As the two men walked down the road, they were completely defeated and confused.
One week earlier, they could hardly contain their excitement as Jesus rode into Jerusalem. Everyone was shouting and celebrating, because the long awaited “King” had just ridden into town as predicted. The next day, Jesus turned over the tables of the money changers in the temple. He took exposed the deceitful and uncaring hearts of the religious leaders of the day. Everything looked great.
Then, this great teacher was arrested. Suddenly he went from being “king” and “liberator of the people”, to being a prisoner. Taken back and forth between the Roman and Jewish authorities, he was tried, convicted and crucified.
Now it is Sunday and the men are heading home. As they discuss their crushed hopes and try to make sense of everything that happened, a stranger comes along side of them and asks them what they were discussing. The Bible says, “They stood still, their faces downcast” (Luke 24:17) and they go over the entire story again.
Soon they are at the little village of Emmaus. The stranger acts as if he is going to keep going, but the men urge him to come in. It is too dangerous to be out at night.
Then something unexpected happens. Around the evening meal, as the stranger breaks the bread, it says, “their eyes were opened and they recognized him” (verse 30). The stranger on the road was the risen Christ. Jesus had been walking with them all along and they had not known it. Soon he left them and the men got up and ran the seven miles back to Jerusalem to tell the disciples the great news: “The Lord has risen!” (Verse 34).
So what does this have to do with us?
Well, Christ still meets us on our road!
No matter what has happened, how you feel or where your road has taken you up until this point, the risen Christ is close by (whether you recognize that at the moment or not).
Jesus is not dead and gone. The tomb is empty. In the days after his resurrection, the risen Christ was found among his people and that is still true today.
The resurrection speaks of the new life that is to come, both now and in eternity. Wherever we are, we are not alone. Wherever we are, we can start again.
Just like those two travelers, though, we must ask Jesus to come in and stay with us. If you would like to know how to do that, please contact me.
A new life awaits.
(For more detail about the story told above, please see Luke 24:13-35)
One week earlier, they could hardly contain their excitement as Jesus rode into Jerusalem. Everyone was shouting and celebrating, because the long awaited “King” had just ridden into town as predicted. The next day, Jesus turned over the tables of the money changers in the temple. He took exposed the deceitful and uncaring hearts of the religious leaders of the day. Everything looked great.
Then, this great teacher was arrested. Suddenly he went from being “king” and “liberator of the people”, to being a prisoner. Taken back and forth between the Roman and Jewish authorities, he was tried, convicted and crucified.
Now it is Sunday and the men are heading home. As they discuss their crushed hopes and try to make sense of everything that happened, a stranger comes along side of them and asks them what they were discussing. The Bible says, “They stood still, their faces downcast” (Luke 24:17) and they go over the entire story again.
Soon they are at the little village of Emmaus. The stranger acts as if he is going to keep going, but the men urge him to come in. It is too dangerous to be out at night.
Then something unexpected happens. Around the evening meal, as the stranger breaks the bread, it says, “their eyes were opened and they recognized him” (verse 30). The stranger on the road was the risen Christ. Jesus had been walking with them all along and they had not known it. Soon he left them and the men got up and ran the seven miles back to Jerusalem to tell the disciples the great news: “The Lord has risen!” (Verse 34).
So what does this have to do with us?
Well, Christ still meets us on our road!
No matter what has happened, how you feel or where your road has taken you up until this point, the risen Christ is close by (whether you recognize that at the moment or not).
Jesus is not dead and gone. The tomb is empty. In the days after his resurrection, the risen Christ was found among his people and that is still true today.
The resurrection speaks of the new life that is to come, both now and in eternity. Wherever we are, we are not alone. Wherever we are, we can start again.
Just like those two travelers, though, we must ask Jesus to come in and stay with us. If you would like to know how to do that, please contact me.
A new life awaits.
(For more detail about the story told above, please see Luke 24:13-35)
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