Christ in All the Scriptures
Charles H. Spurgeon (1834-1892)
“He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.”—Luke 24:27
The two disciples on the road to Emmaus had a most profitable journey. Their companion and teacher was the best of tutors. The interpreter [was] one of a thousand “in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col 2:3). The Lord Jesus condescended to become a preacher of the gospel, and He was not ashamed to exercise His calling before an audience of two persons; neither does He now refuse to become the teacher of even one. Let us court the company of so excellent an instructor, for until He is made unto us wisdom we shall never be wise unto salvation.
This unrivalled tutor used as His class book the best of books. Although able to reveal fresh truth, He preferred to expound the old. He knew by His omniscience what was the most instructive way of teaching; and by turning at once to Moses and the prophets, He showed us that the surest road to wisdom is not speculation, reasoning, or reading human books, but meditation upon the Word of God. The readiest way to be spiritually rich in heavenly knowledge is to dig in this mine of diamonds, to gather pearls from this heavenly sea. When Jesus Himself sought to enrich others, He wrought in the quarry of Holy Scripture.
The favored pair were led to consider the best of subjects, for Jesus spake of Jesus and expounded the things concerning Himself. Here the diamond cut the diamond, and what could be more admirable? The Master of the House unlocked His own doors, conducted the guests to His table, and placed His own dainties upon it. He Who hid the treasure in the field Himself guided the searchers to it. Our Lord would naturally discourse upon the sweetest of topics, and He could find none sweeter than His own person and work.
With an eye to these, we should always search the Word. O for grace to study the Bible with Jesus as both our teacher and our lesson!
“Search the scriptures…they are they which testify of me.”—John 5:3.
From Morning and Evening: Daily Readings (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1896); in the public domain.
The Key to Bible Knowledge
J. C. Ryle (1816-1900)
“And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.”—Luke 24:27
Let us mark [in this verse] how full the Old Testament is of Christ. We are told that our Lord began “at Moses and all the prophets, [and] expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.”
How shall we explain these words? In what way did our Lord show “things concerning himself” in every part of the Old Testament field? The answer to these questions is short and simple. Christ was the substance of every Old Testament sacrifice ordained in the law of Moses. Christ was the true Deliverer and King of Whom all the judges and deliverers in Jewish history were types. Christ was the coming Prophet greater than Moses, Whose glorious advent filled the pages of prophets. Christ was the true seed of the woman Who was to bruise the serpent’s head—the true seed in Whom all nations were to be blessed, the true Shiloh to Whom the people were to be gathered, the true scapegoat, the true brazen serpent, the true Lamb to which every daily offering pointed, [and] the true High Priest of Whom every descendant of Aaron was a figure. These things—or something like them, we need not doubt—were some of the things that our Lord expounded in the way to Emmaus.
Let it be a settled principle in our minds in reading the Bible that Christ is the central sum of the whole book. So long as we keep Him in view, we shall never greatly err in our search for spiritual knowledge. Once losing sight of Christ, we shall find the whole Bible dark and full of difficulty. The key to Bible knowledge is Jesus Christ.
From Expository Thoughts on Luke, Vol. 2 (New York: Robert Carter & Brothers, 1879), 500-501; in the public domain.
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