Acts 8- Finding Jesus in Scripture

Philip runs up to a chariot as directed by God, and he hears a man reading the book of Isaiah. "Do you understand what you are reading?" Philip asked. "How can I," he said, "unless someone explains it to me?" So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.... Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. (Acts 8:29-35)

Do you realize that when the apostles preached they preached Jesus from the old testament? They took all of the Scriptures that were available to them(Genesis- Malachi) and they showed how all those Scriptures pointed to a messiah (Jesus) that would be the ultimate sacrifice for mankind (Jesus dying on a cross) to bring us back into perfect fellowship with God.

That is what Philip did in our story. He met a man on the road and explained the Scripture to him about Jesus. When the man heard with spiritual ears he accepted Jesus as messiah and was baptized. 

Do you look for Jesus in the Old Testament? Many of us avoid the Old Testament books because they are a little weird and really hard to sift through. It seems like a bunch of random stories and poems and such and we have a hard time figuring out how to file them. I just want to remind us that the early believers only had these scriptures. They didn't have the masterpiece of Romans. They didn't have the joyful book of Philippians. They weren't reading the New Testament letters yet that explained Jesus. All they had was the Old Testament. But that was enough to convince them of Jesus.

When Jesus confronted the religious leaders of his day he said, "you diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me" (John 5:39). Jesus was telling them that the whole old testament was a testimony about the Son of God. Namely, Himself. Again, when Jesus had risen and returned he  "beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself" (Luke 24: 27).

So, this is my challenge to you. Be on the lookout for Jesus in Scripture. Even in the old testament. Jesus has been the focal point of the whole thing.