Luke 24;26-27 “Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” ²⁷ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

This was the ultimate class in Christology! Actually, Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola have attempted to recreate this talk, in a sense, writing a book they called Jesus a Theography, in which they indeed start with Genesis 1 and go all the way through the Bible, showing how it points to Jesus every step of the way. It’s over 400 pages long (at least in the electronic version I’m reading)! Jesus Himself probably gave a more compact presentation, but the material is certainly there. The thing is, Jesus was literally in God’s plan from before Creation, and the better we understand that, the more committed to Him we will be. Cleopas and his friend had the incredible privilege of hearing it directly from Jesus, but we can investigate it ourselves under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and we have Bible scholars like Sweet and Viola who have done the heavy lifting for us. The important thing to remember is that God didn’t go, “Oh dear, now what will I do?” after Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden. No, God, being omniscient and outside of time, planned salvation for mankind before He ever created the universe. (Actually, that’s very difficult to express in human words, because time is a function of matter, so we speak of a “space-time continuum,” but God existed when there was no matter, so there was no “before” or “after.”) All such mental gymnastics aside, it is important to realize that the whole Bible is Jesus’ book, since none of the New Testament had been written at the point this story happened. Christians and churches that ignore the Old Testament miss out on a great deal, and have a very limited understanding of Christ and salvation at best.

I am grateful to have been raised in a family that loved the whole Bible. My father got his doctorate in Greek, but he got his masters in Hebrew, and he didn’t slight the Old Testament. I use the New Testament more in my preaching, but I often include Old Testament passages, and occasionally preach entirely from the Old Testament. The young man who puts bookmarks in Bibles for visitors, to indicate the passages I will be using, likes to hand out just New Testaments if that covers all the ones I’ve listed, but that isn’t too common. I dearly love Isaiah, and of course Psalms, and Deuteronomy has a special place in my heart as well. For that matter, a passage from Habakkuk has been given to this church on three  separate occasions, so I don’t slight the “minor prophets” either! The point is not just to love God’s Word but to do it, just as James pointed out. (James 1:22) My desire is to engender an obedient love for the Word in others, and it is a great joy that I seem to be succeeding in that with some.

Father, thank You for the whole Bible, and how You speak to us so clearly and faithfully. May I indeed be someone who does Your Word and doesn’t just talk about it, so that Your rule and reign may be established as Your will is done, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!