Lesson 4

Typology of the Messiah

"Descent of Christ to Limbo" by Gerolamo di Romano called Romanino. Detail of Christ helping Adam to rise.

(Gerolamo di Romano called Romanino, "Descent of Christ to Limbo"—detail of Christ helping Adam to rise)

Synopsis

Another way in which the Jewish Scriptures point to Jesus is through types. Types are realities that prefigure or point to future spiritual realities by way of analogy. As such, they function like prophecies, but are formed by the people, events, and objects in Israel’s history rather than by words. Antitypes are the fulfilled reality that was anticipated by the types that point to them. Most types in the Old Testament prefigure Jesus. For example, Jesus is the new Adam. But some types point to other realities in the New Testament such as Mary, the Church, the sacraments, and heaven.

God used types to teach us spiritual truths that would be too abstract for us to understand if he had just stated them out directly. In doing so, he adapted himself to our human way of learning. Just like children learn abstract concepts through the experience of concrete realities—that is why they learn to count using their fingers—God teaches us spiritual truths such as grace, sin, hell, heaven, freedom, and redemption using the concrete realities of Israel’s history, using them as “allegories” or shadows. For example, instead of preaching on the nature of sin, he sent the Israelites into exile. This taught them that one of the consequences of sin is alienation from God.

We read the Bible this way because there are several passages in the Gospels which show that Jesus did so and that he also taught his disciples to read the Scriptures typologically.

Learning Objectives

You will have successfully completed this lesson when you understand and can:

Define the following theological terms: type, antitype, and typology.
Explain why we read the Bible typologically.
Describe the typological relationship between Adam and Jesus.
Explain why God used types to teach us abstract spiritual concepts rather than just stating them directly in the Bible.
Show how Jesus taught his disciples to read the Scriptures typologically.
List eight types explicitly mentioned in the New Testament.

What are Types?

Another way in which the Jewish Scriptures point to Jesus is through types. The Old Testament narrates the story of Israel. It describes the most important events, people, and objects in her history. Inasmuch as the biblical authors intended to describe these things, we can say that their description constitutes the literal sense of the text. These events, people, and objects are important in themselves because they form part of God’s plan for Israel. But God is also the author of the Bible and he gave them a deeper, spiritual sense. He made them point to future spiritual realities found in the New Testament. That is why we call them types.

Types are realities that prefigure or point to future spiritual realities by way of analogy. As such, they function like prophecies, but are formed by the people, events, and objects in Israel’s history rather than by words. We can think of them as tangible rather than spoken or written prophecies. This theological term comes from the Greek word typos, which means “model,” “figure,” or “image.” It is biblical as we find it in the writings of St. Paul.

Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. (Rom 5:14)

The Church Fathers also spoke of types—for example, Justin Martyr wrote:

Sometimes the Holy Spirit caused the visible appearance of something which was a figure [typos] of the future. (Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Tryphos 114.1)

About this, the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches:

The Church, as early as apostolic times, and then constantly in her Tradition, has illuminated the unity of the divine plan in the two Testaments through typology, which discerns in God's works of the Old Covenant prefigurations of what he accomplished in the fullness of time in the person of his incarnate Son. (CCC 128)

In theology, the study of biblical types is called typology. Exegetes identify the future realities that types prefigure, called antitypes, through the significant correspondences or similarities between them—for example, Adam prefigures Jesus; he is the type and Jesus is the antitype.

Just as Jesus is similar to Adam but also much greater than him, so too are the antitypes more than mere recurrences or repetitions of the types that prefigure them. They are the fulfilled reality that was anticipated by the types that point to them. Antitypes, therefore, will always be greater than the types that prefigure them, just like solid objects are greater than their shadows. This fundamental rule in typology must always be taken into account. Therefore, we must pay attention to both their similarities and differences.

Most types in the Old Testament prefigure Jesus, but some point to other realities in the New Testament such as Mary, the Church, the sacraments, and heaven. We can group the Christological types into various categories such as:

people in the Old Testament,
events in Israel’s history,
objects used by the Israelites,
and the ancient sacrifices and feasts they celebrated.

We will study some of the more important types that prefigure Jesus in the following lessons. Together, they help us to better understand who Jesus is and what he did for us. For now, we will just look at one type—Adam—to illustrate how typology works and why it is so important for our Christian faith.

Jesus, the New Adam

Paul mentions the relationship between Adam and Jesus several times.

Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual which is first but the physical, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. (1 Cor 15:45–47)

Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. (Rom 5:14–15)

Notice the similarities and differences between the two. Adam was constituted by God to be the father of the whole human race. If he hadn’t fallen and rebelled against him, he would have preserved original justice and life for both himself and his descendants. In this case, he would have been not just our natural father, but our spiritual father as well.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t to be. Paul explains that Jesus came to take Adam’s place and become the spiritual father or head of a restored humanity. Whereas the disobedience of the first Adam brought our condemnation and death, Jesus’s obedience obtained our justification and life.

If, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. Then as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to acquittal and life for all men. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man’s obedience many will be made righteous. (Rom 5:17–19)

Many of the early Church Fathers reflected on this typological relationship. The following is just one example taken from the sermons of Peter Chrysologus:

The holy Apostle has told us that the human race takes its origin from two men, Adam and Christ; two men equal in body but unequal in merit, wholly alike in their physical structure but totally unlike in the very origin of their being. The first man, Adam, he says, became a living soul, the last Adam a life-giving spirit.

The first Adam was made by the last Adam, from whom he also received his soul, to give him life. The last Adam was formed by his own action; he did not have to wait for life to be given him by someone else, but was the only one who could give life to all. The first Adam was formed from valueless clay, the second Adam came forth from the precious womb of the Virgin. In the case of the first Adam, earth was changed into flesh; in the case of the second Adam, flesh was raised up to be God.

What more need be said? The second Adam stamped his image on the first Adam when he created him. That is why he took on himself the role, and the name, of the first Adam, in order that he might not lose what he had made in his own image. The first Adam, the last Adam; the first had a beginning, the last knows no end. The last Adam is indeed the first; as he himself says: I am the first and the last. (Peter Chrysologus, Sermon 117)

Why Use Types?

The Fathers pondered on the similarities and differences between Adam and Jesus to unpack their logical consequences and thus came to a fuller understanding of Jesus’ person and mission. The truths about Jesus that they discovered through the use of this typology is also part of God’s revelation to us. Before looking at other important Christological types, it will be useful to take a moment to consider why God communicates with us in this way. Why uses typology to teach us about his Son? Wouldn’t it be better if he just taught everything we need to know clearly in the Bible?

The Church Fathers explain that this was part of his divine pedagogy; that is, God was adapting himself to our needs, as all good teachers do. On this subject, Irenaeus of Lyons wrote:

[God] established a law for the people governing the construction of the tabernacle and the building of the temple, the choice of Levites, the sacrifices, the offerings, the rites of purification and the rest of what belonged to worship.

He himself needs none of these things . . . Yet he sought to teach his people . . . He kept calling them to what was primary by means of what was secondary, that is, through foreshadowings to the reality, through things of time to the things of eternity, through things of the flesh to the things of the spirit, through earthly things to the heavenly things…

Through foreshadowings of the future they were learning reverence for God and perseverance in his service. The law was therefore a school of instruction for them, and a prophecy of what was to come. (Irenaeus of Lyon, Against Heresies 4.14.3–4.15.1)

What are our specific needs that God was adapting himself to? Whereas he is pure spirit, we are material beings, composed of body and soul. As such, our knowledge of the world comes to us through our five bodily senses. We find it difficult, therefore, to grasp and understand things we can’t perceive through them. To overcome this obstacle, God used the realities in Israel’s history to teach us spiritual truths.

Photograph of child at school learning to count

(Photo by Yan Krukov on Pexels )

We do the same when teaching our children because they form abstract concepts from concrete things—for example, they learn to count using their fingers. Teachers also explain new ideas by comparing them to ones they already know. This is especially useful when teaching subjects like chemistry, physics, and biology. Teachers can explain how the human eye works by comparing it to a camera. I have been doing the same throughout this course. For example, in the lesson “The Age of Shadows”, I explained what biblical shadows are by comparing them to ordinary shadows.

(Image by Jernej Furman on Flickr)

We also use images and allegories when teaching abstract concepts. For example, we depict the concept of justice as a blindfolded woman holding a set of scales and a sword. The blindfold represents impartiality: justice should be blind because it should be applied without regard to wealth, power, or status. The set of scales suggests that justice must balance the arguments for and against a case. Finally, the sword represents authority and conveys the idea that justice should be swift and final.

The Bible isn’t just a textbook that explains spiritual concepts such as grace, sin, hell, heaven, freedom, and redemption. This would have been too abstract for us; like teaching the multiplication tables to a child. Instead, God used the concrete realities of Israel’s history as “allegories” or shadows. For example, instead of preaching on the nature of sin, he sent the Israelites into exile. This taught them that one of the consequences of sin is alienation from God. Israel also spent hundreds of years as slaves in Egypt. This taught them that by sinning, we become slaves to our disordered desires. God’s law on the treatment of lepers is another example. He is telling us, through them, that sin is like leprosy: it causes our soul to “rot” spiritually, just like a leper’s body rots physically.

Mosaic of Jesus healing the paralytic of Bethesda

(Jesus heals the paralytic of Bethesda, cropped photo by Nick Thompson on Flickr)

Jesus also taught in this way.

“But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— “I say to you, rise, take up your pallet and go home.” (Mk 2:10–11)

The paralytic’s rising and taking up his bed was a visible sign of an invisible reality: his sins had been forgiven. Is this a valid way to read the Bible? Yes, because this is how Jesus read it. He interpreted the Scriptures typologically. For example, he says to Nicodemus:

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” (Jn 3:14–15)

He is referring here to an episode during the Exodus, narrated in Numbers 21:4–9. When the Israelites sinned against God, he sent them fiery serpents as a punishment. After the people repented, God had Moses make a “bronze serpent, and set it on a pole; and if a serpent bit any man, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.” What is the meaning of this? The physical cure the bronze serpent provided is a sign of the spiritual salvation Jesus obtained for us. Just as the people died physically when they were bitten, so too do we die spiritually when we commit a mortal sin. But just as they were saved by looking at the bronze serpent set on a pole, so too are we saved when we turn to Jesus, who also hung on a pole. We aren’t told how the bronze serpent was set, but if it was placed horizontally, then it could even have looked like a cross.

The “Bread of Life” discourse is another example. The people asked Jesus to give them bread, just as Moses had done during the Exodus. In reply:

Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Lord, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst.” (Jn 6:32–35)

The manna that fed the Israelites for forty years during their journey through the desert is a prefiguration of the spiritual nourishment Jesus gives us on our journey to heaven. He feeds us with his body and blood—the true bread from heaven.

"Christ's Appearance to the Two Disciples journeying to Emmaus" by John Linnell

(Image by Lex McKee on Flickr)

Jesus also taught us that he is the key to understanding the Old Testament. He did this while accompanying the disciples on the road to Emmaus.

And he said to them, “What is this conversation which you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, named Cle′opas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.”… And he said to them, “O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” (Lk 24:17–26)

These two disciples had believed that Jesus was Israel’s redeemer, but they lost their faith after he was crucified. Jesus explained to them that the Scriptures had foretold that he must suffer these things: “Beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself” (Lk 24:27). A similar thing happened a few hours later when he appeared to the apostles locked up in the upper room in Jerusalem.

Then he said to them, “These are my words which I spoke to you, while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled.” (Lk 24:44)

Paul also interpreted the Old Testament this way. Here is an example found in 1 Corinthians 10:1–6. In it, he compares the passing through the Red Sea to baptism.

I want you to know, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same supernatural food and all drank the same supernatural drink. For they drank from the supernatural Rock which followed them, and the Rock was Christ. Nevertheless with most of them God was not pleased; for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things are warnings [“types” in Greek] for us, not to desire evil as they did.

The following is a list of other types explicitly mentioned in the New Testament:

The sign of Jonah (Mt 12:40–41)
King Solomon (Mt 12:42)
The Passover (1 Cor 5:6–8)
The allegory of the two covenants (Gal 4:21-31)
Adam (Rom 5:14)
Christ’s Resurrection (1 Cor 15)
The worship of Israel (Heb 8–10)
The flood (1 Pt 3:21)

Because of these examples, the first Christians pored over the Scriptures searching for other types, and they found many of them. What we believe about Jesus can be found in the Bible when we pay attention to his shadows—the prophecies and types—in the Old Testament. We have already studied some of the prophecies that speak of Jesus. In the following lessons we will look at some of the most important types.

Assignments

Define the following theological terms: type, antitype, and typology.

Explain why we read the Bible typologically.

Describe the typological relationship between Adam and Jesus.

Explain why God used types to teach us abstract spiritual concepts rather than just stating them directly in the Bible.

Show how Jesus taught his disciples to read the Scriptures typologically.

List eight types explicitly mentioned in the New Testament.

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