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archives: July 2009
where's wally, where's Jesus?
by andy croft
A few years back, a series of very popular picture books came out. They were called ‘Where’s Wally?’ Each spread of the book was a massive picture full of tiny illustrations that all worked together to tell a bit of a story. Of all the characters in the picture the aim was to find one single person…Wally (a little bloke in a red and white jumper).
Sometimes he’d be up a tree, sometimes under water, sometimes he’d be in a massive crowd, often he’d be peering out from behind a corner and sometimes he’d even be hidden in plain view. The challenge was to find him hidden in the story the picture told.
Two thousand years ago Jesus said to a bunch of Pharisees, “Where’s Wally?” He said it like this:
“You diligently study the scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life”
John 5v39-40.
Jesus was talking about the Old Testament Scriptures. Everyone knew the Old Testament was about Israel and Moses, David, Abraham and co. There’s no mention of Jesus by name, so did he get this one wrong? Had he eaten a dodgy fig for breakfast? Or… have we all been missing something? Could it be possible that, like Wally in the picture books, Jesus appears hidden all over the Old Testament?
Jesus is all over the Bible; in the Old Testament he’s concealed, in the New Testament he’s revealed. Finding Jesus in the Old Testament is not just a game, like finding Wally. It’s actually a treasure hunt and it brings the whole story of God to life in a whole new way.
Throughout the Old Testament we see strong hints, images and prophecies about Jesus. In the New Testament those hints, images and prophecies are unveiled; the curtain is opened, from top to bottom, to reveal the star of the whole show. In fact, the curtain isn’t gently opened, it’s ripped apart.
Here’s just one example of finding images and pictures of Jesus in the Old Testament and it’s right near the beginning of the good book!
Abraham and Isaac
Just a few chapters into Genesis we come across a strange scene. In Genesis 22 we find an old man holding a knife over the chest of a young boy. He’s about to offer the poor kid as a sacrifice.
Years ago God had promised the old man that he would have a son and after an age of waiting Isaac was born. The baby become a boy and Abraham loved him dearly. His dreams of having a son had come true. He was happy.
At that point God said to Abraham:
“Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”
Genesis 22v2
How could God be so cruel? How could he command someone to sacrifice their own son?
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son…”
John 3:16.
The words of John, describing God’s giving of his beloved son, deliberately echo those of spoken to Abraham.
The old man obeyed God.
“Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey.”
Genesis 22v3
Father, son and donkey headed to the region of Moriah. I’ve just been to Israel and was amazed to discover the region of Moriah is where, hundreds of years after Abraham, Jerusalem was built!
The parallel to Jesus here is amazing. Thousands of years later, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, just as Abraham, Isaac and their donkey had headed into the region of Moriah.
When Abraham and Isaac arrived on the designated mountain we read that the father placed the wood for the sacrifice on the back of his son:
“Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife.”
Genesis 22v6
Isaac then carried the wood for his own sacrifice up a hill in the region of Moriah. Isn’t this amazing? Thousands of years later the Father placed the cross on the back of his son. Jesus then carried the wood for his own sacrifice up a hill in the region of Moriah.
On reaching the top of the hill Isaac said to Abraham:
‘The fire and the wood are here but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?’ “Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.”
Genesis 22:8
Abraham then tied his son to the wood and was about to kill him. At that moment the Lord cried for him to stop. God told Abraham to sacrifice a ram that was conveniently caught in a nearby hedge. Rejoicing, he took it, and sacrificed it in the place of his son. We’re then told that:
“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.”
Genesis 22v14
Two thousand years later on a mountain in the region of Moriah the Lord did provide. Only this time it wasn’t a ram but a lamb for the offering; the Lamb of God whom God himself spoke about:
‘this is my son whom I love with him I am well pleased”
Luke 3:22
Jesus is concealed in the lives and events of the Old Testament in an incredible way. However, it’s not until we read the Old Testament through the lens of the New Testament that he is revealed. This is not to say that the stories in the Old Testament don’t have a power, force and meaning of their own - they do very much! But I guess understanding the Old Testament without the New is a bit like going to an I-Max cinema without 3D goggles. Try watching the screen without the goggles and the pictures are there – though slightly blurred. If you have the special 3D specs on there’s suddenly a whole new, sharp, remarkable dimension that comes into view.
About the article...
Andy is an Associate Director at Soul Survivor and is a very nice bloke.
This is an edited version of a chapter from Andy and Mike Pilavachi's book, Storylines. You can buy a copy of the whole book at our shop...
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