Looking for Jesus in the Old Testament is like looking for Waldo—yes, you can find him with enough effort, and it can even be fun. But if that’s all you do, you’ll miss the story that actually reveals who he is. The Old Testament’s power isn’t in secret sightings of Jesus; it’s in the unfolding story that leads to him.

Jesus and the apostles used the Hebrew Scriptures not as a scavenger hunt, but as a grand narrative culminating in him (Luke 24:27, 44). The Law, Prophets, and Writings form a theological trajectory, not a series of hidden cameos. In ancient Near Eastern literary terms, the Old Testament builds a covenantal drama that Jesus fulfills, not a cryptic code he must be found inside.

Looking for Jesus in the Old Testament can be like looking for Waldo. With enough effort, you can spot him—in a burnt offering here, a crimson thread there, a mysterious visitor by Abraham’s tent, or a suffering servant in Isaiah. It can even be entertaining, like a sacred hide-and-seek. But if that’s all we do, we miss the larger story—the sweeping, covenantal narrative that reveals who Jesus truly is and why he matters.

The Hebrew Bible (what Christians call the Old Testament) was never written as a coded picture book of future events. It is the story of God and his people, unfolding across centuries of faith, failure, and faithfulness. Its power lies not in isolated symbols but in the whole drama that sets the stage for the Messiah. The ancient Israelites weren’t looking for Waldo; they were longing for restoration. They told and retold their story in the language of covenant—berit in Hebrew—a binding relationship between the Creator and his people.

From the Garden to Abraham, from Sinai to Zion, God continually renews his promise: “I will be your God, and you will be my people.” The story of the Bible is that this covenant relationship gets broken again and again—but never abandoned. Every prophet, every festival, every law, and every lament lives inside this covenantal frame. Jesus doesn’t merely pop up in these pages as a hidden clue; he steps into this story as its climax.

[This Book Clarifies the Map of Finding Jesus: The Seven Foundational Scriptures that Mark the Covenantal Landscape of the Old Testament]

That’s why, after the resurrection, Jesus didn’t say to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, “Let me show you all the verses where I was hiding.” Luke tells us that he “explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself” (Luke 24:27). The key word is explained—he interpreted the story, showing how every covenant thread leads to him.

[See the article: 6,800 Ways to Find Jesus in the Old Testament]

When we read the Old Testament this way, Jesus becomes not a cameo but the fulfillment of the entire narrative. He is the living embodiment of Israel’s calling, the perfect covenant partner humanity could never be. He doesn’t cancel the old covenants; he completes them. In the language of the ancient Near East, covenants were relational contracts marked by loyalty, blessing, and curse. When Israel broke the covenant, they invoked the curse upon themselves. Jesus bears that curse on behalf of the people, taking the consequence of covenant-breaking and transforming it into the blessing of new creation.

Ancient Israel’s worship rituals, priesthood, and temple all point toward this relational reality. The sacrifices weren’t about blood magic or divine appeasement—they dramatized the seriousness of covenant loyalty and the hope of reconciliation. The prophets didn’t simply predict a messiah; they called Israel back into relationship with the LORD God. When Jesus enters this story, he fulfills its deepest longings—not as a surprise guest, but as the long-awaited resolution.

This shift in perspective matters. When we treat the Old Testament as a spiritual puzzle, we risk flattening its historical and literary richness. We also miss the humanity of its characters, who lived and struggled in the real dust of the ancient Near East—farmers, warriors, mothers, exiles—all trying to live faithfully amid chaos. Their story is our story.

The Book of Mormon captures this same pattern. Rather than scattering hidden “Jesus cameos” throughout its pages, it participates in the same covenant storyline as the Bible. It adopts Israel’s language of covenant renewal, temple worship, and prophetic calling—and then bears witness that Jesus Christ is the promised fulfillment. Like the Old Testament, it teaches that to know Christ, we must enter into the story of God’s covenant people, not just hunt for symbols of him.

So yes, you can find Jesus in the Old Testament—but only if you know where to look. Not in the shadows of isolated verses, but in the light of the whole story: the story of God seeking to dwell with his people, and of his people learning, slowly and painfully, how to dwell with him.

Jesus is not the secret hidden in the margins of the Old Testament. He is the meaning of its story—the covenant God who keeps his promise, the Word made flesh who turns Israel’s long narrative of exile into the dawn of redemption.

—Taylor Halverson, Ph.D.
Learn Deeply. Live Meaningfully. Spread Light and Goodness!

PS: I didn’t know the Church would update it’s English Bible Translation policy on Dec 16, 2025, only days after I published this new translation! So as you prepare for the New Year of Old Testament study, this new PDF ebook downloadable translation helps you read like an ancient Israelite.