Christ in A Manger – Christ in All the Scriptures.

“All of Scripture everywhere deals only with Christ,” Luther affirms (WA 46:414). “Amen,” the Church responds, for “in many and various ways God spoke to His people of old by the prophets,” (Hebrews 1:1). These prophets “who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful search and inquiry, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the
sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow,” (1 Peter 1:10-11). They searched their own writings, and the writings of other prophets, for they confessed that “in the scroll of the book” the Messiah was written. Indeed, when Jesus came and preached He confirmed this in words that echo Psalm 40: “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that bear witness of Me,” (John 5:46).

How do these Scriptures bear witness of Him?  “In many and various ways,” as the author of Hebrews says (1:1).  Christ and His apostles demonstrate that “in the scroll of the book” the coming of the Messiah is: • prophesied with words:  His Incarnation (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23); His birthplace (Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:6); His death (Isaiah 53; Acts 8:32ff). • foreshadowed in people:  Adam (Genesis 1-3; Romans 5); Melchizedek (Genesis 14; Hebrews 7); David (2 Samuel 7; Luke 1:31-33); Jonah (Jonah 1-2; Matthew 12:39-40). • prefigured in actions:  the exodus from Egypt (Exodus 14; Luke 9:31); the lifting up of the serpent (Numbers 21:7-9; John 3:14-15); the sacrifice of animals (Leviticus; John 1:29). • typified by
institutions:  the priesthood (Exodus 28-20; Hebrews 7-10); the kingship (2 Samuel 7; Luke 1:31-33); the tabernacle and temple (John 1:14; 2:21). Jesus is thus not only the fulfillment of the Scriptures of Israel; He is their fullness.  He fills them with words, people, actions, and institutions that testify of Him.  Together,
this choir of witnesses give univocal expression to what Luther incessantly preached:  “All the stories of Holy Writ, if viewed aright, point to Christ,” (AE 22:339).   “Christ In All The Scripture”, Prof Chad Bird 2003