While the disciples walked down the road to Emmaus alongside Jesus in His resurrected body, their hearts burned within them as He opened their eyes and opened the Scriptures.[1] During their encounter, we read one of the most thrilling statements in the Bible: “Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.”[2] Jesus journeyed back through the prophetic books and pointed to all the things that were ultimately pointing to Him!
Jesus’ birth, life, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension all happened in accordance with the Scriptures.[3] All of these events were written about before they took place. Staying true to Amos’ prophetic declaration, God foretold everything about His Son beforehand through His servants, the prophets.[4] Because of the accuracy of these fulfilled Biblical prophecies, we can have assurance that the things the Bible predicts which haven’t yet happened, will happen just as the Word says they will. This is especially important as we engage with what Jesus taught regarding the Great Commission and His second coming.
When Jesus’ disciples came to Him on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, they asked Him what will be the signs of His coming and the end of this age.[5] Along with a warning to the disciples not to be lead astray, He also provided for them—and for us—an indication of the order of events leading to the end of this age.
“And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”[6]
We know from this passage that Jesus will oversee the completion of the Great Commission before this age comes to an end. This marvelous insight into the outcome of our task provides immense reassurance that success in this endeavor is inevitable.
By reading through the Biblical prophecies that have been fulfilled in history, we are filled with confidence to engage with the prophecies that have yet to be fulfilled. So let’s continue to see what God has revealed through His prophets regarding His Son.
The book of Hebrews begins by acknowledging how God formerly spoke through the prophets and how He now speaks through His very Son.[7] It continues by quoting a number of explicitly Messianic prophesies recorded long before Jesus’ birth (some of which are featured below). Now, I imagine these were some of Jesus’ go-to verses while He was walking down the road to Emmaus.
“You are my Son, today I have begotten You… Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.”[8]
“I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son.”[9]
“Let all God's angels worship Him.”[10]
“You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of Your hands; they will perish, but You remain.”[11]
“Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”[12]
Okay, if that didn’t get your motor running, have a look at this passage in Jude. Note who the author credits for saving Israel out of Egyptian slavery:
“Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.”[13]
Jesus, hundreds of years before He was born, is credited with delivering Israel from the Iron Furnace of Egypt!
And how about the account of Abraham offering His son as a burnt offering to the Lord. As the father and son approached the alter, Isaac asked his father where the lamb is. Abraham responds with a declaration that the Lord will provide the Lamb!
“Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.”[14]
A few verses later, after this son was spared, Abraham looks up and sees a ram (not a lamb), caught in the ticket.
“And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”[15]
This was no typo. Abraham was prophesying of the coming Lamb of God who would ultimately take away the sins of the world!
“The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”[16]
And here is yet another incredible account of Jesus being credited for something that occurred long before His physical birth.
“By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.”[17]
Amazing! But what do we do with these incredible insights provided by Jesus’ interactions with the disciples?
Something we have learned from our brothers and sisters in the Iranian church is how to obey what we read in the Word. So how should we respond to what Jesus revealed to His disciples on the road? What action can we take in light of what we’ve just discovered (or rediscovered) about our Lord? How can we better obey Him because of this?
Phillip models well one of the things we can do. While talking with the Ethiopian official, it’s recorded that Phillip, “Beginning with this Scripture… told him the good news about Jesus.”[18] I imagine Phillip probably felt a little how Jesus did on the road to Emmaus: “Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.”[19]
To follow in Phillip’s footsteps, one actionable thing we can take away is that we can share these fascinating revelations with others who don’t yet know them. We can show people all the things in the Scriptures concerning Jesus. So let’s take action and ask the Lord to lead us to people who will be receptive to us and open to hearing His good news!
Let’s be people who, because of our confidence in Biblical prophecy, stare into the daunting reality of the Great Commission and decide to step into it anyways, knowing that Jesus will be with us, even to the end of this age!
“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”[20]
If we are going to be faithful to the call, we need our own Emmaus Road encounter.
Jordan Scott lives in the Muslim world with his wife and children. He is the host of THE WAY podcast and author of A Call to Compel: The Simplicity, Urgency, and Joy of Making Disciples, available now from FAI Publishing. Jordan can be reached by email at jordan@faimission.org.
[1] Luke 24:13-27
[2] Luke 24:27
[3] 1 Corinthians 15:3-4
[4] Amos 3:7
[5] Matthew 24:3
[6] Matthew 24:14
[7] Hebrews 1:1-2
[8] Psalm 2:7,12
[9] 2 Samuel 7:14
[10] Deuteronomy 32:43
[11] Psalm 102:25-27
[12] Psalm 110:1
[13] Jude 1:5
[14] Genesis 22:7-8
[15] Genesis 22:13-14
[16] John 1:29
[17] Hebrews 11:24-26
[18] Acts 8:32-35
[19] Luke 24:27
[20] Matthew 28:18-19
