A Personal Explanation

"And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in the Scriptures."

Luke 24:27

Two of Jesus’ disciples were walking along the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus grieving that the One who they thought would be their Savior had been killed. They had heard reliable reports that He had risen but really didn’t know what to believe. Jesus, in one of His appearances after His resurrection, approached them. But note that their eyes were supernaturally blinded so that they did not recognize Him. After allowing them to explain their current mindset, He began to explain the Scriptures to them. We should be reminded that, in this situation, the Scriptures just included the Old Testament because the New Testament had not been written yet.

A couple of thoughts come to my mind as I read this story. First, the Old Testament is an important and vital part of God’s Word. We should study it as diligently as we do the New Testament. It is important that we understand the Bible as a whole as God unfolds His plan for mankind.

The other is what a privilege these two disciples had as Jesus explained the Scriptures to them. Notice their later reaction "Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us? (v. 32). It causes me to give God thanks that we have the entirety of Scripture preserved for us and we also have the Holy Spirit residing within us to give us understanding.

We must guard against allowing the Bible to become a dry textbook that we are required to study because we are Christians. We should approach it seeking to understand God’s will for our lives. Hebrews 4:12 tells us that "the Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and intentions of the heart."

I pray that you will value God’s Word and love to spend time in it, because through the study of it you will learn God’s will for your life and the practical day to day guidance you need to fulfill His plan for you.