Finding Jesus in the Old Testament
The Old Testament is not a warm-up act. It is a long road, and every mile of it leads to Christ.
Many Christians quietly avoid the Old Testament. It is long, full of unfamiliar names and laws, and much of it seems far removed from the gospel. Some readers get through Genesis and Exodus, stall somewhere in Leviticus and retreat to the Gospels for good.
Yet the Old Testament was the only Bible Jesus and the apostles had. When Paul said that the Scriptures "are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus" (2 Timothy 3:15), he was speaking of the Old Testament. Somehow, these ancient books were meant to lead people to Christ.
Jesus Himself told us how. To read the Old Testament rightly, we have to see where it is going.
The Road to Emmaus
On the day of His resurrection, Jesus joined two discouraged disciples walking to a village called Emmaus. They did not recognize Him. They told Him how their hopes had been crushed when Jesus was crucified.
His answer was a Bible lesson. "O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself" (Luke 24:25–27).
Later that evening He told the gathered disciples, "All things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me" (Luke 24:44). Law, prophets and psalms were the three main divisions of the Hebrew Bible. Jesus was saying that the whole thing points to Him.
The disciples later said, "Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?" (Luke 24:32). That burning heart is what happens when we see Christ in the Old Testament.
Promises That Point Forward
The most direct way the Old Testament points to Jesus is through promise. Right after the fall, God told the serpent that the woman's seed "shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel" (Genesis 3:15). Christians have long seen this as the first announcement of the gospel, a promise that a descendant of Eve would defeat evil at great cost to Himself.
The promise grows clearer as the story goes on. God tells Abraham that through his seed "shall all the nations of the earth be blessed" (Genesis 22:18). He promises David a son whose throne will last forever (2 Samuel 7:16). Isaiah speaks of a child to be born whose name is "Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6). Micah names Bethlehem as His birthplace (Micah 5:2).
Each promise adds detail, like an artist filling in a portrait. By the time the New Testament opens, the outline is unmistakable.
Patterns That Prepare
The Old Testament also points to Christ through patterns, people and events that foreshadow Him. Scripture itself teaches us to read this way. Paul calls Adam "the figure of him that was to come" (Romans 5:14).
The Passover lamb, whose blood protected Israel from judgment in Egypt, prepares us to understand Paul's words: "Christ our passover is sacrificed for us" (1 Corinthians 5:7). The bronze serpent lifted up in the wilderness, which brought healing to those who looked at it, became Jesus' own picture of the cross (John 3:14–15). Jonah's three days in the great fish became, in Jesus' words, a sign of His own burial and resurrection (Matthew 12:40).
The sacrificial system, the priesthood and the temple all point beyond themselves. Hebrews explains that they were "a shadow of good things to come" (Hebrews 10:1). The shadow is real, but it is not the substance. The substance is Christ.
A Word of Caution
Seeing Christ in the Old Testament does not mean finding a hidden symbol of Jesus behind every tent peg and color. Some interpreters have let their imaginations run ahead of the text. The safest path is to follow the connections the New Testament itself makes, and to look for the larger patterns of promise, sacrifice, kingship and deliverance that run through the whole story.
It also means reading each passage first in its own setting. The story of David and Goliath, for example, is first a real event in Israel's history. It teaches courage and trust in God. But it also shows a pattern: a king chosen by God wins a victory His people could not win, and they share in the triumph. That pattern finds its fullest meaning in Christ, who defeated sin and death on our behalf.
Why It Matters
When we see where the Old Testament is going, its difficult books open up. Leviticus is no longer just a list of rules. It becomes a lesson in God's holiness and in the seriousness of sin, preparing us to marvel at the cross. The history of Israel's kings shows us our need for a perfect King. The longings of the Psalms find their answer in Jesus.
It also strengthens our confidence. A Messiah described centuries before His birth, in such detail and across so many authors, is a powerful testimony to the truth of Scripture.
Most of all, it draws us to worship. The whole Bible is one story, and it is the story of God rescuing His people through His Son. Open the Old Testament this week, start with a promise or a pattern, and ask the question Jesus taught His disciples to ask: what does this tell me about Him?
