Randy's Blog

But it also intrigues me that twice in this chapter Jesus points out to his followers that all that happened to him had been prophesied in what we call the Old Testament. To the two men who were walking to the village of Emmaus, the risen Jesus said, "'You foolish people! You find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures. Wasn't it clearly predicted that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his glory?' Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself." (vss. 25-27, NLT)

Then, later that evening, after Jesus' two followers had hurried back to the rest of the disciples in Jerusalem, Jesus was suddenly in their midst. They had a hard time believing it was really him, and again he reminded them that all that was happening had been predicted: "…'When I was with you before, I told you that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled.' Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. And he said, 'Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day.'" (vss. 44-46, NLT)

Jesus is reminding us of something that Paul told to Timothy a few decades later: "All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16-17, NLT)

All Scripture is inspired and valuable - Paul and Jesus affirmed this. Sometimes we think only the New Testament has much value in reading. After all, parts of the Old Testament are tedious, with all these "begats" and laws and strange poetry. But Jesus went to great lengths to show his followers that Scripture really isn't simply disparate parts, written over a period of hundreds of years, by different authors. It is a connected whole, authored by the Holy Spirit through human writers, telling us of God and His plans and purposes. And those plans and purposes find their ultimate fulfillment in Jesus himself. All of Scripture leads to Jesus, one way or another. God can (and does) speak to us through Leviticus and Ruth and Lamentations and Obadiah as well as Luke and Romans and John.

The New Testament is very important, for it tells us about the years Jesus walked here on earth, and about his first followers and their experiences and adventures and revelations from God. But "all scripture is inspired by God and is useful..." This month we're focusing on New Testament readings, but let me challenge you, if you haven't made it a practice of also reading in the Old Testament to find a reading plan that leads you to this rich revelation from God. You can certainly use the Life Journal reading plan that we use at Gateway, but there are many others out there. All Scripture points us to Jesus and the love of God, so let's give God every opportunity to speak.