Foreshadowing

Introduction

Read Luke 24:13–49

Luke 24:13–49 CSB

Now that same day two of them were on their way to a village called Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. Together they were discussing everything that had taken place. And while they were discussing and arguing, Jesus himself came near and began to walk along with them. But they were prevented from recognizing him. Then he asked them, “What is this dispute that you’re having with each other as you are walking?” And they stopped walking and looked discouraged. The one named Cleopas answered him, “Are you the only visitor in Jerusalem who doesn’t know the things that happened there in these days?” “What things?” he asked them. So they said to him, “The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet powerful in action and speech before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him. But we were hoping that he was the one who was about to redeem Israel. Besides all this, it’s the third day since these things happened. Moreover, some women from our group astounded us. They arrived early at the tomb, and when they didn’t find his body, they came and reported that they had seen a vision of angels who said he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they didn’t see him.” He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Wasn’t it necessary for the Messiah to suffer these things and enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted for them the things concerning himself in all the Scriptures. They came near the village where they were going, and he gave the impression that he was going farther. But they urged him, “Stay with us, because it’s almost evening, and now the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them. It was as he reclined at the table with them that he took the bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, but he disappeared from their sight. They said to each other, “Weren’t our hearts burning within us while he was talking with us on the road and explaining the Scriptures to us?” That very hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem. They found the Eleven and those with them gathered together, who said, “The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!” Then they began to describe what had happened on the road and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread. As they were saying these things, he himself stood in their midst. He said to them, “Peace to you!” But they were startled and terrified and thought they were seeing a ghost. “Why are you troubled?” he asked them. “And why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself! Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have.” Having said this, he showed them his hands and feet. But while they still were amazed and in disbelief because of their joy, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” So they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence. He told 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, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. He also said to them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead the third day, and repentance for forgiveness of sins will be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And look, I am sending you what my Father promised. As for you, stay in the city until you are empowered from on high.”

Pray

At the beginning of the movie Bruce Willis is shot.How many of you remember the movie “The Sixth Sense?” If you don’t it’s a great movie and spoiler warnings ahead although it’s a 26 year old movie so it’s not my fault if you haven’t seen it by now. The movie is about a child psychologist that spends the entire movie helping a young boy deal with the fact that he can see ghost. Bruce Willis stared in the movie and in the opening of the movie he’s shot by a former patient. The next sense he is shown with Haley Joel Osment playing the young bot that sees ghost and he begins to help him deal with his ability. The reason I bring this movie up is because it is a movie that masterfully uses a storytelling device called foreshadowing.

If you don’t know what foreshadowing is, it’s a literary device that hints at events to come to build up suspense before a future outcome is revealed. For example in “The Sixth Sense,” M. Knight Shyamalan uses clues to hint at the big reveal at the end. For example Haley Joel Osment tells Willis that he can see dead people. He also keeps looking at his shirt. The only person that talks to Willis after he is shot is aley Joel Osment. These and many other clues at the end of the film come blareing back when it’s revealed that Willis died at the beginning of the movie when he was shot and that he was a ghost that aley Joel Osment was seeing.

You may be asking why I’m bringing this up. Why am I talking about a 26-year-old movie in a sermon? It’s because what was happening at the end of that movie is the same thing that is happening in these passages of scriptures. Jesus on the road to Emmaus and in the room with his disciples is unveiling their eyes and minds to the foreshadowing of him laid out in the Old Testament. And today we too are going to do that same thing. We all know a bit about some of the foreshadowing of Jesus in the Old Testament like when Abraham to Isaac to sacrifice him and how it foreshadowed what God would do with his own son one day. Today we are going to look at other foreshadowed things in the Bible and themes that run throughout it to reveal God’s truths.

The Suffering Servant

As we are talking about the road the Emmaus passage and the things Jesus likely revealed to the disciples that day on the road and in the room I’m going to stick to themes and foreshadowing events that focus on Jesus and the cross and his resurrection today like the fact that he’d come as a suffering servant. To that fact turn with me to Isaiah 53 and let’s look at a few verses. Look at the second part of verse 3: “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering who knew what sickness was. He was like someone people turned away from; he was despised, and we didn’t value him.” We are told in this verse that he would be a man of suffering, someone that people would turn away from, despise, and not value. Does this not describe Jesus and the way the world treats him today? How the religious elite of his day treated him?

It geos on in verses 4-6 to say “Yet he himself bore our sicknesses, and he carried our pains; but we in turn regarded him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds. We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished him for[the iniquity of us all.” The suffering servant that Isaiah describes here is a man that stands in the place of others, one that takes the punishment for them in their place so that they don’t have to bear it. Who does that sound like to you? Who is he foreshadowing? Jesus. I encourage you to read this entire chapter later to get more of the suffering servant passages here in Isaiah but this isn’t the only verses that foreshadow Jesus’ suffering and death.

Turn with me to Psalm 22 and let’s look at a Psalm that could almost be mistaken for the crucifixion. “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far from my deliverance and from my words of groaning?” If these words sound familiar that’s because they are nearly identical to the ones Jesus spoke on the cross. Mark 15:34 “And at three Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lemá sabachtháni?” which is translated, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?””

Look on down to verses 7 and 8: “Everyone who sees me mocks me; they sneer and shake their heads: “He relies on the Lord; let him save him; let the Lord rescue him, since he takes pleasure in him.” Now listen to these verses from Matt, Mark, and Luke: Matthew 27:39 “Those who passed by were yelling insults at him, shaking their heads”; Mark 15:29 “Those who passed by were yelling insults at him, shaking their heads, and saying, “Ha! The one who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days,” ; Luke 23:35 “The people stood watching, and even the leaders were scoffing: “He saved others; let him save himself if this is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One!”” Matthew 27:43 “He trusts in God; let God rescue him now—if he takes pleasure in him! For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ””

Skip down to Psalm 22:16–18 “For dogs have surrounded me; a gang of evildoers has closed in on me; they pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones; people look and stare at me. They divided my garments among themselves, and they cast lots for my clothing.” Now listen to John 20:25 “So the other disciples were telling him, “We’ve seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “If I don’t see the mark of the nails in his hands, put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will never believe.”” and John 19:24 “So they said to one another, “Let’s not tear it, but cast lots for it, to see who gets it.” This happened that the Scripture might be fulfilled that says: They divided my clothes among themselves, and they cast lots for my clothing. This is what the soldiers did.”

I can imagine Jesus talking with the two on the road and with the ones gathered in that room recounting these verses to them. Reminding them of the things written about him and telling them of what he suffered. Showing them the scars on this hands and feet and even his side where the spear had pierced him and Thomas would later want to touch to prove Jesus was who he said he was. They would hopefully then know why he went through what all he did and why but I think there was more he shared with them that day and I want to share with you know. The foreshadowing of his resurrection.

Resurrection

Not only did the disciples that were there on the road and in the room believe that the Old Testament foreshadow Jesus’s suffering, death, and resurrection on the third day but so did Paul. In wrote to the church in Corinth this in 1 Corinthians 15:3–5 “For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.”

Many may not have realized that the resurrection was foreshadowed in the Old Testament much less that it was even foreshadowed that it’d take place on the third day. There are some of you may know one of the accounts of that foreshadows this as Jesus himself mentioned it in the Gospels. Anyone know which account I’m referring to? If not it’s found in Matthew 12:40 “For as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.” It’s the most know reference again because Jesus mentioned it, but it’s not the only one. Let’s take a look at some others.

Another account is one that I mentioned in the introduction of this sermon. That is the account of Abraham going to sacrifice Isaac. In Genesis 22 we are told about this event and that it was after three days of travel that they reached the place God had told Abraham to kill Isaac at and where God would spare his life. Genesis 22:3–4 “So Abraham got up early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took with him two of his young men and his son Isaac. He split wood for a burnt offering and set out to go to the place God had told him about. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.” Then we see that like Jesus, Isaac had to carry the wood up to the place he’d have to lay down his life. And Abraham carried the knife and the fire so he’d have to kill his son. He truly believed he’d have to kill the promised seed, another foreshadowing of carried forward from Genesis 3. Hebrews tells us that Abraham believed that Isaac would die but that God would raise him again. Hebrews 11:19 “He considered God to be able even to raise someone from the dead; therefore, he received him back, figuratively speaking.”

There are other times in the Old Testament that we see references to deliverances and victories on the third day as well. In Egypt the Moses told the Pharaoh that the people would go out three days to worship. Esther told Mordecai to pray three days and nights for her before she went to the king. Listen to the words of Hosea 6:2 “He will revive us after two days, and on the third day he will raise us up so we can live in his presence.” There are other times we can see similar things that point us to a third day deliverance and resurrection and a suffering servant but there is one more theme and foreshadowing that runs throughout the Old Testament and that the New Testament sheds light on that I want to cover, Marriage.

Marriage

A huge theme found throughout the Bible, and the last I’ll cover today, is the theme of marriage. As a matter of fact after the creation account in the first chapter of the Bible we are told about a marriage. Most of you should have read it by now if you are current on the reading schedule for this semester. In the story of this marriage there are several things that stick out and come back into play later in the Bible. The first is that the first marriage takes place in the garden, in paradise. This theme of a garden runs throughout the Bible. Abraham is promised that his descendants would be given a land of milk and honey a garden to possess. The garden shows up again in the New Testament were just like in the first garden Adam and Eve betrayed God when they ate of the fruit, Jesus was also betrayed in the garden when Judus came and kissed him. The garden then shows up again in Revelation when the new Heaven and Earth are made and the New Jerusalem are established. We also see that the Bible that began in marriage between the first woman and the first man ends with the marriage between Jesus and his church.

These are not the only themes and foreshadowing that this first marriage gives us either. Another thing that laid out in the telling of this story of the first marriage and that God established was the man’s, and later Jesus’, roles and responsibilities to provide for his wife. In Genesis 2:24 we are told: 24 This is why a man leaves his father and mother and bonds with his wife, and they become one flesh. This is why Jesus left his father and his home in Heaven, in order that he might come down to Earth and betroth his church and that we might become part of his body. Paul lays this theme out in his epistles. He tells us that Jesus is the head of the Church and that we are it’s members. Another theme that comes through in marriage is that of the husband bonds with his wife. This later becomes a responsibility for the man to building a place on his father’s house for the two to live. This comes up again in Jesus’ words when promised to go back to his father’s house and build a place for the church to live in Heaven in “His father’s house.”

The last foreshadowing in the first marriage I’d like to cover is the way the woman was created. In the story we are told that a suitable helper was not found for the man. God puts the man into a deep sleep and then takes out a part of his side or his rib as some of your Bibles might say. He then takes that rib and forms it into the woman Eve. This was a foreshadowing of what Jesus did on the cross. Instead of a deep sleep though he died on the cross then like the man having part of his side removed to form his wife, Jesus was stabbed in the side and he bleed all his blood and it was through that blood that Jesus created his wife, The Church. All these themes, foreshadowing, and more run through the Bible and it’s good for us to know these thing so let me conclude with the following.

Conclusion

Jesus knew it was important for the disciples on the road to Emmaus and the ones in the room that night to know what the scriptures revealed of him. It’s important for us to know what the scriptures both Old and New Testament tell of Jesus and the themes that run throughout the Bible. There are several reasons why knowing these things are important. Another thing found in storytelling is plot holes. How many of you have ever watched a movie or read a book and found glaring plot hole that have taken you out of the story or left you wondering what the creator was thinking. The Bible isn’t like that which is why Jesus shared this with these men.

There are several reasons why knowing these things are important. The first is that it clears up any misgivings we have and gives us hope. These men were distraught over the death of Jesus and this gave them hope. The second reason is because it strengthens our faith and emboldens us. These men from here were able to get out of their funk and go on to Pentecost and share their faith and grow the Church rapidly. The last reason is because we can learn more about God by looking deeper into his word and seeing the story better so we can share it with others.

The trip to Emmaus in the time of Christ took about two and a half hours. Jesus was able to share for that whole time how the scriptures, that is the Old Testament was about him. Can you do that? If someone asked you to show them Jesus in the Old Testament could you do so for two and a half hours? I don’t think most of us could. That is one of the reasons why we are doing this new small group and self study groups time on the Old Testament. To give us a better understanding and love for the Bible as a whole and not just the New Testament. I hope you’ll make it a priority for the next ten weeks. Let’s pray.