On the first Easter Day, two troubled men walked and talked.  They were traveling about seven miles from Jerusalem to a village named Emmaus.

A man came up and walked with them. It was Jesus! But “they were kept from recognizing him.” (Luke 24:16).

They were confused, perplexed and dismayed.

The men explained to the stranger walking with them that:

Jesus “was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people.” (Luke 24:19).

They had hoped Jesus “was the one who was going to redeem Israel.” (Luke 24:21).

Nevertheless, during the past week, evil people tortured and killed Jesus.

Yet this morning, close followers of Jesus were saying that Jesus was alive! His tomb was empty!! (Luke 24:22-24).

Like so many confused, perplexed and dismayed people today, the men had seen and heard the truth about Jesus—the Truth about the Messiah. But they did not perceive or understand what they were seeing, hearing and feeling. (Isaiah 6:9-10; Matthew 13:13-15; Acts 28:25-28).

Jesus said to them:

“‘How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken!

Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?’

And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.” (Luke 24:25-27).

By the time Jesus was done, the men were eager to race back to Jerusalem to share the good news about Jesus.

Countless books and sermons have grappled with this question of what Moses and the Prophets said concerning Jesus, the Messiah.

Moreover, the reference by Jesus to “the Prophets” would have been understood to include the Psalms as well.

Indeed, back in Jerusalem later that first Easter Day, Jesus said to the gathered disciples:

“This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” (Luke 24:33).

But Jesus would only have had a few hours to explain all these things to the two men walking to Emmaus.

What are the highpoints of what the Psalms said about Jesus, the Messiah?

The most famous of these prophetic Psalms is Psalm 22.

As he hung on the Cross, Jesus referenced Psalm 22 by quoting its first lines. This was a customary way to refer quickly to an entire Psalm, and Jesus was short on both time and breath.

Jesus said: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”. (Matthew 27:46; Psalm 21:1).

Left unspoken—but well-known to Jesus and his followers—was the rest of Psalm 22.

It contains gruesome descriptions of the Suffering Servant of God. (to learn more about the ways that the Messiah is the Suffering Servant, please read my blog “What Did the Prophets Say Concerning the Messiah?”).

The description in Psalm 22 perfectly captures the tortures of crucifixion and the taunts of bystanders.

For example, Jesus feels:

“[S]corned by everyone, despised by the people.

All who see me mock me;

   they hurl insults, shaking their heads.” (Psalm 22:6-7).

Nailed to the Cross, hanging from the spikes pounded into his hands and feet, Jesus could identify with the agonized cry of the Psalmist:

“I am poured out like water

   and all my bones are out of joint.

My heart has turned to wax;

   it has melted within me.

My mouth is dried up like a potsherd,

   and my tongue sticks to the roof of

   my mouth;

you lay me in the dust of death.” (Psalm 22:14-15).

Nevertheless, even in this hopeless moment, Jesus hoped in the LORD. (Isaiah 40:27-31).

Jesus knew that Psalm 22 ended with the LORD hastening to come to his aid and to save him. (Psalm 22:20-22).

Jesus knew that he would yet praise the LORD with all those who seek the LORD. (Psalm 22:23-27).

Jesus knew that because of what Jesus—the Messiah—accomplished as the Suffering Servant:

Posterity will serve him;

   future generations will be told about the LORD.

They will proclaim his righteousness,

   declaring to a people yet unborn:

He has done it! (Psalm 22:31).

Israel would be redeemed!

All Humanity would be redeemed!

No wonder the two men were no longer confused, perplexed and dismayed.

No wonder their hearts burned within them as Jesus—the Messiah—opened the Scriptures to them.

With the help of Jesus, they could perceive and understand what they were seeing, hearing and feeling. (Isaiah 6:9-10; Matthew 13:13-15; Acts 28:25-28).

No wonder they raced back to Jerusalem to proclaim the LORD’s righteousness.

No wonder they could not wait to tell everyone, now and forevermore:

Jesus—the Messiah—has done it!

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For additional insights about the men on the road to Emmaus, please read my blogs “Overcoming Oceans of Hopeless Confusion”, “What Did Moses and the Prophets Say Concerning the Messiah?”, “What Did Moses Say Concerning the Messiah?”, and “What Did the Prophets Say Concerning the Messiah?”.

To learn more about how Jesus fulfilled all the Scriptures concerning the Messiah, please read my book Hoping in the LORD, especially the chapters “Mary and Joseph Lose Jesus in Jerusalem”,  “Jesus Is Tempted”, “Jesus Preaches in His Hometown of Nazareth”, “Jesus Tells His Disciples He Must Die”, “Jesus Drives the Merchants Out of the Temple”, “Jesus Allows Himself To Be Arrested Without a Fight”, “Jesus Tells the High Priest that He Is the Messiah”, and “Jesus Forgives His Enemies and Trusts God”, at pages 53-64, 71-91, 111-115, 171-173, 223-227, 259-266, 267-275, 287-293.