Bible Reading Plans
- Plan One: New Testament Only
- Plan Two: New Testament + Psalms
- Plan Three: New Testament + History
- Plan Four: The Entire Bible – Year 1 of 3, Year 2 of 3, Year 3 of 3
Don’t know which plan? Go to A Christ-Centered Bible Reading Plan: Quick Start.
Extras
Verse of the Day, Audio Capsule, and Video Minute
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(Book Installment)
Finding Jesus in the Old Testament
Chapter 1: Who First Found Jesus in the Old Testament?
(continued)
What the Apostles Did with Jesus’ Idea
The apostles fully embraced the idea Jesus gave them – the idea that Jesus could be found in the Old Testament. They not only proclaimed that idea, they demonstrated that it was a central aspect of their message. Consider the way Paul wrote of Jesus’ resurrection – the very foundation of the gospel.
1 Cor 15:1 Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand,
1 Cor 15:2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.
1 Cor 15:3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
1 Cor 15:4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
1 Cor 15:5 and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
Notice that there are two aspects to the apostles’ gospel: 1) the miracle, and 2) the documentation of it – the prior documentation! The resurrection of Jesus from the dead was never proclaimed as an isolated supernatural phenomenon. It was always proclaimed as a miracle God had been promising for a long time. Therefore, “According to the Scriptures” was as central to the gospel as “He was raised.”
What Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15 is fully consistent with the way he conducted his ministry. Consider how Luke described the apostle’s custom:
Acts 17:1 Now when they had traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.
Acts 17:2 And according to Paul’s custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures,
Acts 17:3 explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ.”
Paul wasn’t reasoning from an autopsy report; he was reasoning from the Old Testament! (Of course, they weren’t calling it that back then; that naming would come when the New Testament was assembled after the apostles’ generation had passed away.)
The next city after Thessalonica where Paul went preaching was Berea. And there he followed the same pattern: 1) proclaiming the resurrection 2) according to the Scriptures.
Acts 17:10 The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews.
Acts 17:11 Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.
Paul was by no means unique among the apostles in this focus. Consider how Peter was making the same point in his preaching. This excerpt comes from a message he preached in the earliest days of apostolic preaching:
Acts 3:22 “Moses said, ‘THE LORD GOD WILL RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME FROM YOUR BRETHREN; TO HIM YOU SHALL GIVE HEED to everything He says to you.
Acts 3:23 ‘And it will be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’
Acts 3:24 “And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and his successors onward, also announced these days.
Acts 3:25 “It is you who are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘AND IN YOUR SEED ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH SHALL BE BLESSED.’
Acts 3:26 “For you first, God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”
When Peter references Moses and the Prophets, he is making the exact same point Paul was making when he said “according to the Scriptures.”
Consider also what Peter wrote in his first letter:
1 Pet 1:10 As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries,
1 Pet 1:11 seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.
1 Pet 1:12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven–things into which angels long to look.
The apostles spoke in their own personalities and sometimes used different words, but they were always making the same point. I could show you much more along these lines from the New Testament, but let the prime examples of Peter and Paul demonstrate to you clearly and emphatically how fully the apostles embraced Jesus’ teaching that finding Him in the Old Testament was not only possible, it was essential to understanding the good news (the gospel). That gospel was not just that God can do incredible things – but that He keeps His promises!
The Duty of a Man 