The idea that the Hebrew Bible tells a story that ultimately leads to Jesus is not new. It is how the earliest followers of Jesus understood it. From the moment He began teaching, Jesus reshaped how people read their Scriptures. He told His disciples that the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms were all pointing to Him (Luke 24:44). He was the key to unlocking what had been there all along, the long-anticipated fulfillment of God’s promises.
Reading the Hebrew Bible through a Christ-centered lens does not mean forcing meaning onto the text. It means recognizing the patterns, echoes, and expectations God embedded in Israel’s story. Some passages directly prophesy about the coming Messiah. Others establish themes that only make complete sense when viewed in light of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. This approach helps us see how the biblical story moves toward Him with intentional design, not accidental coincidence.
Reading the Hebrew Bible Christologically was not a later development. It was how the first Christians read their Scriptures. Matthew presents Jesus as a new and greater Moses (Matthew 2:15). John describes Him as the embodiment of the Tabernacle, the place where God’s presence dwelled among His people (John 1:14). The Gospel writers were not just pulling Old Testament references to make theological points. They were showing how Jesus was the natural culmination of the biblical narrative.
This interpretive tradition has deep roots and careful methodology. Scholars like Richard Hays and Stanley Porter have helped sharpen the tools we use to recognize these connections. In Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels, Hays explains how the Gospel writers wove Hebrew Bible references into their narratives through direct quotations, allusive patterns, and thematic echoes that shape how we see Jesus. In The Messiah in the Old and New Testaments, Porter traces how messianic hope developed organically from the Hebrew Bible to the New Testament.
Yet this approach is not merely academic exercise. Jesus saw Himself as the fulfillment of Israel’s story, and His earliest followers understood Him the same way. When we read Scripture with this awareness, we join a conversation that began in the first century and continues today.
Scripture communicates through multiple layers, and recognizing these helps us read more carefully and completely. Some passages make direct statements. The Torah gives commands, the prophets declare “Thus says the Lord.” These are meant to be taken at face value, though even direct statements gain deeper meaning in light of their fulfillment. Some truths are revealed through people and events. Joseph’s life doesn’t come with bullet points about God’s providence, but the pattern is unmistakable. His story shows suffering, betrayal, exaltation, and the salvation of many. His narrative lays groundwork for something even more remarkable without explicitly saying so. Some messages wait to be discovered through careful reading and reflection. Isaiah 53 speaks of a suffering servant carrying burdens that are not his own. Later, Jesus steps into that role. The connection is profound but requires recognition, not mere reading.
These three modes work together throughout Scripture. Recognizing them helps us read with appropriate expectations and avoid both overly simplistic and unnecessarily complex interpretations.
Thinking of the Hebrew Bible as a unified story pointing to Jesus transforms how we engage with Scripture. Instead of seeing disconnected laws, histories, and poetry, we recognize an intricate, unfolding narrative of God’s redemptive plan. This perspective deepens our understanding and raises important questions about how we balance the original meaning of Hebrew Bible passages with their fulfillment in Christ, what responsible Christological reading looks like in practice, and how this approach deepens our understanding of both Jesus’ mission and our own faith.
The earliest Christians did not discard the Hebrew Bible when they encountered Jesus. They saw it as the foundation that made sense of who He was and what He accomplished. Jesus Himself read it this way. When we follow this path, we step into a long-standing tradition that reveals a fuller, richer view of who He is and what He came to do.
In the chapters that follow, we will examine how messianic expectations developed throughout Israel’s history, how different voices in Scripture shaped and refined these hopes, and how they all found their fulfillment in Jesus. We will explore the methods and tools that help us read responsibly, and we will discover that the story has always been about Him.
This is not about retrofitting Jesus into ancient texts, but about recognizing the divine architecture that was there from the beginning. As we move forward together, we will see how God’s patient plan unfolds across centuries, reaching its climax in the person and work of Jesus Christ. The Hebrew Bible is not just background to the New Testament. It is the foundation, the framework, and the anticipation. Now we get to see how it all fits together.
~PW 🌮🛶
Phillip W. Martin 
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