In this post I’ll be briefly looking back from Emmaus into the Old Testament. The Emmaus account is one of my favorite New Testament interludes.
In Luke 24:13-32 we read that after Christ’s crucifixion two disciples are walking despondently back to their home in Emmaus. As they walk along a mysterious figure (Christ) joins them. He asks them what things they are talking about.
The disciples’ response is that they had a series of expectations which they felt Christ was to have met. Crucifixion was, apparently, an unexpected spanner in the works. During the rest of their journey home they were treated to a lesson in history from the very person Moses and the prophets spoke of….
And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures. Luke 24:25-27
Note that Jesus reprimanded these disciples for not understanding what Moses and the prophets wrote about Him.
There are three things I ought to say from the outset. One is that I’m the wrong person to write on this subject. That said; I’ll be drawing from qualified sources. Two is that there isn’t enough space in a blog post to do this massive subject any justice. I can only touch on a few brief points.
I’ll treat number three on its own. During my experience in the New Age I witnessed “teachers” and “gurus” appropriate and re-imagine Christ for their own ends. They cherry picked homilies from the New Testament, yet ignored Christ’s testimony that He is found within the Old Testament. Their Jesus and the biblical Jesus are not the same.
Arguably, the first Messianic hint comes from what’s referred to as the proto-evangelium. Among scholars who consider Gen 3:15 to be a Messianic passage we find Walter Kaiser, John Sailhamer, Michael Rydelnik and E. W. Hengstenberg etc. See David Pettus’ article Reading a Protoevangelium in the Context of Genesis
…will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel. Gen 3:15
There are other areas in Genesis which pre-figure Christ, but we’ll skip to chapter 22. For more information on these places, see Walter Kaiser’s book “The Messiah in the Old Testament.”
The idea of Substitutionary Atonement is seen in Genesis 22. Abraham is charged by God to sacrifice his only son as a test of faith. Abraham obeys – yet at the last moment God provides a ram as a replacement. This prefigures Christ’s substitutionary work on the cross (see Isaiah 53:4-6; John 1:29; 2 Cor 5:21).
The next major location where we find an obvious pre-figurative substitutionary event is in Exodus chapter 12. God used ten plagues to punish the Egyptians and to break Egypt’s hold over Israel. The final plague was a mass slaying of the firstborn of each family. The Lord made provision for and spared the Israelite families who sacrificed a spotless lamb and sprinkled its blood on their door frames.
But it wasn’t the sacrifice of a spotless lamb that ultimately satisfied God’s wrath. Those sacrifices could not accomplish anything on their own. Instead, they pointed ahead to God’s ultimate provision, when He would supply the true Passover Lamb in the sacrifice of His Son. (Emphasis mine)
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live.” And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived. Num 21:8-9
Again, this was a clear typological example of Jesus Christ’s work on the cross. How could one miss the connection? Christ affirms this to be the case in the New Testament:
As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. John 3:14-15
There was the Sign of Jonah. According to GotQuestions:
The phrase “sign of Jonah” was used by Jesus as a typological metaphor for His future crucifixion, burial, and resurrection. Jesus answered with this expression when asked by the Pharisees for miraculous proof the He was indeed the Messiah. (Matthew 12:38-41)
There are parallels between Jonah, the people of Nineveh, Jesus and the scribes and Pharisees. For a more in-depth account, read the GotQuestions article.
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Mat 27:46
There are the Messianic Psalms. Perhaps the most obvious is Psalm 22 which Christ refers to while hanging on the cross (Matt 27:46-47). See this Grace to You article for more on this connection.
I’ve barely skimmed the surface. But given limited space I want to just end with noting Isaiah chapter 53. In fact the account of the Suffering Servant actually begins at Isaiah 52:13-15.
Behold, my servant will prosper, He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted. Just as many were astonished at you, my people, so His appearance was marred more than any man And His form more than the sons of men. Thus He will sprinkle many nations; Kings will shut their mouths on account of Him…
But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. Isaiah 53:5
See Precept Austin for several commentaries on Isaiah 53. I also recommend John MacArthur’s The Astonishing Servant of Jehovah.
Among many good articles I recommend the following: Living Waters Astounding Prophecies and Jews for Jesus Top 40 Most Helpful Messianic Prophecies.
As for books on the subject, I recommend the following: Michael Rydelnik’s The Messianic Hope – Is the Hebrew Bible Really Messianic? Walter Kaiser’s, The Messiah in the Old Testament. Herbert Lockyer’s All the Messianic Prophecies of the Bible.
A great treatment of Emmaus is David Limbaugh’s book The Emmaus Code. It’s written by a layman for laymen like me. Yet it has received deserved accolades for its depth and extensive bibliography.
Jesus Christ can be found in many books of the books within the Old Testament. He literally fulfilled many prophecies. This attests to God’s infallible Word.
Unfortunately, you and I weren’t present during that walking sermon Jesus preached to the two disciples on that seven mile journey. Yet we are lucky that scholars have given us glimpses into the details Jesus would have covered.
Maranatha!
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