Exodus and Jesus

Below are four key New Testament passages that demonstrate direct connection between the events of Exodus and the person of Jesus:

1. Luke 9:31: “And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.” In this account of Jesus’ transfiguration, we are told that he actually speaks with Moses and Elijah in bodily form, thus linking him to the Law and the Prophets.

2. Luke 24:27: “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” In this post-resurrection account of Jesus, he explains the entire the Old Testament to his disciples, beginning with Moses. Imagine hearing a sermon series on Exodus from Jesus himself!

3. 1 Corinthians 5:7: “Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.” Paul talks here about addressing sin in the church, comparing it to leaven in a lump of dough. He points to the reality that sin has been defeated through the sacrifice of Christ and compares him to the lamb sacrificed every year by Old Testament saints during Passover.

4. Jude 5: “Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.” In this oddly phrased verse, Jude references Jesus as the one who rescued Israel from Egypt and later disciplined the disobedient Israelites in the wilderness. Though Jesus is never specifically mentioned within Exodus, there is recognition from New Testament authors that he was present and active in the lives of God’s people far before he was ever born on earth.

Just some further reminders that the trajectory of Exodus and the entire OT points toward Jesus!