** This response is biblically sound, answers the question directly and completely, provides biblical support, and maintains a kind tone. The response appropriately cites sources and is written with logical flow. The tone is inviting and encourages the questioner to continue to study God’s Word and be amazed at who God is. **

Question: What is Jesus quoting in Luke 24:46?

Profile: Male, North America, Over 75, Christian

Answered by: Don Strand, who has been serving on our Q&A Answer Team since December 2009.

Answer: There are so many passages Jesus could have been quoting because the entire Bible is meant to point humanity to Jesus. As Paul writes, “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him“ (Colossians 1:16, ESV). So, from Genesis 1.1 through Revelation 22:20, the story centers on Jesus and his anticipated coming throughout the Old Testament, and the meaning of his life, death, and resurrection in the New Testament.

In the passage you mention and the event in Luke 24:13 and following, countless Christians have wanted to know what Jesus said on those occasions. In Luke 24:27, Luke writes “… beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he (Jesus) interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.”

Beginning with Moses means Jesus began with Genesis through Deuteronomy, the five books of Moses. Then, “all the prophets” is the large body of scripture beginning in Job, and the other wisdom books, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon, and the “major” and “minor” prophets; major and minor describing length, not importance, beginning with Isaiah and ending with Malachi.

Most attempts to “nail down” which Scripture Jesus quoted usually center on Isaiah 49, 53, and Psalms 16 and 22. Isaiah 49:6-8 is quoted by Simeon when he held the baby Jesus in his arms and prophesied (Luke 2:27-31). Jesus quoted Isaiah 49:6b in Acts 1:8 and Paul in Acts 13:47. The Isaiah 53 passages may have been 53:3-5, 7-12. In the Psalms, Psalm 16:10 and Psalm 22:1 and 14-15 describe Jesus’ agony on the cross. Psalm 110, in its entirety, may have been on Jesus’ lips.

But we don’t know exactly which verses Jesus shared with his disciples because Scripture doesn’t tell us. But the point of Jesus’ words is not that such-and-such a verse has not been fulfilled, but that the truth to which all of the Scriptures points has been realized. [1]

Thanks for your question, and I hope this encourages you to continue to study your Bible and see Jesus in ‘shadow’ form throughout the Old Testament and the glory of the fulfillment of those shadows in the events recorded by the New Testament writers.

Blessings, Pastor Don.

[1] Joel B. Green, The Gospel of Luke, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1997), 857.