The Bible is a book about real people and real stories. Something incredible started happening after the Resurrection. Jesus started appearing to people in all kinds of places and situations. His bodily presence demonstrated He was physically alive and present. The gospels have various accounts of these post-resurrection appearances. Luke goes into detail about Jesus appearing to two disciples who were walking on the road to a village named “Emmaus.” Luke says their “eyes were kept from recognizing him.” Jesus spoke to them, beginning with Moses and the prophets, and explained the Scriptures and how they all pointed to Himself. They were crushed by the crucifixion and confused by the post-resurrection appearances they were hearing about. Jesus opened their eyes. The Old Testament (or Hebrew Bible) are “the Scriptures” Jesus described. The New Testament had not been written yet. These Scriptures pointed to Jesus. All the stories of the Old Testament culminate in the Resurrection of Jesus. The Old Testament becomes a new book when we look for Christ in all of it. There are many troubling and confusing parts in the Hebrew Bible (names, places, violence, warfare, dietary laws, etc.) but it is only the first act of a two-part play. Without the Old, the New is without foundation and doesn’t make sense. Without the New, the Old is incomplete. The last word in the Old Testament is “destruction” (or “curse”). The last sentence of the New Testament is: “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you all. Amen.” (Revelation 22:21) I’ll take the grace of Jesus over “destruction/curse” any day.

- Pastor Tom Harrison