In one sense the title of this book is incorrect. Very little of what is included in this work, outside of the Gospels, is a “saying” of anyone. The title, in fact, is taken from John’s Gospel, where Jesus’ ministry was recorded as a series of sayings.
In John 6:60, responding to one such saying, his disciples observe, “This is a hard teaching [‘hard saying’ KJV [KJV King James Version] ]. Who can accept it?” From this verse came the title of the original work in this series, F. F. Bruce’s The Hard Sayings of Jesus.
Even though the literature under consideration in this volume lies mostly outside the Gospels, the title is still applicable.
Hard Sayings of the Old Testament All too often people tell me (Walter Kaiser) they have tried to read through the Old Testament but find too much of it hard to understand. Despite their good intentions, many have abandoned the project out of sheer frustration, discouragement or puzzlement.
It is not surprising that so many people find the Bible difficult, for our culture has lost contact with the Old Testament. Thus the book remains a closed document and often is treated as an artifact of our primitive origins.
Nothing, of course, could be further from the truth! The Old Testament contains some of the most fascinating and dramatic portions of the entire Bible. Furthermore, if we decide its message is irrelevant to our generation, we are misled by our own false assumptions.
Following our Lord’s example, we should take up the Old Testament once again, confident that not even one passage will pass away until all have been fulfilled (Mt 5:18).
In fact, the Old Testament is so relevant that our Lord warned that anyone who breaks the least Old Testament commandment, or teaches others to do so, will be called the least in the kingdom of heaven! That ought to give us pause!
