'Rightly Dividing the Word'
John 5:46-47 For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, however will you believe My words?"
John the Baptist was sent to bring the Jews back to the Lord. By their repentance they would forsake their evil ways, then study, understand and keep the Mosaic law. Similarly, repented Christians must forsake their worldly and evil ways and then keep the word of Jesus, which is spirit and life.
Our Lord Jesus knew that unless the Jews believed Moses by keeping the law they would not believe Jesus when the gospel was preached to them.
Luke 1:16-17 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, 'to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,' and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."
Jesus Expounded from OT
Luke 24:25-27 Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?" And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.
On the way to Emmaus, when two of His disciples were disturbed by news of His resurrection, our risen Lord (but unknown to them) told them that 'the Christ must suffered and killed, but on the third day He would rise from the dead.'
Then from the OT, from Moses and the prophets, Jesus expounded all scriptures concerning Himself - the Messiah coming as the sacrificial Lamb of God in His first advent.
Having heard Jesus revealing the truth from the OT, these two disciples believed Jesus and His resurrection. And immediately, they went to inform the eleven Apostles.
Luke 24:31, 33-34 Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight... So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, "The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!"
Teachings of the Risen Lord
Luke 24:44-45 Then He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me." And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.
Before His Ascension, our Lord Jesus spent 40 days teaching His Apostles and disciples His truth. Initially He showed them how to preach the gospel to the Jews by expounding the scriptures concerning the Messiah of the Old Covenant.
He also taught them the truth in the New Covenant :-
1. Grace of God
2. Freedom with Truth
3. Power of His Blood,
4. Mysteries in His words
5. The Spirit of Truth
6. End time Mysteries
7. Warnings of antichrists and heresies, etc.
for His Apostles to write their epistles to teach, enlighten, encourage and also warn us.
Note - these truth were later revealed to Apostle Paul.
John 21:25 And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.
