Christ in the Scriptures: Learning to See Him Everywhere
Rev. Aniekan "Mbomboyo" Okokon ·
And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. — Luke 24:27
Two disciples walked seven miles with the risen Jesus without recognising Him, and He spent the journey doing something remarkable: He took them through the Old Testament and showed them Himself in it. Moses. The Prophets. All the Scriptures. Not a few proof texts - the whole thing.
Later that night He said it again to the eleven: everything written about Him in the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms had to be fulfilled. And then "he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures." The Bible had not changed. Their eyes had.
He is not hidden; He is everywhere
Once you know to look, the Old Testament stops being a book of ancient history with some predictions in it and becomes a portrait gallery of one Person.
- In Genesis He is the seed who will crush the serpent, the ram caught in the thicket in Isaac's place, the ladder between heaven and earth.
- In Exodus He is the Passover lamb whose blood turns judgement aside, the rock that gives water, the manna from heaven.
- In Leviticus every sacrifice is a sketch of Him; every priest, a shadow of the great High Priest.
- In the Psalms He prays. "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" was His before it was David's.
- In the Prophets He is the suffering servant, the son of man, the branch, the shepherd, the Lord who comes to His temple.
Why this is not a trick
Jesus did not read Himself into the Scriptures; He read Himself out of them, because they were written about Him. "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me" (John 5:39). A reading that finds everything in the Bible except Christ has, by His own account, missed the point of the book.
How to read from now on
Whatever passage is in front of you, ask: where is He? What does this show about His character, His work, His people, His coming? A law reveals the righteousness He fulfilled. A failure reveals the need He met. A promise reveals the Yes He is. You will not always find Him in the same way. You will always find Him, because He is there, and He walks the road with anyone who wants their eyes opened.