This Book - Hands to the Plow

And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the
prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these
things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he
interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. Luke 24:25-27
Notice, Jesus used “Moses” (the books in the Old Testament from Genesis through Deuteronomy)
and “all the Prophets” (Joshua, Judges, 1-2 Samuel, 1-2 Kings, and, with the exception of
Lamentations and Daniel, all the books from Isaiah through Malachi) as his key witnesses in a
discussion about himself! He used these books to talk about the fact that “the Christ should suffer
these things”. He used them to talk about the Christ entering into his glory.
Later in that same day, Jesus said something similar to the disciples when he appeared to them.
Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with
you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the
Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,
and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the
third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be
proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses
of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But
stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” Luke 24:44-49
It is worth noting that, in this passage, Jesus refers to a third section of Scripture: “the Psalms”,
also referred to as “the Writings” (Ruth, 1-2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms,
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Lamentations, Daniel). According to Jesus, the Writings,
as with the books of Moses and the Prophets, are also about “the Christ”.
Summarizing the message of “the Scriptures”, Jesus said that they taught that “the Christ should
suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should
be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem”. According to Jesus, then, the
Old Testament is all about him and about the work he accomplished by his death and resurrection.
Of course, this does not mean that every page includes an overt reference to the coming Christ.
Most do not. However, it does mean that the entire Old Testament—somehow and in someway—is
about him and his story.
Some of the ways the Old Testament tells the story of the Christ are easy to recognize. Consider,
for instance, the following prophecy from Micah:
But you, O Bethlehem, Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth
is from of old, from ancient days. Micah 5:2
This prophecy details the exact town where God’s anointed ruler (referred to as the “Christ” in
the New Testament) would be born. There are many passages like this. They describe the coming
of the Christ in explicit detail.
Other parts of the Old Testament, however, are more difficult. How, for instance, does the book
of Judges speak of the coming of the Christ (it does, but not in the same way as Micah 5:2)? A
hint may be seen in the the final words of the book, “In those days there was no king in Israel.
Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25). The book of Judges is a book calling
for the establishment of a king in Israel. The book is meant to leave the reader knowing that
Israel’s problems can only be solved when God’s anointed king is on the throne governing over
God’s people. That king is Jesus. Much more could be said about the meaning of this book, but this
“over-arching” theme should not be ignored.
WeeK one
Introduction
13