is exciting. It is also empowering, as we begin to realize that the work of building God’s kingdom continues in the life of the NT people of God. All of this will climax in the coming of the New Jerusalem.
Though I think most readers are ready to move forward and see what this all means for us, it is perhaps worthwhile to provide some justification for my thesis that Jesus is the focus of the biblical story.
Luke 24 and Jesus as the Fulfillment of All the Scriptures
That Jesus is the key to understanding the entirety of the Bible is evident from the accounts of the resurrected Jesus in Luke 24:13–35. Here Luke records two events that occurred on the day of the resurrection. First, we see the resurrected Jesus coming alongside two disciples of Jesus walking from Jerusalem to the village of Emmaus. They were followers of Jesus who were apparently bewildered by the events of the last several days. Jesus, whom they had hoped would restore God’s kingdom to Israel, had been crucified by the Romans.25 Earlier that same day, however, some of the women who had followed Jesus, as well as some of Jesus’ disciples upon visiting his tomb, found it empty.26 The two recounted all these events to Jesus—whom they were unable to recognize.27 Suddenly, Jesus interjects, in what may be taken as an admonishment: “‘O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?’ And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures” (Luke 24:25–27).28
A second appearance of Jesus occurred later that evening in Jerusalem. The two men with whom Jesus spoke on the road returned to the rest of the disciples in Jerusalem. While these two were recounting the events and their meeting with Jesus, he suddenly appeared in the room. Jesus, then explained to them all, “‘These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are 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 He said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and rise again from the dead the third day’” (Luke 24:44–46).29 Consequently, on both occasions Jesus appears to assert that the entire OT is fulfilled in himself.30
Now, at this juncture some may suggest that Jesus was merely identifying isolated prophesies that he had fulfilled. However, in Luke 24:25 Jesus states directly, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken.” Jesus’ words strongly suggest that he was referencing “all” the Scriptures and not merely “all that refer to me.” The best reading of this text is that Jesus viewed the entirety of the OT witness as fulfilled in himself.
General Statements That Show That Jesus Is the Fulfillment of All the Scriptures
Secondly, that the NT views Jesus as the fulfillment of the entirety of the OT story is seen in that the person and work of Jesus is presented in terms of the overall story of the Bible and not just in light of the fulfillment of isolated verses. This concept is a bit more difficult to grasp. But, the fact is that there are instances in the NT in which Jesus claims to be fulfilling the Scriptures and yet we have no corresponding prophecy in the OT. That is, we cannot find any passage in the OT that corresponds to Jesus’ claim.
For example, Luke records:
And He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things which are written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished. For He will be delivered to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and mistreated and spit upon, and after they have scourged Him, they will kill Him; and the third day He will rise again. Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day.” (Luke 18:31–33)31
The difficulty here is that we do not know of any verse that “prophesies” that the Christ (Hebrew: “Messiah”) would rise again on the third day.
That Jesus, in Luke 18, is not referencing a particular prophecy is evident first from the fact that he references “the prophets.” That is, Jesus refers to the prophets in general, which may well be understood to refer more generically to the Scriptures, and not to a particular prophet or any particular saying of the prophets.32
Secondly, though specific passages can be found in the OT that suggest that the people of God will suffer,33 there are no corresponding references that indicate in the least that the Christ would rise on the third day.34 That is, there are no verses in the OT to which we can turn to and say, “Jesus was referring to this passage.” The best we can come up with is the reference in Hosea 6:2: “He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day that we may live before Him.” This passage, however, contains no direct messianic overtones, but instead references the promised restoration of Israel (note “us”).
If, however, we are to understand that the overarching narrative theme of the Bible is God’s redemptive and restorative work, and that this work reaches its fulfillment in Jesus, then the promise of the restoration of God’s people, announced in Hosea 6:2, indeed finds its fulfillment in Jesus. That is, if we understand that Jesus is the fulfillment of the entirety of the OT, then we have no real difficulty with Jesus saying that the Christ must “rise again from the dead the third day” (Luke 18:31–33).
Jesus’ claim in Luke 18:31–33 is problematic, however, if we assume that Jesus fulfills only isolated verses. For there are no verses in the OT that could be cited as referencing the Christ dying and rising again on the third day. There is no problem, however, if we assume that Jesus has in view the entirety of the story of the OT. One could simply reference Hosea 6:2 and see Jesus as the embodiment of the people of God and, thus, the fulfillment of this passage.
Jesus’ claim that he will rise on the third day may also be understood in light of the story of Jonah. This finds support in that Luke has already associated Jesus’ death and resurrection with account of Jonah: “For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so shall the Son of Man be to this generation” (Luke 11:30). A direct link between Jesus’ death and resurrection and the account of Jonah is also supported by the parallel in Matthew: “for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (12:40).
But again it must be noted that there are no explicit prophesies in Jonah regarding the Messiah rising on the third day. There is no problem, however, if we view Jesus as the fulfillment of the story of Jonah. This is how Matthew can draw the parallel between Jonah’s being three days and nights in the belly of the fish and Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Therefore, when the NT refers to Jesus as the fulfillment of the OT, it is not merely referring to him as the fulfillment of specific OT passages, but to the overall story of Scripture. Jesus is the hermeneutical key to understanding the Bible. The entire narrative of the Bible is about Jesus!
The Gospel of John and Jesus as the Fulfillment of All the Scriptures
Another example that all of the Scriptures are about Jesus, and not just certain isolated prophecies, is evident from even a cursory look at the Gospel of John. For example, in John
