Is Jesus really in the Old Testament?

Christians have long understood the Old Testament to foreshadow Jesus — in the Passover lamb, the sacrifice of Isaac, the 'I AM' of Exodus, the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53, Psalm 23's shepherd, and more. Jesus Himself said Moses and the Prophets wrote about Him (Luke 24:27).

Where is Jesus first hinted at in the Bible?

Many point to Genesis 3:15, the promise that the offspring of the woman would crush the serpent's head. Others note that the very first word of Genesis, Bereshit, carries a picture of the Cross when read in the ancient Paleo-Hebrew letters.

Christ before Bethlehem

Is Jesus in the Old Testament?

Jesus told the religious leaders that Moses and the Prophets were writing about Him. Here are seven of the places Christians have long seen Him hidden in plain sight.

After the resurrection, Luke 24 says Jesus "began with Moses and all the Prophets" and "explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself." The claim of the New Testament is not that Jesus appears out of nowhere, but that the entire Hebrew Bible was leaning toward Him. Here are seven places to look.

1. The blood on the door (Exodus 12)

At Passover, a lamb without blemish is killed and its blood put on the doorposts so that death "passes over" the house. The New Testament calls Jesus "our Passover lamb" (1 Cor 5:7). We decode the Hebrew of this verse on the blood on the door page.

2. The ram in the thicket (Genesis 22)

Abraham is told to offer his son on a mountain — and at the last moment God provides a substitute caught by its head. On that same mountain range, centuries later, another Son would not be spared. Abraham names the place "The LORD will provide."

3. I AM (Exodus 3:14)

God reveals His name to Moses as "I AM WHO I AM." In John's Gospel Jesus deliberately takes those words onto His own lips — "before Abraham was, I AM." See the Hebrew of Exodus 3:14.

4. The Suffering Servant (Isaiah 53)

Seven centuries before the cross, Isaiah describes one "pierced for our transgressions," silent before his accusers, buried with the rich, who bears the sin of many. It reads like an eyewitness account written in advance.

5. The Shepherd (Psalm 23)

"The LORD is my shepherd" — and Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd." The psalm's valley, table, and house all find their echo in Him. Read the Hebrew of Psalm 23.

6. The Word in the beginning (Genesis 1 / John 1)

John opens his Gospel by reaching back to Genesis: "In the beginning was the Word." The book's first chapter shows how the very first word of the Bible already carries the shape of the Cross. Compare John 1:1.

7. The Aleph and the Tav (Revelation 1:8)

Jesus calls Himself "the Alpha and the Omega" — the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. In Hebrew that is the Aleph and the Tav: God, and a cross. The bookends of the alphabet turn out to be the bookends of the gospel.

He is not only at the end of the Old Testament, waiting. He is written into its first word, its middle, and its last letter.