Gospels Part 025
Before we actually begin reading the Gospels themselves, we need grasp some crucial background points to better understand what we’ll be reading.
One key point is brought out near the very end of the Gospels, after Jesus Christ had been crucified and raised from the dead. On the day He was resurrected, He appeared to two of His followers as they walked from Jerusalem to the nearby town of Emmaus. But His identity was hidden from them. We’ll pick up the story in Luke 24:13:
“That same day two of Jesus’ followers were walking to the village of Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem. As they walked along they were talking about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things, Jesus himself suddenly came and began walking with them. But God kept them from recognizing him” (verses 13-16, New Living Translation).
Jesus, noting their demeanor, asked them why they were sad. They replied that the chief priests and rulers had conspired to have their Rabbi and Master, Jesus of Nazareth, “a prophet who did powerful miracles,” condemned and crucified. “We had hoped he was the Messiah who had come to rescue Israel,” they explained (verses 19-21, NLT). No wonder they were sad and upset—the One they thought was the promised Messiah had been brutally executed as a criminal!
But in a bizarre twist, some of the women they knew who followers of this Rabbi were also went to His burial tomb and reported that His body was missing. And further, they reported they had seen angels who told them He was actually alive again!
What were they to make of these strange events?
“The writings of Moses and all the prophets”
They were no doubt surprised when Jesus—His identity still unknown to them—gently chided them: “'You foolish people! You find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures. Wasn’t it clearly predicted that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his glory?' Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (verses 25-27, NLT, emphasis added throughout).
This was a remarkable event in many ways. But what’s most relevant to us for this discussion is Jesus’ statement that “the writings of Moses and all the prophets” contained many things proving that He was indeed the promised Messiah and that events had to happen this way!
We have previously covered some aspects of this in our commentary on the books of the Hebrew Scriptures, commonly called the Old Testament. But the fact is, the story of Jesus Christ is interwoven throughout the Bible from beginning to end. As noted Bible scholar John Walvoord stated in his 2016 book "Every Prophecy About Jesus,"
“Each book of Scripture—from Genesis to Revelation, in the Old Testament and New Testament—can be thought of like a part of a map that points to one man: the Messiah” (p. 15).
Jesus knew what He was talking about when He told those two disciples on the road to Emmaus that “the writings of Moses and all the prophets” contained many things proving He was indeed exactly who He claimed to be, the promised Messiah!
John 5:39 records a similar statement by Jesus, where He told the inhabitants of Jerusalem:
“You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me!” (NLT).
The story of Jesus the Messiah shows up literally from the opening verse of Genesis to the last verse of Malachi, the last of the biblical prophets. We’ll see this demonstrated again and again as we explore the Gospels in depth.
© Scott Ashley, 2025. All rights reserved.
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Scott Ashley
Scott Ashley was managing editor of Beyond Today magazine, United Church of God booklets and its printed Bible Study Course until his retirement in 2023. He also pastored three congregations in Colorado for 10 years from 2011-2021. He and his wife, Connie, live near Denver, Colorado.
Mr. Ashley attended Ambassador College in Big Sandy, Texas, graduating in 1976 with a theology major and minors in journalism and speech. It was there that he first became interested in publishing, an industry in which he worked for 50 years.
During his career, he has worked for several publishing companies in various capacities. He was employed by the United Church of God from 1995-2023, overseeing the planning, writing, editing, reviewing and production of Beyond Today magazine, several dozen booklets/study guides and a Bible study course covering major biblical teachings. His special interests are the Bible, archaeology, biblical culture, history and the Middle East.
