Robert Jeffress - Christmas On The Road
Hi, I'm Robert Jeffress and welcome again to Pathway to Victory! This Christmas season, you'll likely revisit the famous narrative of Christ's birth found in Luke 2. But the Christmas story didn't begin in Bethlehem or even in Nazareth when the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary. It began thousands of years before Jesus was even born. Today, we're going to take a look at the fascinating birth and life of Jesus through the lens of Old Testament prophecy. My message is titled, "Christmas on the road", on today's edition of Pathway to Victory!
Some years ago, when queen Elizabeth made a visit to our country, reporters relished telling all of the details, the logistics of her visit to our country. Her visit was accompanied by 4.000 pounds of luggage, she had two outfits for every day, including a funeral outfit in case somebody kicked the bucket while she was here. And she brought with her 40 pints of plasma in case she needed an operation, she had her own hairdresser and other attendants, a brief visit of royalty to a foreign country ended up costing more than $20 million.
Now, contrast that to when the King of kings decided to visit our planet. He came with no luggage, he had no attendants, his arrival took place in an animal shelter, there was no room for him so they actually placed him in a feeding trough. Philip Yancey points out that the event that divides history, and still our calendars, probably had more animal witnesses than human witnesses to it. The Carol writer said how silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given. But is that really true? Did the arrival of the King of kings take place in some remote part of the world without any prior warning? If so, how could the Jews or even the Romans be blamed for missing his arrival?
Well, the truth is the gift of Jesus Christ came wrapped in hundreds of years of prophecy. And there are all kind of signposts in the Old Testament that should've pointed everyone to that feeding trough in Bethlehem. That's the truth that we're going to see in our passage today. If you have your Bibles, I want you to turn to the Gospel of Luke, and I want you to turn to chapter... now, you think I'm gonna say 2, don't you? I'm not, we're gonna turn to the last chapter of Luke, Luke 24, Luke 24.
Now, this story takes place late on a Sunday afternoon, but it wasn't just any Sunday afternoon, it was the Sunday of Christ's resurrection. He had been raised from the dead early that morning, now it's late afternoon, and there were two travelers, two disciples of Christ who were on their way from Jerusalem back to their hometown called Emmaus. This hadn't been any weekend, it had been the weekend of the passover, hundreds of thousands of Jews had been in Jerusalem, but this wasn't any passover, this was when the man who claimed to be the Messiah was arrested, was crucified, and was buried, that's the background for what takes place here.
Now, look at verse 13 of Luke 24, "And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem". About a two hour walk. "And they were conversing with each other about all of the things that had taken place". What things? Well, the things about the one they had been following, Jesus, that how he was unfairly arrested, went through the six mock trials, how he was crucified, and then laid to rest in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. "And it came about that while they were conversing and discussing, Jesus himself approached and began traveling with them. But their eyes were prevented from recognizing him". Why didn't they recognize Jesus? Luke doesn't tell us and so Jesus said to them:
What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking? And they stood still, looking sad. And one of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to him are you the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days? And he said to them what things? And they said to him the thing about Jesus, the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him up to the sentence of death, and crucified him. But we were hoping that it was he who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all of this, it is the third day since these things happened. But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find his body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. And some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said, but him they did not see. And Jesus said to them o foolish men, slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken. Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into his glory? And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, he explained to them the things concerning himself in all the scriptures.
I want us to focus for a few minutes today on that verse, verse 27, beginning with Moses and all the prophets, Jesus explained to them the things about himself. What was he saying? Jesus was saying you cannot turn a page of the Old Testament without finding something about the birth, the ministry, the death, the resurrection, or the return of Jesus Christ. And so this unrecognized Jesus spent two hours in the Old Testament showing what the Old Testament revealed about the coming of Jesus Christ.
Today, I'd like for us to take just a few moments and look at some of those verses Jesus might've explained to them about himself that came from the Old Testament. What does the Old Testament tell us about Jesus Christ? First of all, it gives us the prediction of his birth, the prediction of his birth. When Jesus said that Moses testified of Christ, what is he referring to? Well, Moses wrote the first five books of the Old Testament, he could've turned to Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, but I imagine Jesus started at the beginning, the very first mention of Jesus in the Old Testament, and it's found in Genesis 3.
Turn to Genesis 3:15, remember, Moses wrote Genesis, this is the first mention of Christ in the Old Testament. Now, the setting of Genesis 3 is the fall of man. Adam and Eve had disobeyed God, and because of that, God was pronouncing judgment upon them, and then he turns to the serpent, who had lured Adam and Eve into temptation, and he spoke not only to the serpent, but to the power behind the serpent, satan himself. And I want you to notice what he predicted, "And I will put enmity", that is strife, "Between you and the woman, I'll also put strife between your seed", he's talking there about the power behind the serpent, satan, "And her seed", that is, her descendants. And he singles out one of the woman's descendants especially, he said he, that is a descendant of the woman, "Shall bruise you on the head". That is, he'll deliver a death blow to you, "But you shall only bruise him on the heel".
This is the first prediction of Jesus Christ, a descendant of this woman would conquer the power of satan. Jesus, the Messiah, was born to conquer satan. As soon as evil entered the world, God said it won't last forever. One of your descendants, Eve, will conquer satan, will put an end to evil. He will bruise you on the head, you will only nip at his heel, that is the first mention. We call it, in theology, the protoevangelium. Proto meaning first, evangelium, the good news, the Gospel, that evil would not prevail. That's the first thing I think Jesus pointed out, not only that, the Old Testament predicts that this Messiah would be born to a virgin, born to a virgin.
Turn in your Bibles to Isaiah 7, probably no other Old Testament book has more to say about the life, the ministry, the death of the Messiah than Isaiah the prophet. Now remember, Isaiah was written 700 years before the coming of Christ, and when we come to Isaiah 7:14, we come to perhaps the most familiar Old Testament prediction about the birth of Jesus Christ. Now, the setting for Isaiah 7 is key to understanding this prophecy, so I want you to stay with me on this, okay?
Remember when Isaiah wrote in 700 BC the nation of Israel had had a civil war 200 years before, in 922 BC, a civil war, and in that civil war, the nation of Israel was divided into two parts, the North and the South, just like our civil war, divided our country into the North and the South. So it was in 922, there was a civil war that split the country. The Northern Kingdom was the larger portion, it retained 10 of the 12 tribes, and because it was the larger, more powerful portion of the country, it retained the name of Israel. Israel referred to the Northern Kingdom after 922 BC. Sometimes it went by the name of Ephraim, one of the 10 tribes, but that was Israel in the north.
The Southern kingdom was called Judah, which was one of the two tribes in the southern portion of the kingdom, so you had Israel, or Ephraim in the north, and you had Judah in the south. That'll help you understand when you read the Old Testament, the two parts of Israel, the Northern Kingdom and the Southern kingdom. Now, Isaiah was a prophet to the Southern kingdom, and one of the kings of Judah, the Southern kingdom, was named Ahaz. Ahaz heard a rumor that the king of the Northern Kingdom was making an alliance with the king of Syria, also known as Aram back then, and together, they were going to defeat the south, king Ahaz.
And as you can imagine, Ahaz was very troubled about hearing about this alliance. Isaiah comes to him and says Ahaz, don't worry about it, God is going to destroy both of those kingdoms, the Northern Kingdom and Syria, and you don't have to worry about them allying against you. And look at Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah said God's gonna give you a sign that in fact he's going to do that, and what is the sign? It's found in Isaiah 7:14, "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign, Ahaz. Behold, a virgin will be with a child and will bear a son, and she will call his name Israel". The word there for virgin is the word almah, A-L-M-A-H, it simply means a young woman of marriagable age, it doesn't mean somebody who's never had sexual experience before.
There's another Hebrew word for that betulah, that means virgin, somebody who's never had sex before. That's not the word he uses here, he uses the word almah, it's a general term for a woman of marriageable age. God says to Ahaz, "A virgin will be with a child and bear a son and you will call his name Immanuel, and he will eat curds and honey at the time he knows enough to refuse and choose evil and choose good. For before the boy will know enough to refuse evil and choose good", that is, before he's age 12 to 14, "The land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken". In other words, God said to Ahaz don't worry about Syria, don't worry about Israel, before this boy who's to be born is 12 years old, both of those kings will be destroyed. Now, when we turn to chapter 8 of Isaiah, we find the fulfillment of this prophecy. It was fulfilled through Isaiah himself, he married a woman, they had a child, before the child was 12 years of age, the Northern Kingdom was defeated, and Syria was defeated, now that's the promise of Isaiah 7:14.
I remember listening to my religion professor in college say now given that historical background, why would anybody apply this verse to the virgin born birth of Jesus Christ? It had nothing to do with the birth of Jesus Christ, why would somebody make that application? I'll tell you exactly why we make that application, because God's word makes that application. Turn over to Matthew 1 that records the coming of the Son of God, of Jesus Christ. Jesus was conceived with Mary and by the Holy Spirit, not with a human father, and when Joseph learned that his betrothed fiance, if you will, was pregnant with a child, he was obviously disturbed. But God revealed to Joseph this child was fathered by the Holy Spirit himself.
Now, look at verse 20 of Matthew 1, "But when he, Joseph, had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for that which has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, Immanuel, for it is he who will save his people from their sins". Then Matthew adds in verse 22, "Now all of this took place that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying", and then Matthew quotes Isaiah 7:14, "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which translated, means God with us".
Matthew applies Isaiah 7:14 to the birth of Jesus Christ. Now, pop quiz, what language was the Old Testament written in? Hebrew, and I just said to you a moment ago the Hebrews had a term for virgin, it was betulah, Isaiah didn't use that term, he used almah, a more general term, a young woman. What language was the New Testament written in? It was written in Greek, so when Matthew penned this and translated Isaiah 7:14, and he got to the word virgin, you know the word he used? It's the word parthenas, the word parthenas means only one thing, virgin. Somebody who has never had sexual experience before.
Now, here is the beauty of scripture, had Isaiah, 700 years before, used the word bethulah, that means virgin, if he had used that word, then that prophecy would've meant nothing to Isaiah or to king Ahaz or the people of his day, it would've only had a far fulfillment 700 years later. But by using that more general term, almah, that prophecy had both an immediate fulfillment in Isaiah's day, but it had an ultimate fulfillment with Jesus Christ. Isn't that the beauty of scripture?
That's why in scripture, many times you have a near fulfillment and an ultimate fulfillment, and here Matthew makes it very clear that this baby born of Mary was virgin born, Mary was a virgin, he was conceived, Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, why was that so important? Why is a virgin birth absolutely necessary for the Lord Jesus Christ? I can spend the rest of the message talking about why a virgin birth is necessary, but here is just one reason. To me, this is so fascinating, you know, one of the prophecies about the Messiah, according to 2 Samuel 7, was that he would be a descendant of king David. The Messiah had to be a descendant of David.
2 Samuel 7, God made this promise to David 900 years before Christ, he said one of your descendants will sit on the throne, 2 Samuel 7:12 and 13, "He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever". There's an immediate fulfillment in Solomon, the ultimate fulfillment was in Jesus. Solomon never built a kingdom that was forever, Jesus would do that, that's what we call the Davidic covenant, the promise, Messiah had to be a descendant of David. So when you turn to Matthew 1 and you find the genealogy of Jesus, going back through his father, Joseph, and back through Joseph's father, Jacob, all the way back to David.
You see, Matthew was written to the Jews, and Matthew was saying this Jesus is qualified to be the Savior of the world because he's a descendant of the great king David. You say well, case closed, that's great, pastor. There's a problem though, there's a knot in that family line that comes from David. The last of the Davidic kings, the last king who was a descendant of David, was a guy named Jeconiah. Jeconiah was so evil and so disobeyed God that God placed on a curse on Jeconiah. It's found in Jeremiah 22:30, God said Jeconiah, because you have disobeyed me, not one of your descendants will ever sit on the throne of David. It basically stopped the Davidic line at Jeconiah.
So that presents a real problem, because you have David up here, now you have Jeconiah, and down here you have Joseph, the father of Jesus. If Jesus had been the biological son of Joseph, who was in turn the son of Jeconiah, a descendant of Jeconiah, Jesus would've been disqualified from sitting on the throne because of the curse of Jeconiah. And yet, even though the right to rule came through the father, he still had to have some relationship to David to be the inheritor of the throne, so how do you become an inheritor of the throne of David without receiving the curse of Jeconiah? Answer, what about a virgin birth?
Notice what it says in Matthew 1:16 about the birth of Christ, "And Jacob was born Joseph, the husband of Mary, by whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ". That phrase by whom is a feminine singular, it's in the feminine singular, referring to Mary only, you know, Paris is down here about to give birth maybe in the middle of this sermon here, but when that child is born, we're gonna say that child was born to Paris and Ben, that's what you say, don't you? Born to the father and mother, Paris and Ben. It would've been natural to say Jesus was born to Mary and Joseph, that's not what it says. He was born to Mary, not to Joseph, because Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit of God himself, he was a virgin born child.
Don't you see the wisdom of God here? Who could come up with something like that except God himself? I think that's what Jesus pointed out to these two on the road to Emmaus, the prediction of his birth. Not only that, Jesus also probably pointed to the character of his ministry. He would've pointed to all of the predictions in the Old Testament about the kind of ministry he would have. We don't have time to look at each of these, but just jot them down. First of all, he would be preceded by a messenger.
Isaiah 40:3 says, "A voice is calling, 'clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness: make smooth in the desert a highway for our God'". In Matthew 3:3, describing John the Baptist, who did exactly that. Notice how Matthew relates it to John, to Isaiah's prophecy. "For this is the one", talking about John the Baptist, "Referred to by Isaiah the prophet".
A second prophecy is that, "He would begin his ministry in Galilee", Isaiah 9:1, "By Galilee of the gentiles". In Matthew 4:12 to 13 and verse 17, "Jesus began his ministry in Galilee".
Thirdly, he would have a ministry of miracles. Isaiah 35:5 and 6, "Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb will shout for joy". Matthew 9:35, we find that the Son of God went proclaiming the Gospel of the kingdom and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.
Fourthly, he would teach in parables. Psalm 82:2, "I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old". Matthew 13:34, "All of these things Jesus spoke in parables".
Fifthly, he would enter Jerusalem on a donkey. Zechariah the prophet wrote 500 years before the birth of Christ. Notice in Zechariah 9:9, "Rejoice greatly, o daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, o daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you: he is just and endowed with salvation, humbled and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey". And of course when he made his triumphal entry, Luke 19:35 says, "And they brought the donkey to Jesus, and they threw their garments on the colt, and put Jesus on it". And Jesus has not been as rushed for time as I am right now, I would imagine he would also pointed out to these men.
Not only did the Old Testament prophesied that he would enter Jerusalem on a donkey, but the Old Testament predicted when that would occur. To me, the most amazing prophecy in all of the Bible is in Daniel 9, written 500 years before the coming of Christ, Daniel 9:24 to 27. When Daniel and his prophecy of the 70 weeks pinpointed the year, the month, the exact date in history when Jesus would walk into Jerusalem, ride into Jerusalem, on that donkey. It is an amazing thing when you study that.
Sixth, he would be a light to the gentiles. Isaiah 60:3 says, "And nations will come to your light and bring to the brightness of your rising". Acts 13:47, "For thus the Lord us, 'i have placed you as a light for the gentiles, that you should bring salvation to the end of the earth'". I think these are the things Jesus pointed out to those followers of his on the road to Emmaus. And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets he explained to them the things concerning himself in the scriptures. "But, friend", these two said to the unrecognized Jesus, "That's all fine and good. Jesus fulfilled those prophecies".
But you don't understand. Haven't you heard? He was crucified. This Jesus that we were expecting to be our deliverer, he ended up being killed and that's why we're so sad. What did Jesus say to them? Jesus said, "Don't you realize? Don't you realize? That was also predicted in the Old Testament. The necessity of his death". And I imagined of all of the Old Testament passages Jesus could've turned to, to show the necessity of his death he probably used the most familiar passage of all, found in Isaiah 53:2-6.
If you wanna know what the Christmas message really is, here it is, written 700 years before the fact. In describing the Messiah, Isaiah wrote, "He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief: and like one from whom men hide their face. He was despised, and we did not esteem him. Surely our griefs he himself bore, and our sorrows he carried: yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was pierced through for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities: the chastening for our well-being fell upon him, and by his scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way: but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him". Ain't that what Jesus said about himself in Matthew 20:28, "For the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, to give his life as a ransom for many".
Ladies and gentlemen, don't let the lights, the carols, the gifts, the family get-togethers obscure the real meaning of Christmas. The real meaning of Christmas is this, every one of us has wandered away from God. And because of that we are all deserving of God's punishment. But instead of leaving us to experience the consequences of our sin for all eternity, God sent forth his Son to be the ransom for our sin. When Jesus died on that cross, he died not for his sin: he had no sin. The chastening, the scourging, the punishment we deserve for all eternity fell upon Jesus. He paid the price for our sin, that is why his death was an absolute necessity.
But the story of Christ in Christmas doesn't end on Calvary. I believe Jesus also reminded these two on the road to Emmaus about the certainty of his resurrection. Look back at Luke 24 beginning with verse 21, they said to this unrecognized Jesus, "But we were hoping that it was he who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it's the third day since these things happened. But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning, and did not find his body, they came, saying that they had seen vision of angels who said that he was alive. And some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just like the women had also said: but him, Jesus, they did not see".
You know if you read this carefully, it really is pretty funny. You know what they were saying? They were saying, "We put all our faith in this Jesus guy, we thought he was going to deliver us from Rome: and instead of doing that, he ended up getting himself crucified. And if that weren't enough", to add insult to injury, "Now his body is missing". I mean, if he was the Messiah, why couldn't he even keep his body in the grave? Instead, he allowed it to be stolen. What kind of Messiah is that?
And Jesus said, "Oh, foolish men. Are you so slow of understanding that you haven't put this together yet? This Jesus you're talking about predicted his death, but he also predicted his resurrection. It was predicted in the Old Testament". They said, "Where do you find that in the Old Testament"? Well, one place, in Psalm 16:10. David wrote, "For thou will not abandon my soul to Sheol, neither will thou allow thy holy one to undergo decay". Now again this had an immediate fulfillment in David's time. David said, "I'm confident. I'm confident God's not gonna leave me in the grave. I'm confident in a future resurrection". We're gonna talk about in a few weeks what happens to infants and children when they die.
David said, "I believe I'm gonna see my son again". That means a resurrection. "I'm gonna live after I die". That was an immediate prophecy, but it also had an ultimate fulfillment in the Messiah. David was saying, "God is not going to allow his holy one, the Messiah, to remain in the grave long enough to even have the decay of his own body. He's gonna raise him from the dead". You say, "Now, pastor, that's another stretch. How are you taking something 900 years before Christ and relating it to the future resurrection, isn't that kind of stretching it"? Not at all, because the apostle Peter made the same application of that verse in acts 2:31, when Jesus was preaching, when Peter was preaching at Pentecost he talked about the resurrected Christ and he quoted this verse that David wrote in Psalms 16:10. And he said, and David looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of Christ, "That he was neither abandoned to hades, nor did his flesh suffer decay".
Jesus over and over again had said to his disciples he was gonna be raised from the dead. "destroy this temple", talking about his body, "In three days I will raise it up". Or in Matthew 12:40, Jesus said, "For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth". Doesn't make sense, Jesus must've said to these two, "Doesn't it make sense that maybe the reason the tomb is empty is because this Jesus you had placed your hopes in, maybe he did just what he said he would do? He would be resurrected from the dead".
Well, by this time, about two hours had passed, they were getting close to Emmaus. Look what happened to verse 28 of Luke 24. "And they approached the village where they were going, and he acted as though he would go on farther. And they urged him, saying, 'stay with us, 'for it's getting toward evening, and the day is now nearly over'. And he went in to stay with them. And it came about that when he had reclined at the table with them, he took bread and he blessed it, breaking it, and he began giving it to them".
This wasn't a Lord's supper communion service. There's no organ music and dimmed lights. There's no line here. Wasn't a Lord's supper. They were just eating. He was just passing the bread. Verse 31, "And their eyes were opened and they recognized him: and he vanished from their sight". What is it that made them suddenly recognize Jesus? Maybe it's the way he broke the bread. They recognized the funny way he would tear off the end of it first before he broke the rest of it. Maybe it was the fact that Jesus, the Jesus they knew was left-handed and this guy was left-handed as well. Something he did or something he said made them recognize him. And then he suddenly vanished. Verse 32, "And they said to one another, 'were not our hearts burning within us while he was speaking to us on the road, while he was explaining the scriptures to us'"? Were not our hearts burning?
I'll have to admit that sometimes when we hear all of this about these fulfilled prophecies of Jesus, for some of us, it's yawn city. Okay, pastor, I've heard all that before. Tell me something I don't know. Jesus fulfilled prophecies. What is it that kept this two-hour discussion from being some dry theological discourse? What is it that caused these followers of Jesus to have their hearts burn as Jesus was talking to them? I think here's what it was. When they put it all together they realized that if Jesus really did what he said he was gonna do, if Jesus really was the fulfillment of all of these prophecies, then they could trust in everything Jesus said to them about their life, their death, their eternity. That's what caused their hearts to burn within them.
Writer A.B. Hardy said, "When it's all said and done there are only two questions in the universe that matter", only two, "Everything else is peripheral". Question number one: has anyone ever cheated death? Hardy said that's the most important question. Has anybody ever cheated death? Is this life all that there is or is there something beyond it? Hardy said he looked around. He found that the graves of Muhammad, the graves of the Buddha, the graves of every religious leader, the graves of everybody who's ever lived, those graves are still occupied. There's only one unoccupied grave: it's the tomb of Jesus Christ. Has anybody ever cheated death? Jesus did.
But here's a second even more important question: if somebody has cheated death, has he provided a way for me to cheat death? And I think as these disciples put it all together they realized who Jesus was and what he said. Their hearts burn within them because they had hope, that Jesus could really pull off what he said he could pull off. When Jesus said in John 3, "Whoever believes in me shall not perish, but have everlasting life". It means I don't have to face the judgment of God I deserve. I don't have to fear hell, because one day I'm gonna be with Jesus.
When Jesus said in John 11:25, "He who believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live again", I means this life isn't all that there is, that there's something better that awaits me. When Jesus said in John 14, "For I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again to take you under myself: that where I am, there you may be also". It means Zechariah, Daniel, Isaiah all of the Old Testament prophets were right: Jesus is coming again and he's gonna take us to be with him forever. That lecture on the road to Emmaus was not a dry theological discourse: it means that Jesus of the Old Testament is the Jesus of the New Testament. Everything predicted about Jesus in the Old Testament is being fulfilled in the New Testament and today. And because of that we can make our life and our eternity on what he's promised to us.