Karate Kid Illustrates the Need for the Old Testament

"wax on, wax off"

I came across a YouTube Short from pastor Mike Winger that brought an insightful analogy from the original Karate Kid movie. In the film, a high schooler named Daniel was learning karate from his sensei, Mr. Miyagi. The training was rather unconventional, as Mr. Miyagi merely assigned various chores to Daniel to do instead. He made Daniel wax all his cars—“wax on, wax off”. There was also fence painting, which was tedious and laborious. On top of all that, Daniel must do them in a very specific way. Eventually, feeling conned, Daniel approached Mr. Miyagi to voice his frustration. Out of nowhere, Mr. Miyagi started attacking him. To Daniel’s surprise, he defended the attack quite naturally using the moves acquired through the chores.

Pastor Winger then used this to illustrate an aspect of the Old Testament, especially to those new to it. As he said, when we first encounter this half of Scripture, it is akin to us learning to "wax on, wax off." We may not understand much from the Old Testament at first, but when we get into the New Testament, we will then "explode with understanding." This is because all the rituals, imagery, and prophecies are there to prepare the reader (and more importantly, the Israelites) to understand the redemptive work on the cross. Winger summarizes this nicely:

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"Think about it this way: if there had been no Old Testament, no Passover, no prophecies… Jesus shows up, dies on the cross, nobody gets it. There needed to be this period of revelation to prepare people for Jesus Christ."

In His wisdom, God entrusted Israel with this revelation. He also prepared Israel, in the same way, to “get it” when Jesus finally came to die and rise again. Much of what the aposles did in the New Testament was to point people, especially the Jews, back to the Old Testament Scripture. Jesus, himself, pointed His followers back to Scripture (Luke 24;27). They (and we) then understood the need for the final Sacrifice, the shedding of blood, and propitiation.

Of course, there’s the other side of the coin where the prophetic aspect of the Old Testament also validates God’s Word. But that’s a topic for another post in the future.

Parental Encouragement

As a parent, this encourages me greatly, and gives me a model to follow. I think in this modern age, we tend to want immediate results with our kids. We want to see changes, direct application of Scripture, and immediate understanding. We may rush to explain the meaning of Scripture, or its application too quickly.

Maybe—just maybe—one aspect of teaching our kids Scripture is simply to impress upon them, the concepts, the ideas, and the patterns of God. The Holy Spirit, in His providential wisdom, will open our children’s eyes to make connections, when He deems it the right time.

I don’t mean to suggest we shouldn't dive deep into His Word with our kids. There will be times when it’s right to further explain, and to provide insights. I just want to encourage—mostly myself in this post—to trust God in the process. He will guide, direct, and provide. I just need to remain faithful with my duties to those He has entrusted to my care.