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Jesus in the Old Testament
In the Old Testament, God reveals that humanity desperately needs a Redeemer. God reveals where people should seek rescuers. God gives us many, many pictures of the look of this savior, so that we recognize him when we see him. You can think of the Old Testament as a great portrait of Jesus. But today we want to look at some of the images of Jesus in the Old Testament to get a clearer picture of our Savior.
The first thing we hear about Jesus is right at the beginning of the story, in 1. Mose 3. God created the world and people. You will be seduced into evil. Then we see all mankind reaping the consequences. The snake is the embodiment of this evil. God spoke to the serpent in verse 15, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall crush your head, and you will bruise his heel.” The serpent may have won this round and defeated Adam and Eve. But God says that one of their offspring will eventually destroy the serpent. This one who will come...
1. Will destroy the EVIL (1. Mose 3,15).
This man will suffer at the hand of the serpent; especially his heel will be injured. But he will crush the snake's head; he will put an end to sinful life. Good will prevail. At this point in history we have no idea who this coming one is. Is it Adam and Eve's firstborn or someone who comes a million years later? But today we know that the One is Jesus who came and was hurt by being nailed to the cross with a nail pierced at his heel. On the cross he defeated the evil one. Now everyone expects him to come a second time to disempower Satan and all evil forces. I find that I am strongly motivated to find this future one because he will put an end to all these things that are destroying me.
God is building a whole culture in Israel around this notion of someone coming as a sacrificial lamb to save people from evil. That's what the sacrificial system and ceremonial were all about. Again and again the prophets gave us visions about him. An important prophet, Micah, states that the Savior will not come from any special place. He does not come from New York, LA or Jerusalem or Rome. The Messiah ...
2. Will come from a place "from the back provinces" (Micah 5,1).
"And you, Bethlehem Ephratah, which are small among the cities of Judah, out of you shall come the Lord of Israel..."
Bethlehem is what I affectionately call "dirty little town," small and poor, hard to find on maps. I think of small towns like Eagle Grove in Iowa. Small, unimportant towns. Such was Bethlehem. Therefore he should come. If you want to find the Savior, look at the people born there. ("First shall be last".) Then, thirdly, this...
3. Will be born of a VIRGIN (Isaiah 7,14).
"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin is with child and will give birth to a son, and he will name him Immanuel."
Well, that really helps us locate him. Not only will he be one of the few people born in Bethlehem, but he will be born to a girl who became pregnant without natural means. Now that the field we're looking is getting tight. Sure, every now and then you'll find a girl who says she had a virgin birth, but lies. However, there will be few. But we do know that this Savior was born to a girl in Bethlehem who at least claims to be a virgin.
4. Announced by a MESSENGER (Malachi 3,1).
“Behold, I will send my messenger to prepare the way before me. And soon the Lord whom you seek will come to his temple; and the angel of the covenant, whom you desire, behold, he is coming! says the Lord of hosts."
I come myself to see you, says God. There will be a messenger in front of me preparing the way for me. So if you see someone telling you that someone is the Messiah, then you should check this presumptive Messiah. Do whatever it takes to find out if he was born in Bethlehem and if his mother was a virgin when he was born. Finally, we have a purely scientific process so that skeptics like us can check whether a suspected Messiah is the real one or not. Our story continues by meeting the messenger named John the Baptist, who prepared the people of Israel for Jesus and sent them to Jesus when He appeared.
5. Will SUFFER for us (Isaiah 53,4-6)."
Surely he bore our sickness and took upon himself our pains... he is wounded for our iniquities and bruised for our sins. The chastisement is upon him that we may have peace, and by his WOUNDS we are healed.”
Instead of a Savior who simply subdues all of our enemies, He wins his victory over evil through suffering. He does not win by wounding others, but wins by being wounded himself. It's hard to get in our heads. But if you remember said 1. Moses predicted exactly the same thing. He would crush the snake's head, but the snake would stab him in the heel. If we look at the progress of history in the New Testament, we find that the Savior, Jesus, suffered and died to pay the penalty for your wrongdoings. He died the death you earned yourself so you wouldn't have to pay for it. His blood was shed so that you could be forgiven, and his body was smashed so that your body could receive the new life.
6. Will be all we NEED (Isaiah 9,5-6).
Why was Jesus sent to us: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and dominion is upon his shoulder; and his name is Wonder Counselor, God Hero, Eternal Father, Peace Prince; so that his dominion may be great and there will be no end to peace.”
Do you need advice and wisdom on what to do in a certain life situation? God came to be your wonderful counselor. Do you have a weakness, an area of life where you are defeated over and over again and where you need strength? Jesus came to be the strong God standing by your side, ready to flex his infinite muscles for you. Do you need a loving father who will always be there for you and will never let you down like all biological fathers inevitably do? Do you hunger for acceptance and love? Jesus came to give you access to the one Father who lives forever and is most faithful. Are you anxious, fearful and restless? God came in Jesus to bring you a peace that is invincible because Jesus himself is the prince of that peace. I'll tell you something: If I hadn't been motivated to seek this Savior before, I would certainly be now. I need what he offers. He offers the good and rich life under his rule. This is exactly what Jesus announced when He came: "The Kingdom of God is at hand!" A new way of life, the life where God reigns as King. This new way of life is now available to absolutely everyone who follows Jesus.
7. Establish a kingdom that NEVER ENDS (Daniel 7,13-14).
“I saw in that vision in the night, and, behold, one came with the clouds of heaven like a son of man and came to the ancient man and was brought before him. He gave him power, honor and empire that all peoples and people from so many different languages should serve him. His power is everlasting and never fails, and his kingdom has no end.”
by John Stonecypher
