Tracing Jesus' Teachings Back to Their Old Testament Jewish Roots "The Midrash Key" is based on the premise that many of Jesus' words are excerpts from sermons he preached based upon Old Testament texts. He used an ancient style of Jewish preaching called "Midrash." By locating the "mother texts" Jesus used in the Old Testament -- and then factoring in the Jewish debates of the day (as seen in the Talmud, for example) -- we can increase the CONTEXT of Jesus' words and fine-tune our understanding. "The Midrash Key" does so reverently (from an evangelical perspective). Understand Jesus like never before Written in a style with the serious layman or pastor in mind, academics should also enjoy the book.