Let's do it this way. Luke chapter
24 follows the great uproar in Jerusalem. The feast of the Passover
had been celebrated. The Lord had been taken, had
been condemned, and had been crucified in the city of Jerusalem
by a coalition of the Jew and of the Roman. And so what we
have here in Luke chapter 24 in our text today is the conversation
of Jesus our Lord with two disillusioned disciples who had been to Jerusalem,
now were returning home to their little village of Emmaus, some
say about seven miles removed out of the city of Jerusalem. And as they walked along, and
they were discussing what they had seen, what had taken place,
what they had heard, and such like. And as they did that, the
Lord himself came and joined with them and went along with
them. And so we pick up our reading
in verse 13 of Luke chapter 24 and reading down to verse 27
for our first passage. And behold, two of them went
the same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem,
three kor furlong. And they talked together of all
the things which had happened. And it came to pass that when
or as they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew
near and went with them. And their eyes were holden, that
is, darkened or covered, that they should not know him. They didn't know who it was.
And he said unto them, now what manner of conversation are these
that you have one with another as you walk and are sad? And one of them, whose name was
Cleopas, answering said unto him, Are you only a stranger
in Jerusalem? You have not known the things
which are come to pass there in these days?' And he said unto
them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning
Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet, mighty indeed in word,
before God and all the people. and how the chief priest and
our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death and have crucified
him. But we trusted that it had been
He which had delivered or redeemed Israel. And beside all this,
today is the third day since these things were done. Yea, and certain women also of
our company made us astonished. which were early at the sepulchre. And when they found not his body,
they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels
which said that he was alive. And certain of them which were
with us went to the sepulchre and found it even as the women
had said, but him they saw not." Then he said unto them, O fools,
and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Ought not Christ to have suffered
these things and to entered into his glory? And beginning, watch
this, and beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded
unto them all the things in the scripture concerning himself. Now fall down to verse 44, 45,
and 46, if you would, for I read in. And he said unto them, These
are the words which I spoke unto you while I was yet with you,
that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law
of Moses in the prophets and in the Psalms concerning me. Then opened he their understanding,
that they might understand the Scripture. And he said unto them,
Thus it is written, and thus it behoove Christ to suffer,
and to raise again the third day from the dead. Luke chapter
24, let's add a few more passages of scripture, single individual
passages dealing with the same thing. There is John chapter
5 and verse 39. And the exhortation of our Lord
Search the scripture, for in them you think you have eternal
life. And listen, and they are they
which testify of me. They, the scriptures, testify
of me. And they mean the Old Testament
scripture. Now we'll come back and revisit
John 5 later. Then how about John 1 and verse
45. Philip found Nathanael and said
unto him, we have found him of whom Moses in the law and the
prophets did write. We found that one that Moses
and the prophets wrote about. Then John 5 and 46. Had you believed
Moses, you would have believed me, for he wrote of me." Those
are the words of the Lord saying that Moses wrote about him. Now, over in the book of Acts,
chapter 17, verse 1 through 3, Paul in Thessalonia quote, reasoned
with them out of the scripture, opening and alleging that Jesus
must needs have suffered, risen again from the dead, and that
this Jesus whom I preach unto you is Christ. He is the anointed. He is the Messiah. Now, I want
to share with you a part of Revelation chapter 19 and verse 10. And it says this toward the end
of that verse. Worship God, for the testimony
of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. And let's get a hold to that.
Worship God, for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Those few words have long intrigued
me and long have puzzled me, because the voice of that one
that came unto John dissuades him from worshiping him and from
worshiping any but God, saying to him, the testimony of Jesus
is the spirit of prophecy." Now, what does that mean? Does it
mean, as John Gill suggested, that all of the prophets bore
witness of the Lord? Or does it mean that all of the
prophecy is centered in the Lord Jesus Christ? That basically
all prophecy is centered in and around him, and all prophecy
is flowing toward him from the day that it was given, and that
all salvational and all messianic prophecies have their heart center,
fulfillment, and goal in him, that all such prophecy can only
be fulfilled in that one that God has anointed, and that he
is the one that was predicted to come. and that the message
and the person of Christ is the one that is to be honored, Him
being the spirit of prophecy, that all prophecy has to do in
some way with Him. Now, that being said, I will
add that scarcely a prophet in the Old Testament do we read
but what spoke of Christ. You can hardly find a prophet
that did not have something to say about our Lord Jesus Christ. And whether it was Moses, or
David, or Isaiah, or Jeremiah, or Ezekiel, or Solomon, or some
in the psalm, or the minor prophet, All that occurred in the life
of our Lord, according to Matthew chapter 25 and 26, quote, all
this was done that the scripture of the prophets might be fulfilled. What Jesus did was in exact accordance
with the prophet. Every jot and every tittle, that
is, Every little point and every iota of the prophecy and of the
scripture had to do with him. For in Mark chapter 14 and verse
49, the scripture must be fulfilled. It cannot fail. It cannot be
that it fall to the ground and miscarry with concern toward
our blessed Lord. How often, if someone would count
them, do we read in Scripture a certain event, and it is added,
and the Scripture was fulfilled. In some particular, in some word,
in some suffering, some act, and the death of our Lord, there
were Scripture that was being fulfilled all along. So, let's
go back to Luke chapter 24 and begin there. And the Lord's gracious
appearance and enlightenment of these two downcast disciples
that our Lord met on that day coming from Jerusalem to Emmaus. Now, that evidently spent the
Passover in the city of Jerusalem, the great uproar about Christ
taking him, condemning him, and the Romans crucifying him. Now,
as they walked back to their home, they were communing, verse
14, they were talking verse 15, about what had happened in Jerusalem
concerning the man, Jesus of Nazareth. They were going over
the facts again. They were rehearsing all these
things in their mind, and they were not clear. They were expressing
opinion, and they were giving their view. They were reliving
the events. that had stirred up Jerusalem. They were discussing between
themselves what had occurred, this and that and the other,
and the prophecy and our hope and our expectation. And as they
were doing that, moving along, the Lord joined Himself unto
them, but saying they knew Him not, and He asked them concerning
their exchange of word, and their conversation. Why were they so
sad-faced? And why were they so crestfallen? Why were they so down and discouraged? And as we read, the one of them,
Cleophas by name, answered and said unto him, look, man, you
must be but a stranger in this area, not to know the things
that have happened there, in Jerusalem recently. Now, of course,
the Lord knew, for it happened unto him. But our Lord would
draw them along and draw out of them. And to get their views
of the matter, He asked them, what things, what things are
you talking about? And they rehearsed evidently
in some great detail what had occurred to this stranger there
in their midst, that this was a man Jesus of Nazareth, mighty
in word and deed before both God and men. And yet they say
our rulers took him and condemned him and had him crucified by
the Romans. So let's look, if we might, at
verse 21 again. But we trusted that it had been
he which should have redeemed Israel And beside all of this,
today is the third day since these things were done. Now, their leaders had dashed
their hopes. I guess we could say, by killing
the one that seemed able to deliver Israel and free them from their
oppression, and to cast off the Roman yoke of bondage for them
once and for all. And the greatest thing that they
desired is that their nation, Israel, might be elevated and
restored again as the head of the nation, and have again the
glory that it had in former day. Now these two men say to our
Lord, but alas, our hopes seem in vain, our hopes seem to be
dashed, for this is the third day since these things occurred,
and yet our women found the tomb empty, They did not say him,
but they saw an angel who said that he was alive. Now, did they have in their mind
with a mention of the third day? How did that come into their
mind? This is the third day since these things have happened. There might be two things that
stuck in their mind. One might be John chapter two
and verse 19, when our Lord said, destroy this temple and in three
days, I will raise it up again. Then there's Matthew chapter
12 and verse 40, when the Jew said, master, show us a sign
by what authority you're doing these things. And the Lord said,
the only sign that will be given is the sign of Jonah. For his
journal was three days, three nights. in the belly of the fish,
so shall the son of man be three days and three nights in the
heart or bowels of the earth. Also, the Lord's prediction,
on more than one occasion, that he would die, but that he would
raise again on the third day. Our Lord said that publicly in
Matthew 20, 19, Matthew 27, 63, Mark 80, 31, and 10, 34, and
in other times, and place it. Now, I'll make this quick. But
the third day in the Old Testament is very prominent. Even in the
Old Testament, did the third day have prominence and significance
in some event? For example, There is Genesis
chapter 22 and verse 4. It was on the third day that
Abraham arrived at the mount where he was to sacrifice Isaac. Exodus 19, 11 and 16. It was to be on the third day
that they were to make ready for the giving of the law. It
was on the third day, Jonah chapter one and verse 17, that the fish
belched Jonah out again after three days and three nights in
the belly. And so three days had its significance
even in the Old Testament. And then here in Luke chapter
24, verse 22 through 24, they tell about some of their women
that gave them an amazing account of something They went to the
grave, they saw it opened, but they did not see the body of
the Lord. They never saw him, but they
saw an angel who said, he is alive, and they found not his
body. Now come to verse 25 and verse
26 of Luke chapter 24. The Lord confronts these two
men after drawing them out by showing that what had happened
to Christ, that suffering and that death and being buried in
the grave, that all of that was according to Scripture. Scripture predicted this of the
Messiah. Look at verse 25. I consider
this a gentle rebuke He is simply saying to them, not you idiots
and fools, but he's saying to them, you lack discernment. You are without discernment.
You're without understanding. You're slow of heart to believe
all that the prophets have said about him. And the emphasis is
this. The prophets emphasized that
Christ would suffer and that Christ would die and that he
would rise again. It behooved him to suffer to
fulfill the scripture, to die, to be put to death, to be sealed
up in a grave, and then to rise and to enter into his glory. It was appointed unto him to
die the death that he died. This fulfilled the prediction
of the prophets in regard under his suffering and death, that
rather than the prophets miscarry and be in error, the suffering
and the death of the Lord exactly corresponded minutely with the
prophecy of Moses and David and all of the other prophets. In
every detail, large and small, it fulfilled what was written
of him. And not only that, But death
was to precede his glory. He wants to die before he enters
into that mediatory glory, even as it is with us. Death precedes
our entering into that glory. But again, looking at Luke's
words in verse 27, he took them through the Old Testament scripture,
watch this, concerning himself. He looked at those scriptures
concerning himself. Now consider, these were the
scriptures which the Jews considered canonical. They reckoned them
to be inspired. They counted them to be the word
of the living God. This was the oracles of God which
had been committed unto them, Romans chapter 3 and verse 2,
which they searched for the way of eternal life, John 5, 39,
were read in the synagogue every Sabbath day, Acts 15 and verse
21, their hearing and a part of it expounded every Sabbath
in the synagogue. Now our present object being
to show that Christ, and by the way Christ is the Messiah of
and means the anointed one of God. And Christ shows that he,
Christ Messiah, would first suffer, quote, these things, unquote,
written up in the prophet. Now, they knew that Messiah would
come, John 4, 25. We know that Messiah will come
and that he will tell us all things. but many of them viewed
him only as a temporal deliverer. They did not look at him as a
spiritual redeemer and savior, but many of the Jews had fallen
into considering him as a political or a national redeemer. not as a special sacrifice for
their sin. Were they missed, or they ignored,
or they simply set aside the prophecies of a shameful death,
and these were a stumbling block under them. Notice something
in verse 27. Beginning at Moses, that is,
starting with Moses, going first all the way back to the early
books of the scripture, Moses, sometimes also called Moses or
the Law, which are the first five books of the Old Testament,
also called the Pentateuch. And so it said that the Lord,
beginning at Moses. Now, Jesus said, Moses wrote
of me. And that would be Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Moses wrote of me. So we consider the question,
what did Moses write about Christ and about this suffering and
about this death? The first thing that we see from
Moses, which I believe is the earliest, is Genesis chapter
3 and verse 15. You remember that great passage
of the scripture? It says there, a seed of the
woman would bruise the serpent's head. You'll bruise his heel,
but he shall bruise thy head. Let me say it like this. This
was the first donning of gospel light in the world after the
fall. but it was the farthest one from
the appearing of the Savior. It was the first promise after
the fall of a conqueror, and that's Genesis 3 and 15. Here
the foundation is laid by Moses as a wise master builder, and
other prophets have come along and have built upon that first
prophecy of him. And over the ages, God trimmed
the gospel light brighter and brighter and brighter until the
Savior at last appeared. That the Christ might be known
by them when he came. That when the Savior appeared,
he might be recognized by the fulfillment in him of the things
that had been written. Actually, Genesis 3 and verse
15 tells, I believe, of the suffering of Christ. Maybe obscurely, but
let's look at what it said. Thou shalt bruise his heel. And that's a temporary wound
that might be healed. But also, it tells of the destruction
of Satan. It, that is, the seed of the
woman, shall bruise thy head. Genesis 3.15. Crush his head. Destroy the works of the devil. spoiled his kingdom. Yes, we
see Christ in this passage of the scripture in Genesis 3 and
verse 15. And it was Moses also who said
before us, some of the most imminent types of Christ to be found in
the Old Testament. For example, the ark. The ark,
a type of our Lord. The Passover lamb. For Paul said,
Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. The brazen serpent. in Numbers chapter 21 and verse
9, referenced by Christ in John 3, 14 and 15. Even as Moses lifted
up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted
up. And it was under Moses. Deuteronomy
18, that we see two things come into play with regard to the
chosen nation of God. And that is, in Deuteronomy 18
and verse 15, a promise to raise up unto them a prophet like unto
Moses. And that occurred. Acts 3 and
verse 22 references that passage of the scripture. And those that
will not hear him shall be destroyed. I will raise up a prophet like
unto you, Moses. And the second thing that was
done in that 18th chapter of Deuteronomy is in verse 16 through
verse 22, and it was the formal institution of the office of
prophets among the people of Israel. God, after Moses, would
speak to the people no more aloud as he had done often, but would
speak to them by prophets whom he would inspire and send among
them. And since it terrified them for
God to speak to them orally, they asked that Moses might speak. And then prophets came for God
to not speak directly from heaven to them, but by the prophet. John 1 and verse 17. Also, we learned that the ceremonial
and the civil law came by Moses, the moral law too, but grace
and truth came by Jesus Christ. There was set up under Moses
what E.W. Hingstenberg called the theocratic
institutions, unquote, theocratic institution, which were in effect
preparatory to the appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ and
the people of God lived under them. And all of these prophecies
and this theocratic institution were in order to kindle their
expectation of one. Whenever they saw a sacrifice,
it carried them to Christ. Whenever they saw the Redeemer
and redemption, it carried them unto Christ. One put it like
this, quote, that the people should live in the spirit of
these institutions, unquote. But alas, Most of the people, most of them,
the majority of them, fell and lived not in the spirit of the
institution, but in the letter of the law. And they lost the
significance of the words and the prophecies of the prophet. Now, before we leave Moses, let
us not forget the Egyptian deliverance out of the land of Egypt. It
is a picture of the redemption of Christ and the freeing of
the elect from the bondage of sin. And there we meet the saving
blood of the Lamb of God slain for their redemption. And that
ultimate Lamb is Christ. Behold the Lamb of God, said
John. Now the New Testament text also
mentioned something that was written in the Psalms concerning
the Messiah. In Luke 24, 44, in the Psalms
concerning me. If Moses wrote of Christ, and
he did, John 5, 46, so did David in the Psalm, and that rather
extensively. Now these are what we call the
Messianic Psalms because they speak of Christ, of his suffering,
of his conquest, of his power. Let's look at some. There's Psalm
chapter 2. It depicts an unholy evil alliance
against the anointed chosen one of God. But in spite of their
blind rage and setting themselves against the Lord and against
his anointed, the Lord Christ is yet exalted as head over all. Compare parts of the second Psalm
if you might, especially verse 1 and verse 2 with Acts 4, 25
through verse 28, as the things in the Psalm are applied to Christ
and his enemies in Acts 4, 25 through 28. Kings and rulers, Herod and Pilate,
Gentiles and the people of Israel, quote, were gathered together
against the Lord and against his anointed, unquote, and that
is predicted in the second Psalm. The seventh verse of the second
Psalm is quoted and applied unto Christ in the New Testament. Thou art my son, this day have
I begotten thee. You'll find it in Acts 13 33.
You'll find it again in Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 5. Thou art my son this day have
I begotten thee. Then there's Psalm 16. and verse
8 through 10. And the apostle Peter, on the
day of Pentecost, in Acts chapter 2, 25 through verse 36, applies
this to Christ, that his resurrection was foretold by David in the
16th Psalm. Not just his resurrection, but
also without seeing any corruption. The Holy One of God will not
see corruption. Here are some of the words. My
flesh shall rest in hope, in hope of the resurrection and
not being consumed. You will not leave my soul in
hell or Hades. Acts chapter 2. that will not
suffer than holy one to see corruption. That is, you will not allow him
to experience corruption. His body will not decay under
the power of death. God loosed the pangs of death. It was not in any way possible
for death to hold this one because David foretold his resurrection
without seeing corruption. And in that chapter 2 of Acts,
Peter pointedly excludes David as being the object of the prophecy. Since David died, David buried,
his grave was yet with him, and he saw corruption. He still was
with them as to his grave. And Paul is even more bold in
Acts 13 and 36. He said, David served his generation
well, he fell on sleep, he was laid to his father, and he saw
corruption. But he whom God raised up saw
no corruption, because the prophecy had been the Holy One of God
will not see any corruption. Therefore, Peter concludes, David
was speaking not of himself nor of the saints. He was speaking
of Christ in the 16th Psalm. Now, the resurrection of Christ
without seeing corruption differs from that of Lazarus. By now
he stinketh, the sisters had said unto him. But the resurrection
of Christ without seeing any corruption is in accordance with
the Old Testament prophecy. And let me say this, it is the
strongest affirmation that Jesus of Nazareth was the one that
the prophets wrote about. Not just his miracles or his
work, but his dying and living again. is the strongest affirmation
from the prophet that Jesus indeed is the Christ, the Messiah, the
anointing. At least twice the Lord gives
his resurrection as the great sign of his authority to person
and person in the world. I already gave them to you. John
chapter 2 and verse 19 and Matthew 12, 38 and 40. The sign of the prophet Jonah,
the son of man in the grave, three days, and three nights
and then live again. He would take up his life again. He would live forever. Consider
what Paul wrote in Romans chapter 1 and verse 4. That Christ was
declared to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection
from the dead according to the spirit of holiness, and the margin
said determined, He was determined, various has it, designated as
the Son of God by the resurrection from the dead. Now that resurrection,
therefore, has an extraordinary and a special significance that
attaches unto them. As in Acts 13 and 33, God, in
raising Christ from the dead, made the declaration, you are
my son and I am your father. And you are my son, from Psalm
chapter 2 and verse 7, that in raising him from the dead, and
exalting you to mediatorial sovereignty, quote, I declare that you are
my son and I your father, unquote. Now we cannot separate his death
and resurrection. And yet the resurrection marked
a major, major point in the work of Christ. Without it, all else
had fallen down. Had our Lord remained under the
power of death, all else had been for naught. For he said
repeatedly, I will be put to death, I will rise again on the
third day. I will suffer first and then
enter into glory. Here's a quote I lifted from
John Murray at Romans chapter 1 and verse 4. Everything antecedent
in the incarnate life of our Lord moves toward the resurrection,
and everything following rests upon it and is conditioned by
it." We cannot take out the resurrection. The prophets foretold it, Jesus
experienced it, and it is true. In all of this, the prophets
gave witness. Now John 19, the crucifixion
is rich with the example of the agreement between the prediction
and the fulfillment. In John 1, I'm sorry, John 19,
23 through 24, the soldiers cast lots, that the scripture might be fulfilled. In verse 28-30, Jesus crying,
I thirst fulfill the scripture. Verse 31-37, the action of the
soldier in gambling or casting lots for the garment of our Lord
fulfilled to scripture a they did not break his leg for a leg
of him a bone of him shall not be broken and they pierced his
side rather than break his leg and blood and water came out
and that fulfilled Zachariah and chapter 12 and verse 10,
they shall look on him whom they have pierced. Isaiah 53, I think,
has to be one of the premier prophecies of Christ in all of
the Old Testament. and several times there Christ
is referenced and is applied unto him out of that prophecy. Such as verse 8, being violently
cut off. Verse 9, making his grave with
the wicked and the rich in his death. Verse 12, being numbered
with the transgressor. He was crucified between two
criminals, Mark 15, 27 through 28. With him they crucified two,
one on the right, the other on the left, and the scripture was
fulfilled which said he was numbered with the transgressor. John 19 and 18 simply calls them
to others. David Brown made a good point
calling their position of the Jew and of the way they crucified
the Lord in the middle, quote, a hellish expedient to hold him
up as the worst of the three, unquote. I think they put him
in the middle that the emphasis might be upon him as if he were
the worst of the lot. And yet the thing to notice is
It fulfilled the scripture. When he died, everything about
him fulfilled the scripture. Indeed, the law, the prophet,
the psalm foretold his way. The Lord goes as it is determined,
woe unto him by that man by whom he is betrayed. Now, in closing
this study, some applications regarding the many, many prophecies
concerning the Deliverer. which though promised as soon
as man fell, did not come as soon as man fell, but was delayed
until the end of the ages, Hebrews 9 and 26. He was purposed before the world.
And in that interval of time between the fall and his appearance,
many things were written over the century by inspired men concerning
him. He was set forth in types and
in shadow to keep alive the expectation of him and to prepare for his
appearance, and in their writings were particular descriptions
of this one. I lifted this quote from E. W. Hinckstenberg's book, The Christology
of the Old Testament. Quote, the chief object of the
prophecy was to prepare the way for Christ that when he should
come, he might be identified by a comparison with a prediction."
How wonderful. By comparison of the fulfillment
and the prediction. What was written was exactly
fulfilled in him. Now the Lord was very careful.
that all that he did matched the prediction and the prophecy. The apostles made the strong
connection between the prophecy and the fulfillment. He ordered
all circumstances as to make them harmonized with the prophecies
concerning him. Matthew 21 and 4 all this was
done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet
that described the triumphal entry into Jerusalem and John
came and prepared the way and And exactly and minutely every
scripture was fulfilled in the Lord. Yes, they are they which
testify of me. And this is wonderful for us
to find that the prediction or the fulfillment match. The prediction
and the fulfillment exactly match one the other. This is the Christ
beyond question. None other could do that. None
other could make all of these prophecies to meet in him. None
but Christ. He is the one.