“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners” (Isa 61:1).
In Colossians 2:16–17, the Apostle Paul refers to the feasts (including the new moon and Sabbath) as “shadows” pointing to the Messiah. Similarly, the writer of Hebrews describes the law—referring to the rules, regulations, and worship system of the Sinai Covenant—as a “shadow” pointing to Messianic realities (Heb 8:5; 10:1). The New Testament’s Messianic interpretation is reinforced by the timing of key events in the life of Yeshua and the early church, which occurred during the celebration of Israel’s feasts (e.g., Yeshua’s death on Passover, the gift of the Spirit on the Feast of Weeks).
Less apparent, however, is how the New Testament authors interpreted the biblical calendar as Messianic shadows, since there are no clear indicators in the laws about the feasts in the Torah that Moses intended them to function as prophetic symbols of the Messiah.
The prophet takes a phrase directly from the Jubilee command—“to proclaim liberty to the captives” —and applies it to the Messiah’s unique mission to Israel.
Yet Messianic interpretations of Israel’s feasts and festivals are not innovations introduced by the New Testament authors. This becomes clear when we take a closer look at Isaiah 61:1. From both the immediate and broader context, it is evident that the Spirit-filled speaker in Isaiah 61 must be Israel’s Messiah (compare Isa 11:1–2; 42:1; 66:1). Less obvious, however, is Isaiah’s Messianic interpretation of the Year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25). The prophet takes a phrase directly from the Jubilee command—“to proclaim liberty to the captives” (compare Lev 25:10; Isa 61:1)—and applies it to the Messiah’s unique mission to Israel. Similarly, Isaiah identifies the suffering servant of Isaiah 53 as a Passover lamb in a “New Exodus” (Isa 53:7). And let us not forget the prophet Zechariah’s reading of the Feast of Booths as a shadow pointing to the establishment of the Messianic kingdom (Zech 14:16).
As we begin to recognize the many instances in which the Hebrew Bible interprets itself, we will also see that the New Testament authors were not creative innovators forcing Yeshua into Israel’s Scriptures. Rather, they were careful readers who inherited their Messianic interpretation of the Torah’s feasts from Israel’s prophets.
“As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow” (1 Pet 1:10-11).
