Very concise summary: Jesus says one day to the Jewish crowd around Him that the Law, Prophets, and Writings talked about Him. And Jesus later explains in-depth to various followers of His what He meant when He had said that to the crowd.
Greetings my beloved child, from John—a disciple of Jesus, your brother in grace and truth, and now an elder of the church.
Yes, John, and Jesus always loved you so much! Greetings from Luke—a friend of the apostle Paul who supports him in his work, and a doctor. We’ve got Cleopas here too, a fellow follower of Jesus, and he is burning to share some details with me about his encounter with Jesus after He was resurrected.
Together, we have earnestly desired to show you what was always true, what we ourselves were prevented from seeing at first. John here, and yes, you are a doctor who is loved by many! We know that after our Lord Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews, they were persecuting Him and seeking all the more to kill Him; because He had made a man well on the Sabbath and also because He was calling God His own Father. He truthfully said to the Jews that they “searched the Scriptures because they thought that in them they have eternal life,” and they do, but “it is these Scriptures that testify about Him; and they were unwilling to come to Him so that they may have life”. (John 5:39)
Alright, now here are some details about my encounter with Him, Luke! So brothers and sisters, on the third day since the chief priests and our Jewish rulers crucified Jesus; I, Cleopas, was going with someone to a village named Emmaus, talking with them as we were walking, and He Himself approached and began travelling with us. We didn’t recognize Him because our eyes were prevented from doing so, but beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to us the things written about Himself in all the Scriptures. And later, when the day was nearly over, our eyes were opened and we recognized Him.
Praise the Lord for that!. Then, a couple hours after that; Jesus ate before me—John—, and us eleven apostles, in addition to our brother Cleopas, and the rest gathered there in Jerusalem; and Jesus said to us, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”
Then Jesus opened our minds (Luke 24)
—and can, through His Spirit, open your mind also—
to understand the things written about Him in all the Scriptures, things that must all be fulfilled; which He explained to us there at the table, like this…
…
…
…
My friends, this is what I was talking to the two about while I was with them on the way to Emmaus village:
Luke,
I, Christ Jesus, became wisdom from God. (1 Corinthians 1:30a)
The LORD possessed Me, wisdom, at the beginning of His way. Before His works of old. From everlasting I was established. (Proverbs 8:22-23)
God granted grace in Me, Christ Jesus, before time began; to whoever would have faith in Me, the Word, grace which is later revealed through My appearing as Savior, to save them; and called them with a holy calling; according to His own purpose, not according to their works. (2 Timothy 1:9-10, Hebrews 11, cf. Targum Neofiti on the Pentateuch)
John,
All things came into being through Me, the Word, and apart from Me nothing came into being that has come into being. (John 1:2)
And to whoever will teach the Hebrews about me,
God made the ages through Me, His Son, ordering them by Me, His word, and making what is visible out of things which are invisible. (Hebrews 1:2, 11:3)
In the beginning was I, the Word, and I was with God, and I was God. I was in the beginning with God. (John 1:1)
From the beginning I, wisdom, was brought out. (Proverbs 8:23b)
Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was Light; His and Mine. God saw that the Light was good; and I, the Word of the LORD, separated the Light from the darkness. (Genesis 1:3-4, John 1:2-5, 1 John 1:5, Targum Neofiti on Genesis 1:4)
In Me was life, and the life was the Light of man. I, the Light, shine in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend/overpower it. (John 1:2-5)
I, wisdom, was established from the beginning, from the earliest times of the earth. When there were no depths I was brought out, when there were no springs abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills I was brought out; While the LORD had not yet made the earth and the fields, or the first dust of the world. (Proverbs 8:23-26)
When the LORD established the heavens; I, wisdom, was there. (Proverbs 8:27a)
The world came into being through Me, the true Light. (John 1:10b)
The LORD founded the earth through Me, wisdom. (Proverbs 3:19a)
He laid the cornerstone of the earth; when then the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy; (Job 38:6-7)
when the angels of sanctification, angels of the Face, and I the angel of the Face, saw the works of the All-Powerful LORD, and praised Him, and gave Him glory for all His works; because on the first day He created seven great works. (Jubilees 2:3)
When the LORD inscribed a circle on the face of the deep, when He made the skies above firm; I, wisdom, was there. (Proverbs 8:27b-28a)
When the springs of the deep became fixed, when He set for the sea its boundary so that the water would not go against His command, when He marked out the foundations of the earth; I, wisdom, was there. (Proverbs 8:28b-29)
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them (C)rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” (Genesis 1:26)
I, Christ Jesus, became wisdom from God to the ones who are being saved. (1 Corinthians 1:30a)
God had put Me, wisdom, in the innermost being. And given understanding to the mind. (Job 38:36, 1 Corinthians 1:24)
And I gave this warning to man:
My child, let them not vanish from your sight; Keep Me, sound wisdom, and keep discretion; so discretion and I will be life to your soul and adornment to your neck. Then you will walk in your way securely and your foot will not stumble. When you lie down, you will not be afraid; When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. (Proverbs 3:19-24)
**I, wisdom, was beside the LORD then, closely joined to Him—like a craftsman at His side—and I was His delight daily, always rejoicing before Him. Rejoicing in the world, His earth, and having My delight in the sons and daughters of man. (Proverbs 8:31)
The woman and her husband whom God created, ate from the fruit of the tree which God commanded them not to eat from, in the garden. Then the eyes of both of them were opened and
They heard the sound of Me, the Word [the ”Memra” in Targums, which are Aramaic] of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, (Genesis 3:8a, Targum Onkelos on Genesis 3:8a, Targum Neofiti on Genesis 3:8a)
and the man and his wife hid themselves from the Face of the LORD God—from Me, the Word of the LORD—among the trees of the garden. (Genesis 3:8b, Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Genesis 3:8b, some margin glosses of Targum Neofiti on Genesis 3:8b)
Then the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9)
He said, “I heard the sound of Your Word in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” (Genesis 3:10, Targum Onkelos on Genesis 3:10)
The LORD God said to the elohim and I, “Look, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and also take from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground which he was taken from. (Genesis 3:22-23, personal inference based on God’s paralleling of the serpent’s “… God knows … you will be like the elohim, knowing good and evil”)
…
Now, Matthew, I say to you that
At the foundation of the world, I, the wisdom of God, sent to humans one prophet out of many to come, who was killed. The righteous blood of a prophet was shed on earth, the blood of righteous Abel. (Matthew 23:34-35, Luke 11:49-51)
…
And Peter & Thaddeus,
… regarding the angels that the LORD had sent on the earth, He was very angry with them, and He commanded that they be removed from all their authority. (Jubilees 5:6a)
And the LORD turned back through Me, His Word, because He made man on the earth, and He spoke through Me, His Word, in order to break their strength according to His will. (Genesis 6:6, Targum Onkelos on Genesis 6:6)
The LORD said, “I will wipe out man, whom I have created, off the face of the land; from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; because I have turned back through My Word, since I made them.” (Genesis 6:7, Targum Onkelos on Genesis 6:7)
And a command against the sons [of the angels who sinned] went out from before His face that they should be killed with the sword, and be removed from under heaven. And He said “Surely, My spirit will not always abide on man; because they are also flesh and their days will be one hundred and twenty years”. And He sent His sword into their midst so each would kill his neighbour, and they began to kill each other till they all fell by the sword and were destroyed from the earth. And their fathers were witnesses of their destruction, (Jubilees 5:7-10a)
and He commanded us angels—and I, the angel of the Face—to bind them in the depths of the earth; (Jubilees 5:6b)
and after this [destruction, their fathers] were bound in the depths of the earth forever, until the day of the great condemnation, when judgment will be executed on all those who have corrupted their ways and their works before the LORD. (Jubilees 5:10b)
And there they are, bound with each other and kept aside. (Jubilees 5:6c)
Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took from every clean animal and from every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. The LORD smelled the soothing aroma; and the LORD said to His heart and He said through Me, His Word; “I will never again curse the ground on account of man, because the intent of man’s heart is evil from their youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, like I have done. (Genesis 8:20-21, Targum Onkelos on Genesis 8:21)
…
The LORD came down
and we—angels and I—descended with Him
to see the city and the tower which the sons and daughters of man had built. The LORD said, “Look, they are one people and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do. Now nothing that they purpose themselves to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand each other’s speech.”
So the LORD confused the language of the whole earth, and He scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city, which was called Babel. (Genesis 11:5-9)
John, remember how I said to the Jews when they were seeking to kill me that
”Before Abraham came into being, I AM.”? (John 8:58)
When the nations had been put to confusion in their wicked agreement; I, wisdom, recognized a righteous man, Abram. (Wisdom of Solomon 10:5a)
…
Now [around 2080 BC] I; the angel of the LORD; found Hagar, an Egyptian maid of Abram’s wife, by a spring of water in the wilderness, the one on the way to Shur. Hagar was recently given to Abram as his wife as well. I said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from and where are you going?” And she said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.” Then I said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself to her authority.” I also said to her, “I will greatly multiply your descendants/seed so that they will be too many to count.” I said more to her, “Listen, you are now pregnant and you will bear a son; and you will call his name Ishmael, meaning ‘God hears’, because the LORD has heard your affliction. He will be a wild donkey of a man, with his hand against everyone, and everyone’s hand will be against him; and he will dwell to the east of all his brothers, or in defiance of them.” Then she named Me, the LORD who spoke to her, “You are El-roi, the God who sees”; because she said, “Have I really seen God and remained alive after seeing Him who sees me?” Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi, “the well of the living one who sees me”; it is between Kadesh, [meaning a holy/sanctified place], and Bered, [possibly meaning a cold, hail-y, or scattered place]. (Genesis 16:7-14)
…
Now [around 14 years after speaking to Hagar,] when Abram was 99 years old, I, the LORD, appeared to him and said to him, “I am All-Powerful God; walk before Me, and be blameless. I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.” Abram fell on his face; and I, God, talked with him; saying, “As for Me; listen, My covenant is with you; and you will be the father of a multitude of nations. Your name will no longer be called Abram, “exalted father”, but your name will be Abraham, “father of a multitude”; because I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you. I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land where you now live as a foreign resident, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.” I said further to Abraham, “Now as for you, you will surely keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. This is My covenant, which you must keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you must be circumcised. And you must be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it will surely be the sign of the covenant between Me and you. And every male among you who is 8 days old must be circumcised throughout your generations, a servant who is born in the house or who is bought with money from any foreigner, who is not of your descendants. A servant who is born in your house or who is bought with your money must surely be circumcised; this is how My covenant will be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. But an uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person must be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.” Then I said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you will not call her name Sarai; but Sarah, “princess”, will surely be her name. I will bless her, and I will indeed give you a son through her. Then I will bless her, and she will surely be a mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.” Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “A child will be born to a 100 year old man? And Sarah, who is 90 years old, will have a child?” And Abraham said to Me, “Oh that Ishmael might live before You!” But I said, “No, but Sarah your wife will surely give you a son, and you will call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. As for Ishmael, I have heard you; listen, I will bless him, and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. He will surely become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will have for you at this season next year.” When I finished talking with him, I ascended from Abraham. (Genesis 17:1-22)