Gregg DeMey, Lead Pastor
Gregg DeMey 0:09
Good morning friends and welcome to Elmhurst CRC's daily dose of the Word of God. It's Thursday, April 11, it's the season of Easter and we are walking the Emmaus road with Jesus. This is Gregg DeMey, Lead Pastor at the church and our scripture reading today is a few verses from the Gospel of Luke 24 - verses 25 through 27.
Gregg DeMey 0:27
Then Jesus said to these two disciples, "Oh, you foolish people. You find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures. Wasn't it clearly predicted that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his glory?" And then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets explaining from all the Scriptures, the things concerning himself.
Gregg DeMey 0:52
What an amazing scene - a Bible study with Jesus. What that must have been like; to have Jesus himself make the connection between the Old Testament scriptures (as we call them) and his life and mission. About 15 years ago a kids Bible story book came out called the Jesus Storybook Bible. The tagline is, "Where Every Story Whispers His Name." It is such a beautiful book and all the Bible stories that it tells link to who Jesus is and what he does. Even though my kids were getting pretty big, we read that book all the time. This coming Sunday, Pastor Jeff's sermon is going to dive deeply into this so we can see different points of connection and how the dots are linked between what God promised and how God fulfilled those promises in Jesus.
Gregg DeMey 1:48
Here is just one example: some words from the prophet Isaiah, chapter 53. "Ask yourself if this sounds like anyone, you know." Again, these words were written 500 years before Jesus of Nazareth was born. "It was our weakness that he carried. It was our sorrow that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins. No, he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins; he was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped, so we could be healed. Now all of us like sheep, have gone astray. We left God's paths to follow our own. And yet the LORD laid on him the sins of us all. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep as silent before the shears, he did not open his mouth. He had done no wrong. He'd never deceived anyone, but he was buried like a criminal and was put in a rich man's grave. But it was the Lord's good plan to crush him, cause him grief - yet when his life was made as an offering for sin, he has many descendants." Amazing, God's promise and the fulfillment.
Gregg DeMey 3:09
Let's pray. Lord, thank you for your promise to send a savior and for the fulfillment of that promise in Jesus. How amazing that his suffering is our salvation today and always. Thanks and praise to you, amen.