Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead. – Luke 24:46

Scripture reading: Luke 24:36-49

After appearing to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, Jesus appeared to the rest of the disciples in Jerusalem. He allowed them to touch Him (v.39) and He ate with them (v.43), all demonstrating that His resurrection was a real bodily resurrection. He was not a spirit, having abandoned His body (v.39). Instead, the tomb was empty and His body was raised.

All of this is glorious good news, for the Apostle Paul says we will share in a resurrection like Christ’s (Romans 6:5). But our main focus is on the words of Jesus after all of this:

Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead” (Lk 24:44–46).

Jesus again says that the whole Bible is about Him. By referring to “the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms,” He spoke of the three divisions of the Hebrew Scriptures. Jewish Christians would have understood the point clearly: The Hebrew Scriptures spoke of Jesus! And this was the case, not simply by way of promises fulfilled, but by way of telling the story that Jesus completes.

Suggestions for prayer

That we would rejoice and take comfort in the good news of Jesus’ resurrection and that we would grow in loving the Bible as one story, fulfilled in Jesus.

This daily devotional is available in a print edition you can buy at Nearer to God Devotional. Nick Smith is pastor of the United Reformed Church of Nampa, Idaho.