things concerning himself

And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

Luke 24:27

I imagine this was quite a sermon! How great it would be to hear Jesus explain every Old Testament text about... Jesus! The scriptures tell His story, because the Bible is meant to bring us to the gospel. Jesus is the Word of God made flesh, and the Word of God written faithfully and flawlessly points to Him. He is the plot thread that ties together all the sub-plots and various seemingly disconnected stories found in thousands of years of collected literature that we call the Bible. And Jesus is what puts the Holy in our Holy Bible. He is the grand theme whose redemptive work is celebrated, foretold, and anticipated in every sub-theme of God’s Book.

The Bible is the Book of Jesus, then. And as Jesus read it, He pointed out that the Scriptures tell His story. They give clarity to the cross, compelling us in our belief because so many generations before Jesus was born, God was making His salvation ready and known. And the gospel story is the culmination of the biblical narrative. Jesus makes all of scripture focused upon Him.

When I read anywhere in the text of scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, I must be sure to remember where each book, each story, each song, each prophecy will point to Jesus and the gospel message of salvation by faith in His atoning sacrifice and life-giving resurrection. It’s all there. Jesus preached it to stunned disciples on the road to Emmaeus. We can search those same scriptures today, and with the Holy Spirit’s work in us, and committed to a simple, clear, sensible, normal, grammatical, historical reading of the text... we will find Jesus too!