Introduction: the event of all history
As we are going through the whole Bible this year with our series called The Story, I thought I would offer some daily reflections through Holy Week on the way the Old Testament points to, and prepares us for, the death and resurrection of Jesus. As you have heard me say more than once this year, the story is, in the end, all about Jesus.
It is not surprising that the Old Testament is full of signs and images of the death and resurrection of Jesus. The Bible is very clear that the events of that first Easter didn’t take God by surprise, or off guard, but rather they had been planned even before the world was made. The Bible puts it like this:
Ephesians 1:4-11 (NLT)
4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.
5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.
6 So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son.
7 He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins.
8 He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.
9 God has now revealed to us his mysterious plan regarding Christ, a plan to fulfill his own good pleasure.
10 And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth.
11 Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan.
The cross, not an event in history but the event of all history, was always on God’s mind. No wonder we see glimpses of it on almost every page, even thousands of years before it actually happened. Over this coming week I will share each day just a few of these.
Simon Harris 