“As the New Testament explains the Old, so the Old Testament confirms the New, and Jesus Christ is the Alpha and Omega of both.” –Matthew Henry

This is such an important truth to keep in mind as we read our Bibles. Scripture opens with a statement of fact: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1). Forty authors under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit wrote sixty-six separate books over a period of fifteen hundred years. The Word of God closes with a benediction that sums up what is unfolded throughout those sixty-six books, and what God meant to accomplish when He created: The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you all. Amen (Revelation 22:21).

Believing that God created both the world we inhabit and us as human beings—with body, soul, and spirit—for the purpose of being “with us” is radical and life-changing. Moreover, understanding that ALL the Bible is about Jesus alters the way we read it.

For example, consider Psalm 110. Written around a thousand years before the birth of Jesus, it speaks of His roles as prophet, priest, and king. How could David know this? Only by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. God gave the Old Testament writers glimpses into His sovereign plan so that when Jesus arrived, those who were looking would recognize Him.

Matthew Henry has a beautiful commentary on this psalm, which you can read in its entirety on blueletterbible.com. Here are some of the nuggets of Messianic prophecy he observes in this psalm. To begin, let’s just read it. It’s only seven verses.

Psalm 110

¹The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.” ² The Lord will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying, “Rule in the midst of Your enemies.” ³ Your people will volunteer freely in the day of Your power; in holy array, from the womb of the dawn, Your youth are to You as the dew. ⁴ The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” ⁵ The Lord is at Your right hand; He will shatter kings in the day of His wrath. ⁶ He will judge among the nations, He will fill them with corpses, He will shatter the chief men over a broad country. ⁷ He will drink from the brook by the wayside; therefore He will lift up His head.

Henry outlines the psalm as follows:

The prophetical office of Jesus (v. 2)

The priestly office of Jesus (v. 4)

The kingly office of Jesus (v. 1, 3, 5, 6)

The humiliation and exaltation of Jesus (v. 7)

How do we know this psalm is about Jesus? Jesus affirms this by asking the Pharisees to explain it in Matthew 22:41-46. If Christ is the son of David, then how does David in the Spirit call Him “Lord”? And if David calls Him “Lord,” how is He his son? The Pharisees can’t (or won’t) answer. They would have to acknowledge that the promised Messiah is both man (the son of David) and God (the Lord of David).

Another New Testament author concurs. Hebrews 1 introduces Jesus as God’s final word to mankind—the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature—who made purification of sins and sat down at the right hand of the Father (Hebrews 1:2). The writer then goes on to quote multiple scriptures from the Old Testament that refer to the promised Messiah, Jesus, including Psalm 110:1, in Hebrews 1:13.

Jesus is depicted as King in various ways. He sits at the right hand of the LORD (Jehovah, God the Father). His enemies will be made a footstool for His feet. He will rule a people who volunteer willingly to serve Him, a people adorned in holy garments. This refers to the white robes that the righteous saved will wear after Jesus returns and defeats His enemies in the final battle on the day of God’s wrath. He will “shatter kings” and judge among the nations. The land will be filled with corpses, and the ruling governments will be brought into submission to Jesus the King. (See Revelation 16-20.)

Jesus is depicted as a prophet in verse two, where David writes that He will have a kingdom that begins in Zion, another name for Jerusalem. Simply put, this speaks to the salvation that Jesus achieved through His death, burial, and resurrection in the city of Jerusalem, along with the spread of the gospel of His salvation that spreads out from there. It also points to the millennial kingdom in which Christ will reign on earth for a thousand years. The strong scepter symbolizes the mighty power of the gospel, which breaks down barriers, softens hardened hearts, and leads many to redemption.

Jesus is depicted as a priest in verse four—a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. The writer of Hebrews explains this Melchizedek is a picture of Jesus in Hebrews 7. Melchizedek was a king of righteousness and peace, and had no successor, just as Jesus has no successor. Matthew Henry says, “He is said to be a priest for ever, not only because we are never to expect any other dispensation of grace than this by the priesthood of Christ, but because the blessed fruits and consequences of it will remain to eternity.”

The last verse of the psalm is harder to understand, but I like the interpretation given by Henry. To drink from the brook by the wayside is a picture of the cup Jesus drank—the bitter cup of the wrath of God which He suffered as He took the sins of the world upon Himself. And, therefore He will lift up His head…a picture of the glory God bestowed on His beloved Son because He accomplished the mission of salvation.

Philippians 2:5-10 – Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The Bible is a miraculous, supernatural book, written by God’s inspiration through the Holy Spirit to tell the story of His great plan of redemption through His Son, Jesus Christ. What will you learn about God today, as you read and study His Word? It doesn’t matter if you read in the Old Testament or the New, it’s all pointing to Jesus!

2 Peter 1:20-21 – But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.