Jesus constantly quoted scripture. He delighted to draw forth simple inspired lines from the Old Testament books and to quote them in every and all situations. The Old Testament was His Bible. It was His only book. It not only filled His heart but it filled His mouth. No sermon was preached without reference to the written Scriptures. He frequently built His sermons on a text of Scripture.
In our text above Christ reveals that during His earthly ministry He constantly taught His disciples that His whole life was caught up in the fulfilment of the Old Testament writings. Now in His risen state He continues to bear testimony to the written Word. As He walks with two disciples on the road to Emmaus He 'expounds' or opens up revelations and teachings concerning Himself from the OT Scriptures. As He does this their hearts burn within them.
He could have just revealed Himself or granted a revelation by the Holy Spirit or granted them a mystical experience. But no instead He takes the OT written Scriptures, He opens them up, explains them, and spends time in them. Finally He opens the eyes and understanding of His disciples concerning these things written.
This was no short message but a thorough exposition of Christ in every book. Christ calls the whole Old Testament by three names: Moses (law of), the prophets, and the Psalms. This covers every book from Genesis to Malachi. Leviticus reveals Christ, so does Deuteronomy, so does Amos and so does Song of Songs. Every lamb that was sacrificed pointed to Christ, the Ark of the Covenant was Christ, the temple was Christ, the High Priest was Christ. We could easily fill a volume with such truths.
All of the apostles preached Christ from Moses and the Prophets. The OT Scriptures were used by the early Church to reveal Christ to a lost and dying world. These books have not been made redundant by time or by superior revelations. They are however only made of non-affect by the traditions of men who ignore Christ in them. The disciple Philip used the OT Scriptures to point to Christ. He said: "We have found Him of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write." So also did Philip the evangelist. He preached Christ to the Ethiopian Eunuch from Isaiah 53.
The New Testament Gospels and Epistles were firmly rooted, founded and grounded upon the OT Scriptures. The Old flows in and through the New. The OT Scriptures are found in the substance of all NT preaching. These OT Scriptures were read in the church gathering. The New Testament is a divine commentary on the Old. Christ is the central subject of both. He is the marrow of both. He is the ultimate fulfilment and reason for both. Those who neglect the Old and honour the New dishonour Christ. Those who can't see Christ throughout the Old do not yet understand the New.
Christ and the Scriptures are one. Christ bears witness to the Scriptures and the Scriptures bear witness to Him. There is no separation. No contradiction. Only a perfect unity and complementation. One is the written Word, the other is the living Word. Both are divine, both came from Heaven and both were given in and through the Jewish culture. Without Christ the Scriptures are dead. But when allowed the Scriptures reveal Christ alive in all His glory, majesty and power.
Those who exalt the written Scriptures but who miss Christ are wrong. But so also are those who say they make Christ central and who profess to exalt His person yet make little of the written Scriptures. Those who mock genuine Bible believers as worshipping the Bible and of Bibliolatry know nothing. Such accusations reveal a subtle disregard for the written Word. Christ never did such.
There is a beautiful unity between the Old and New Testaments in revealing the person of Christ. They speak with one voice. Jn.5:46-47, "For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?" If you cannot accept the OT writings as inspired and valuable as a revelation of Christ then you will miss Christ in the New.