L1: Who is this man?
How We Answer the Question
At this point, we know the question that we want to answer in this course: Who is Jesus? We discussed how the answer to this question means everything. And we paused to consider the way we ought to answer this question: with joyous, wholehearted worship!
Finally, let’s establish how we will answer this question about Jesus's identity.
We are not free to define Jesus. We are not free to determine who he is or decide upon what he has done. If we try to define Jesus on our own, we will be left with nothing more than a golden calf, an idol that cannot save.
What specifically can happen when we try to define Jesus on our own, based on human wisdom and human knowledge? Where do you see this happening today?
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The Whole Bible Testifies to Jesus
Through the prophets of the Old Testament and the apostles of the New Testament, Jesus makes himself known. Like Moses in Exodus 3, we ask: “What is his name?” (Exod 3:13). The Lord answers Moses from the burning bush. We look to the Bible to hear his answer. The whole Bible speaks about Jesus.
We see Jesus quite clearly in the NT. Jesus revealed himself through his words and through his actions. The Spirit confirmed this testimony. Once Jesus went up into heaven, he appointed the apostles as his hand-picked, Spirit-inspired, authoritative messengers (John 15:26-16:15; Acts 1:6-8). The apostles then bore Jesus’s life-giving words to the churches (1 Cor 15:1-11; Col 1:24-2:5). In the writings of the NT, we have the Spirit-inspired, life-giving, authoritative account of who Jesus is, what he has done, and what that means for us. The NT is clearly about Jesus.
But this is no less true of the OT. The Old Testament is Christian Scripture. It was written about Jesus and was written for us (1 Pet 1:10-12). When the Pharisees rejected him in John 5, Jesus declared: “If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me!” (John 5:46).
When Jesus revealed himself to the two, grief-stricken disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24, he did so through the whole OT:
[Jesus] said to them, ‘How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?’ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.” (Luke 24:25-27)
And when the Holy Spirit empowered the apostles to carry the life-giving message that Jesus entrusted to them, where did they preach Christ from? The Old Testament!
Indeed, Peter tells us that the Spirit revealed to the authors of the Old Testament that “they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven” (1 Pet 1:12). The Old Testament was written for us and about Jesus.
Let’s consider the first apostolic sermon concerning Jesus in Acts 2:
(1) Read the text aloud. (2) Count how many different OT passages Peter cites. You can see the specific passages cited by clicking on the gray dots which proceed each quote.
What do you think about the fact that Peter preached Christ from the OT? Is this how you read the OT?
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How does the Old Testament Reveal Jesus?
The Old Testament reveals Jesus in a number of different ways. In his article, “Where is Jesus in the Old Testament?,” Glen Scrivener gives us three categories to summarize how the OT speaks about Jesus:
- The OT patterns Jesus: In its people, institutions, and events, the OT prepares us for Jesus by showing us what he will be like. In David, we see a shadow of the King that Jesus would be. In the OT sacrifices, we see a picture of Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the cross. In the Exodus, we see a pattern that helps us understand the greater salvation Jesus would accomplish for his new covenant people. As we read the OT in light of Christ, we understand that these people, institutions, and events were speaking about him all along (Col 2:17).
- The OT promises Jesus: The Spirit revealed Christ’s coming sufferings and glories to the OT prophets (1 Pet 1:10–12). In countless texts like Genesis 3:15 and Isaiah 53, we see that the OT promises that Jesus would come and save his people from our sin.
- Jesus is present in the OT: When we confess that Jesus is Lord, we do not merely confess that he is king. Rather, we are confessing that he is Yahweh, the God of Israel. From the burning bush of Exodus 3 to the vision of Yahweh in the Temple from Isaiah 6, when we meet Yahweh in the OT, we meet Jesus.
So, as we seek to answer this question: “Who is Jesus?”, we will look to God’s revelation in the Bible, both Old and New Testaments.
What is another specific example (other than those mentioned above) in which the OT reveals Jesus? Is this example a pattern, promise, or instance of Jesus being present?
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