Mensa Otabil - Christ In the Scriptures (10/01/2025)
Luke chapter 24, verse 27: «And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.» Having rebuked his two disciples on the road to Emmaus, Jesus now starts speaking. But you have to remember they still don’t know it is Jesus; he is a stranger walking with them. He begins teaching them from the Scriptures. He opened the Word of God to them and started expounding the Word of God to them. If you look at the passage, it says he expounded to them the Scriptures; that means he was really doing a Bible exposition. Ah, we wish we could have been on that road to listen to Jesus teaching and exposing the Scriptures!
He was presenting what the Scriptures had said concerning him, and the Bible says he began from Moses and all the prophets. Then he used all the Scriptures; in other words, he would look at Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, and all the rituals in the Old Testament. He would point out to them, «This is about me; that is about me; this is about me; this sacrifice is me.» Then he would go to the prophets and look at what Isaiah said, what Jeremiah said, what Micah said, and what David said. He was lining up all these Scriptures and showing how the story of his life is told throughout all the Scriptures. He used all the Scriptures, all the Scriptures to tell the story. What an amazing exposition that would have been! These two disciples of Jesus were having a Bible study with Jesus; he was talking about himself and pointing them to the things that were important in his life.
What we see here is that Jesus is opening the eyes of their understanding, but he opens the Scriptures first. It is when the Scriptures are opened that their eyes will be opened. When you understand the Scriptures, you gain a full understanding of who God is. Later on, he met other disciples and went through the same process with Peter, James, John, and the rest. If you read the New Testament apart from the Gospels and hear the teachings of the apostles—what Peter said and what Paul taught—their teachings were based on the explanation Jesus gave in the Scriptures concerning himself. That is when the disciples got to understand how the Old Testament Scriptures related to the Lord Jesus Christ.
It’s important for us today, as we study the Scriptures—especially those of us who love the Old Testament—to always interpret the Old Testament in the light of Christ. If you don’t see Christ in the Old Testament and you only see what is happening there for itself, you miss the purpose of Scripture. The purpose of Scripture is not to elevate David, Isaiah, Elijah, or even Moses; the purpose of Scripture is to reveal Christ. So when we read the Old Testament, instead of just looking at the characters there, we must consider what it says about Christ and how it shows us about Christ because all of that Scripture is pointing to the Lord Jesus Christ.
For any Christian who wants to do a thorough Bible study, that should be your mindset—looking for Christ in the Old Testament. You see, he wasn’t born there; he is the Ancient of Days; he has been here from the beginning. He is present throughout all the writings, and that is what he showed his disciples. I pray that each one of us will have that encounter with God, where we will see Jesus Christ presented through the pages of the Scriptures. Well, tomorrow we will conclude our teaching on this part of Scripture about the disciples on the road to Emmaus. Let’s pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, teach me your Word. Let your Holy Spirit reveal Christ to me as I study the Scriptures, in Jesus' name. Amen and Amen.» I will be with you again tomorrow. I’m Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom, peace, and life to you.