Seeing Jesus in Old Testament Passages
I recently gave a devotional for a study I co-lead, sponsored by World Prayr. Energion works frequently with World Prayr to help provide teaching materials to pastors and other ministers in various countries. If you’d like to see how Energion works with World Prayr, you can view translated books in the following infographic.
In my devotional, I discussed seeing Jesus in the Old Testament. We often relate the two testimonies by connecting prophetic dots. This was prophesied here and happened there. I don’t want to dismiss that approach. But in my view, it is much more important to see the themes of the way God interacts with people that are developed in Hebrew scripture and then take on new meaning in the New Testament.
I gave this introduction, and then took the lazy route. Energion has just released a new book, … Because of Jesus. In fact, it was released today! I was giving this group a pre-release preview. The extract I read follows. It begins as the women who have seen the empty tomb and been informed by the angel that Jesus is risen meet Jesus as they go to tell the other disciples.
And then they slid to a stop.
Because standing in the track in front of them was a familiar face.
Familiar, yet something different. It took a second, perhaps, to register. After all, the last time they’d seen this face, it was little more than a bloody pulp. But he greeted them.
And everything changed again. Everything they barely dared to hope and believe was confirmed.
The tomb was empty, yes; but it was empty because Jesus is alive. This was no mirage, no grief-caused ghost, no sleep-deprived-addled mistake. They fell at his feet. And they touched him. You can’t touch
an hallucination.
And they worshipped him.
Why?
The earthquake had prepared them to realize that something was happening. Now they understood: God was coming. And so they worshipped God. Risen from the dead.
And as they worshipped, with tears flowing rapturously down their faces, their minds scrambled to make it all make sense. To put the pieces together.
But everything changes because Jesus is alive. The old rules are upended. The old norms have changed. Everything that God had promised throughout the entire Old Testament had brought time and nature to this singularity. All of Scripture had pointed to this moment.
Adam in the Garden of Eden pointed forward to Jesus in gardens outside Jerusalem. The promised serpent crusher of Genesis 3:15 had come and the wages of our sin, which is death, has been conquered by this greater Adam.
Noah and his ark pointed forward to Jesus being the ark of the New Covenant. All who take refuge in the resurrected Lord and the work of his cross and resurrection will avoid the wrath of God for our sinfulness.
Abraham pointed forward to the tearing apart of God for breaking the covenant. And Jesus had been brutally torn apart. But he is the true promised offspring who would bless all the nations of the world.
Israel pointed forward to an obedient Son; but every son of Adam was sinful. But Jesus? He obeyed even to the point of death, as a slave, as the very personification of sin. He was the one True Israelite.
David pointed forward to a king who would reign eternally from an eternal throne over a never-ending Kingdom which would never be shaken. Jesus, the resurrected king, is that king. His reign will never end. His Kingdom will never cease. His throne stands above all time.
Isaiah spoke of a stump of Jesse and an offspring, a seed, who would grow and blossom from the old, chopped down, tree of Israel. This offspring, this shoot of Jesse, is Jesus. A greater David. A triumphant David. A sinless David. An eternal David.
Because the tomb had been opened. And Christ is triumphant. He’s the fulfilment of it all. The resurrection is the vindication of Jesus’s work. It tells us that God had accepted the sacrifice and that we can therefore be forgiven.
Talk about a comeback.
Christian, consider what this means. This is the source, the foundation of our hope. Because Jesus was raised, we will be raised. Because Jesus was raised in a new and perfect body, we will be raised into a new and perfect body. Because Jesus was raised to reign, we will be raised to reign. Because Jesus was raised to eternal life, we will be raised to eternal life.
Death is not the end. It may swallow our temporal bodies; but it will never swallow our new creation bodies. This means that the very sting of death, that terrifying sense of inevitability and futility? Is gone. Death is dead because Jesus is alive.
And we now see that the tomb of the Old Creation?
Was nothing more than the womb of the New Creation.
Jesus is the firstborn of the New Creation, the New Covenant life. And this is all ours, given to us as a gift, if we but bow down and worship the Lord of Life. The implications of this resurrection life are immense.
When you pray? You don’t pray to an inanimate block of wood or stone or gold, like the idols of old. Nor do you pray to a dead and rotting corpse of useless men like the saints, or like the Buddha. Nor do you pray to a myth like Vishnu. No. You pray to a risen king. A listening lord. Who is able to help you. Who was seen and touched as evidence of his resurrection. Why would you pray to any other being or person? What can they do? They can’t hear you; they’re dead. But we pray to the risen Lord. He hears. He listens.
He loves. And he helps. And he knows.
When you cry? You cry to a king who has cried tears of anguish and grief and sadness and pain. He empathizes with you. And because he knows, he can help you.
When you struggle? He’s powerful enough to conquer death. He can help you in your moments of weakness and pain and isolation.
When you fail? He encourages you with the voice of a brother, and the strength of a king, and the tenderness of a friend.
When you’re afraid? He experienced fear deeper than we can imagine; he sweat drops of blood. He can comfort you.
When you’re lost? He can guide you.
When you’re rejoicing? He celebrates with you.
When you sing? He basks in joy.
When you dance? He smiles with delight.
When you obey? He laughs with glee!
How can this be? Only because he lives. He’s not a corpse in the tomb. He’s not given over to corruption. He’s not broken and bruised anymore. He’s risen. He’s able. He’s powerful. He has conquered. He is alive. So come to him. He hears you. Cling to him. He helps you. Trust him. He’s proven himself. This is your king!
(TK Dunn, … Because of Jesus, pp 83-86)
