Jesus at the Centre

Hermeneutics is the science of interpretation — the principles used to determine what a text means. Jesus had a specific hermeneutic, and He taught it explicitly. Before we can rightly interpret any part of Scripture, we need to understand the interpretive key He gave us.

"And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself."

"You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me."

To testify, bear witness — legal language. John 5:39 — the Scriptures' primary function is to testify — to give legal witness — to Christ. Not one of the Bible's purposes. The purpose.

Shadow / Body (substance). Colossians 2:17 — the OT practices are the shadow; the body (substance) belongs to Christ. A shadow is real. It has shape and form. But it is not the object itself.

In Luke 24, Jesus walks two disciples through the entirety of the Hebrew scriptures and shows how each section pointed to Him. In John 5, He charges the Pharisees — who knew the biblical text with extraordinary precision — with missing its entire purpose. You can know the Bible forwards and backwards and still miss the point. The point is Jesus.

Paul says the festivals, new moons, and Sabbaths of the OT ceremonial system 'are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.' A shadow is real — it has shape, it has form. But a shadow is not the object. God gave Israel types — real events, real people, real institutions — that carried the shape of the coming Christ. This is not allegory. It is typology — and Jesus Himself teaches it.

First man, head of humanity. Antitype: Christ — the Last Adam, head of a new humanity (Romans 5:14–21; 1 Corinthians 15:45).

Blood on the doorpost protects from judgment. Antitype: Christ — 'our Passover lamb has been sacrificed' (1 Corinthians 5:7; John 1:29).

Lifted up to heal the dying. Antitype: Christ — 'as Moses lifted up the serpent, so must the Son of Man be lifted up' (John 3:14).

The High Priest enters the Most Holy Place once a year with blood. Antitype: Christ — our High Priest who entered heaven itself with His own blood (Hebrews 9:11–12).

Bread from heaven sustains life in the desert. Antitype: Christ — 'I am the bread of life that came down from heaven' (John 6:32–35).

King after God's own heart, promised an eternal dynasty. Antitype: Christ — Son of David, the eternal King (Matthew 22:41–45; Revelation 22:16).

Faithful exile who refused to be reprogrammed by Babylon. Antitype: Christ — the greater Daniel who entered this world (the greater Babylon), refused every Satanic reprogramming, and was vindicated by the Father.

Priesthood, sacrifice, and intercession — the entire system pointing forward. Antitype: Christ — Lamb, Priest, and Sanctuary all in one (Hebrews 8–10).

Here is a practical test for any Bible teaching: if you removed Jesus entirely from the message, could the audience still walk away with a practical takeaway? If yes — Jesus has not been sufficiently embedded. 'Be like Daniel' is moralism. 'Receive the faithfulness of Jesus — which is what Daniel himself was pointing to' is the gospel.

Moralism: 'Daniel refused the king's food — so should you.' Christ-centred: 'Daniel points to Jesus, who refused every Satanic provision and was faithful where Daniel could only be faithful in glimpses.'

Moralism: 'David trusted God with Goliath — so should you.' Christ-centred: 'David is a type; Christ is the King who defeated the ultimate enemy — sin and death — where David's victories were temporary.'

Moralism: 'Moses led the people out of slavery — be a leader.' Christ-centred: 'Moses is a type; Christ is the greater Deliverer who leads humanity out of slavery to sin.'

Moralism: 'Esther had courage — be courageous.' Christ-centred: 'Esther points to Christ, who like her entered the presence of the King uninvited, at the risk of death, to intercede for His people.'

Moralism: 'Paul was faithful despite suffering — endure suffering.' Christ-centred: 'Paul's endurance flows from Christ's strength, not his own. Philippians 4:13 — through Him who gives me strength.'

From Genesis to Revelation, there is one unfolding story. Understanding this prevents reading Bible passages as disconnected moral episodes. Every text is a scene in a story — and if you don't know the story, you will misread the scene.

God creates humanity in His image, to live in love-relationship with Him (Genesis 1–2). The world is good. The relationship is whole.

Humanity chooses autonomy over trust. Sin enters. The image is damaged. Death is introduced. The relationship is broken (Genesis 3).

Immediately, God promises a Deliverer who will crush the serpent (Genesis 3:15 — the protoevangelium, the 'first gospel'). The rest of the Bible is this promise being progressively and specifically revealed.

God calls a people through whom the promise will come, gives them the Law (revealing the standard Christ will meet), the sacrificial system (typifying the sacrifice Christ will make), and the prophecies (specifying who Christ will be and when He will come).

The Word becomes flesh. Jesus of Nazareth enters the story as its long-promised hero. 'When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son' (John 1:14; Galatians 4:4–5).

Christ meets the standard the Law required, makes the sacrifice the system pointed toward, defeats death, and vindicates the character of God before the watching universe.

The gospel goes to every nation. The Spirit applies the work of Christ to human hearts. The great controversy between Christ and Satan is in its final phase.

Christ returns, the dead are raised, the wicked are judged, the righteous receive the promised inheritance, and God dwells with humanity in a restored creation (Revelation 21–22). The story ends where it began — but better. The garden becomes a city. The relationship is restored, but now it is indestructible.

"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." Jesus is not just the beginning and end chronologically. He is the interpretive lens of everything in between.

This is practical. Here is a framework for reading any OT text with Christ-centred eyes — without descending into allegory or losing the original meaning.

What does this passage say in its original, literal sense? Who wrote it, to whom, and what did it mean to the original audience? Start here. Never skip this step.

What is the typological shape of this text? What person, event, or institution is functioning as a shadow pointing forward?

Where did Jesus live this out at a deeper level? What is the corresponding substance in His life, death, or resurrection? What did the type become in Him?

What does this mean for your life — not 'try to be like the OT figure,' but 'receive the reality that OT figure was pointing to.' You don't imitate Daniel; you receive the faithfulness of Christ that Daniel prefigured.

A: There is an important difference between responsible typology and free-form allegory. Typology identifies structural correspondences that the NT authors themselves make explicit — Paul on Adam, Hagar, Melchizedek, the sanctuary; Hebrews on the priesthood and sacrifice. These are apostolic interpretation, grounded in Jesus's own teaching in Luke 24. We are not inventing connections. We are following the interpretive tradition Jesus established.

A: The prophets address historical situations, but always within covenant faithfulness and eschatological hope. Isaiah 53, Micah 5:2, Zechariah 9:9, Psalm 22 — these were recognised as messianic before their historical fulfilment. The prophets were not historians with occasional predictions. They were covenant theologians who saw all of history through the lens of God's redemptive purpose.