FROM SADNESS TO JOY - Lessons from the Emmaus Disciples

I got up early this morning when I couldn't sleep, so along with my coffee I read all the different gospel accounts of the resurrection of Jesus.  One of my all time favorites is from Luke 24:11-35, the account of the disciples on the way to Emmaus and their meeting with Jesus.

It was the day of Jesus' resurrection when two of His followers were on their way to the town of Emmaus, about 7 miles outside Jerusalem.  While they were talking together about the events of the previous few days, a man met them on the road.  The man was Jesus, but in a way not described, Luke says, "they were kept from recognizing Him". 

They couldn't hide their sadness and downcast faces.  So, Jesus asked them what it was they were discussing and they were surprised that He could not have heard of the recent events in Jerusalem.  They went on to explain that they were speaking of Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God, and all the people, and how He had been handed over to be sentenced to death, and then crucified.

Can you hear the great sadness in their voices as they shared their dashed hopes: "We had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel".  

Sadness was eclipsed by puzzlement as they continued: "And what is more, it is the third say since all this took place.  In addition, some of our women amazed us.  They went to the tomb early this morning but didn't find his body.  They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive.  Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see."

Can you hear the confusion, the skepticism over the impossibility of the accounts they've heard?  Knowing the end of the story, we want to ease their pain and incite their joy.  We want to cry out, "No, no!  It's true!  Everything they've told you is true!"

What did they think when Jesus rebuked them with these words:  "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!  Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?"  Obviously, they didn't "get it".  So, beginning with Moses and all the (Old Testament) prophets, Jesus explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself.

Not wanting to end their time with Him, when they arrived at Emmaus, they invited Jesus in to speak with them further.  And it was finally, in the breaking of the bread, that "their eyes were opened and they recognized Him", and then He disappeared from their sight.

Then they spoke the words that get me every time!  "Were not our hearts burning within us while He talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?"  That's what I want to happen to me every single time I hear or read the Bible.  I never want it to be just a ho-hum, another item to check off my "to do list" thing.  I want my heart to burn with the TRUTH of it!  I want my heart to burn with love for the Lord who inspired it by His Spirit!  I want my heart to burn with the passion to live out what I hear!  Oh Lord, that I might more consistently be in your Word so that I too can say, "How my heart burns within me when the Lord speaks to me through His Word!"

The Emmaus disciples were so changed by what they heard and saw that they immediately got up, turned around, and walked back the 7 miles to Jerusalem so they could tell the other disciples that they had indeed seen the risen Lord!

When they arrived in Jerusalem and were in the middle of explaining that they had seen Jesus, Jesus appeared in the midst of them Himself, and said: "This is what I told you while I was still with you:  Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms."   And it WAS, and it HAS, and it WILL BE!

There are so many things that I love about this passage.  I love the transformation from sadness and grief to unbelievable joy when the Emmaus disciples realized that the stranger with whom they'd been speaking was Jesus!

I love that even though Jesus rebuked them for being so slow to "get it" and believe, He didn't give up on them and move on.  He immediately went on to patiently explain from Moses and the Prophets all the Scriptures concerning Himself.  I know what it's like to be slow to "get" something Jesus is trying to tell me.  I've been there!  I'm SO grateful that Jesus is just as patient with my doubts and spiritual density and faith as He was with theirs.

I'm struck again as well by the fact that Jesus is quintessentially Jewish.  He celebrated the Passover.  He knew His Old Testament.  He used it to rebuke Satan during His 40 days and nights in the wilderness at the start of His ministry, and He used it now to explain how the Old Testament spoke of Him.  And these Jewish believers didn't question Him!  They knew their OT Scriptures too and when He unveiled the inspired plan of God for the redemption of mankind woven through the Bible from Moses through the Prophets and how they pointed to Himself - they "got it"!

As a matter of fact they SO "got it" that their hearts burned within them when He spoke of God's plan and purpose regarding Messiah, fulfilled through Him.  They so "got it", they turned around and walked the 7 miles to Jerusalem all over again to report, no longer with sadness and downcast faces, but with joyful faith: "IT IS TRUE!  The Lord has risen!"

Luke 24:45 "Then He opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.  He told them, 'This is what is written:  The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem."

Do you "get it"?  Jesus is the Messiah.

The writings of Moses and the Old Testament prophets pointed to Him, many of the disciples would eventually lose their lives for that testimony, and all those who today trust in Him will know true joy because, "IT IS TRUE!  HE IS RISEN"! 

Is your face sad and downcast because you are so slow to believe?  Or so slow to walk by what you believe?  Jesus might rebuke you, but then He will patiently teach you all about Himself, if you will spend time listening to Him through the pages of His Word.

How familiar are you with the weaving of God's plan for your redemption through the Old Testament, where it all begins?  If you're not very familiar, you don't know what you're missing!  Your heart will burn within you if you will explore its truth. 

For the last several years a group of women has met at my house to study the Old Testament and how it points to Jesus in a 5 books series by Nancy Guthrie.  You might consider doing the study yourself.  It will blow you away!

If you "get it", how far are you willing to go to take the truth that Jesus IS risen to others?