Reason #149
"That same day two of Jesus’ followers were walking to the village of Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem. As they walked along they were talking about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things, Jesus himself suddenly came and began walking with them. But God kept them from recognizing him." - Luke 24:13-16
I sat in church today, listening to this passage, and I wondered how often I do this.
Jesus, alive and resurrected, and here He is walking yet another road with His followers. And who said God doesn't desire to have a relationship with His creation? If the fact that He didn't send His Son to dwell among them in the first place wasn't proof enough, Jesus rose from the dead and immediately joined up with them again.
And so they walked and they talked and these two were totally blind to who He was. They didn't recognize Him. The last time they saw Him, He was hanging on a wooden cross. A bloody, redemptive mess. Ripped skin, a crown of thorns, 3 nails. And they watched His life pour out of His body. Three days had passed. And these two were devastated. Devastated because they had hoped it wouldn't come to this. The man that was supposed to save them, resuce them, had been put in a tomb. The story didn't unfold like they had imagined and so they quit looking, quit expecting. They had heard that His tomb was empty, but maybe that seemed a little far fetched to them. Maybe these two were skeptical. Yet they were still talking about it. Maybe through their conversation they were trying to figure it out. Maybe they figured they could come up with an answer or at least try to make sense of it all. Because it is hard to have faith in the midst of devastation. It's hard to keep trusting when everything seems to be going wrong. It's hard to keep your eyes open when they've witnessed horrific acts, and it's hard to be expecting when you don't know what to expect.
Here he was, Jesus, showing up completely unexpected. And they didn't even realize it. Talking with the Messiah in flesh and bone. They had been right. He had come to save them, and here He was, taking time to be with them. His relationship with them didn't stop when He was nailed to that cross. But they were blind to His presence. Blind to the fact that the Savior of the world was walking this road with them. Maybe it was their confusion, their sorrow, their disappointment that clouded their vision. Maybe it was lacking faith or shallow belief that did the trick. Maybe they suffered from short-term memory loss. Or maybe the fact that something totally unexplainable and shocking had taken place that their focus was elsewhere. Who knows?! But He stayed and He walked that dusty road with them until they made it to their destination.
"By this time they were nearing Emmaus and the end of their journey. Jesus acted as if he were going on, but they begged him, “Stay the night with us, since it is getting late.” So he went home with them. As they sat down to eat, he took the bread and blessed it. Then he broke it and gave it to them. Suddenly, their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And at that moment he disappeared!" - Luke 24:28-31
The next thing they know, they were breaking bread with Him. And only then did they get it. Only then was their cloudy vision made clear. And maybe it's because they saw the consitency. The very act He had done the night before His death was the same thing He was doing after His death. The same man, sitting with those He loved, continuing to fill them.
And this is where my heart skipped a beat today. This is where I began to feel a little sad. Because they had spent time with Jesus. They had the pleasure of walking and talking and fellowshiping with the Son of God, but they didn't realize it until the end. And when they did, He disappeared from their presence. When they finally put two and two together, it was too late. If only they had recognized Him from the start. I wonder if the walk down the long dusty road might have been a little different if they had realized who was walking it with them.
So I wonder how often I do this. I let my disappointment, my frustrations, my sorrow, my self-centeredness cloud my vision. And I have expectations. I expect God to show up in a certain way and in a certain form and when that doesn't happen, I quit looking. I stop expecting because it just doesn't make sense that He would do things any other way. So I talk it out and try to figure out what's going to happen now. I continue down the long dusty road completely unaware that I am not walking it alone, and it's when I get to the end of the road, I realize that He was walking it with me the whole time. But I was too caught up in my own thoughts, my own agenda, to realize it. And maybe the walk would have been a little different had I paid attention. Maybe the walk wouldn't have seemed so hot, so dusty, so long if I had realized from the start who my walking companion was.
"They said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road...?" - Luke 24:32
Well if there's one thing I've learned, it's that He'll walk down any and every road with us regardless of the circumstance. And so you learn to pay attention to that heart burn. You learn to keep your eyes peeled because you don't want to miss Him. It's easy to have tunnel vision. It's easy to lose focus when things seem to be going wrong. So you have to learn to start expecting Him in the unexpected. Because He shows up every time. The journey might be long, but when you get to walk the road with Him, the trip doesn't seem like such a bad thing anymore.
#149 - Because He walks down every road with me.
"And so I walk in the Lord’s presence as I live here on earth!" - Psalm 116:9
I sat in church today, listening to this passage, and I wondered how often I do this.
Jesus, alive and resurrected, and here He is walking yet another road with His followers. And who said God doesn't desire to have a relationship with His creation? If the fact that He didn't send His Son to dwell among them in the first place wasn't proof enough, Jesus rose from the dead and immediately joined up with them again.
And so they walked and they talked and these two were totally blind to who He was. They didn't recognize Him. The last time they saw Him, He was hanging on a wooden cross. A bloody, redemptive mess. Ripped skin, a crown of thorns, 3 nails. And they watched His life pour out of His body. Three days had passed. And these two were devastated. Devastated because they had hoped it wouldn't come to this. The man that was supposed to save them, resuce them, had been put in a tomb. The story didn't unfold like they had imagined and so they quit looking, quit expecting. They had heard that His tomb was empty, but maybe that seemed a little far fetched to them. Maybe these two were skeptical. Yet they were still talking about it. Maybe through their conversation they were trying to figure it out. Maybe they figured they could come up with an answer or at least try to make sense of it all. Because it is hard to have faith in the midst of devastation. It's hard to keep trusting when everything seems to be going wrong. It's hard to keep your eyes open when they've witnessed horrific acts, and it's hard to be expecting when you don't know what to expect.
Here he was, Jesus, showing up completely unexpected. And they didn't even realize it. Talking with the Messiah in flesh and bone. They had been right. He had come to save them, and here He was, taking time to be with them. His relationship with them didn't stop when He was nailed to that cross. But they were blind to His presence. Blind to the fact that the Savior of the world was walking this road with them. Maybe it was their confusion, their sorrow, their disappointment that clouded their vision. Maybe it was lacking faith or shallow belief that did the trick. Maybe they suffered from short-term memory loss. Or maybe the fact that something totally unexplainable and shocking had taken place that their focus was elsewhere. Who knows?! But He stayed and He walked that dusty road with them until they made it to their destination.
"By this time they were nearing Emmaus and the end of their journey. Jesus acted as if he were going on, but they begged him, “Stay the night with us, since it is getting late.” So he went home with them. As they sat down to eat, he took the bread and blessed it. Then he broke it and gave it to them. Suddenly, their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And at that moment he disappeared!" - Luke 24:28-31
The next thing they know, they were breaking bread with Him. And only then did they get it. Only then was their cloudy vision made clear. And maybe it's because they saw the consitency. The very act He had done the night before His death was the same thing He was doing after His death. The same man, sitting with those He loved, continuing to fill them.
And this is where my heart skipped a beat today. This is where I began to feel a little sad. Because they had spent time with Jesus. They had the pleasure of walking and talking and fellowshiping with the Son of God, but they didn't realize it until the end. And when they did, He disappeared from their presence. When they finally put two and two together, it was too late. If only they had recognized Him from the start. I wonder if the walk down the long dusty road might have been a little different if they had realized who was walking it with them.
So I wonder how often I do this. I let my disappointment, my frustrations, my sorrow, my self-centeredness cloud my vision. And I have expectations. I expect God to show up in a certain way and in a certain form and when that doesn't happen, I quit looking. I stop expecting because it just doesn't make sense that He would do things any other way. So I talk it out and try to figure out what's going to happen now. I continue down the long dusty road completely unaware that I am not walking it alone, and it's when I get to the end of the road, I realize that He was walking it with me the whole time. But I was too caught up in my own thoughts, my own agenda, to realize it. And maybe the walk would have been a little different had I paid attention. Maybe the walk wouldn't have seemed so hot, so dusty, so long if I had realized from the start who my walking companion was.
"They said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road...?" - Luke 24:32
Well if there's one thing I've learned, it's that He'll walk down any and every road with us regardless of the circumstance. And so you learn to pay attention to that heart burn. You learn to keep your eyes peeled because you don't want to miss Him. It's easy to have tunnel vision. It's easy to lose focus when things seem to be going wrong. So you have to learn to start expecting Him in the unexpected. Because He shows up every time. The journey might be long, but when you get to walk the road with Him, the trip doesn't seem like such a bad thing anymore.
#149 - Because He walks down every road with me.
"And so I walk in the Lord’s presence as I live here on earth!" - Psalm 116:9