The Old Testament Is Christian Scripture.

“And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” Luke 24:27

As believers, we must read the whole Bible in order to see the whole Christ and be a whole Christian. We may think the Old Testament is too foreign and difficult to understand, but I found that reading the Old Testament with a view toward finding Christ there actually makes reading it more exciting. And unlike those first century believers, we have the benefit of reading our Bible backwards.

The two men on the road to Emmaus probably had a decent knowledge of the Hebrew Scriptures, but Jesus said they were “foolish” and “slow of heart to believe” (Lk. 24:26). This was because they did not understand that all of the Old Testament was about Jesus. May we be so diligent in our reading of the Scriptures that we don’t miss Jesus in the Old Testament.

When we read the Old Testament, we should always be asking ourselves, “How does this passage point to Jesus?” Every book of the Old Testament, whether narrative, wisdom, poetry, or prophecy, finds its ultimate fulfillment in the person and work of Christ. The Bible really is all about Jesus, from cover to cover. Knowing this will enable us to be better students of Scripture. It will help us to make sense of difficult passages. As we get to know Jesus by reading the Old Testament, he will become even more precious to us. Like the men on the Emmaus road, our hearts will burn with excitement when we come to his word expecting to learn something new about Jesus from the “old, old story.”