Luke 24:44, commentary and pictures

After His resurrection He met the assembled disciples in Jerusalem and reminded them of what He had told them before His death, that everything written concerning Him must be fulfilled. By the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms He meant the Old Testament writings that spoke beforehand about Him. What had to be fulfilled was all that was written of His birth, life, mission, suffering, death and resurrection, especially that Christ must suffer and rise from the dead on the third day. He opened their understanding to see those Scriptures fulfilled in Him, proving Him to be the Messiah and correcting false hopes of a temporal kingdom. From those same Scriptures He showed them their witness and commission, that repentance and forgiveness of sins must be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

Resurrection Appearance Setting

These are words spoken after the resurrection to the whole company of disciples, the eleven, assembled in Jerusalem in a locked upper chamber at night during Passover week. They had gathered there in secrecy and had refused to believe the report of the women and of the two disciples that He had risen. He appeared to them in Jerusalem during that week and told them to remain there for a time before going to Galilee.

He proved He was bodily risen by entering though the door was closed, showing His hands and feet, and eating before them. Yet He convinced them not by working a miracle or by pointing to mighty works but by opening the Scriptures to their minds. On that night He proved Himself the promised Redeemer by going back to Moses and the prophets and explaining the Scriptures concerning Himself.

He reminded them of words He had already spoken to them while He was yet with them before His death. He reproved them for their slowness of heart because they had only imperfectly understood His teachings and had not grasped their value, since they conflicted with what they had previously been taught and with their hopes and expectations. He had promised that the Holy Spirit would bring His sayings back to their remembrance as truths not before understood, and in this meeting He recalled those sayings.

In this meeting He as educator opened their understanding so they could understand the Scriptures concerning Himself. He did the same for the lonely, disappointed travelers to Emmaus, teaching both companies and opening to them the Scriptures concerning Himself. Their understanding had been clouded by misinterpretation of the prophecies and by teachings piled upon Scripture.

Beginning with the first book of Moses and going back to Moses and the prophets and the Psalms, He expounded the Scriptures. He dwelt particularly on the prophecies pointing to the time then present, foretelling His sufferings and resurrection.

Scriptures Must Be Fulfilled

The law of Moses, the prophets, and the Psalms are the Old Testament writings that spoke beforehand about Jesus and contain things concerning Him. All things written in them concerning Him must be fulfilled. Those writings include prophecies of His first coming, sufferings, death, resurrection, and ascension, and they testify to His identity and mission. He is the key that opens the Old Testament, and its religious services and ceremonies point to Him, so that the Passover and the lifted-up bronze serpent cannot be fully explained apart from Him.

The necessity covers both His words and the events of His life. Everything written about Him in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the Psalms had to be fulfilled. These Scriptures pointed to the time then present and foretold the events of His life, especially His suffering and resurrection, and beginning with the first book of Moses He explained these prophecies to His disciples so they could understand their witness and commission. After showing them His hands and feet and eating before them to establish that He was bodily risen, He opened their understanding to the Scriptures. These writings foretold that Christ would suffer, rise from the dead on the third day, and have repentance and forgiveness of sins preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem, with the disciples as witnesses.

What He had taught before His death had to be fulfilled, as the law of Moses and the prophets had testified beforehand about Him. After His resurrection He reminded the disciples that He had spoken these things while He was with them, and that the events concerning Him had to fulfill what was written in the Scriptures. They had not grasped the value of His teachings because they conflicted with what they had previously been taught and with their hopes and expectations. Their understanding of Scripture was opened after His resurrection, and they saw that His suffering and death fulfilled prophecy.

Suffering Resurrection Foretold

The law of Moses, the prophets, and the Psalms contain things concerning Him that had to be fulfilled, foretelling the events of His life, and especially His suffering and resurrection. Those writings foretold His birth, life, mission, death, and resurrection, and Jesus opened them to the disciples so they could understand their witness and commission. They foretold that Christ must suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins must be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. After His resurrection He used Scripture to explain that His suffering and death and His rising on the third day fulfilled prophecy, and their meaning renewed the disciples' hope and led them to accept Him as the promised Messiah, the Son of God.

What He would undergo was foretold in specific detail, including His rejection, humiliation, death, and resurrection on the third day. Those prophecies were given by people inspired by the Holy Spirit and were ordained in the counsels of the Father and the Son, and they should be studied diligently. The prophecies and the Passover feast pointed to Jesus as Messiah and the world's Redeemer, for He was the antitypical Lamb whom the Passover lamb prefigured. Christ is the key that opens the Old Testament, and its religious services and ceremonies point to Him, so that the Passover and the lifted-up bronze serpent, for example, cannot be fully explained apart from Him.

His suffering and death fulfilled prophecy, and when the understanding of the gathered disciples was opened they saw the events of His suffering, death, and resurrection as fulfillment of what was written. He explained these Scriptures to them, dwelling particularly on the prophecies of His suffering and resurrection, and showed how prophecy matched the events of His life. The Scriptures thus became definite instruction to them, making clear that what He had taught before His death had to be fulfilled as the law of Moses and the prophets had testified beforehand about Him.

Messiah Kingdom and Victory

Reasoning from the law of Moses, the prophets, and the Psalms proves that every specification of prophecy relating to the first advent had to be fulfilled in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. That fulfillment is to be shown again and again, with the apostles explaining those prophecies and testifying as eyewitnesses to Him and His resurrection as evidence that He is the Christ. This proves He is more than a prophet, that He is Messiah, for no one but Messiah could triumph over death and burst the fetters of the tomb. What was written foretold what He would undergo and had to be fulfilled, including rejection, humiliation, death, and resurrection on the third day.

The Messiah had to pass through ignominy, humiliation, suffering, and death before finally taking His throne. This corrects confused ideas of Messiah and His mission taught by the priests, and that false teaching must be unlearned in order to accept the truth. Examining Scripture confirms that His kingdom is spiritual, not a temporal kingdom ruled from David's earthly throne. His kingdom of divine grace is manifested in the hearts of His people, and only through His humiliation, suffering, and death could the kingdom of His glory finally be established.

He met Satan on his own territory where the devil held the power of death and conquered him there. By feeling its pangs Himself and rising to sit at the Father's right hand with all power in heaven and on earth, He removed death's stinging despair and robbed it of its terror. In that victory He shook the enemy's prison-house and brought up a company of the sleeping dead. They are a fresh trophy of the second Adam's victory and a sample and assurance of the final resurrection of the righteous dead at His second coming.

He is truth because He is the fulfillment of ancient prophecies and the truth of ancient types.

Witness Commission Gospel

He opened the Scriptures to the disciples so that they could understand both what had been written concerning Him and the witness and commission that grew out of it. What was written was that Christ must suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins must be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. They themselves were witnesses of these things, eyewitnesses of His suffering, resurrection, and truth. Their work was to proclaim the gospel of peace and salvation, the message of repentance and forgiveness of sins in His name.

That commission recorded in verses 44-53 is not confined to the first disciples but is also given to believers, with the same promised power promised to them as was promised to the disciples. After receiving the Holy Spirit they were to bear witness first in Jerusalem and then among all nations. That power enabled the disciples to preach the gospel so effectively that thousands were converted in a day, and it calls God's people still to carry the gospel to those in darkness.

This charge defines the work of teachers and preachers, that they are to preach and teach only what Christ commanded. They must first learn the lessons from Christ Himself, who in parable teaching and by the things of nature illustrated gospel truth, and who in word, life, and character was an exposition of all truth. Following the pattern He set in opening the prophecies about Himself, their preaching traces prophetic history from Adam to Christ crucified and calls sinners to repent and turn to God.

Verses 44-53 present Him risen from the dead giving His full and ample promise to His disciples just before His ascension to heaven. He ascended escorted by the heavenly throng in triumph to the city of God. This gives assurance of a living Saviour, an Advocate in the heavenly courts, who devotes Himself to His work and promises blessing and all blessings to those who believe and consecrate themselves entirely according to His promise.

Studying Prophecy Correctly

Luke 24:44 presses the necessity of thoroughly studying the ancient prophecies about Messiah and comparing them with the facts of His life, death, and resurrection to establish their fulfillment in Him. That study is to diligently trace link after link of sacred truth revealed in types and figures representing the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. In that work He lifted the veil so the disciples saw clearly the meaning of the Jewish typical system, whose forms and symbols pointed to Christ. Those forms and symbols were virtually abolished and brought to their end by His death.

The Old Testament foretold His mission and work exactly, and He came exactly as foretold. As the sure word of prophecy it is the only key that unlocks the New Testament Scriptures. It shows that Jesus revealed in the gospel is the Son of God, the long-expected Messiah.

The apostles were to explain those prophecies and testify as eyewitnesses to Him and His resurrection, using their fulfillment as evidence that He was the Christ. Their fulfillment enabled Saul to preach Jesus clearly and to correct distortions of Scripture. Searching the prophecies after the crucifixion convicted people that Jesus was indeed Messiah, the Son of God and the world's Redeemer. That searching led many, including priests, to acknowledge Him after His resurrection.

That opened understanding gives an experimental knowledge of the truth to be gained as a thorough grasp of Scripture, a whole treasure house of knowledge from which to feed the flock with His Word. Those who have it will not think they must bring forward some original theory to make ministry successful or hunt up tests new and odd and strange. Those sophistries and fables have no power to sanctify, purify, and cleanse the soul from the uncleanness that sin brings. The truths of the verse are to be understood not only as His hearers first grasped them but also in the light of His practical life.

Present Gospel Application

The reasoning from Scripture used in this verse is to be repeated, showing how all prophecy concerning Him was fulfilled in His life, death, and resurrection. It proves that every specification of prophecy relating to the first advent had to be fulfilled, proving He is more than a prophet, that He is Messiah, for no one but Messiah could triumph over death and burst the fetters of the tomb. It corrects confused ideas of Messiah and His mission taught by the priests, teaching that Christ must go through ignominy, suffering, and death before finally taking His throne, and that false teaching must be unlearned in order to accept this truth. This was the lesson He would have repeated to followers in all coming time.

He proved Himself the promised Redeemer not by pointing to His mighty works but by going back to Moses and the prophets and explaining the Scriptures concerning Himself. The Old Testament foretold His mission and work exactly, including His birth, life, mission, death, and resurrection, and He came exactly as foretold. The Old Testament as the sure word of prophecy is the only key that unlocks the New Testament Scriptures and shows that Jesus revealed in the gospel is the Son of God, the long-expected Messiah. When those writings are expounded they are clothed with new life and power, revive disappointed hope, make hearts burn within, and make people ready to accept Jesus as the risen Saviour. As educator He continued after the resurrection to open the Scriptures concerning Himself both to the lonely, disappointed travelers to Emmaus and to those assembled in the upper chamber, and their opened understanding bound their hearts with holy, new, and sacred hope and joy and led them to accept Him as the promised Messiah, the Son of God.

As part of Luke 24 the verse shows that God so loved the world that He gave His only Son to save the sinful race. Because the Saviour suffered the penalty of death, everyone who repents and is converted receives the gift of salvation. All who come to the Father through faith in Christ, laying hold of the Saviour by faith and following His example, receive assurance of the forgiveness of sins. His sufferings make it possible for every soul to be sanctified through belief of the truth.