Christ in the Old Testament

This is a topic I love talking about. I could easily get carried away, but for the sake of brevity, I will only choose a few verses to reference. Jesus may have come down from heaven to dwell among us in the flesh 2000 years ago in Palestine, but he was revealed in many different ways throughout the Old Testament as well. Here are a few examples.

1. The Christ was revealed to Abraham - Jesus tells the disillusioned Pharisees, "Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad” (John 8:56). Paul expands on this in his letter to the Galatians, saying, "And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, 'In you shall all the nations be blessed'" (Galatians 3:8).
2. The Christ was revealed to Moses - Again, Jesus tells the disbelieving Jews, "Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?” (John 5:45-47).
3. The Christ was revealed to King David - In his sermon at Pentecost, Peter tells the Jews gathered in the house, "Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he [David] foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption" (Acts 2:30-31).
4. The Christ was revealed to Isaiah - Referencing the wonderful vision Isaiah recorded in Isaiah 6, John says in his gospel account, "Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him [Jesus]" (John 12:41).
5. The Christ was revealed to the rest of the Old Testament prophets - Peter writes about the manner in which the prophets wrote during their day to the downward-spiraling people of Israel about the great hope to come, "Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories" (1 Peter 1:10-11).
6. And finally, Jesus himself explained that the entire Old Testament was about him - During their walk down the road to Emmaus, two disciples listen to Jesus reveal himself to them, "And he said to them, 'O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?' And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself" (Luke 24:25-27).

This is just a rudimentary look at how much the Son is spoken of in the Old Testament. This is what is called a Christocentric approach to the Scripture, where Jesus is seen as the focal point of every book, every event, ever period in history. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

SDG