The Old Testament and the New Covenant Part 5
The New Testament makes clear that the old covenant is over. But there is something hidden in the pages of the old covenant that commands our interest. It is the message of the gospel. It is the message of the coming Christ.
Jesus revealed this Old Testament message on the road to Emmaus following His resurrection. “Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, Jesus explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures” (Luke 24:27). “The Scriptures” refers to the Old Testament. As they walked along together, Jesus explained to these two disciples all that the Old Testament was pointing to in the coming of the Messiah.
In the book of Acts, Paul preached Christ from the Old Testament. “And according to Paul’s custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, ‘This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ.’ “ (Acts 17:2-3). Again, “the Scriptures” refers to the Old Testament.
Paul also wrote about the Old Testament pointing to Christ is his letter to Timothy. “And that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (II Timothy 3:15). The “sacred writings” are the Old Testament. And they contain in them the gospel that leads to salvation by faith in Christ.
Finally, we have this introduction to the book of Romans, “Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son” (Romans 1:1-3). Set apart for what? Paul was set apart for the gospel promised in the “holy Scriptures”, promised in the Old Testament. Concerning who? Concerning God’s Son, Jesus the Christ.
So when we fast forward from the Old Testament message ABOUT Jesus to the cross OF Jesus, what do we find? We find that the requirements of the old covenant have ended. And the gospel message of the old covenant, formerly hidden, has become fully exposed and continues on to this day.
So, how do we locate the gospel message in the Old Testament? How do we find Christ in the Old Testament?
We have an advantage that the Pharisees and other students of the Old Testament in Jesus’ day did not have in finding Jesus in the Old Testament writings. They had their ideas, but they really did not know exactly who they were looking for in the coming of the Messiah. We find Christ in the Old Testament prophecies because WE NOW KNOW WHAT HE LOOKS LIKE! Thanks to the New Testament, we know WHO we are looking for in the Old! We are looking for the Jesus we know!
Do you remember those once popular books, Where’s Waldo? If we had zero idea of what Waldo looked like, we would have no hope of finding him in those complicated drawings. But the cover of the book informed us of what Waldo looked like with his red and white striped attire. We could find Waldo even in a crowd of 10,000 medieval knights or ancient Egyptians or Red Sox fans because we know what Waldo looks like. We have a visual of who we are looking for.
Likewise, we know who we are looking for in the Old Testament because we personally know Jesus. We know the Christ. We know what He looks like. Over the next several days, we will look at specific passages in the Old Testament; stories that contain a beautiful picture of Christ, our Savior.