Emmaus Road Bewilderment and Enlightenment

Last week, I was reading all four Gospel accounts of our Lord's crucifixion and resurrection. We were so blessed on Easter Sunday to be with our children and grandchildren at Meadow and hear Jeff, our preacher boy, preach from Matt 28- HE IS RISEN!!...

Today, I was reading further into Luke's account and in chapter 24, I focused on verses 13 and through the remainder of the chapter and tried to put myself in the place of the two who walked home from Jerusalem on that first day of the week, the same day that the women had come to the tomb early and were asking among themselves who would roll away the heavy stone so they could anoint the body of their Lord? Little did they know and much to their amazement, God had already taken care of that dilemma for them. Do you know, precious one, that He already has the solution to that "thing" that is causing you so much angst today? I read in Psalms 107:27 recently and noted the term "at their wit's end" is Biblical. Are you there, have you been there before? Verse 28 says "Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and He bringeth them out of their distresses."  I love Isaiah 46:9-10 "Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else. I am God, and there is none like Me. Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure." Oh, I love the comfort I find in knowing and believing that He is sovereign, He knows, He has no problem today, He isn't wondering what He will do , He isn't waiting for the next move of our leaders,  He has it under control!!

You see, there was confusion and bewilderment on the Emmaus Road but there wasn't in Heaven. God knew how this story was going to unfold. The enemy may have taunted at the cross and rejoiced as the stone was rolled into place, the body of our Savior lying in stillness and death, but He explained it this way to these two on the road. "Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory?" Yes, yes, there we have it- the cross before the glory- the humiliation before the exaltation and Believer, we need (or, at least, I do), to be reminded of this verse in 1 Peter 2:20-21 "For what glory is it, if when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? But if, when ye do well and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with god. FOR EVEN HEREUNTO WERE YE CALLED; because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps."

Yes, so often, we become so confused and bewildered when the trails and the testings come, don't we? Again, Peter reminds us in chapter 4:12-13,"Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you." When we forget this admonition, our verbiage turns to something like this: "I cannot believe this is happening."  "I cannot understand why this isn't turning out like I thought it would." Peter says, "No, don't think it is strange but "rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings that, when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy." We aren't Home yet, fellow sojourner!

On the Emmaus road, these two, one of them named, Cleopas, and the other unnamed (could it be his wife, Mary? John19:25- just a neat thought to me that this could have been husband and wife discussing the last three days' events in Jerusalem-but I certainly don't know since the Bible doesn't name the other) are walking and trying to figure out the many events in Jerusalem. Things have not turned out like they expected and hoped they would. Note vs 21-"But we trusted that it had been He which should have redeemed Israel..." By the way, He is that One- simply , as with us and our dilemmas, He works with a different timetable than we do.

Are you on one of those roads right now where things aren't making any sense? Can I confess to you, that on some days, that I still resort back (less than at the beginning of this journey, praise God!) to trying to figure out not so much  why He chose this path for me but what is the purpose of this path? , You know, trying to get ahead of Him ? You don't do that, do you, thinking you need to know more than He wants you to know right now?  We struggle with this in our personal lives and in a broader spectrum, we see confusion on a national scale. People are waking up and questioning "What has happened to our country?" What is going on in the world? What kind of future is our grandchildren going to have?"

      

Let me share two simple truths from this passage that help me and, I believe, will help you when life seems out of balance, things just aren't adding up.  As the two disciples on the Emmaus road wondered and questioned, Jesus taught them to LISTEN TO CLARIFICATION FROM THE SCRIPTURES. He asked them "don't you believe what the prophets wrote?" And He preached them a sermon the remainder of the trip- beginning with Moses' writings "concerning Himself."

Amy and I were talking just a few days ago of news events - the unrest in the world, the seeming escalation of earthquakes, evil waxing worse and worse, etc.."Wow, Deborah" you ask, "Were you both depressed? Couldn't you have thought of some lighter topics?"  No, we weren't depressed because we let the Scripture clarify the situation and when we see and hear the days' events unfolding through the lens of Scripture, we actually get excited. We believe Jesus is coming again. Struggling one, hold fast to the promises of the Book. I love Ps. 119:18 "Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law." That is exactly what Jesus did for these two as they walked, "and their eyes were opened..." Paul's prayer for the church at Ephesus was "that the eyes of your understanding being enlightened...". Elisha prayed in 2 Kings 6 for his servant, being very afraid of the approaching Syrian army, "Lord, I pray Thee, open his eyes that he may see..."

Child of God, in these troubling days, in your times of bewilderment, learn  and believe the Scriptures - let them be your guide in a dark world, your security in a dangerous world, and your stability in a shaky world. Matthew Henry said this "Were we but more conversant with the Scripture, and the divine counsels as far as they are made known in the Scripture , we should not be subject to such perplexities as we often entangle ourselves in."  Amen to that! We listen more to what the news media tell us and I ask, how unsettling are their stories?

Secondly, LONG FOR THE COMFORT OF THE SAVIOR. I don't know how long these two on the Emmaus Road had walked before Jesus joined their company. Some say this 7 mile journey would have probably taken about 2 hours. ( It would have taken me longer. :) )  But maybe, He joined them at the first of it and for two hours, preached to them the Scriptures. ( Still the only thing to preach.) When they drew near their lodging place, Jesus was continuing on ahead but they constrained Him. "Abide with us." Later, they said "Did not our heart burn within us, while He talked with us by the way and while He opened to us the Scriptures?"

Brothers and sisters, when life doesn't make sense, when questions aren't answered, there is nothing that so satisfies and quiets me like abiding in Jesus. "No, don't go", they said and of course we don't have to pray that- He is with us always but He longs for and loves when we find our quiet place where we meet with Him, simply because we long for and love Him!

I love the following verses- these two were changed after encountering the risen Lord! They have just finished a 7 mile journey, ending a full, arduous day, and now it is night and surely they are tired. But the same hour, the Bible says, they made a u-turn and went right back to Jerusalem to tell the other disciples.

Clarification from the Scriptures and comfort from the Savior re-energizers us to continue, don't they?

Looking up, Deborah

( As I was closing my Bible this morning, a bookmark fell out that a dear lady in a former S.S. class made for me after a lesson I taught. It went along with this lesson to a degree and I leave you with some food for thought as we see the day approaching.    LIFT UP THE SON!  John 12:32: LEARN THE SCRIPTURES! 2 Tim. 3:15-17: LONG FOR SANCTIFICATION John 17:17, 2 Tim 2:21: LOATHE SIN  Gal. 6:7: LOVE ALL SINNERS! 1 Tim. 1:15: LABOR FOR THE SAINTS! Gal. 6:10: LOOK FOR THE SAVIOR! Titus 2:13)