Lecture 11-3: Preaching the Old Testament as Christ — Methods and Examples
Typology, the previous lecture's subject, is only one of several legitimate roads that lead from an Old Testament text to Christ. A preacher who knows only typology will either force it onto texts it does not fit, or quietly give up on Christ-centered preaching altogether whenever a text resists that one method. This lecture widens the toolkit. It surveys five distinct paths from an Old Testament text to Christ, gives a real example of each, and then works through one well-known passage to show how a preacher decides which path actually fits.
이 11분으로 얻는 것
- Distinguish five paths that lead from the Old Testament to Christ.
- Give a concrete textual example for each path.
- Judge which path is the best fit for a given passage.
For however many are the promises of God, in him is the "Yes." Therefore also through him is the "Amen", to the glory of God through us." — 2 Corinthians 1:20
World English Bible
3.1 Five paths to Christ
Paul's claim in 2 Corinthians 1:20 — that every one of God's promises finds its "yes" in Christ — is a sweeping statement, but it plays out in more than one way across the Old Testament. The five categories below are not this course's invention; they draw on a long tradition of homiletics scholarship on preaching Christ from the Old Testament, most notably the work of Sidney Greidanus, and are reorganized here for clarity.
Path 1 — Direct prediction and fulfillment. The Old Testament predicts something about the coming Christ outright, and the New Testament reports its fulfillment.
- Isaiah's prophecies of a child called Immanuel and a son given dominion (Isaiah 7:14; 9:6) are reported as fulfilled in Matthew 1:22-23.
- Micah's prophecy naming Bethlehem as the ruler's birthplace (Micah 5:2) is quoted as fulfilled in Matthew 2:5-6.
Path 2 — . The path covered in the previous lecture: a real historical , event, or institution prefigures Christ and his work.
Path 3 — Redemptive-historical progression. A text sits at a particular stage of the single story running from creation through fall to redemption and consummation, and that stage itself is part of a movement heading toward completion in Christ. The exodus narrative, with its pattern of a helpless people delivered by God's own action rather than their own strength, is itself one stage of the story moving toward the ultimate deliverance Christ accomplishes.
Path 4 — Thematic fulfillment. A theological theme that recurs across the Old Testament — kingship, temple, rest, covenant, wisdom — reaches its final form in Christ.
- The hope for an ideal king in David's line, expressed in prayers like Psalm 72:1 ("God, give the king your justice"), points forward to Christ as the true king.
- The temple as the place of God's dwelling among his people (1 Kings 8) points forward to Christ, of whom John 1:14 says the Word "became , and lived among us."
- The rest God took on the seventh day of creation (Genesis 2:2-3) points forward to the ultimate rest Hebrews 4:9-10 says remains for God's people in Christ.
Path 5 — Contrast. A text shows human failure or insufficiency, and that very failure throws Christ's obedience or success into sharper relief by contrast.
- Adam's disobedience (Genesis 3) stands in contrast to Christ's obedience (Romans 5:19).
- Israel's unbelief in the wilderness (Numbers 14) stands in contrast to Christ's faithfulness under his own wilderness testing (Matthew 4:1-11).
- David's moral failure (2 Samuel 11) stands in contrast to the sinless Son of David described in Hebrews 4:15.
3.2 Letting the text choose the path
Which path fits a given text is a question the text itself, read in its canonical setting, has to answer — not a checklist a preacher works through mechanically. There is no requirement to force all five paths onto every passage; most texts are best served by one or two, applied with care, rather than by all five stacked on top of each other. The judgment this requires draws directly on skills this course has already built: attention to a text's canonical context, and the eye for redemptive-historical movement that a foundational course in biblical theology should already have supplied.
3.3 A worked example: David and Goliath (1 Samuel 17)
This well-known narrative gives a useful test case, precisely because more than one path can be proposed for it. Consider all five in turn.
- Direct prediction: not applicable. This narrative is not itself a messianic prophecy.
- Typology: David, standing alone as Israel's representative to fight and save the people, echoes the pattern of Christ, who fought alone on his people's behalf. This connection has real force, but it should be held with real caution: the New Testament does not explicitly name this typology anywhere, so by the tests from the previous lecture, it can be proposed, but only tentatively.
- Redemptive-historical progression: this episode belongs to the stage of the story in which David's kingship is being established — a kingship that eventually leads, generations later, to great David's greater son, named directly in Matthew's opening genealogy (Matthew 1:1) as Christ.
- Thematic fulfillment: David's own declaration that "the battle is Yahweh's" (1 Samuel 17:47) states a theme — that victory belongs to God rather than to human strength — which reaches its fullest expression at the cross, where Christ overcomes sin and death not by human power but by God's own action.
- Contrast: the fear gripping the entire Israelite army, set against the faith of one man, anticipates the deeper contrast Paul draws in Romans 5:15-19 between the sin of humanity as a whole and the righteousness of one man, Christ.
Of these five, the thematic-fulfillment path — the theme that victory is the Lord's own, completed at the cross — sits on the firmest ground, because it connects to a well-established theological pattern (salvation is by grace, not human achievement) running through the whole of Scripture, without needing to lean on an unconfirmed typology. That does not make the typological reading worthless; it makes it a reading that should be offered, if offered at all, with the tentativeness the previous lecture's third practical habit calls for. It is worth naming directly that the very cleanness of a five-path analysis like this one is itself a small warning sign: when a preacher can make a passage answer to every category this neatly, some of that neatness is likely the preacher's own pattern-finding at work, not a feature the text insists on. The discipline is not choosing the most impressive path. It is choosing, and stating plainly, the path the text actually supports best — and being honest in the pulpit about how confident that support really is.
| Path | Definition | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Direct prediction | An explicit Old Testament prophecy, reported as fulfilled in the New Testament | Isaiah 7:14 → Matthew 1:22-23 |
| Typology | A historical referent prefiguring Christ | The Passover lamb → Christ |
| Redemptive-historical progression | A stage in the single story that itself moves toward Christ | The exodus → ultimate deliverance |
| Thematic fulfillment | A recurring theme reaching its final form in Christ | Kingship, temple, rest → Christ |
| Contrast | Human failure throwing Christ's obedience into relief | Adam's disobedience → Christ's obedience |
4.1 Five Paths to Christ (Diagram)
핵심 요약
- Paul's principle in 2 Corinthians 1:20 — that every promise of God finds its "yes" in Christ — takes concrete shape through five distinct paths: direct prediction, typology, redemptive-historical progression, thematic fulfillment, and contrast.
- Which path fits a given text is decided by the text and its canonical setting, not by mechanically applying every path to every passage.
- The David and Goliath example shows that when several paths are plausible, the "theme fulfilled" path is often the safest and strongest, because it rests on a well-attested biblical pattern rather than an unconfirmed connection.
- A cleanly "matching" set of connections across all five paths is itself a signal to slow down: some of that fit may be the preacher's own pattern-finding rather than the text's own claim, and confidence should be stated honestly rather than assumed.
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묵상 및 토론
- Using the worked example of David and Goliath as a model, apply all five paths to another well-known Old Testament narrative of your choosing (for example, Ruth, or the Joseph story).
- Why is it unwise to force all five paths onto every passage a preacher handles?
- What criteria should guide a preacher toward the "safest and strongest" path when more than one seems plausible?
- Why might the contrast path be especially effective for making Christ's achievement vivid to a congregation?