Christ in the Old Testament

There are many times I read something in the Bible, and I think: Man, I wish was a fly on the wall when....

Nwo let me tell you one of those times - It's when Jesus talked to the two on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24:27 and "beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, [Christ] explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself" (NIV).

Wow! Could you imagine sitting in on THAT Bible study led by Jesus Himself? Well, while we don't know the details of that particular message Christ shared, we obviously know that Jesus talked about how He is revealed in the Old Testment, and I want to share three things Jesus may have shared with these two as the walked along the road.

First, Christ is the Passover Lamb. We read in Exodus 12 how the last plague in Egypt took life of the firstborn unless the blood of an animal without defect was applied to the doorpost (Exodus 12:5). Of course, the Lord speaks these very powerful and memorable words in Exodus 12:13, "When I see the blood, I will pass over you" (NIV). Now we learn in 1 Corinthians 5:7 that "Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed" (NIV). You see, the reason Jesus is our "Passover Lamb" is because when His blood is applied to the "doorpost" of our lives, God's judgement passes over us. We live and don't die because Jesus died and shed His blood for us!

Second, in Exodus 16 we read about how God provided bread from heaven, manna, so the Israelites could eat and survive. Of course, as Jesus talks about the manna the Jewish forefathers ate in the wilderness He plainly says in John 6:48-51, "I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world" (NIV). So you can see again that Christ is the true Manna from heaven that gives eternal life to all whom come to Him in repentance and faith!

Third, Exodus 17 tells us how God provided water for the Israelites from a rock. Of course, Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 10:3-4 that "the spiritual rock that accompanied them . . . was Christ" (NIV). In John 7:36b-37, Jesus says, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will from within him" (NIV). Christ alone is the Living Water who quenches our sin-parched souls with Himself who gives us eternal life!

Now, these aren't the only places where we can see Christ in the Old Testament. For example, Jesus also told Nicodemus in John 3:14-15, "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up [on the cross in death], that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life" (NIV). We'll read about this story in Numbers 21. But these places in the Old Testament point to Christ and show us that He is the only source for eternal life.

Praise be to our Lord Jesus Christ! We need to hear and heed Paul's words to Timothy when he says, "As for you, continue in what you have learned and become convinced of, because you know those from whom you've learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures [the Old Testament], which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus" (2 Timohty 3:14-15, NIV). Christ is in the Old Testament, too. In fact, all of Scripture points to God's only plan of redemption through His Son, Jesus Christ!