In a previous post, I gave a few principles I’ve followed in OT exposition that have helped me avoid monotonous “Jesus is the better King” kind of sermons ever week. Principles, not rules. But they are redundant, unnecessary, and superfluous when the passage is something like 2 Samuel 7 or Jeremiah 31. What of passages where the connection to the Savior is not evident necessarily on first reading? Here are some examples of this approach in passages that others have said don’t have the Savior as the main point of the text.

Last week I blogged on what is probably the most important issue in Old Testament preaching—in passages of the Bible that have a main point other than Jesus, should the preacher nevertheless preach Jesus from that passage? In other words, should a preacher preach something other than the main point of a passage in order to get to the cross?

In that post, I gave a few principles I’ve followed in OT exposition that have helped me avoid monotonous “Jesus is the better King” kind of sermons ever week. Those principles were:

1. Preach the main point of the passage in context
2. Connect that main point to a theological principle
3. Connect that principle to Christ

As I mentioned, those are principles, not rules. Obviously these principles are really redundant, unnecessary, and superfluous when the passage is something like 2 Samuel 7 or Jeremiah 31. But what of other passages where the connection to the Savior is not evident necessarily on first reading? Here are some examples of this approach in passages that others have said don’t have the Savior as the main point of the text (including the examples from the Logos.com post titled, “Everything in the Bible Isn’t About Jesus”):

Leviticus 13 (Leprosy Diagnosis)

The Main Point: Leprosy is dangerous, contagious, and a threat to God’s people. God cares for his people and takes their “cleanliness” seriously as a matter of safety for the nation.

Theological principles: There are many here, and I’d narrow it down based upon what the congregation had recently heard. But try these:

• Sin is contagious. Bad company corrupts good morals
• A person cannot heal themselves
• God desires holiness in the camp
• Things you are not in control of defile you.

That last one is the overarching principle behind Leviticus 13-15 and is incredibly important to preach in at least one of the sermons on this section. A woman is unclean from blood. It’s not a blame issue here, rather it’s a basic fact that people are sinful by nature. In addition to being fallen by our own actions, our problems run more than skin deep. We are sinful by nature, and there is nothing we can do about it other than shout “unclean, unclean!”

Christological Connection: If a preacher doesn’t end a sermon on Leviticus 13 by going toMatthew 8:1 (or some similar passage), then their ordination is null and void. This is pretty low hanging Christological fruit. Jesus heals leprosy, hugs a leper, doesn’t catch sin, and makes people holy. Game, set, match.

Judges 19 (Concubine Torn for the 12 Tribes)

Main Point: Israel has become worse in the Promised Land than the nations they had dispossessed. If those nations deserved God’s wrath, certainly the Israelites do too. Something better change fast. They need a king, and they need one yesterday. And no, Gideon does not count.

Read More