“If you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about me.”

Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel… By which also ye are saved… unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, ow that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures”

1 Corinthians 15:1-4

____________________________________________________________

Have you been able to see Jesus in the books of Moses (Generally accepted as Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,  Numbers, and Deuteronomy)?  Have you seen Him in the other books of the Old Testament?

If you haven’t seen Jesus in the Old Testament you have missed 59% of the story about Jesus.

Come with me as we take a walk with two disciples who, after a three to four hour Bible study with Jesus had their lives changed.  They went from massive disappointment to solid believers in Jesus.  It can do the same for you.

This is written in first-person for a “reality” version of the story. At the end is some additional material which should appeal to your logic.

____________________________________________________

It was early in the morning and the sky was getting brighter as I walked the dusty road speaking in low tones with my friend Cleopas about the things which had transpired over the last few days.  So many things!  All very bad!

It started with the arrest of Jesus in the Garden east of the city.   During the night and into the early morning of the Preparation Day (Friday) the soldiers and mob began to move Him between the governor and religious leadership. Then they beat Him to a pulp and eventually crucified our Friend and Leader on a Roman cross on the hill outside of Jerusalem later in the afternoon of the Preparation Day.

I watched from a distance as He hung His head and took his last breath.  He said something at the end, but I was unable to hear because I was trying to stay far enough away so that no one would try to connect me with Him .  I would certainly be labeled as a fanatic believer in this prophet who the clergy had called a blasphemer.  This led to his death.  I think I saw Peter off in the distance.  He appeared to be on his knees with his face in his hands.  His disappointment must be very great!

There had been an earthquake and the sun refused to shine.  Darkness took over the land like a thick smothering blanket.  Everything seemed out of place…frightening.  The large curtain in the temple had been ripped from top to bottom by some unseen hand. There were even reports of people, considered saints,  coming out of their graves and appearing to many in the city! (Matthew 27: 51-53)

My personal disappointment is great because I believed everything He had taught.  I was amazed at His great miracles and works of kindness. His followers thought Him to be the Messiah prophesied by many of the prophets hundreds of years ago.  He was going to set up His kingdom and deliver my people from the iron rule of Rome.  We thought He was the coming king upon which hung on all our hopes.

But, it seemed like He did not want the office of king.  I had left everything to follow Him and learn His teachings. My commitment all came to nothing on Friday afternoon when He died.  Now only doubt, but also sadness and disappointment hung on Cleopas and me like a heavy smelly cloak belonging to someone else.  I  want an explanation, but the reality of deception was creeping into my thoughts and it made me feel sick and foolish.

On top of everything else, the body of Jesus is missing!  The women followers said He was alive, confirmed by a couple of other disciples, but I know better.  It is just wishful thinking on their part. No one could have survived the beating, the nails, the loss of blood, and finally the sharp sword in the side.  I saw it and refuse to believe anything but what my eyes can confirm. There was no mistaking… the vision of so much blood and the pale appearance of death was real.

It is the first day of the week. Fresh days lie before us as we make our way to Emmaus to start over;  a walk of about 8 miles. It will take me the usual 3 1/2 hours or so to walk…maybe longer today because of our conversation and a heavy heart. This will give us plenty of time to try and put all the pieces together….to try to understand and make sense of everything and to decide what to do with the rest of our lives.

All of a sudden, an unexpected stranger walks up from behind and joins us.  He asks,

“Why are you so sad and what are you discussing?”

I find these two questions odd in the light of the excitement and well-known events of the weekend. Slightly agitated and amazed Cleopas speaks before I can open my mouth and he answers the question with a question.  He throws in some sarcasm for good measure.

“Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem that does not know the things which happened there these last few days?”

 I am even more amazed when the stranger asks,

“What things?”

In disbelief, we began to explain to the young manr the events of the weekend.  Reviewing everything does not help my disappointment and we rush through them as a courtesy to the stranger.

“These things concern Jesus of Nazareth who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people.  The chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him.  But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel.  Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened.  Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us.  Then they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive. And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but Him they did not see.” Luke 24: 19-24

Then the stranger calls Cleopas and me “foolish ones” and that we are “slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken”  This is certainly not so! I have always believed the prophets.  I have come from a family who believes in the Tanakh (Old Testament) and I have read it often.  The prophets said, that the Messiah would come and deliver Israel from its enemies.  But the stranger began to recite the writings of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy) and all the Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Micah, Malachi, etc)  of the Tanakh and explain things I had missed in my readings.

The stranger clearly points out passages that were references to Jesus.  For the next 3 hours, I am amazed at the knowledge and clarity of the stranger’s words.  As I listened to the stranger recite our ancient books, I begin to see that it was necessary for Jesus to die for the sins of the world, but that He would be raised up the third day!  How had I missed that?  Why had we not believed Jesus when He said it was necessary for Him to die and that he would rise again?  It was like I had been reading the scripture the way I wanted it to read instead of letting it talk to me!  Indeed, we felt foolish but encouraged by the words of the stranger.  My heart burned within me!  I wanted to hear more!  This was all exciting and new to me!

As we get near the village where we plan to rest, it is almost dark. I don’t want the stranger to go and I look for excuses for Him to stay the night so we can hear more. Thankfully, He agrees to have supper with us.  As He breaks the bread, I recognize those hands and the manner in which He breaks it!  I finally look across the table into his eyes at about the same time as Cleopas.  It is Jesus!  As soon as we recognize him, He disappears!  We had been talking to Jesus the whole time and we didn’t recognize Him!

With intense excitement and joy, Cleopas and I jump up and run the 8 miles back to Jerusalem!   We must tell the 11 who were behind closed doors who share our confusion and disappointment.  When we arrive,  we find them huddled in a group in fear and disappointment.  Out of breath, we begin to tell them what had happened over the last several hours.  As we are telling them, Jesus appears in the room!

Everyone jumps back.  They think they are seeing a spirit, but Jesus tells them it is Him and that He is not a spirit. To prove it, He invites them to touch Him and He asks for something to eat.  They give Him some fish and some honeycomb.  After everyone settles down and the scales of their eyes begin to fall away, Jesus repeats the same type of study Cleopas and I heard on the road to Emmaus.  This time, He uses the entire Tanakh including the Psalms to explain how He is found all through scripture. All the disciples begin to understand that He had to die, but that He would rise on the third day.  How could we have missed this?  It was right there!

Then He said to us,

“These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you.  that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.  (And He opened our understanding that we might comprehend the Scriptures.”) Luke 24:44

Do we need  Jesus to open our understanding of Scriptures?  Have we missed Jesus as we have read the Old Testament?  What did Jesus teach these two disciples when He explained passages from all the books of the Old Testament?  Is the Old Testament not relevant to New Testament Christians?  Have we misunderstood Jesus?  What does the entire Bible  teach about Him?

 Next, we will take a look at Jesus through the eyes of one who is a well-known doubter Thomas and attempt to understand why the resurrection of Jesus is an absolute cornerstone of the Christian faith. In fact, without it, Paul says we are most pitiful of all men. But, after we see through the eyes of Thomas we will exclaim as he did:

“My Lord and My God.”  John 20:28 

__________________________________________________

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL

What is the possibility of one man fulfilling only eight of the Old Testament prophecies?

It is 1 x 10²⁸ or 1 in 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. Given this and the time span between the writings of the Old Testament and the fulfillment by Christ in the New Testament, the prophecies were either given to the prophets by God, or the prophets just wrote them down as they thought they should be. With Christ fulfilling all eight prophecies, what are the odds the prophets were just guessing?

“Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me”

Psalm 40:7.

“The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy”

Revelation 19:10.

“…all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me”

Jesus Christ, Luke 24:44.

“For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me.”

Jesus Christ, John 5:46.

“To Him give all the prophets witness”

Acts 10:43.

353 Prophecies Fulfilled in Jesus Christ!