Did You Find Jesus in the Old Testament?

Chapter 24 of the Gospel of Luke records the discovery of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, His appearances, and His ascension into heaven.

Two of Jesus’ disciples, on the way to Emmaus, do not recognize Him until He opens their eyes. Because Jesus has risen from the dead, He can grant sight to those who are spiritually blind.

Then Jesus teaches the two disciples how all the Scriptures (the Old Testament) refer to His coming for their salvation.

Jesus’ Teaching on the Road to Emmaus

Morris calls Jesus the greatest Bible teacher, in fact, the author. Morris said that it is significant that Jesus began with the beginning in Genesis and Genesis is the foundational book of the Bible. It is essential to understand and believe God’s revelation in Genesis to understand the rest of Scripture. ¹

Jesus began to teach them what was surely one of the most spectacular Bible studies ever taught. He began “in Moses and all the Prophets” and that told them all about the Messiah.

The Old Testament is filled with references to Jesus. I have not found a definite count of the references to Jesus written in the Old Testament.

In Guzik’s commentary on Luke 24:27, he lists 53 passages that refer to Jesus in the Old Testament. Guzik says that the Messiah was: ²

1. With God The Father in the creation. (Genesis 1:1, 2)

2. With Adam and Eve in the garden. (Genesis 2:1-3:8)
3. The Seed of the Woman, whose heel was bruised. (Genesis 3:15,16)
4. The One sending Hagar back to Abraham. (Genesis 16: 7-13)
5. The blessing of Abraham to all nations. (Genesis 18-19:1, 23)
6. The Angel of The LORD that visited with Abraham (Genesis 22:10-15)
7. The High Priest after the order of Melchizedek. (Genesis 14:8)
8. The Man who wrestled with Jacob. (Genesis 32: 24-30)
9. The Angel of The LORD who delivered Jacob and was remembered when Jacob blessed Joseph’s sons (Genesis 48: 15,16)
10. The One that Jacob prophesied would be a descendant of Jacob’s son, Judah (Genesis 49:10)
11. The voice from the burning bush. (Exodus 3:13, 14)
12. The God that spoke to Moses saying that He appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name God Almighty. He had not been known by name to the patriarchs. (Exodus 6:2, 3)
13. The Passover Lamb. (Exodus 12)
14. The LORD tested in the desert, who sent poisonous snakes (Exodus 17:2, 7)
15. The One standing between man and judgment (Exodus 21:12. 13)
16. The Angel leading the way for Israel (Exodus 23:20, 21)
17. The first communion meal with God (Exodus 24:10,11)
18. Talking with Moses at the Tent of the Meeting (Exodus 33:11)
19. Settling the dispute with Moses, Aaron, and Miriam (Numbers 12:7, 8)
20. Testing the LORD and claiming He is not with them (Numbers 21:6)
21. The delivery of the two stone tablets (Deuteronomy 9:10)
22. He is declared the “Lord of Lords” (Deuteronomy 10:17)
23. The prophet to be risen up like Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15-18)
24. The captain of the Lord’s army to Joshua. (Joshua 5:13-6:2)
25. The Angel of the Lord preaching a Bokim (Judges 2:1)
26. The One who commissioned Gideon (Judges 6:11-23)
27. The One who visited Manoah, the mother of Sampson (Judges 13:2-22)
28. The ultimate Kinsman-Redeemer. (Ruth 4:14-22)
29. The descendant of David with the eternal kingdom, prophesied by Samuel (2 Samuel 7:16)
30. The Angel of The Lord delivers judgment and talks with David (2 Samuel 24:15-17)
31. The Angel of the LORD that slew 185,000 Assyrians (2 Kings 19)
32. The son of David who would be the Son of God (1 Chronicles 17:11-13)
33. One of the two Persons of God that David prayed to (1 Chronicles 17;16, 17)
34. The Angle of the Lord that David remembers (2 Chronicles 3:1)
35. The LORD that Job saw (Job 42:5)
36. The suffering Savior of Psalm 22.
37. The Good Shepherd of Psalm 23.
38. The scepter of righteousness (Psalm 45:6, 7)
39. The Creator in Psalm 102:8, 24, 25
40. The LORD talking to the LORD (Psalm 110)
41. The wisdom of Proverbs and the Lover of the Song of Solomon.
42. The LORD whom Isaiah saw (Isaiah 6:5)
43. The Savior prophesized by Isaiah (Isaiah 7:14, 8:13, 14; 9:1, 2, 6, 7; 11:1-10; 25:8; 35:4-6, 42:1-4, 6; 45:21; 48:16, 17; 49:6; 50:4-9; 53:1-7, 9-12; 56:8; 61:1,2; 62:11)
44. The Messiah prophesized by Jeremiah 23:5; 50:40
45. The Messiah prophesized by Ezekiel 1:26-28; 34:23
46. The Messiah of Daniel 9:24-26
47. The angel of the Lord described in Hosea 12:3-5
48. The two persons of God (Amos 4:11)
49. The God that Amos met with (Amos 9:1)
50. The Messiah prophesized by Micah 5:1-5
51. The sacrificed Lord who will judge (Zephaniah 1:8)
52. The Messiah prophesized by Zechariah (Zechariah 9:9; 11:12,13; 12:10; 14:3, 4)
53. The Messiah prophesized by Malachi 3:1; 4:2, 3, 5, 6

Halley’s Handbook has 58 headings in the chapter “Messianic Strain of the Old Testament”. ³

For my sermon series on “Jesus in the Old Testament,” my research listed 116 references and I know that list is not complete. I am constantly adding to the list during my daily Bible studies.

It appears that “Moses and with all the prophets” (Luke 24:25-27) and “the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms” (Luke 24:44, 45) was often used to designate the whole of the Hebrew Scriptures. In John 10:34 Jesus refers to the law and then actually quotes from Psalm 82:6. In John 15:25, John refers to a clause found in Psalm 35:19 as “the word that is written in their law.” In Matthew 13:35 Matthew refers to “what was spoken by the prophet” and then quotes from Psalm 78:2. ⁴

Paul relates many different types of passages as “law”:

• Isaiah 28:11, 12 (1 Corinthians 14:21),
• Psalms and Isaiah (Romans 3:19),
• Genesis 16:15 and 21:9 (Galatians 4:21, 22). ⁴

Peter refers to the “prophetic word” (2 Peter 1:19) to mean the whole collection of writings commonly accepted in the New Testament days. ⁴

Christ is the key that unlocks the meaning of scriptures (Luke 24:25-27; John 5:39,40; Acts 17:2, 3; 28:23; 2 Timothy 3:15). They testify of Him and lead to the salvation He died to provide. ⁵

Jesus Christ Himself gave more specific testimony about the leading of people to His provision of salvation. Christ gave us a Great Commission that directs us to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19; Luke 24:46-48; Acts 1:8). The Scriptures do not direct us to convert the world, but to evangelize it and allow the Holy Spirit to convert them. ⁶

The preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which includes the Old Testament references, are definite means that God uses to produce repentance (Matthew 12:41; Luke 24:47; Acts: 2:37f. 2 Timothy 2:25). In addition, God uses the Word of God (Luke 16:30f.), the goodness of God toward His creatures (Romans 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9), the chastisement of the Lord (Hebrews 12:10f; Revelation 3:19), belief of the truth (Jonah 3:5-10), and a new vision of God (Job 42:5f). ⁷

______________Affiliate link – SHOP: _______________
_This ad is for my favorite version of The Bible _
_____but click on it to go to the whole store______

In conclusion, consider the Daily Bread email message sent on 1/26/2005, 9/5/2008, and 7/05/2023 says,

Luke 24:27 – Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures. (NASB)

You Can Receive The Daily Bread, for FREE.

To receive the Daily Bread email messages, free on Mon., Wed., and Fri., in your email inbox, just fill in the form below or send an email, and ask to be added, to  jmikeh@jmhowington.com