Everything must be fulfilledthat is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophetsand the Psalms. (Luke 24:44)
MIKE OPPENHEIMER was brought up in a Jewish home that observed the Sabbath faithfully and celebrated all of the High Holy Days. After high school, however, he pursued his own brand of “freestyle spirituality.” After years of spiritual wandering, he crossed paths with some Christian friends who convinced him that the Messiah described in the Hebrew Scriptures was none other than Jesus Christ. Mike went on to host a call-in radio show to equip believers to articulate their faith with those who were in the middle of their own spiritual wanderings.
Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances to the disciples had many biblical and even physical proofs to them. They touched Him. They ate with Him. For forty days after Jesus’ crucifixion, they sat with Him and talked with Him about the Scriptures that pointed to Him. This was no hallucination or “spiritualized” event. It was clear that everything Jesus had taught them and everything the prophets said about Him was validated by His resurrection.
Mike’s Christian friends followed the example of Christ and demonstrated how the Hebrew Scriptures pointed to Jesus, and to no one else, as God’s appointed Messiah. Not only did Jesus explain the Scriptures to His disciples, but He also “opened their minds” so that they could fully grasp and understand them. This is now one of the roles of the Holy Spirit in our lives—to open our minds so that we can understand God’s Word.
Read the Scriptures today, letting your focus and application of the text be upon blessing others and blessing God.
Doug Schmidt is a freelance writer and editor and is on staff with his church as a small-groups coach.
