After Jesus died on the cross, his disciples and friends were left
devastated and disillusioned. Their world had been turned upside down. The man
who they believed to be the Messiah didn’t survive to see his 34th
birthday. He had been cruelly murdered and left to die all alone. A disciple by
the name of Cleopas and an unnamed disciple were walking from Jerusalem to
their village. While they were walking, they talked to each other, but their
thoughts were chaotic and their faces were sad. As they walked, Jesus joined
them and began to talk to them, but they never imagined that this stranger could
be Jesus. Jesus never identified himself, instead he entered their
conversation.
Two disciples who felt powerless and useless were fresh out of hope, and
yet Jesus wanted to walk and talk with them. As they continued to talk, the
core problem came to light, “but we had hoped that he was the one who was going
to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took
place.” (Luke 24:21).
There were so many emotions inside of these broken hearts. They felt
anger and resentment toward those responsible for murdering Jesus. They felt
shame and the feeling of uselessness for not being able to defend or save him
from his cruel enemies. They felt frustration that the one they had hoped would
rescue their country and redeem their people was now dead. They felt bewildered
as if there were pieces of the puzzle missing. Try as hard as they could, they
simply couldn’t put it together. They had been so close to their dreams, and
now they seemed so far way. In fact, their dreams had been buried with Jesus.
Their minds seemed inadequate to figure out the mess.
After listening to the talk, Jesus finally offered a fresh perspective, "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?" And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to
them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself” (Luke 24:25-27).
Jesus has the ability to make sense of things. The whole desperate
situation seemed to have no explanation, but Jesus came to give them one. They
were looking for answers, and Jesus didn’t leave them to wander in their
perplexity but came near to explain the unexplainable. He listened to them
before he talked. Isaiah said that he had come to bind up the broken hearted,
and no one does such a wonderful job as he can. Remember, Jesus is a real friend;
he will walk with us when we are at our lowest.
Jesus knew the heart of the problem was they did not understand the
scriptures sufficiently to help them in this situation. He gently rebuked them
for their lack of belief and then proceeded to teach them the scriptures. The
Lord showed them exactly what had happened through the scriptures.
After walking with Jesus for seven miles and listening to him teach the
scriptures, something happened to these two disciples. Something inside of them
was different. In their own words they said, "Were not our hearts burning
within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to
us?" (Luke 24:32).
I encourage you to let Jesus walk with you and talk to you so that he can
help you make sense of the chaos. He can help you gain a new perspective. How
long has it been since your heart burned with any kind of excitement?
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