Sola Scriptura: The Whole of Scripture Gives Us the Whole of Jesus

Transcript

Well, beloved, today we continue our Advent series titled Post Tenebras Lux, or for the English-speaking among us, Light After Darkness. I know there’s a bunch of kids in here that are studying Latin, and they’re like, I know that. Today we get to look at sola scriptura, scripture alone. The Bible, my dear friends, is sufficient to give us all that we need to know about God, all that we need to know about salvation, and all that we need to know about how the Christian life is to be lived. Amen? That’s sola scriptura.

So far in our series, we’ve covered sola gratia, grace alone, we’ve covered soli deo gloria, to God alone be the glory. We’re saved by grace, we’re saved by grace alone, grace plus nothing. It’s not because of anything we’ve done, it’s a free gift from a kind and a gracious God. And our salvation is to the glory of God. The whole of who we are, the whole of our lives, as a matter of fact, is meant to be lived for God’s glory. Sola scriptura then brings us another distinctive of the Protestant Reformation, but really it’s a distinctive of the Christian life as a whole, and this distinctive speaks to the question of authority. What is the source of authority for the Christian? Is it something like the authority of a pope? Is it something like the authority of church tradition that might be seen as sacred church tradition?

Well, the Protestant Reformers emphatically and resoundingly said, no. Rather, the Christian is to understand that it is the scriptures, because they are the very words of God. Second Timothy 3.16 says they are God-breathed. It’s the scriptures that are ultimately authoritative and instructive and lasting and truly powerful. And therefore, any Christian authority that is contrary to the word of God is to be rejected outright. This sola was foundational to the Protestant Reformation and prompted the Reformers to not only analyze the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church through the lens of scripture, but also to see the absolute necessity of Christians being able to access the Bible in their own language. Not to be told something from the Bible, but to be able to open their Bibles and read it in their very own languages. And so it is out of sola scriptura that we get the teachings of sola fide, faith alone.

Sola gratia, grace alone. Solus Christus, or solo Christo, Christ alone, and soli Deo gloria, to God alone be the glory. The Christian, my dear friends, is to have his or her focus on the scriptures. They are to accept salvation by grace through faith, to exalt Christ and magnify him in the whole of their lives, and to live for God’s glory alone. That’s what we’re looking at. And so this Christmas season, to help us set our gaze on the Messiah who came to save his people from their sins, I wanted us to consider a portion of scripture that we don’t normally turn to during Advent, but I believe connects the coming of the promised Messiah with the power and beauty of the sufficiency and trustworthiness of the Bible. And so to scripture we go. Please turn in your Bibles to Luke chapter 24. Luke chapter 24 will be starting at verse 13

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The Road to Emmaus

and going through to the end of the chapter. And as we turn there, I wanted to throw a couple of questions your way, give you something to consider. What do you suppose it would take for people to have full faith in Jesus? Like, no questions, no doubts. To accept him as Lord and Savior, to repent of their sins, to turn from them and follow him. What does it take? Do you suppose that it would be seeing him in the flesh?

Do you suppose it would be hearing him teach and hearing that teaching which was described as a teaching with authority and not like the scribes and the Pharisees? Would it be maybe to see him perform miracles? Would it maybe to be there while he heals a person that has been paralyzed their whole life, while he turns water into wine, while he speaks peace to a hurricane?

Maybe it would be to at least just be close to or come in contact with people that knew him, that knew his family, who could attest to the virgin birth, who could say, I know Mary, I know the whole story, I was there. Maybe it would be to be able to talk to somebody that can point to the fact that I’ve watched this guy his whole life, he has never sinned.

Maybe it would be to watch him do supernatural things that are utterly inexplicable in human terms, that science can’t explain away, that defy nature, that defy our way of how the world should work. Maybe that’s what it would take. Well, if you believe any one of these things is what it would take or any combination of these things for that matter is what it would take for a person to believe in Jesus, I’d like to remind you of the fact that there is a whole lot of people who not only witnessed these things during the life and the ministry of Jesus, but they also personally experienced his miracles, his healing. And yet, when push came to shove, they abandoned him. They wanted nothing to do with him. They went on with living their lives and they didn’t find their way back to him after the initial shock and amazement

of the miracle wore off. So maybe it’s something altogether different that needs to happen in a person’s life in order for them to embrace Jesus and see him as he truly is. Look with me to Luke 24, beginning from verse 13.

That very day, two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. And they were talking with each other about all the things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, what is this conversation that you’re holding with each other as you walk? And they stood still, looking sad. And one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?

— Luke 24

(ESV)

And he said to them, what things? And they said to him, concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet, mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we’d hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, on the third day since these things happened, moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said,

but they did not see, but him they did not see.

And he said to them, oh, 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. So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he was going further, but they urged him strongly saying, stay with us, for it is toward the evening and the day is now far spent. So he went in to stay with them. When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed it and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he vanished from their sight.

— Luke 24

(ESV)

But 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? And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together saying, the Lord has risen indeed and has appeared to Simon. And they told them, they told what had happened on the road and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.

— Luke 24

(ESV)

And as they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, peace to you. But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. And he said to them, why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh

and bones as you see that I have. And when he’d said this, he showed them his hands and his feet, and while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, have you anything here to eat? They gave him a piece of broiled fish and he took it and ate before them. 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 day rise from the dead and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses to these things.

Setting and Story

And behold, I am sending the promise of my father upon you, but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high. Then he led them out as far as Bethany and lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven and they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple blessing God. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. As you can see, this is a large portion of scripture, so we won’t be doing a deep dive into the text, but rather I wanted to maintain really a 30,000 foot view in order to learn something wonderful from our Lord. So let’s consider sola scriptura by looking at this beautiful story of Jesus on the road to Emmaus with his disciples,

of Jesus having a meal with them, of Jesus ultimately ascending to heaven before their eyes so that we might better understand the centrality, the supremacy and the sufficiency of scripture as we ponder and celebrate the Advent season. I wanna look at this passage and really our theme in three parts. First, we’ll look at the setting, then we’ll look at the story and lastly, we’ll look at the scriptures. The setting. The two chapters leading up to our text detail Jesus’ last evening before his betrayal. We see there the events leading up to ultimately his betrayal by Judas, his arrest, his mock trial, his torture, his crucifixion, his death and his burial. So those two chapters leading up to chapter 24, there’s a lot going on there. There’s a lot happening. And that’s what kind of leads into our text.

And then in the beginning of our chapter, we see the triumphant resurrection of our Lord as he defeated death, as he changed the world forever, as he defied logic, as he defied everyone’s expectations and nothing was ever the same after Jesus, the Christ, was resurrected. The baby in a manger, friends, that we celebrate on Christmas, would not stay a baby, but he would grow up, he would live a perfect life, he would preach the gospel of repentance and faith in him and he would die in the place of sinners so that he might save them from the very wrath of God. But beloved, he didn’t stay dead. He rose. The thing upon which the whole of Christianity either stands or falls, the thing which, if it didn’t happen, would make Christians a people most to be pitied. Without the resurrection of Jesus, we are fools

and we’re wasting our lives. There’s no point in celebrating the coming of a Messiah if he was a Messiah who died and who stayed dead. Friends, we celebrate Jesus 2,000 years later because he’s not dead, because he’s alive, because he rose according to the scriptures and he’s alive today at the right hand of the Father, interceding on behalf of his people and waiting to greet us when we come home.

And then as the two Marys and the other women with them went to Jesus’ burial place, they saw the stone rolled away from the front of the tomb and Jesus was nowhere to be found. Two angels in the tomb then reminded them of the words of Jesus and asked them why they came looking for him when he told them that on the third day he was going to rise from the dead. And so these women, these blessed women, rejoicing, went on to tell the apostles what happened. But slow to believe as they usually are, the apostles were more than skeptical. This leads us right into our text where the two disciples go on a trek after this amazing thing happens. And they go from Jerusalem to Emmaus. That brings us to our second point, which is the story. As the disciples are walking to Emmaus,

they’re discussing what’s just happened. They’re processing what the women told them. They’re processing what this means for them, how this changes their lives, what this does really for the whole of their walk and for their future, what this does for all of the things that Jesus promised would happen. And these are people that loved Jesus and they’re still sort of reeling from his death. They’re still processing losing their best friend, their teacher, their everything. They gave up everything to follow after him. And in a moment, it seems like that was all taken away from them unjustly and wrongly. And right as they’re processing all these things, right as they’re discussing all of this, right as they’re trying to figure out what do we do? How do we move forward knowing what we know or what we’ve heard? And then all of a sudden, a guest joins them on their walk, an unexpected guest.

And when Jesus asks them what they’re talking about, their response is essentially, where have you been? How can you not know? Are you seriously the only person around here that doesn’t know what’s happened, that doesn’t know why we’re talking about all of this? And Jesus seemingly having a little bit of a sense of humor says, what things? What are you talking about? What happened? Fill me in. After they fill Jesus in on the whole story, and consider they filled him in detail. They went in deep, explaining everything. Jesus offers them a rebuke. The disciples understood a lot by this point. And you can see that in the way they answer his question. But they hadn’t yet connected all the dots. They hadn’t connected the promises. They hadn’t considered the scriptures. They hadn’t considered what he’d told them, what he’d taught them. The whole picture isn’t quite together for them yet.

And notice that when Jesus rebukes the disciples, it’s not because they don’t recognize him. It’s not because they don’t trust the claims that he made about his resurrection. Why does he rebuke them? For not trusting the scriptures. He shows them that your beef, your questions, your lack of assurance, your lack of being settled, your lack of being able to understand these things is because you don’t look to the scriptures. You haven’t considered what the word says. Jesus showed them that their understanding of the Messiah, just like virtually every religious Jew at that time, and virtually every religious Jew even up until now was wrong and short-sighted. It’s part of the story. They didn’t expect a Messiah who would need to suffer before he reached glory. They didn’t expect him to arrive in the way that he did. They didn’t expect his life to go the way that it did.

They didn’t expect him to end the way that he ended. But they missed the fact that without suffering, there is no glory. As they arrive at their destination, they want more of this mystery traveler. They want to stay close to him. They’re not ready to say bye to him. The conversation about the things of the Lord, the conversation about the scriptures, the promises of God, they’re wonderful to these disciples, and they’re excited. They don’t want it to end. And so they ask him, please stay with us. Come on, it’s dark. You don’t want to go travel in the dark. Stay with us. Matthew Henry says this beautiful thing about this passage. Those that have experienced the pleasure of communion with Christ cannot but covet more of his company and beg of him not only to walk with him all day, but to abide with him at night.

They don’t want to let Jesus go again. Notice after speaking together, after walking with him, even explaining the deep things of God’s word to them, the disciples still don’t recognize him. It was only at the table when he broke the bread that their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. You see, friends, it had to be done for them. They didn’t open their eyes. Their eyes were opened. Something happened to them. As he sat with them and as he ate, when he blessed and broke the bread, is it possible that when he was breaking the bread, they saw his hands and they said it’s him?

Once their eyes were opened, everything changed. Everything changed. They got up and they went back to Jerusalem, presumably walking, probably running, those seven miles at night, just booking it through the desert. Do you know how dangerous it is at that time in world history to travel through the wilderness at night? They didn’t care. They ran back to Jerusalem just to tell the others what happened. See, but even after hearing the account from the women, even after hearing about Peter seeing the empty tomb, and now the story of these two disciples who’s just spent the day with Jesus, the evening with Jesus, the others were still frightened to see Jesus when he arrived. It tells us they still doubted. It seems insane. Like, it seems crazy. It’s like, surely, this is the point at which. But this shows us, friends, the heart of unbelief, the heart of doubt, the heart of,

that’s not what I expected. That’s not how I wanted the story to go. That’s not the picture that I had in mind. They thought to themselves, this is too good to be true. This can’t be. Even after they saw the resurrected Jesus, and even after they saw him raise people from the dead over the course of his ministry, they’re still like, resurrection? I don’t know. All that to say, doubts about the resurrection are nothing new. And then Jesus, almost in an effort to show them in yet another way that he’s really there, he has a meal with them. He talks to them, he eats with them, and as the evening progresses, he goes on to further explain to them what is written about him in the word. He points to Moses, he points to the prophets, he points to the Psalms, and this is a way for them to see

the whole Old Testament scripture. This is what’s referred to as the threefold division of the Old Testament. Moses would cover the Pentateuch, which is Genesis through Deuteronomy. The prophets would include the former prophets, all of the historical books beginning with Joshua, and then the later prophets, both major and minor, and the Psalms would cover all of the wisdom literature. And then our text tells us, he tells them this, and then he opens their minds to understand the scriptures. The ability to truly wrap our heads around the truths of God, to truly understand those truths, it’s a gift from God. It’s not an intellectual exercise. It’s not just like, oh, that’s what it says? Okay, if we could just send the right YouTube video to our unbelieving friend, that’s not how it works. It’s a gift from God, and we see that this is what happened with the disciples.

They saw the whole of Jesus’ life. They saw the resurrected Jesus, but it was only when he opened their minds to understand the scriptures that it finally clicked. There’s a lot of people that know the Bible, but are utterly unchanged by it, until that is, the Lord does his work. Although it was hard for them to lose him, he tells them that without suffering, he could not save his people. Jesus came for us, he suffered, he bore the wrath of God, he died, and he was raised. And then notice, Jesus tells the disciples that they are witnesses to all these things. They are to go, they are to proclaim to the nations. They are to tell others. They are to share the beauty of the gospel with others. We see something incredibly important when we see him at the end of this chapter, then ascending to heaven.

The Centrality of Scripture

Jesus’ ascension to heaven points to Jesus’ divinity. See, this is the only gospel that talks about it. How do we know that this speaks to his divinity? How do we know that the disciples believed as much? How do we know that the disciples saw him as God? Look at what it says, and they worshiped him. Show me one religious Jew who would ever, ever worship a man. They worshiped him because they knew he was God. And that, saints, brings us to our third point. After we’ve seen the setting, after we’ve walked through the story, let’s take a look at where the scriptures fit into all of this. Why is it that he had to reveal to the disciples what the scriptures said about him? Why isn’t Jesus just saying so enough? Could he have been maybe modeling something for them and for us by doing what he did,

by walking them through the different parts of the Old Testament scripture? As we consider the centrality of the scriptures for our lives and for our worship and for our ministry, might we pause here to see what Jesus is doing here? Saints, do we maybe look for some type of novelty in our Christian walk? Maybe something a little bit extra. Do we want just the right theological or historical or apologetic answer beyond what the word of God says? Have we maybe come to see truths about Jesus, about our faith, even about beautiful holidays like the birth of the Savior as something somewhat bland, needing more support and more explanation and more rationale and more authoritative people speaking on it? Are we in search of the next great sermon, the next great preacher, the next awesome Christian podcast, the next book that’ll just put everything in its place,

the conference that I have to attend in order to get a greater insight or gain a deeper depth into the things of the Lord? Don’t get me wrong, these are all wonderful gifts from God to his people. I utilize all of them. I think these are wonderful things. I think it’s great to listen to good podcasts and to listen to good preaching and to read good books. These are gifts from the Lord, but none of them are a substitute for God’s inerrant, sufficient word and your study of it. If you are a serial conference attender and you’re blasting through 10 hours of podcasts a day, but you don’t open your Bible, you’re wasting your time. If you’re not in the word, but you hear other people talking about the word, well, they’re in the word and praise God for them. They’re being blessed by it,

but you need to open your Bible and you need to study the scriptures to see if these things are so. The Bereans were commended for that, not just because it’s like, oh, it’s a nice thing to do. They’re pretty pious. No, it’s because they heard good teaching. They heard right teaching and they’re like, that’s awesome. Wait a second. Okay, yeah, that is awesome because it’s true. That was the commendation that they received. So Christian, are you a man or woman of the word? Do you love the word of God? Do you love the scriptures? Not in some weird way where you’re just like obsessively like nose in the book all the time, but actually sitting with God in his word as he’s revealed himself and learning about him, praying, thinking, processing, repenting. Are you a man or woman of the word? When Jesus explained to his disciples

Christ in Every Book

what the scriptures say about him in verses 27 and 44, and then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, what is it that he was actually showing them? What did they need to see in the scriptures? What did they need to understand? The writing of, when Jesus did this, what he was referring to was the Old Testament, the Jewish scriptures, and the writing of these 39 books that make up the Old Testament, it took over 1,000 years for all of those books to be written, for all of those books to be compiled, and one thing is clearly seen all throughout those 39 books, all throughout the writing of 1,000 plus years, God is actively fulfilling his promise to save his people and to not let them perish. You see what Jesus did when he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, when he explained to them what the word says to them,

what the word said about him rather, he pulled back the veil of the Old Testament to reveal what it says. From Genesis to Malachi, the picture is that Jesus is the promised Messiah. In Genesis, he’s the seed of the woman. Genesis 3.15 tells us I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring. He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. In Exodus, he’s the Passover lamb, as we see in Exodus 12. In Leviticus, he’s the high priest, as we see in Leviticus 1-7 in chapter 16. In Numbers, he’s the bronze serpent. And the Lord said to Moses, make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten when he sees it shall live. So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole, and if the serpent bit anyone,

he would look at the bronze serpent and live. Numbers 21.8-9. In Deuteronomy, he’s the promised prophet. And the Lord said to me, they are right in what they have spoken. I will raise up for them a prophet like you and from among their brothers, and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not listen to my words, he shall speak in my name. I myself require of him. Deuteronomy 18. In Joshua, Jesus is the captain and the commander of the Lord’s army. When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him and with his sword drawn in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said, are you for us or for our adversaries? And he said, no, but I am the commander of the army of the Lord.

Now I have come. And Joshua fell on his face on the earth and worshiped. Joshua chapter five. In Judges, Jesus is the true judge and the law giver seen throughout the book, and in the fact that Jesus is the judge of the living and the dead. In the book of Ruth, Jesus is our kinsman redeemer, typified in the life of Boaz and seen in the fact that the Messiah would be a descendant of Ruth and Boaz as seen in Ruth chapter four. In first Samuel, he’s the great judge. The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces. Against them, he will thunder in heaven. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth and he will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed. First Samuel 2.10. In second Samuel, Jesus is the seed of David seen in God’s covenant with David

in second Samuel seven. In first Kings, he’s the Lord God of Israel, typified in the life and reign of King Solomon. In second Kings, he’s the God of the cherubim. Second Kings 19, and Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said, oh Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are God. You alone of all the kingdoms of the earth, you have made heaven and earth. In first Chronicles, he’s the God of our salvation. The promise of the Messiah coming from the tribe of Judah is seen in first Chronicles five. In second Chronicles, he’s the true temple, typified in Solomon’s temple in second Chronicles three. In Nehemiah, he’s the covenant-keeping God, typified in Nehemiah, rebuilding the walls that would ultimately protect his people. In Ezra, the Lord of heaven and earth is Jesus, typified in Zerubbabel, the one who rebuilt the temple in Ezra four.

In Esther, he’s our advocate, typified in the person of Mordecai. In Job, he’s our redeemer, seen in the sufferings of Job and the blessings that follow the suffering. In Psalms, he’s the good shepherd, seen in Psalm 23. He’s the son of God in Psalm two seven. I will tell you the decree the Lord said to me, you are my son, today I have begotten you. In Proverbs, he’s the wisdom of God, seen in Proverbs eight. In Ecclesiastes, he’s the one above the sun, seen in the meaning beyond this life. In the Song of Solomon, he’s the altogether lovely one, typified in the bridegroom’s love for and marriage to his bride. In Isaiah, Jesus is the suffering servant. We see in Isaiah 53, surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted, but he was pierced for our transgressions.

He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds, we are healed. In Jeremiah, Jesus is the branch of righteousness. Jeremiah 23, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In Lamentations, he’s the compassionate one, seen as the one who restores after the repentance of sins. Lamentations five. Ezekiel, he’s the son of man, and I will set up for them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them, and he shall feed them and be their shepherd. Ezekiel 34. In Daniel, he’s the stone that’s cut without hands. As you looked, a stone was cut out by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay

and broke them into pieces. Daniel two. In Hosea, he’s the bridegroom, seen in Hosea’s faithfulness to his adulterous wife. In chapter three. In Joel, Jesus is the Savior of nations, and it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Joel 2.32. In Obadiah, he’s the deliverer on Mount Zion. But in Mount Zion, there shall be those who escape, and it shall be holy, and the house of Jacob shall possess their own possessions. Obadiah 1.17. In Amos, he’s the plumb line, the one who will judge his people rightly. In Amos seven. In Micah, he is Bethlehem born, but you, O Bethlehem, O Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from among you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old,

from ancient of days. Micah two. In Nahum, he’s the bringer of good news. Behold, upon the mountains, the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace. Nahum 1

. In Habakkuk, he’s the rock. Are you not from everlasting, O Lord, my God, my holy one? We shall not die, O Lord. You have ordained them as judgment, and you, O rock, have established them for reproof, Habakkuk 1.12. In Zephaniah, he’s the mighty savior. The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save. He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will quiet you by his love. He will exult over you with loud singing. Zephaniah 3.17. In Haggai, he’s the desire of nations. And I will shake all nations so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts, Haggai 2.

In Zechariah, he’s the pierced one. And I will pour out on the house of David, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy so that when they look upon me, on whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him as one mourns for an only child and weep bitterly over him as one weeps over a firstborn, Zechariah 12

. And in Malachi, Jesus is the Son of Righteousness. But for you who fear my name, the Son of Righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. Malachi 4.2. Do you see, dear friends, all of Scripture speaks to the glory and the majesty and the beauty of the one who would be humbly born in a manger to a young virgin, would live a perfect life, would serve others, would give his life as a ransom for many, die in the place of his people to save them

Spirit and Word

from beginning to end. It’s all Jesus. It’s all Jesus. From Genesis to Malachi and pick it up from Matthew to Revelation. Every single book of the Bible is about Jesus. And so when we ask this question, what is it that he revealed to them in the Scriptures? He opened their minds to these Scriptures that they’d heard their whole lives and he walked them all the way through from creation to the intertestamental period and he showed them it was all about me. I’m the promised one. It’s all him, friends. As we draw closer to Christmas, as we draw closer to celebrating the birth of our Savior, let us consider the wonder of this story and its implications for us. We start here during Advent with his miraculous birth, but we move quickly to why he was born. In encountering Jesus, the thing that deepened the disciples’ love of him

and drew them closer to him than they’d ever been was his supernatural work in their hearts, allowing them to understand him as he is, as the Word describes him, why he came. And so I’ll ask each of you again, beloved, are we students of the Word of God? Do we linger long in the Scriptures seeking to catch more of a glimpse of Jesus, seeking to see maybe where we’ve missed him, seeking to behold him? The end of our text, the disciples were joyful when Jesus left them and ascended to heaven. How is that? They were just devastated when they thought that he was dead. They lost him and now they’re rejoicing? Don’t people usually grieve when they lose a loved one? Unless they’re promised a return. Unless a part of their minds being able to comprehend the Scriptures caused them to look to glory and not just to their present circumstance.

Have you ever thought about why it is that these disciples that questioned him and doubted him at every turn during his earthly ministry, that couldn’t believe that he was really raised even when he was standing before them, how it is that these disciples, beginning from Acts, the beginning of the book of Acts, become bold and confident and all of a sudden willing to die? Whatever it takes, I don’t care, beat me up, throw me to the lions, set me on fire, crucify me upside down, whatever it takes, but let me tell you about my Jesus. How did that flip happen? He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. And then in the beginning of the book of Acts, they were filled with the spirit that they were promised. And oh man, you combine spirit and the word, unstoppable.

These poor, uneducated fishermen and average people changed the world. They flipped the world upside down. He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures and they were filled with the spirit. In his ascension to heaven, Christ not only points to our promise of future glory, but he affirms the completion of his atoning work on the cross. Our high priest went to the right hand of the Father and what did he do? He sat down. He sat down. It is finished. He says, my people are cleaned, they are redeemed, the word is fulfilled and they are forever secure in me. I finished what I set out to do.

That’s why they were rejoicing. They understood. Sacrificial death on the cross, resurrection three days later, ascension into glory, and it had all started with the birth of the Son of God to a young girl in Bethlehem, just as the Scriptures foretold. Amen? Amen.