Day 3 — One Story, Centred On Jesus
Opening prayer
Lord Jesus, open the Scriptures to me. Help me to see how God’s promises find their fulfilment in your suffering and glory, and set my heart burning with love for you. Amen.
Headline
Jesus’ death and resurrection fulfil the long, coherent story God has been telling in Scripture.
Luke 24:13-35
13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him.
17 He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”
They stood still, their faces downcast. 18 One of them, named Cleopas,asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”
19 “What things?” he asked.
“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him;21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning23 but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”
25 He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
28 As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. 29 But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.
30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
33 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34 and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” 35 Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.
Comment
The two disciples on the Emmaus road know many facts, but they cannot make sense of them. Jesus was powerful in word and deed. He had been crucified. His tomb was empty. Women had reported that angels said he was alive. The pieces are present, yet the picture is missing. Their disappointed words—‘we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel’ (v. 21)—show that the cross has shattered the story they expected.
The risen Jesus does not immediately reveal himself. First he gives them a Bible study. He asks, ‘Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?’ (v. 26) Then, ‘beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself’ (v. 27). His death was not a disastrous interruption of God’s plan. Suffering and glory belonged together in the story God had long been telling.
This does not mean that every Old Testament verse is a secret prediction. The point is larger and richer. Across many centuries, the Bible develops a coherent drama: creation and fall; promise and covenant; sacrifice and forgiveness; exodus and rescue; kingdom and exile; judgement and hope. It presents a good world damaged by human rebellion, a holy God who remains faithful, and promises of a king, servant and renewed creation.
The unity is remarkable because the Bible is not one book written at one sitting. It is a library of sixty-six books, produced across centuries by many human authors in different circumstances. Yet it begins with creation and ends with new creation, when God will dwell with his people. Christians believe that one divine Author works through those diverse voices. Themes arise, deepen and converge. The sacrificial lamb, the rescuing exodus, David’s promised king, Isaiah’s suffering servant and the hope of return all help us understand Jesus.
So the cross is neither an accident nor an improvised rescue plan. It is God’s final and decisive call to people who have repeatedly received his gifts and pushed him aside. God longs for relationship with us, but he does not force it. In Jesus he comes to reclaim what is already his at immense cost. He bears sin, defeats death and opens the way home. The resurrection declares that his suffering has achieved its purpose and that new creation has begun. Through him people may be redeemed, restored, reconciled and renewed.
At the table the disciples recognise Jesus as he breaks bread. Looking back, they ask, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?’ (v. 32) Evidence and experience belong together: Scripture interprets the events, and the risen Jesus turns understanding into joy. Their burning hearts do not create the truth; they respond to truth disclosed.
The Christian claim is therefore both intellectually ambitious and deeply personal: Jesus is the key to the whole biblical story and the Lord who walks beside bewildered people. He does not merely give the disciples a better theory. He replaces despair with hope and sends them back to the community with good news.
Why does God want me to hear this today? Perhaps because I see only scattered pieces—in the Bible or in my own life. Jesus invites me to place them within God’s larger story, centred on his cross and resurrection and moving towards renewed creation. I may not yet understand every detail, but I can know the direction of the story and the person at its centre.
Reflect
- Why were the disciples unable to make sense of Jesus’ death at first?
- How does Jesus place his suffering and glory within the whole story of Scripture?
- What difference might it make to see my life as part of God’s larger story rather than a story I must create alone?
Closing prayer
Lord Jesus, thank you that God’s promises find their fulfilment in you. Open my mind to understand the Scriptures, my eyes to recognise you and my heart to love you. Amen.
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