in light of the event of Jesus Christ, the Old Testament takes on new, unforseen significance. This depends on a very particular conviction about the identity of Jesus Christ. In the second century, Irenaeus had a nonbiblical term for it that nonetheless gets to the center of New Testament claims about Jesus: recapitulation. jesus was not just a great teacher, nor was he just God with limbs and a mouth. In Jesus, the whole history of Israel - and through Israel, humanity - was recapitulated, or lived again. But this time the one who was true Israel and true human being did not take the path of the first Adam. As the second Adam, Christ was the righteous one, the perfect human covenant partner. But this perfect covenant partner was also the Word incarnate, the one in whom the fulness of the deity dwelt. If the New Testament writers really believe claims like this about Jesus, then it is logical to apply any Old Testament passage related to the true end of Israel, humanity, and the new work of God that is hoped for in the future to one person Jesus Christ.
If the New Testament writers saw Christ as the key to Scripture, should we as followers of Christ do any different? The idea that Jesus is the road we travel on the journey of biblical interpretation has very deep biblical and christological roots.
J Todd Billings, The Word of God for the People of God: An Entryway to the Theological Interpretation of Scripture, Eerdmans 2010
