Jesus of Nazareth: The Object of Foreshadowing

Welcome! When I was a kid, my Mom would often take me to the library. I would check out as many books as they would let me and read like crazy. Mostly I picked fiction. Most of the books were forgettable, nothing special, although I would also read some of the classics. Once, though, when I was around age 10, I checked out The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, the first of seven books about an alternate world called Narnia where a mysterious but good talking lion named Aslan ruled. I had read many other fantasy works, but with Narnia I was enraptured. I soon checked out and read the rest of the series, all 7 books, and they became my very favorite works of fiction. I would check them out of the library again and again and read them about once a year. I think the only other books I read more than twice were the Lord of the Rings books by Tolkien, which I read maybe three times. I kept rereading Narnia yearly through high school, and even in college, on summer and other breaks, I would read some of them again. During this time my own religious beliefs moved from Judaism (in which I had been raised) to full-blown atheism, but during all this time, my love of Narnia never waned.

Years later, in Graduate School, after reading through most of the Bible I became convinced that the Bible was true, and after an internal struggle, finally put my faith in Christ. Some months after this, something (I don’t remember what) made me think about the Narnia books again. And then it suddenly hit me – these books weren’t really, ultimately about a lion; the lion was written to be a picture of Christ. Upon making this realization, I was amazed. How could I have missed it? It was all so obvious now. I read them again and was shocked to see how they were filled with veiled references to Biblical truth on page after page after page. I was actually embarrassed that I hadn’t made the connection earlier, and I only told a few people about my discovery.

I tell this story because the Old Testament is like Narnia in a lot of ways – it too tells the story of Christ, but you need to know where to look. Unlike Narnia, which is fiction and also symbolic of Christ, the Bible is literal history but also symbolic of Christ. C.S. Lewis and others have said that the Bible is “true myth.” I would say it is true foreshadowing. But where do we look?

Well, can you imagine Jesus Himself telling you where to look? Wouldn’t that be amazing? Well, Jesus did this for some of His disciples. I can’t think of a New Testament passage that makes me more, well, jealous than this one:

He 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 23:25-27

This passage occurs shortly after the resurrection, walking with the disciples on the road to Emmaus, a few miles from Jerusalem. He hid His identity from them while He did this. I hope you see the tremendous irony here. In case you are a bit fuzzy on irony, there is a commercial on Hulu for a new monthly online TV plan that has no commercials. It shows a man behind the camera in one of those fancy lifts saying, “This is me, making a commercial of you watching me make a commercial for Hulu’s commercial-free option. Think about it.” Actually for me, the real irony is that I like watching this commercial, which defeats the whole purpose of the commercial! Anyway, what is the irony in this passage? Jesus is showing them Jesus in the Old Testament whom they should have seen but didn’t, all while they don’t see Jesus right in front of them! I find it all wonderfully humorous. It reminds me of the First Joke in Narnia, in the 6^th book of the series, The Magician’s Nephew, in which, shortly after Creation, one of the talking beasts, a bird, says something in response to Aslan later than everyone else, kind of like when a musician keeps playing alone after a song ends, and the bird is embarrassed about it, causing the other beasts to laugh. Aslan assures them all that it is fine to laugh, and then the bird says, “Aslan! Have I made the first joke? Will everybody always be told how I made the first joke?” “No, little friend,” said the Lion. “You have not made the first joke; you have only been the first joke,” to which everyone laughed more than ever, including the bird. I think there is an important principle here – both in the Narnia story and in the Scripture – God does have a sense of humor, and you better not think so much of yourself that you are unable to laugh along when you become the joke.

But we have wandered off the path. My point with this passage is that, if you know where to look, you will find Jesus throughout the Old Testament. Last week we looked at prophecy, but prophecy is actually only a tiny part of how Jesus is woven through the Old Testament. Today I want to simply give some examples of this. Let’s start at the beginning, with Adam. Romans 5:14 calls Adam “A pattern of the one to come,” meaning Jesus, so we know this is a proper place to look. Let’s start with Genesis 1:

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image… – Gen. 1:26-27a

Now there are extreme differences between Adam and Jesus, but there are also similarities. This will be true with each example we look at today. Our focus is on the similarities. Note that Adam was created in God’s image; Jesus, being God, reflected God’s image perfectly. Adam was made to rule, to have dominion, or, to say it another way, to be a king. Jesus also had dominion (over all of creation) and was declared King of kings. Now let’s look at a verse from Genesis 2:

Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. – Gen. 2:7

Did Adam have a “natural” conception or a natural one? A miraculous one. What about Jesus? His life on Earth too was the result of a miracle – the virgin birth. Who was Adam’s Dad? Well, we would have to say God. He had no human father. What about Jesus? Well, Joseph helped Mary bring Him up, but Joseph was not Jesus’ true father, God was. I love how the genealogy in Luke 3 puts it:

Now Jesus […] was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph, the son of Heli, […] the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God. – Luke 3:23-38

Adam is called the son of God. Well, Jesus is also called the Son of God. Adam’s sonship is physical, whereas Jesus’ is spiritual.

Another area in which there are powerful parallels between Adam and Jesus is in their roles as bridegrooms. Going back to Genesis 1:

So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. – Gen. 1:21-22

First note that none of this was necessary; God could have made Eve out of dust, just like Adam, but He didn’t. He also didn’t need to make Adam fall into a deep sleep. But let me word what happened a bit differently, and let’s see if it reminds you of anything. In order to have a bride, Adam was as made to die (well, at least to have that appearance). Then, something like surgery happened on his side, and presumably there was blood. Then the man was restored, both healed physically and then made awake (to have the appearance of coming back from death), and out of this experience, the bride was brought to the bridegroom. Isn’t this an interesting picture of things to come, when Jesus really dies for the Bride of Christ, that is, those who will choose to accept His gift of salvation? He, too, bleeds from His side. He too, comes back from His death, a real death this time. Note that in the case of Adam, all of this happened prior to the fall; that is, Adam at this point was yet without sin. And as we know, Jesus’ ability to die in our place, as a substitution for the penalty we deserve, only actually did reconcile us with God because Jesus was without sin.

Now, unfortunately, what is Adam most known for? The Fall. From Romans 5,

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—[…] But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! – Rom. 5:12, 15

This may seem like a strange thing to say, but Adam left quite a legacy, quite a mark on the world! The actions of one man affected all men after him (except Jesus)! Of course it was a horrible effect that he caused: death and the curse as a result of sin. No man in the history of man has had a greater influence on the world (except Jesus). But the point is that Jesus too has left (and leaves) quite a legacy, but not one of death and condemnation, but one of life and forgiveness. And the rest of Romans 5 talks about how much greater Jesus’ legacy is than Adam’s. The contrasting parallels between Jesus and Adam are also drawn out in I Cor. 15:

For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. – I Cor. 15:21-22

And then, later in the chapter:

If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man. – I Cor. 15:44-49

This is profound; we who have put our faith in Christ are both dust of the earth and of heaven.

Abel is another picture of Christ. A comparison between Abel and Jesus is drawn in Hebrews:

[You have come] to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. – Heb. 12:24

How is Abel a picture of Christ? In that he was murdered because he was righteous, and Cain hated him for it. But Cain’s real anger was directed against God. Abel died at the hands of one who hated him because he did the will of the Father; so too did Jesus die at the hands of those who hated Him because He too did the will of the Father. Both Abel and the Jews probably thought that killing the object of their hate would put an end to their feeling disturbed, guilty. They both thought that murder would put an end to the voice whose very righteousness pointed out their own sin. Also, they were both wrong about that. So we have these similarities, but there is also a stark contrast: Abel’s blood called out for vengeance:

The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.” – Gen. 4:10

Jesus’ blood calls out the new covenant, the new promise, that those who “eat His flesh and drink His blood” as Jesus put it could be reconciled to God, forgiven, restored, looking forward to an eternity in heaven with Him. Abel’s blood led only to Cain’s being cursed; Jesus’ blood leads to countless souls saved, forgiven, loved, in God’s presence forever, provided they too “sprinkle the blood,” that is, that they appropriate the sacrifice for themselves, that they believe, in faith. And so, somehow, the first sinner and the first murderer both point to Christ.

Noah is also a picture of Christ in that he was alone a righteous man in a world filled with sin; Jesus was of course utterly without sin.  As for Noah’s name, we can look at Gen. 5:

When Lamech had lived 182 years, he had a son. He named him Noah and said, “He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the Lord has cursed.” – Gen. 5:28-29

What this means is that Lamech saw in Noah someone who would deliver man from the curse. Noah did bring deliverance through the flood, but the curse remained; sin remained. Noah followed the will of the Father perfectly in building something that would save the human race through the flood, the ark; Jesus too perfectly followed the will of the Father. Noah, alone, built the ark; Jesus, alone, saved us. Noah’s work brought blessing to all of creation, not just man; Jesus’ work will one day undo the curse and undo death even in the animal world.

Melchizedek is another clear type or foreshadowing of Christ. His name means “King of Peace.” Christ is called the “Prince of Peace.” His account in Genesis 14 is very mysterious in that we have no history, no account of his lineage, in marked contrast to everything before this. It is also mysterious that he was a priest before there were priests established. He comes long before Moses, long before the Law. Inexplicably, Abraham tithes to him.

Jesus is also a priest, and His priestly role is compared to that of Melchizedek in Hebrews 7. Verse 3 says,

Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever. – Heb. 7:3

Hebrews 7 goes on to quote Psalm 110:4 that says, “The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind: You are a priest forever, on the order of Melchizedek.” Hebrews 7 this is speaking of Jesus, and it goes on to say all the ways Jesus is a much better priest even than mysterious Melchizedek.

Isaac was also a “type” of Jesus. Isaac was a miracle baby – it should have been impossible for Sarah to have a child. Sound familiar? Mary could say the same thing, although the details are different; with Sarah, it was her age; Romans 4:19 says her womb was “dead.” Interestingly, Isaac’s name was specified before he was born – Gen. 17:19 says “And you shall call his name Isaac”; compare with Matt. 1:21 which says “And you shall call His name Jesus.”

And then we have the offering up of Isaac. God the Father instructed Abraham the father to do this. We could easily spend an entire message on the parallels between this event and the crucifixion of Christ. When I read this account with “opened” eyes, I was every bit as shocked as I was when I discovered the real meaning of Narnia. Let me just point out a few verses:

Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.” – Gen. 22:2

God too went to give up His own son, whom He loved from all eternity. Isaac was not a little child, but a full-grown man, fully able to resist his aged father, but he chose to obey even at the end, when it was clear what was about to happen. Jesus, too, could have resisted His Father at any time; indeed, this was the great temptation facing Him not only at the end, but likely throughout His life. But He too did not resist, did not revolt, did not stop being 100% obedient to His Father. Isaac carried the wood for the sacrifice – what a foreshadowing of Jesus carrying His own cross! But at the end God the Father stopped Abraham the father from carrying out the act. Why? Because this was a task only for God; only Jesus would die as a human sacrifice in this way. The passage in Genesis says this:

Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.” – Gen. 22:13-14

That’s not an overzealous translator’s insertion; the name really is future tense. The Lord had just provided, so it would have made more sense (apart from foreshadowing) to call the place “The Lord Provided.” But future tense was used because the real sacrifice of the Son was yet to take place. The Lord would provide His Own Son for that.

Next we come to Joseph. The parallels between Joseph’s and Jesus’s lives are fascinating. Chapters 38-50 of Genesis focus on Joseph. Recall that Jacob his father loved him it says more than any of his brothers; in the gospels we see God professing His love of Jesus – “This is my Son, whom I love.” Joseph was a shepherd; Jesus was the “good shepherd.” Both Joseph and Jesus were prophesied to become rulers. In both cases their own siblings were upset by this and didn’t believe them.

Joseph’s brothers plotted to kill him; Jesus’ “brothers” (fellow Jews) plotted to kill Him. When Reuben learned of their desires, he pleaded with them not to kill him; when Pilate similarly learned of how the Jews wanted Jesus killed, he too pleaded with them not to kill Him. Joseph was sold as a slave to Egypt; Jesus was betrayed for the price of a slave. Joseph’s fancy robe was taken from him; the guards took Jesus’ fancy robe. Both “died,” Joseph in appearance, Jesus in reality.

Joseph, in Egypt, became a slave for Potiphar. The Lord gave him success in all that he did, and his responsibilities increased, but then he was falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife. Jesus too was falsely accused during his trials. While in prison, Joseph was joined with two others condemned to die, a cupbearer and a baker. One of the two was set free. On the cross, Jesus was joined with two others condemned to die. One of the two believed in Jesus, and although he died, he also was “set free” – Jesus told him He would see him that day in paradise.

Of both Jesus and Joseph it was said that God was with them and that the Spirit of God dwelled in them. The Pharaoh of Egypt put Joseph in charge of everything; only Pharaoh was over him. God the Father similarly put Jesus over all of creation. Every knee bowed to Joseph; every knee will bow to Jesus.  Both were given a name meaning savior; Joseph was given the name Zaphenath-Paneah which means Savior of the World or Sustainer of Life; Jesus was given the name Yeshua which means Yahweh is Salvation or God is Savior. Joseph was given a gentile bride by Pharaoh, the king; Jesus was given a gentile bride by God – the church. Associated with each of their times of ruling (Joseph and Jesus) was famine; Jesus’ is yet to occur. But Jacob was delivered out of it by Joseph, and Jacob (Israel) will be delivered out of it by Jesus (see Jeremiah 30:7).

The Pharaoh (king) appointed Joseph to be the sole source of life for all;

When all Egypt began to feel the famine, the people cried to Pharaoh for food. Then Pharaoh told all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph and do what he tells you.” When the famine had spread over the whole country, Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe throughout Egypt.And all the world came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe everywhere. – Gen. 41:55-57

Jesus also is the sole source of life (eternal life) for all; this too was instituted by God (king). It is quite true that God tells all people, “Go to Jesus and do what He tells you.” And what does Jesus say?

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen Me and still you do not believe.  All those the Father gives Me will come to Me, and whoever comes to Me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of Him who sent Me. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that I shall lose none of all those He has given Me, but raise them up at the last day. For My Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.” – John 6:35-40

There are such strong parallels here! Come to Jesus and be given the food you need to live, just like how everyone had to come to Joseph to be given food to live. Notice how Jesus emphasizes that He is doing God’s will; Joseph too was doing Pharaoh’s will. And Pharaoh opened the storehouses to all who were willing to come, just as God opens His “storehouse” to all who will come to Jesus.

And I see a little of the Hulu-like irony in the next few verses of John:

At this the Jews there began to grumble about Him because He said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can He now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?” – John 6:41-42

Now, I know the Jews meant the son of Joseph, husband of Mary, who raised up Jesus as a child. But was not Jesus so symbolically the son of the other Joseph? It makes me smile.

Going back a few verses in John, we see Jesus feed the multitudes. I love this little snippet of conversation between Jesus and His disciples:

When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward Him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” He asked this only to test him, for He already had in mind what He was going to do. Philip answered Him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” – John 6:5-7

Only Jesus and Joseph fed the multitudes like this. They both knew in advance what they were going to do. Both were “miraculous” provisions; if Joseph had not been there, with His interpretations of Pharaoh’s dreams, the people would have starved. Similarly the crowds could not have been fed without Jesus being there. And none of us would be saved without Jesus’ provision of Himself for us.

You know the continuation of the story of Joseph – in the famine, Joseph’s own brothers come to him for food. They don’t realize who he is. In the same way, I think about how most Jews don’t know that Jesus is their Messiah. But Joseph’s brothers eventually learned the truth, and the Bible says that the Jews alive at the time of Jesus’ return will eventually learn that Jesus is the Messiah. Genesis 45 describes this moment for Joseph’s brothers:

Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?” But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence. Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. – Gen. 45:3-8

And then a few verses later we have this beautiful, emotional, powerful passage:

Then he threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin embraced him, weeping. And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them. – Gen. 45:14-15

Compare that with Zech. 12:10:

“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on Me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son.” – Zech. 12:10

And we also have Jesus’ own words:

“Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.” – Matt. 24:30

From the point of view of Joseph’s brothers and father, it was as if Joseph had literally come back from the dead. It was like witnessing a miraculous resurrection! Of course in Jesus’ case, this was literally true.

One more time Joseph explains that the things his brothers did, God used for His own good purposes:

“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them. – Gen. 50:20-21

And compare this with Peter’s sermon after healing the lame beggar by God’s power:

The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. You killed the Author of life, but God raised Him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. […] Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer. Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord… – Acts 3:13-19

Joseph’s brothers received forgiveness and the Pharaoh’s favor totally because of Joseph, not at all because of anything good Joseph’s brothers had done. And we too receive forgiveness and God’s blessings totally because of Jesus, not at all because of anything good we have done.

I should mention that Joseph’s sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, are sons of his Egyptian (non-Jewish) wife, yet they are given full “tribe” status. This is something I never heard talked about as a Jewish child. We were told about how wrong and evil it was to intermarry and how anyone who did this would have their children eternally cut off from the covenants of God. But this was clearly false. I think too how, because of Jesus, Gentiles are adopted, grafted into the vine, forever receiving the blessings of God.

And that’s only the book of Genesis! We could spend forever talking about all the hints and shadows of Christ in the Old Testament, both people and things (like the sacrifices). But this will have to wait for another time. The Old Testament is filled with Jesus, if you know that it really is all about Him.