he emerged from his portrait -- part 1

The Word for today: 
Exodus 1, 2

Jesus is the embodiment of God. We call this embodiment the incarnation and we celebrate it at Christmas.

Jesus is the embodiment of the Bible. The Word became flesh.

Jesus is the embodiment of the law. He fulfills it.

Jesus is the embodiment of the sacrificial system, which is the heart of the Mosaic law. The Bible explains the cross in Exodus and Leviticus, then shows us the cross in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Jesus is the embodiment of the Tabernacle and the Temple.

Jesus is the embodiment of the offerings and the feasts.

Jesus is the embodiment of the promises and the covenants.

And, as the embodiment of Truth (John 14:6), Jesus told us he embodied all of them:

Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. (John 8:56)

Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me.  But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words? (John 5:45-47; cf. John 12:41)

He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms." (Luke 24:44)

You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me. (John 5:39)

The Old Testament's purpose is to introduce the Son. We see this in the pivotal 24th chapter of Genesis, when the unnamed servant (a picture of the Holy Spirit) describes the Son of Promise to Rebekah. Based on the servant's word, she accepts the Son, unseen.

Only later, in the concluding scene of that remarkable chapter, does the Word become flesh in Rebekah's sight:
And they called Rebekah and said to her, "Will you go with this man?" She said, "I will go."
Thus the servant took Rebekah and went his way. Now Isaac had returned from Beer-lahai-roi and was dwelling in the Negeb. And Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening. And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, there were camels coming. And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she dismounted from the camel and said to the servant, "Who is that man, walking in the field to meet us?" The servant said, "It is my master." (from Genesis 24:58-65)

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Jesus embodied each one of the Old Testament "pictures" mentioned above.

But we haven't even mentioned the most comprehensive picture of them all!  Come back tomorrow, when we'll take a look at Israel, the Bible's clearest picture of Jesus to come.

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