Can you imagine trying to tell the story of January 2021 WITHOUT first telling about 2020? EXACTLY.

If you read today’s scripture reading (Acts 3:11-16), you’ll see that Peter connects the story of Jesus with the story of Israel.

One of the MAJOR failings of the American church is that we have somehow thought that you can have Jesus without the Old Testament—as if he just drops from the sky without any context.

Here’s the truth, however: Jesus ONLY makes sense as the fulfillment and culmination of Israel’s story. Jesus is not just anyone—he is a Jew who lived in the 1st century.

In other words,

no Israel, no Jesus.

This also means that we can understand Jesus best when we understand Israel best—the Old Testament is vital to understanding what the Kingdom of God is like.

To put it another way,

know Israel, know Jesus.

(This is why we have spent so much time at Munger studying the Old Testament.)

If you missed my Bible study on Acts from last night, you can find it here.