Understanding the Bible
This post is part of our Understanding the Bible series—short, clear explanations of common questions, phrases, images, and themes found in Scripture.
The goal is simple: to help you read the Bible more clearly by explaining what the text says, what it meant in its original context, and why it still matters today.
These studies are designed for personal Bible reading, small groups, teaching preparation, or anyone who wants to grow in biblical understanding without needing technical training.
Why Did Jesus Explain the Messiah from the Law, Prophets, and Writings?
Series: Understanding the Bible
Primary Text:
Luke 24:25–27, 44–49
This study is written in three tiers so you can read at your pace: (1) Quick Answer, (2) Simple Explanation, (3) Deep Dive.
Key to watch: After His resurrection, Jesus did not merely show His disciples that He was alive. He opened the Scriptures and showed them that His suffering, resurrection, and worldwide mission were the fulfillment of everything written about Him in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms.
Table of Contents
- Quick Answer
- Why This Question Matters
- An Important Bible Interpretation Principle
- The Key Passages in Luke 24
- What Are the Law, Prophets, and Writings?
- What “Must” Happen to the Christ?
- Why Did Jesus Use Scripture First?
- The Cross Was Not Plan B
- The Whole Bible Points to Jesus
- Christ and Messiah Mean the Same Thing
- Jesus Opened Their Minds
- Scripture Leads to Mission
- What We Can Say with Confidence
- What This Means for Us
- The Gospel Connection
- Key Takeaways
Quick Answer
Why did Jesus explain the Messiah from the Law, Prophets, and Writings?
Because Jesus wanted His disciples to understand that His death and resurrection were not a surprise, accident, failure, or change of plans. They were the fulfillment of God’s plan revealed throughout the Hebrew Scriptures.
In Luke 24, Jesus teaches that the Messiah had to suffer, rise from the dead, and have repentance and forgiveness proclaimed in His name to all nations.
Big Idea: Jesus opened the Scriptures so His disciples could understand the cross, the resurrection, and the mission of the church through the whole story of the Bible.
Luke 24 teaches us that Christians should read the Bible with Jesus at the center—not by forcing Him into every verse, but by seeing how the whole biblical story leads to Him.
Why This Question Matters
Luke 24 gives us one of the most important Bible interpretation lessons in all of Scripture.
After Jesus rose from the dead, He did not simply say:
“Look, I am alive.”
He did show His disciples that He was alive.
But He also did something more.
He opened the Scriptures.
On the road to Emmaus, Jesus began with Moses and all the Prophets and explained the things concerning Himself.
Later, when He appeared to the gathered disciples, He said that everything written about Him in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms had to be fulfilled.
Jesus did not want His disciples to have resurrection excitement without biblical understanding.
That matters for us today.
Many people know pieces of the Bible.
Many people know stories about Jesus.
But Luke 24 shows us how those pieces fit together.
The Bible is one unified story fulfilled in the crucified and risen Christ.
An Important Bible Interpretation Principle
Luke 24 teaches us that the resurrection of Jesus does not cancel the Old Testament.
It reveals its fulfillment.
The Old Testament is not a failed Jewish story replaced by a Christian story. It is the promise-filled Scripture that reaches its fulfillment in Jesus Christ.
That means Christians should not read the Hebrew Scriptures as disconnected moral stories.
We should read them as part of the unfolding story of God’s redemption.
At the same time, we should not force artificial meanings into every verse.
Jesus does not teach careless interpretation.
He teaches whole-Bible interpretation.
The Law, Prophets, and Writings together testify to God’s plan, God’s promises, God’s kingdom, God’s Servant, God’s King, God’s salvation, and God’s mission to the nations.
Good Christian Bible reading asks: How does this passage fit within the whole story that is fulfilled in Jesus?
The Key Passages in Luke 24
There are two key moments in Luke 24 where Jesus explains the Scriptures.
1. On the Road to Emmaus
Jesus tells the two disciples:
“Wasn’t it clearly predicted that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his glory?”
Then Luke says:
“Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.”
2. With the Gathered Disciples
Later, Jesus says:
“Everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled.”
Then Luke says:
“Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.”
Jesus teaches the same basic lesson twice: the Scriptures had already pointed to the suffering, resurrection, and mission of the Messiah.
What Are the Law, Prophets, and Writings?
When Jesus refers to the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms, He is referring to the Hebrew Scriptures.
The Hebrew Bible was commonly understood in three major sections:
- The Law — Genesis through Deuteronomy
- The Prophets — books such as Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Twelve
- The Writings — books such as Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Ruth, Chronicles, Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah, and others
Sometimes this threefold arrangement is called the Tanakh:
- Torah — Law
- Nevi’im — Prophets
- Ketuvim — Writings
For a fuller explanation, see: How Is the Hebrew Bible Organized?
When Jesus mentions the Law, Prophets, and Psalms, He is not merely quoting one isolated verse.
He is showing that the whole sweep of Scripture points toward Him.
The Messiah’s suffering and resurrection were not hidden accidents.
They were woven into the storyline, promises, patterns, prophecies, and hopes of the Hebrew Bible.
What “Must” Happen to the Christ?
Luke 24 repeatedly uses the language of necessity.
Jesus says the Messiah had to suffer before entering His glory.
He says everything written about Him must be fulfilled.
This does not mean Jesus was trapped by fate.
It means God’s saving plan was being fulfilled.
The cross was not an interruption of God’s plan. The cross was the center of God’s plan.
According to Luke 24, the Scriptures pointed to at least three realities:
- The Messiah would suffer.
- The Messiah would rise from the dead on the third day.
- Repentance and forgiveness would be proclaimed in His name to all nations.
That means Jesus’ mission includes more than resurrection proof.
It includes worldwide proclamation.
The same Scriptures that pointed to the suffering and resurrection of Christ also pointed to the nations hearing the good news.
Why Did Jesus Use Scripture First?
This is one of the most important details in Luke 24.
Jesus could have immediately revealed Himself to the Emmaus disciples.
He could have simply said:
“It’s Me.”
Instead, He walked with them and opened the Scriptures.
Why?
Jesus wanted His disciples to understand His Word before simply recognizing His face.
If they had recognized Him immediately, they would have rejoiced.
But they still may not have understood why the Messiah had to suffer.
Jesus gave them more than an emotional experience.
He gave them biblical understanding.
The resurrection was not meant to create excitement without explanation.
It was meant to confirm everything God had promised.
This is why the Emmaus disciples later said their hearts were burning while Jesus opened the Scriptures to them.
Their eyes were opened after their hearts had already been stirred by the Word.
The Cross Was Not Plan B
The disciples thought Jesus’ crucifixion meant hope had died.
Cleopas said:
“We had hoped he was the Messiah who had come to rescue Israel.”
In their minds, the cross seemed like defeat.
Jesus showed them the opposite.
The Messiah did not fail because He suffered. He fulfilled Scripture through His suffering.
The disciples needed a corrected understanding of Messiah.
They expected glory without suffering.
Jesus showed them that Scripture had always pointed to suffering before glory.
The path to the crown went through the cross.
This changes how we read the Bible.
We do not read the Old Testament as if God’s plan failed and Jesus came up with a new one.
We read it as the unfolding story of God’s promise, rescue, kingdom, sacrifice, and final victory in Christ.
The Whole Bible Points to Jesus
Luke does not give us a list of every passage Jesus explained on the Emmaus road.
But the rest of Scripture helps us see the kinds of themes Jesus may have unfolded.
The Law Points to Jesus
- The promise of the offspring who would crush the serpent
- The sacrifice of the Passover lamb
- The priesthood and sacrificial system
- The wilderness provision
- The promise of a prophet like Moses
The Prophets Point to Jesus
- The promised Davidic King
- The suffering Servant
- The new covenant
- The restoration of God’s people
- The nations coming to worship the Lord
The Writings Point to Jesus
- The righteous sufferer in the Psalms
- The rejected stone becoming the cornerstone
- The Son of Man receiving an everlasting kingdom
- The wisdom of God
- The hope of resurrection and final victory
The point is not that every verse is a secret code about Jesus. The point is that the whole story, structure, promise, and hope of Scripture reaches fulfillment in Him.
Jesus is the promised Savior, the true King, the faithful Israelite, the final sacrifice, the suffering Servant, the risen Lord, and the hope of the nations.
Christ and Messiah Mean the Same Thing
Luke 24 says the Christ had to suffer and rise.
Some readers wonder whether “Christ” is a pagan replacement for “Messiah.”
It is not.
“Messiah” comes from Hebrew and means “Anointed One.”
“Christ” comes from Greek and means the same thing: “Anointed One.”
For more, see: Is “Christ” a Pagan Replacement for “Messiah?”
So when Luke says “Christ,” he is not replacing the biblical Messiah with something pagan.
He is using the Greek term that communicates the same biblical reality.
Jesus is the Messiah.
Jesus is the Christ.
He is the Anointed King promised in the Scriptures.
And Luke 24 tells us that this Anointed One had to suffer, rise, and send forgiveness to the nations.
Jesus Opened Their Minds
Luke 24:45 says:
“Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.”
This is a humbling statement.
The disciples had heard Scripture before.
They had heard Jesus teach before.
They had witnessed His ministry firsthand.
Yet they still needed Jesus to open their understanding.
Spiritual understanding is not merely about having information. We need God to open our minds to understand His Word rightly.
This does not mean Bible study is unnecessary.
It means Bible study must be dependent.
We read carefully.
We study context.
We compare Scripture with Scripture.
But we also pray for the Lord to give understanding.
The risen Christ still forms disciples through His Word.
Scripture Leads to Mission
Luke 24 does not end with Bible study for Bible study’s sake.
Jesus opens the Scriptures and then sends His disciples as witnesses.
He says that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
That means the Law, Prophets, and Writings do not merely help us understand the past.
They prepare us for mission.
The Bible’s story moves from promise to fulfillment to proclamation.
The disciples were not only called to understand that Jesus had risen.
They were called to announce what His death and resurrection accomplished.
Forgiveness is available in His name.
Repentance should be proclaimed.
The nations must hear.
This mission flows directly from Scripture fulfilled in Christ.
What We Can Say with Confidence
We can say:
- Jesus used the Scriptures to explain the meaning of His death and resurrection.
- The Law, Prophets, and Writings refer to the Hebrew Scriptures.
- Jesus taught that the Messiah had to suffer and rise.
- The cross was not a failure of God’s plan.
- The resurrection was the fulfillment of God’s plan.
- The Scriptures also point toward repentance and forgiveness being proclaimed to all nations.
- Christian Bible reading should be centered on Christ and shaped by the whole story of Scripture.
We should be careful about saying:
- Every Old Testament verse has a hidden direct reference to Jesus.
- The Old Testament is unimportant now that Jesus has come.
- The disciples should have understood everything without Jesus opening their minds.
- The mission to the nations is separate from Old Testament hope.
- “Christ” is a pagan replacement for “Messiah.”
The safest conclusion is that Jesus teaches us to read the whole Bible as one unified story fulfilled in His suffering, resurrection, and worldwide mission.
What This Means for Us
1. We need the whole Bible.
Jesus did not disconnect Himself from the Hebrew Scriptures.
He fulfilled them.
Christians should read both Old and New Testaments as God’s unified Word.
2. We need biblical understanding, not just religious emotion.
The risen Jesus gave His disciples joy, but He also gave them understanding.
Deep faith grows as we understand God’s Word.
3. We should read the Old Testament with Christ at the center.
This does not mean forcing Jesus into every sentence.
It means reading every passage within the larger story that leads to Him.
4. We should proclaim what Scripture reveals.
Luke 24 moves from opened Scriptures to opened mouths.
Those who understand the risen Christ are called to bear witness to repentance and forgiveness in His name.
The Gospel Connection
Luke 24 gives us a beautiful summary of the gospel.
The Christ had to suffer.
He had to rise from the dead on the third day.
Repentance and forgiveness of sins must be proclaimed in His name to all nations.
Jesus suffered.
He died for our sins.
Jesus rose.
He conquered death.
Jesus sends.
He sends His people to proclaim repentance and forgiveness in His name.
This is not a new message disconnected from Scripture.
It is the fulfillment of Scripture.
The Law, Prophets, and Writings were pointing forward to the saving work of God through His Anointed One.
Jesus is that Anointed One.
He is the Christ.
He is the Messiah.
And through Him, forgiveness is offered to the nations.
Key Takeaways
- Jesus explained His death and resurrection from the Scriptures.
- The Law, Prophets, and Writings refer to the Hebrew Scriptures.
- The Messiah’s suffering was not a failure, but fulfillment.
- The resurrection was part of God’s promised plan.
- The Old Testament is not disconnected from Jesus.
- Christ and Messiah both mean “Anointed One.”
- Jesus opened the disciples’ minds to understand Scripture.
- Scripture fulfilled in Christ leads to mission among the nations.
Bottom Line
Why did Jesus show the disciples what had to happen to the Christ from the Law, Prophets, and Writings?
Because His death and resurrection were not accidents.
They were the fulfillment of God’s Word.
Jesus wanted His disciples to understand that the whole story of Scripture had been moving toward His suffering, resurrection, and worldwide mission.
The cross was not Plan B.
The empty tomb was not a surprise ending.
The mission to the nations was not an afterthought.
Everything written had to be fulfilled.
And in Jesus the Messiah, it was.
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