Book Review: Jesus On Every Page - David Murray

     In this book, David Murray’s objective is to help readers find and enjoy Jesus when reading the Old Testament. He states it clearly that “many books did not help the reader start to do his or her own Christ-centred interpretation… the practical steps that would help a reader get from a text or chapter to Jesus were often missing. I’ve therefore tried to provide templates and step-by-step guides … to help the reader start practicing this wonderful way of enjoying Jesus in His Word” (p. 2).

     What follows is a very readable account of his own journey to find Jesus in the Old Testament (Part 1) and 10 ways to find Him in the OT (Part 2). This book is not academic; it has, instead, a very pastoral focus – to elicit our worship of Jesus. Thus, the tone is very personal, but there does seem to be weaknesses in many of his arguments. I think he sacrifices some scholarly depth for accessibility. This would be my major criticism of the book.

     Here are the 10 ways he proposes that readers can find Jesus in the Old Testament:

1)    Christ’s planet: Creation

2)    Christ’s people: OT Characters

3)    Christ’s presence: Christophanies

4)    Christ’s precepts: Law

5)    Christ’s past: OT history

6)    Christ’s prophets: Prophets

7)    Christ’s pictures: OT types

8)    Christ’s promises: Covenants

9)    Christ’s proverbs: the Proverbs

10) Christ’s poets: Poems

     This passage captures Murray’s theological framework: “We all believe the same gospel. The vocabulary was different, the clarity was different (Abraham believed in the shadows; we, in the sunlight), and the direction was different (Abraham looked forward to Jesus, whereas we look back), but the core, the essence, the focus was the same” (p. 16). From this starting point, he brings readers on a journey to discover Christ in the OT, providing very helpful tips and pointers with regards to methodology.

     Each chapter is great, but I found the ones on the Law and the prophets most helpful. However, I sometimes found it difficult to follow his thoughts within certain chapters. Perhaps because the book reads more like a conversation than an essay, I had to pause once in a while to try to figure out the relevance of some of his points.

     Although I do not agree with everything he says, this has been a helpful resource and a great introduction to finding Christ in the Old Testament because of its pastoral emphasis. This however, isn’t really a textbook on Biblical Theology. Thus, I would recommend this resource to anyone wishing to read the Old Testament to enjoy Jesus, but is unfamiliar as to the ‘how’ question. On a similar note, for someone who wants to see how the whole Bible fits together, I would recommend Vaughan Robert’s ‘God’s Big Picture’ as an excellent introduction.