Preaching Christ from the Old Testament: An Examination of Three Approaches (Part 1)
Introduction and The First Testament Priority Approach
This series of posts comes from a research paper I wrote for a class at Covenant Baptist Theological Seminary.
It should come as no surprise when I say that Christ is the central figure of Christianity. It follows that He is also the central figure of Christian Scripture. As such, all Scripture testifies of Him. As Van Pelt put it, “Jesus is the theological center of the Old Testament. This means that the person and work of Jesus as presented in the New Testament (including his birth, life, teachings, death, resurrection, ascension, and return) constitute the singular reality that unifies and explains everything that appears in the Old Testament.”[1]
This point is almost unanimously accepted among Evangelicals. The disagreements begin to appear when we discuss how Scripture testifies of Christ. This is particularly true concerning the Old Testament. Although there are many approaches in this area, I want to use this paper to focus on three of them. They are the “First Testament Priority Approach,” the “Redemptive-Historical, Christocentric Approach,” and the “Christotelic Approach.”
For each of these views I will provide a summary, an evaluation, and an example of how it will impact the preaching of a particular text. I will conclude by explaining my own position on the topic.
The First Testament Priority Approach
The “First Testament Priority Approach” seeks to take the Old Testament at face value. The proponent of this view will discourage the reader from immediately seeking Christ in the Old Testament text. In their summary of this viewpoint, Tabb and King note that “the Scriptures’ significance or application…may or may not be connected to the authors’ original message.”[2]
In other words, we ought to read the Old Testament based on authorial intent alone. When we see Christ illuminated from New Testament texts, using Old Testament references, we must translate that as the interpretation of that particular NT text. However, when we read those verses in their original OT context, we must interpret them as they were meant within that context. As Goldingay argues, “The prophets were not telling the ancestors about Jesus.”[3]
Strength
One strength in this approach is that it allows the Old Testament text to stand on its own. It also prevents the reader from skipping the contextual work that Old Testament study requires. Many preachers have taken advice from a quote which has been falsely attributed to Charles Spurgeon, “I take my text and make a beeline to the cross.”[4] It is important for the student of Scripture to take a full orbed hermeneutical approach to every text. We need to consider things like contextual issues and authorial intent. Though messianic typology may be an important element of Old Testament study, it is not the only element. In fact, it is in the study of context and the authors’ intent that the messianic themes gain depth.
Weakness
There is a significant weakness in this approach. It makes it very easy to divorce Christ from the Old Testament texts. Using this approach, as I understand it, leads to the conclusion that Christ is not found in the Old Testament itself. He is only found associated with the Old Testament in the New Testament passages which expound them.
This is problematic in lieu of Jesus’ own words, “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me” (Jn. 5:46, NASB). Jesus explicitly stated that He was the subject of Moses’ writings. There can be debate concerning to what extent Moses understood his writings to be about Christ. However, Jesus’ own words seem to rule out Goldingay’s point that Jesus was not the subject of the words of the prophets. That Jesus was the subject of the Old Testament “was so obvious, that the disciples on the Emmaus road were held to be blameworthy for not seeing this.”[5]
Example
One example of how the “First Testament” approach will inform the preaching of an Old Testament text is found in Isaiah. “But you, Israel, My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, Descendant of Abraham My friend…Do not fear for I am with you” (Isaiah 41:8-10, NASB). It is tempting to run straight from this text to Christ, especially in light of the reference in Matthew 12:17-21. There, Matthew notes that Jesus fulfilled the words of Isaiah 41. However, the preacher that only proclaims the messianic vision of that passage in Isaiah will miss an important aspect of it.
Although that passage would be fulfilled in Christ, it was also applied directly, in its context, to God’s people. The preacher who takes the “First Testament” approach is not likely to miss the beauty of God proclaiming over His people that He has chosen them as His servants and promises to be with them.
Next week, we will continue with a brief examination of another approach, the “Redemptive-Historical, Christocentric” approach.
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[1] Miles V. Van Pelt, “Introduction,” In A Biblical-Theological Introduction to the Old Testament: The Gospel Promised, ed. Miles V. Van Pelt (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2016), 25.
[2] Brian J. Tabb and Andrew M. King, “Introduction,” in Five Views of Christ in the Old Testament: Genre, Authorial Intent, and the Nature of Scripture, ed. Brian J. Tabb, Andrew M. King, and Stanley N. Gundry, Counterpoints: Bible and Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic, 2022), 17.
[3] John Goldingay, “First Testament Approach,” in Five Views of Christ in the Old Testament: Genre, Authorial Intent, and the Nature of Scripture, ed. Brian J. Tabb, Andrew M. King, and Stanley N. Gundry, Counterpoints: Bible and Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic, 2022), 28.
[4] John Piper, “Should We Make a Beeline to the Cross?,” Desiring God, January 7, 2019, https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/should-we-make-a-beeline-to-the-cross.
[5] Edward Donnelly, “Six Principles for Preaching Christ from the Old Testament,” Banner of Truth, October 20, 2014, https://banneroftruth.org/us/resources/articles/2014/six-principles-preaching-christ-old-testament/.