Preaching Christ from the OT
One of the common difficulties expressed by expositors is "how do I preach Christ from the OT?" This question could be asked a number of different ways but I think most of you get the idea. On the one hand we are told by Christ Himself that all of the OT reveals Jesus (cf. Luke 24:27, 44) and yet the connections are not always obvious in the exegesis of a given OT text. To be sure there are many hermeneutical avenues to explore but we must start somewhere.
About a year ago I had a similar conversation with my friend John Snyder who teaches preaching at a seminary in Russia. As a starting place he pointed me to Sidney Greidanus's book, Preaching Christ from the Old Testament (see link in sidebar). I found that there were some significant hermeneutical differences between Greidanus and myself which John had seen as well. However, there was plenty food for thought in some of the more practical sections of his work. What follows is John's distillation of some of the more lucid ideas that Greidanus provided. I think there is plenty here to discuss (some helpful and some not so much). What are your thoughts?
1.Redemptive History: “This is the foundational way of preaching Christ from the Old Testament” (Greidanus, 234). How does this passage fit into the context of God’s overall plan of redemption that culminates in Christ? What is the history from this passage to Christ, His Person, work, or teaching?
2.Promise/Fulfillment: How does this passage relate to the specific promises of God that find their ultimate fulfillment in Christ—His Person, work, or teaching? From Gen 3:15 (seed, enmity) to 12:7, 17:16, 22:18 to Matt 4:1-11 to the cross.
3. Typology: Does God use persons or events or actions in this passage to foreshadow the FAR GREATER Person, work or teaching of Christ? Ex: God gave manna in the wilderness to sustain life, FAR GREATER God gave His Son, the Bread of life to give eternal life. Other examples: events of deliverance, deliverers (Moses, Joshua, judges, prophets, priests and kings), feasts that celebrate deliverance, the righteous crying out for deliverance from enemies. Compare and contrast with Person and work of Christ, then EXALT CHRIST!
4. Analogy: e.g. As God is to Israel, OR as God did for Israel, OR as God said to Israel in this OT passage
so Christ is to the church, OR Christ did for church, OR Christ said to church
in the NT.
5. Theological themes: Is there a theme in this passage that leads to the Person, work or teaching of Christ? e.g. kingdom of God, providence of God, presence of God, love, grace, justice, law, sin, sacrifice, concern for poor. Consider each of the main divisions of systematic theology. (God (Father, Son, Spirit), Scripture, Angels/Demons/Satan, Man, Sin, Salvation/Judgment, Israel, Church, Future)
6. New Testament references: Is there any direct use of this passage or any indirect reference to it in the New Testament that reveals a connection with the Person, work or teaching of Christ?
7. Contrast: Is there a contrast between this passage and Person, work or teaching of Christ?
posted by Paul Lamey at 2:29 PM
4 Comments:
I think that you have hit on something here. Not only is it important to preach the OT, but we need to preach Christ from the OT.
As I read through through NT I cannot help but to see how the Apostles used the OT to preach Chirst. Now, by no means, are we the Apostles inspired by the H.S. to wrtie God's word, but can't we learn something from them? If you were to ask me what OT passages foreshadow the coming of Christ I would probably take you to some of the more oft traveled OT Messianic passages. However, I think that if you were to ask one of the Apostle the same question they would have responded with the questions "what OT passages don't foreshadow the coming of Christ?"
I began a series tonight at our church on the "Minor Prophets." I plan to cover one prophet each week so this will certainly be an overview study. Nonetheless, I look forward to working through some of the difficult issues related to preaching such a section of Scripture. Thoughts anyone?
Interesting that you are beginning at series on the Minor Prophets, Paul. I have thought about tackling some type of OT book after I am finished with 2 Peter. I have thought about picking one or two of the Minor Prophets and preaching through them.
Let me know how it goes with your study...
John Piper preached through the Minor Prophets in summary fashion back in the 80's. I have the tape series and it was a decent overview of each book. You may want to check out his approach while preaching through your series. Feinberg's commentary on the Minor Prophets was a really great study for me a few years back...
Thanks
CK
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