The Shadow of Christ - Part One

Long ago in Palestine two disciples of Jesus were walking along the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35). A stranger joined them. He asked them about the things they had been through, and they began to explain. They were heartbroken because the master and friend in whom they had put all their hopes was dead. But the stranger said some strange things to comfort them. Instead of sympathizing, He said, "How foolish you are, and how slow of hearet to believe all that the prophets have spoken!" (Luke 24:25). The disciples' real problem was not with a dead master but with themselves. They did not understand the Old Testament. And so the stranger helped them to understand. "Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself" (Luke 24:27). The stranger, of course, was Jesus Christ, the master Teacher of the Old Testament. What did Jesus tell those two disciples? We do not know the details. But we do know the heart of His teaching: "Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" (Luke 24:26).

Even before Jesus was finished, and even before He revealed who He was, a remarkable transformation began to take place in the hearts of the disciples. They said, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked to us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?" (Luke 24:32). The Old Testament Scriptures began to open up to them, and they were awed, amazed, and overwhelmed all at once.

Later on Jesus appeared to a larger group of His disciples. He continued teaching along the same lines:

"Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures (emphasis mine). He told them, 'This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high." (Luke 24:45-49)

Christ enabled the disciples to understand not merely the implications of a few passages of the Old Testament, but "the Scriptures"--the whole Old Testament. What do these Scriptures really say? Christ introduces His explanation with the words, "This is what is written" (Luke 24:46). That is He promises to give them the substance and heart of what is written in the Old Testament. What He says next contains His answer: "The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem" (Luke 24:46-47).

The whole Old Testament fiinds its focus in Jesus Christ, His death, and His resurrection. The Apostle Paul says the same thing in different words: "For no matter how many promises God has made, they are 'Yes' in Christ. And so through him the 'Amen' is spoken by us to the glory of God" (2 Corinthians 1:20). "These things [in the Old Testament] happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come" (1 Corinthians 10:11). Jesus says, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished" (Matthew 5:17-18).

Vern S. Poythress - The Shadow of Christ in the Law of Moses

When we fail to recognize the how's, when's, what's and to what extents of Christ in the Old Testament, we are in danger of viewing everything in the law as "what I must do because it is right" which is a falsehood in its fundamental foundation. Scripture is explicit in saying we can do nothing that will gain God's favor; absolutely nothing.

Yes, Scripture also says that the doing of the law is healthy and right, but if our fundamental motivation to do the law is because it is right, then how does the doing make us more Justified? Or how does the doing produce Sanctification?

The doing does not do either.

continued...