Why do Christians have the Old Testament? The Muslims certainly knew both testaments of our Bible and they kept neither but started over. The Jewish holy texts remain our holy texts because the disciples read for and found Jesus there, so the Hebrew Scriptures become the first volume of a two volume revelation. After the resurrection his followers finally realized that what they wanted they were not getting, however, what they got was better.
That was not clear at first because they were looking for David, a type of Hercules or Alexander the Great, to thump the wicked, restoring Israel to her place in the sun. I’ve always found it interesting that on the way to Emmaus after joining the party, Jesus opened the Scriptures showing how Messiah had to suffer and die. (I wish Cleopas had published his notes).
What he explained on the road, was that what they believed about Messiah was indeed true but incomplete and that the triumph of Messiah was at the end of the age not then. Their desperate need threw off their timing. What are we desperate for today? Is it possible that what we want is less than God wants for us? Remember that Columbus was on his way to the Orient when he bumped into the Occident. What Columbus accidentally found was better than what he looked for!
O Lord, we are not yet as we shall be and after the dying of our illusions lies the resurrection of our true selves. Don’t forget the promise of Columbus. Amen.
Beyond Contradiction 