Acts 17 - Scripture Truth and the Gospel of Jesus

Hello everyone,
I'm sorry we were not able to worship with you yesterday. When Patricia's dad was admitted to the hospital we felt we needed to get there right away. He has not been well for some time and this latest episode is certainly as bad as it has been of late. He is presently on a ventilator and sedated, but he is improving. Please continue to pray God will strengthen and heal.

I was hoping to begin Acts 17 yesterday and speak about the truth of Christ from Scripture. Not being able to do that I will give you some previews this week as I prepare to, hopefully, share this with you next Sunday.

When we think about the Scriptures and Jesus we most certainly think first of the books of the New Testament. This is the most clear portrait of Christ and should occupy much of our attention. Revelations of Christ are not limited, however, to the New Testament. The Old Testament spoke about the coming Messiah and deliverer of Israel. Passages like Isaiah 52-53, Psalms 2:1-7; 16:8-11; 110:1; 118:22, and Deut. 21:22-23 just to name a few speak very pointedly about Christ. (Note: Christ is the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew term Messiah. They both mean the same and connote a title, literally, "anointed one.")

Revelations of Christ from the Old Testament were not always clear to the reader since they had no real historical "hook to hang their hat on," until Jesus came in the flesh. In other words, until Jesus came and the fulfillment of prophecy was pointed out, the people remained in a state of confusion. The NT book of Hebrews, says it this way,

"1      God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son..." NKJV, Hebrews, chapter 1

An old aphorism says, "The New Testament was in the Old concealed, the Old is in the New revealed." What we discover in the NT was prophesied in the Old but they didn't understand it until in the New unveiled it.

This is important in Acts 17 because we find Paul going into the synagogues and "reasoning" with the Jews there from Scripture. In fact, from Acts 17:1-4 the Bible says he "reasoned," "explained," "demonstrat[ed]," and "preach[ed]," Christ to them from Scriptures. For them the Scriptures were the Old Testament.

I wonder, could we demonstrate Christ to a Jew today from the OT? If not perhaps we should study the OT more so that we can know Him in the fullness of all God reveals about His precious Son.