This week’s devotions are based on this week’s message: Let Easter Change you: Input Godly Wisdom…his Word! (WATCH HERE)
I wish I could have listened.
Luke 24:27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
What was all included in that conversation that happened over the seven mile walk from Jerusalem to Emmaus?
It is one sermon Jesus gave that I wish I had the transcript to. What was Jesus’ commentary on himself throughout the whole Old Testament? What passages did he speak to? How did he weave God’s plan of salvation together so that it all made sense as it culminated at the cross?
For whatever reason, the Holy Spirit didn’t record the details, just a summary of the content. With just the summary we get a LOT of insight into what we are take away from the Word of God. Here’s a few thoughts for you to consider.
First: Every part of the Scripture has the purpose of pointing us to Jesus. “Moses” was the reference to the first five books of the Old Testament (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). When you consider some of the main content of these books you can think of creation, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, the exodus, the sacrificial system, the wandering in the wilderness and more. This conversation with the Emmaus disciples gives us permission to keep the priority of reading the Old Testament as seeing Jesus. The Old Testament isn’t a code to decipher, or confusion to unravel. The Old Testament is God’s story to bring the fulfillment of his love and grace to bear in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.
Second: The purpose of isolating the people of Israel as God’s people wasn’t to elevate a race or a nationality, but to carry the promise of a Savior to fulfillment in Jesus. There were points where the nation of Israel was at the brink of collapse. The kings of Israel and Judah were mostly NOT God-fearing and led people away from the Lord. Enemies could have overpowered the nation on multiple occasions. Even in the middle of captivity in Babylon, God was preserving a remnant…not to preserve a culture, but to preserve the line from which he was bringing Jesus. We can marvel at God’s work through secular history to bring to bear the most important impact to all people of all eras of history.
Third: God is highlighting the inspiration of Scripture. The only way that Moses (written about 1500 BC) and the Prophets (written from 1000 BC to 400 BC) could speak of a single person and a single theme was that God was behind the words they wrote. Jesus didn’t have to “make a stretch” to find his work in Scripture. He simply explained what was. He traced the divine work of God through the words the SPirit inspired men to write. The fact that ALL of Scripture spoke of Jesus who had not yet come yet with the detail of his work is evidence of God’s divine inspiration of all of Scripture. The impact on us? We can TRUST the Bible as the very Word of God.
Fourth: Enjoy discovering Jesus in the BIble. We speak of the Scripture as Christocentric. That means that the main purpose and focus of the whole Bible is to communicate Christ. The Bible touches on science, but it’s not a science textbook. The BIble communicates history, but it’s not first and foremost a history book. The Bible is beautiful prose, but it not just a fine piece of literature. The Bible is God’s Word that is intended to communicate one key message: We are forgiven and given eternal life through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Enjoy seeing Jesus in all the Bible!
Apply: Skim through the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew’s purpose was to connect the work of Jesus with the Old Testament prophecies. See how many you can find and see how “Moses and the prophets” testify about Jesus.
Prayer: Lord God, thank you for inspiring your wonderful Word to communicate the certainty of salvation to my heart and life. AMEN.