of egypt it was the passover and so i think what you'll also see as you consider the relationship between the old and the new the unity of the old and the new and how the new is concealed in the old and the old is revealed and fulfilled in the new is that the passover in the old testament book of exodus sets the stage for the new passover that brings about the new exodus as well as the new covenant and what is that well i'm tempted to say stay tuned but i think you already know it is the holy eucharist and once again when we approach the holy eucharist against the background of the old testament it's like eureka the lights are going to come on our hearts are going to burn our minds are going to explode because then we're going to see wow the fulfillment of the old by christ in giving us what he calls the new covenant the holy eucharist in a certain sense goes beyond the wildest dreams the highest hopes of even the holiest hebrews this is what makes scripture come alive at least it does for me and i hope it also will for you because when we learn to take god at his word this becomes meaningful i mean even if you can't repeat half of the parallels that i have shown you you can take god at his word and trust him to get through this day i mean you might be pondering scripture or you might be a busy mom with six kids and just barely eking out the time to follow me on this but whatever happens ask our lord to fulfill his plan and your life today because that's what he wants to do perhaps even more than you want him to thanks for being with me may god bless you if you've enjoyed what you've watched so far may i encourage you to like it share it but also subscribe to our youtube channel because there's a whole lot more gold in them than our hills thanks for joining us god bless you

Channel: St. Paul Center

Views: 32,702

Keywords: Moses, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Christ, Scripture, Old Testament, New Testament, Bible, Bible Study, Convert, Protestantism, Protestant, Catholic, Catholicism, Catholic Church, Scott Hahn, Bible Scholar

Id: brXcLmpZCO8

Length: 11min 17sec (677 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 13 2020