Some years ago I was driving into the city of Augusta, Georgia, to see my mother. She was having a medical procedure at the hospital so I made the short trip from Atlanta to see her. I had never driven the streets of Augusta so I just followed the voice of Google Maps. Exiting the highway on Washington Road, I started noticing a fenced off area to the right. “What could this place be?” I wondered. The fences continued for more than a mile. It seemed exclusive and significant especially compared with the strip malls, vacant lots, and pawn shops on the left side of the road. Gates were locked and the fences were lined with green so you couldn’t see. But one entrance was open as I drove by and one glance revealed the truth of what I was driving past. Augusta National Golf Club. I remember gasping in recognition.

What’s the big deal? It’s only a big deal if you understand the history of the game. I don’t play golf. The one time I tried was a disaster. But my parents have played for years and I used to be a rabid sports fan. If there was a ball and a score, I would watch it. So I had watched many hours of golf in my lifetime. It gave me an easy entre into conversation with my dad and besides, Tiger Woods was popular with everyone, until his personal troubles happened. I had also put my name in the ticket lottery for many years hoping to get a look at the extraordinarily beautiful course. (I have never succeeded by the way.) The history and significance of all of it and all the hours I had spent watching those Sunday final rounds had created a mystique for me that resulted in surprise and awe when I finally realized I was driving right by the place. Without the knowledge of its history or my personal investment in the tournament year after year, I would have driven by with only mild curiosity.

What does this have to do with the value of the Old Testament? To many Christians the Old Testament is a murky place, a confusing set of archaic books that contain some inspiring stories, but also raise a lot of unanswered questions. So they hardly read it, thinking that only the New Testament applies to their lives. One of my classmates last semester, in a class on the Old Testament prophets, sheepishly but honestly admitted that he pretty much only read the New Testament. And this was his first seminary class! That’s like walking into Augusta National Golf Club without knowing who Bobby Jones is. It’s just not advisable! Bobby Jones designed Augusta National, co-founded the Master’s Tournament, and was one of the best to ever play the game. You can’t understand the significance of the game of golf without knowing the history of one of its most iconic places and players. That’s true in any sport. Just as the history of golf didn’t start with Tiger Woods, the history of the NFL didn’t start with Tom Brady.

In a similar yet much more profound sense, this history of Christianity didn’t begin with the gospel of Matthew and the Incarnation. You cannot understand the significance of Jesus Christ and his mission without the history of the Old Testament. It’s all one story. I’ve been thinking more about this lately while working on teaching parts of Exodus and the book of Leviticus. Leviticus is the proverbial graveyard of Bible reading plans. Many good intentions have come to a grinding halt in this book. But if we ignore it and the rest of the Old Testament, the gospel loses much of its power and worth.

In Matthew 5 Jesus says he is the fulfillment of the Law. How can we understand what he is fulfilling if we ignore the giving of that Law in Exodus? In John 1 we read of the Word being made flesh and dwelling among us. How can we understand what it means for God in the flesh to dwell on earth without an understanding of the tabernacle? During Jesus’ ministry on earth, he touched lepers and dead people and a woman with an issue of blood. These episodes lose their provocative intensity if we don’t dig into Leviticus and understand the concepts of being clean and unclean. Jesus touched lepers and did not become unclean!? That should stop us in our tracks. When John the Baptist sees Jesus he declares, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Only someone who has spent time in the Old Testament with its instructions about the sacrificial system and the Day of Atonement can appreciate the magnitude of this title.

And that’s barely scratching the surface. The book of Hebrews is an extended argument about how Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all the types and shadows introduced in the Old Testament. He is better than the angels, better than Moses, our great high priest who has offered himself as the final and complete sacrifice in order to fulfill the New Covenant and save to the uttermost those who have faith in him. The rest of the New Testament is replete with references, quotations and allusions to the Old Testament. This only makes sense if the Bible really is one book telling the one true story of the world and God’s plans to redeem it in Christ. If you have not spent much time in the Old Testament, only driving by from time to time with mild curiosity and many unanswered questions, I encourage you to try again. Go slow. Ask someone else to join you on this journey. Don’t give up when you have questions. There are good resources out there. Ask the Lord to give you understanding and open your eyes to how everything in the Old Testament is pointing to Jesus. As you do this, I pray that you will have many moments of surprise and awe as you see how everything connects to him.