I was reading Luke 24 this morning. It tells the story of the two followers of Jesus walking on the road to Emmaus. Jesus had been crucified and risen from the dead, but they didn't know that the resurrection had happened. Then something very interesting happens, Jesus begins to walk with them, but they don't know it is Jesus.
And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. And they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them. But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him.
Luke 24:13-16
They begin talking with Jesus. Jesus acts like He hasn't heard of anything that has happened, so they begin to tell Him.
And He said to them, "What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking ?" And they stood still, looking sad. One of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to Him, "Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days ?" And He said to them, "What things ?" And they said to Him, "The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to the sentence of death, and crucified Him.
Luke 24:17-20
It is the next verse that spoke to my heart this morning:
"But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened.
What spoke to my heart was that these men had a hope. Their hope was that Jesus was going to redeem Israel. But because of the crucifixion of Jesus they had lost their hope. You can't blame them, the reality was as far as they knew, was that Jesus was dead.
Then they tell Jesus that they had heard that some women said that they had seen angels, and the angels said Jesus was alive, resurrected from the dead. Some had been to the tomb and saw it was empty, but Jesus they had not seen.
"But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning, and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive. "Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said ; but Him they did not see."
Luke 24:22-24
What I saw out of this story was that we as followers of Jesus, all have a hope about Jesus doing something in our lives. We all have hope that He will work out some situation in our lives.
When things don't go as planned, we begin to lose our hope. As I mentioned earlier, we can't blame them, as far as they knew Jesus was dead. Often times in our situations the reality is that things have gone from bad to worse. So we begin to lose hope and don't think that Jesus is working in the situation.
Finally the interesting thing to me, is that Jesus was with them. He was right next to them in the midst of their sadness (vv.17). What they thought was reality was, and yet, there was a greater reality going on that they didn't know about, and that was that Jesus was alive. They also couldn't see how what the women had said was true because three days had passed. They may have thought that nobody is coming back from the dead after three days. Isn't that like our situations in life? We see a reality going on in our lives, but we aren't even thinking that there may be a greater reality going on at the same time. Also, we may think that there may be another reality going on, but that reality sounds impossible for us to believe.
How often in my life have I had a hope, but the because of situations (that were real) I thought that I should give up hope? How often have I thought that Jesus wasn't working in my life because of certain realities, and yet the whole time He was working? How often have I felt like Jesus wasn't with me, and yet just like the story of the two on the road to Emmaus, He was right next to me?
Eventually Jesus revealed Himself to the two:
And He said to them, "O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken ! "Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory ?" Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures. And they approached the village where they were going, and He acted as though He were going farther. But they urged Him, saying, "Stay with us, for it is getting toward evening, and the day is now nearly over." So He went in to stay with them. When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight. They said to one another, "Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?"
Luke 24:25-32
Let us be encouraged today that Jesus is always with us. Though we may not always recognize His presence, He is right next to us.
Here are a couple of links of a song that is about God always being with us. The song is by Matt Redman.
The first one is the story behind the song. The second link is the song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=de6M5iu3Ez8&feature=relmfu The story behind "Never Once"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=722zPX1npcA&feature=relmfu Video for "Never Once"
Troy
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