The Old Testament does teach us about God. And God is the same throughout all time. So the Old Testament teaching about God is relevant to us now. Still, this approach does not yet do justice to what Jesus indicates in Luke 24—that the Old Testament is not just about God in general, but more specifically about Jesus’s suffering and glory. It points forward to the redemption that he accomplished in history, once and for all.

Why is it important to understand the Old Testament?

On two separate occasions, recorded in Luke 24, Jesus indicates that the Old Testament is about him. The first of these occurred as he encountered two disciples on the road to Emmaus:

And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. (Luke 24:25–27)

Later, he spoke in similar terms to a larger group of disciples:

Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third dayrise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” (Luke 24:44–47)

It is worth looking at these two passages more carefully, especially the second one. “The Scriptures” here are the Old Testament. The Jews of Jesus’s time recognized three major divisions in the Old Testament. The “Law of Moses” contains the first five books, Genesis through Deuteronomy. “The Prophets” includes both what the Jews call the “Former Prophets,” namely the historical books Joshua, Judges, 1–2 Samuel, and 1–2 Kings; and the “Latter Prophets,” the prophetical books Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Hosea through Malachi. The third division in the Jewish reckoning is “the Writings,” which is more miscellaneous and includes all the other books of the Jewish canon (Ruth, 1–2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Lamentations, and Daniel). The Psalms is the most prominent in this third group, “the Writings.” According to Jesus, all three groups testify to his suffering and his resurrection. In Luke 24:44–47, the phrase “Thus it is written” introduces a summary of the thrust of the whole Old Testament, that is, “the Scriptures” that existed at the time when Jesus spoke, the time before the composition of any New Testament books.¹

We may believe that what Jesus said is true, but still not see how it is true. How can it be that “the Scriptures” as a whole are about his suffering and his resurrection?

After Jesus spoke with the disciples on the road to Emmaus, they said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” (Luke 24:32). They saw the true meaning of the Old Testament, and they were transformed. But we were not there with them to hear what Jesus said.

Jesus, however, taught not only these two disciples, but, as we have seen, a larger group, during the time between his resurrection and his ascension (Luke 24:44–51; see also Acts 1:3). Among these people were some of the human authors of New Testament books. The New Testament was written by people inspired by the Holy Spirit. Jesus sent the Spirit to continue his teaching, and this includes teaching them the meaning of the Old Testament:

“I [Jesus] still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:12–15)

So through the New Testament we have instruction that enables us rightly to appreciate the Old Testament. And that appreciation means understanding how the Old Testament points to Christ.

The Old Testament Designed for Us

We should understand that God gave us the whole Bible for our instruction, not only the New Testament. Romans 15:4 says,

For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

Likewise 1 Corinthians 10 indicates the value of the record of Israel in the wilderness:

Now these things [written in the books of Moses] took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. (1 Cor. 10:6)

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