25 Observations on Luke 24:25-27
1. Ignorance of the Scriptures produces a confused picture of Jesus Christ. (The men were saddened because of the death of Christ when they should have been praising God that the Messiah had come and been raised from the dead!)
2. Sincerity does not take the place of truth. (These men seemed to be sincere in their love for Jesus, but they are rebuked as fools because they were unable to perceive Christ in the Old Testament.)
3. We should see Christ when we read and preach the Prophets. (Jesus interprets the prophets to be ultimately about Him…why should our sermons from this genre of Scripture be any different?)
4. From the Old Testament we see that it was necessary for Christ to suffer and die…this suffering is to precede His glorification. (Jesus says that it was necessary for this suffering to happen; as if these men should have been expecting it. The only way they could have know would have been to perceive it from the Scriptures…Isaiah 52,53)
5. We should preach the whole counsel of God. (This means that we are not limited to preaching from the New Testament or Paul’s Epistles. We can preach the Gospel from Obadiah, Jeremiah and Leviticus. After all Jesus showed them the things concerning Him in all of the Scriptures…We must preach all of God’s Word to God’s people).
6. The death of Christ was not a surprise in God’s redemptive plan…it was and is necessary. (The emphasis here is different from 4 because I am pointing out the necessity of Christ’s death on the cross in order to be the true Messiah; as opposed to the lack of knowledge on the part of the two men).
7. According to Jesus, there is a right way and a wrong way to understand the Old Testament. (He had to interpret the Old Testament correctly for these two men; this speaks to Biblical interpretation today…)
8. Jesus must indeed be bodily resurrected to be walking (7 miles) and talking with these men. (Those against the bodily resurrection would try to explain this as a vision by the two men…seems far-fetched to me.)
9. Explanation of Scripture is vital to our understanding of Scripture. (This should happen in every sermon…we should take seriously the interpretation of the Bible).
10. Even amidst the recent events (death, burial and resurrection of Christ) these men were unbelieving. (How much more are we immersed in a society of unbelief thousands of years removed from these events? We must give ourselves to God’s revelation: His Word)
11. Jesus not only accuses the men of ignorance of the Scriptures, but a lack of belief in what Moses and the prophets have spoken. (Knowledge does not necessarily produce belief…the men were lacking in faith).
12. There are no “obscure” or “insignificant” portions of Scripture. (We should speak about hard texts as those that are yet to be made clear to us; but we must never communicate unimportance, as some today have because Christ says that “all of the Scriptures are concerning Him”).
13. Logically, if we want to know Christ more, we should be involved in a church with a preaching ministry that “explains the things concerning Him in all the Scriptures.” (Christians are not gifted with the knowledge of Christ in all Scripture at salvation. We must sit under expositional preaching year after year and pray that the Holy Spirit would revel Christ to us.)
14. If we are called to teach God’s people, we should teach them “the things concerning Him in all the Scriptures.” (i.e. Regular, faithful, expositional preaching as opposed to the latest fads, what happened to us that week, clever stories that make others think or our own ideas of how life should work...)
15. Jesus expects those who read the Scriptures to know the things of God. (We are not merely reading so that we don’t feel guilty; we are reading to learn about the things of God. Therefore we should not “check off” Bible reading each day, but meditate on the text until we see Christ).
16. We should see Christ when we read and preach the Pentateuch. (Jesus shows these men Himself in the writings of Moses! This puts a whole new light on Leviticus and Numbers…we are searching for Christ in the pages of the Pentateuch).
17. Experiences do not produce a lasting faith. We must interpret the experiences that we have through the lenses of Scripture. (The men totally misunderstood the concept of Jesus’ coming UNTIL their minds were open to the Scriptures. They had the experience of the events in Jerusalem at the time…but not the knowledge that comes from the Scriptures…through the grace of Jesus Himself.)
18. The ultimate purpose of all Scripture is to clearly and effectively point to Christ. (When we use Scripture for other reasons we deviate from its fundamental purpose.)
19. Jesus points the men to Scripture before revealing Himself. (Jesus could have solved the whole issue by simply revealing who He was at the beginning of this walk. He does not…verse 16 tells us that their eyes were prevented from seeing Him. In other words, we do not need to be on the road to Emmaus to have Jesus revealed to us…He can be found in our Bibles).
20. Without divine intervention, we cannot understand the Scriptures. (No, we don’t all need to walk with Jesus down the block to be saved, but we do need Jesus to open our minds to the Word of God. Without divine intervention, we will come away from the Bible empty handed.)
21. The heart is a more significant weapon than the mind in Biblical Hermeneutics. (Jesus does call the men foolish, but he exposes their heart’s slowness of belief as a reason for confusion. We must come to the Bible and say “I’m going to believe every word…and I’m going to pray to see Christ in every word”…if we don’t we will be fools as well.)
22. God has revealed Himself through a book. (We cannot know God unless we know the book. He does not seem to have sympathy with ignorance. He expects His people to be saturated with His written revelation. There is no way to get around reading the Bible to know God more. Therefore, reading should be upheld as one of the greatest gifts to have been bestowed upon human beings. God revealed Himself in a manner in which we can understand and even communicate with Him!)
23. Jesus has mercy on foolish and unbelieving people. (Jesus was not obligated to walk with these men and open their minds. He obviously was not limited to roads for travel…he could walk through walls and appear and disappear at will. He showed unparalleled mercy to these men, instead of leaving them in their confusion. This should be our prayer…that Christ would not leave us in confusion, but illuminate our minds to His Word.)
24. We cannot claim to know Christ if we are ignorant of His Word. (These two men are in fact talking to Jesus and they don’t even know it. People who claim to be Christians that cannot articulate the gospel or the things of Christ found in the Scriptures are foolish. Jesus could walk right by them on the road home and they might not even know it.)
25. If Jesus Himself says that the Old Testament is Messianic, we too should view it and read it as a Messianic Document. (We must never sever the links between the O.T. and Messiah Jesus. To do so, is to take God away from the Old Testament…)
2. Sincerity does not take the place of truth. (These men seemed to be sincere in their love for Jesus, but they are rebuked as fools because they were unable to perceive Christ in the Old Testament.)
3. We should see Christ when we read and preach the Prophets. (Jesus interprets the prophets to be ultimately about Him…why should our sermons from this genre of Scripture be any different?)
4. From the Old Testament we see that it was necessary for Christ to suffer and die…this suffering is to precede His glorification. (Jesus says that it was necessary for this suffering to happen; as if these men should have been expecting it. The only way they could have know would have been to perceive it from the Scriptures…Isaiah 52,53)
5. We should preach the whole counsel of God. (This means that we are not limited to preaching from the New Testament or Paul’s Epistles. We can preach the Gospel from Obadiah, Jeremiah and Leviticus. After all Jesus showed them the things concerning Him in all of the Scriptures…We must preach all of God’s Word to God’s people).
6. The death of Christ was not a surprise in God’s redemptive plan…it was and is necessary. (The emphasis here is different from 4 because I am pointing out the necessity of Christ’s death on the cross in order to be the true Messiah; as opposed to the lack of knowledge on the part of the two men).
7. According to Jesus, there is a right way and a wrong way to understand the Old Testament. (He had to interpret the Old Testament correctly for these two men; this speaks to Biblical interpretation today…)
8. Jesus must indeed be bodily resurrected to be walking (7 miles) and talking with these men. (Those against the bodily resurrection would try to explain this as a vision by the two men…seems far-fetched to me.)
9. Explanation of Scripture is vital to our understanding of Scripture. (This should happen in every sermon…we should take seriously the interpretation of the Bible).
10. Even amidst the recent events (death, burial and resurrection of Christ) these men were unbelieving. (How much more are we immersed in a society of unbelief thousands of years removed from these events? We must give ourselves to God’s revelation: His Word)
11. Jesus not only accuses the men of ignorance of the Scriptures, but a lack of belief in what Moses and the prophets have spoken. (Knowledge does not necessarily produce belief…the men were lacking in faith).
12. There are no “obscure” or “insignificant” portions of Scripture. (We should speak about hard texts as those that are yet to be made clear to us; but we must never communicate unimportance, as some today have because Christ says that “all of the Scriptures are concerning Him”).
13. Logically, if we want to know Christ more, we should be involved in a church with a preaching ministry that “explains the things concerning Him in all the Scriptures.” (Christians are not gifted with the knowledge of Christ in all Scripture at salvation. We must sit under expositional preaching year after year and pray that the Holy Spirit would revel Christ to us.)
14. If we are called to teach God’s people, we should teach them “the things concerning Him in all the Scriptures.” (i.e. Regular, faithful, expositional preaching as opposed to the latest fads, what happened to us that week, clever stories that make others think or our own ideas of how life should work...)
15. Jesus expects those who read the Scriptures to know the things of God. (We are not merely reading so that we don’t feel guilty; we are reading to learn about the things of God. Therefore we should not “check off” Bible reading each day, but meditate on the text until we see Christ).
16. We should see Christ when we read and preach the Pentateuch. (Jesus shows these men Himself in the writings of Moses! This puts a whole new light on Leviticus and Numbers…we are searching for Christ in the pages of the Pentateuch).
17. Experiences do not produce a lasting faith. We must interpret the experiences that we have through the lenses of Scripture. (The men totally misunderstood the concept of Jesus’ coming UNTIL their minds were open to the Scriptures. They had the experience of the events in Jerusalem at the time…but not the knowledge that comes from the Scriptures…through the grace of Jesus Himself.)
18. The ultimate purpose of all Scripture is to clearly and effectively point to Christ. (When we use Scripture for other reasons we deviate from its fundamental purpose.)
19. Jesus points the men to Scripture before revealing Himself. (Jesus could have solved the whole issue by simply revealing who He was at the beginning of this walk. He does not…verse 16 tells us that their eyes were prevented from seeing Him. In other words, we do not need to be on the road to Emmaus to have Jesus revealed to us…He can be found in our Bibles).
20. Without divine intervention, we cannot understand the Scriptures. (No, we don’t all need to walk with Jesus down the block to be saved, but we do need Jesus to open our minds to the Word of God. Without divine intervention, we will come away from the Bible empty handed.)
21. The heart is a more significant weapon than the mind in Biblical Hermeneutics. (Jesus does call the men foolish, but he exposes their heart’s slowness of belief as a reason for confusion. We must come to the Bible and say “I’m going to believe every word…and I’m going to pray to see Christ in every word”…if we don’t we will be fools as well.)
22. God has revealed Himself through a book. (We cannot know God unless we know the book. He does not seem to have sympathy with ignorance. He expects His people to be saturated with His written revelation. There is no way to get around reading the Bible to know God more. Therefore, reading should be upheld as one of the greatest gifts to have been bestowed upon human beings. God revealed Himself in a manner in which we can understand and even communicate with Him!)
23. Jesus has mercy on foolish and unbelieving people. (Jesus was not obligated to walk with these men and open their minds. He obviously was not limited to roads for travel…he could walk through walls and appear and disappear at will. He showed unparalleled mercy to these men, instead of leaving them in their confusion. This should be our prayer…that Christ would not leave us in confusion, but illuminate our minds to His Word.)
24. We cannot claim to know Christ if we are ignorant of His Word. (These two men are in fact talking to Jesus and they don’t even know it. People who claim to be Christians that cannot articulate the gospel or the things of Christ found in the Scriptures are foolish. Jesus could walk right by them on the road home and they might not even know it.)
25. If Jesus Himself says that the Old Testament is Messianic, we too should view it and read it as a Messianic Document. (We must never sever the links between the O.T. and Messiah Jesus. To do so, is to take God away from the Old Testament…)
I love Luke, it's one of my favorite books. College is good, still searching for a Church, but my bible will help me out until I find a good one. You did a really good job on this blog.
lots of love
~Jennifer
Posted by
Anonymous |
8:23 PM
TBC-
I love your blogs because they are full of biblical truth. Thanks for the emphasis on why and how to teach the whole counsel of God. Let us always see Messiah Jesus!
It's good to be back at school with you.
William
Posted by
billy newhouse |
7:16 AM
In #'s 9,13,14&22, who is authorized to interpret the Bible, in your opinion?
Posted by
Anonymous |
7:23 PM
Dear Anonymous,
First of all, I apologize for my lateness in response. I think you raise a very good question. Let me affirm several things:
1. I believe that every believer has the Holy Spirit inside of him/her. We do not need a priest or pope to tell us what the Bible says. (This would be an affirmation of the priesthood of the believer)
2. The priesthood of the believer does NOT give license for us to say things like "here is what this text means to me." It is not a license to endorse malicious renderings of the Biblical text. I believe their is "1" meaning for every text. I also believe there are many applications for that meaning.
3. Therefore, (based on 1 and 2), Christians should rely on the Holy Spirit to help them interpret the Bible. Christians should listen and learn from their pastors, and the church fathers who have gone before them to see how the same Scriptures were taught and believed (but these latter sources are falliable).
4. We should have the attitude of the Bereans. Acts 17:11 "Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so." Not even the Apostle Paul had the right to say things apart from the Scriptures. 5. The danger is when Scripture after Scripture affirms an idea, we must submit to the Word of God. It is the ultimate authority, not our gut feelings or knee-jerk reactions. In other words we should not say "I know it says that, but it can't really be meaning what it it's saying...there must be another interpretation." This is a very dangerous slope to slip down upon!
Hope this helps! Keep reading and exulting in the Word!
TBC
Posted by
Travis Cardwell |
1:19 PM
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