Luke 24.13-35
If I said to you ‘the Queen has arrived in Durham’, you probably wouldn’t believe me. You might ask if I actually saw her, what she looked like, what she was wearing. But if I only said ‘I saw her guards and her royal car’ you likely wouldn’t believe that the Queen was definitely here. Even though all the signs point to that assumption, why would she be here? You might even go to look at the scene and find it odd, but you wouldn’t change your daily routine just in case the Queen was, in fact, in Durham.
This is where we find two of Jesus’ followers as they walk on the road to Emmaus. They’ve been told that Jesus has risen and that two angels confirmed it, and your most trusted friends even saw his linen cloths. All signs, no certainty for you. Not enough to change your plan of going where you want to go.
But soon they’re in the physical company of a man who wants to involve himself in their journey and conversation. They cannot believe that this man has no idea what’s been going on, the huge political event that nearly caused riots and ended with a savage death sentence of an innocent. Verse 21 explains their forlorn: They had hoped that He was the one to redeem Israel.
Hoped, not hope. They don’t feel hope anymore, it’s the third day when they hoped something was going to change, but they’re just going about their business still. Yes there have been some oddities surrounding the events at the tomb, but no certainty. It’s ironic that these followers of Jesus are explaining their hopelessness to Jesus’ face without realising it’s Him, but I think we do that as well.
How does this sentence end for you: I had hoped that He was the one to…
For me it’s been, I had hoped that He was the one to bring my friend to faith, I had hoped that He was the one to pull me out of a repetitive sin, I had hoped, and now I don’t.
Next, Jesus shows us three things:
1) We are foolish – foolish to give up hope
2) We are slow of heart to believe – we find it hard to believe in God or His works sometimes
3) What happened to make us lose hope was necessary – for some reason God allowed it or worked it that way, for a purpose. Perhaps to strengthen us, to reveal our faithlessness, to make us more reliant on him. Either way God will work it for good, for His glory, which is necessary
Next, He shows us, when we feel hopeless and forlorn, we should REMIND ourselves of all the scriptures, the things concerning Jesus. God’s word, God’s history, God’s working in the world is where we find hope.
After all this teaching, this incredible but seemingly random encounter, it looks like it’s coming to an end when it seems like they’re going separate ways. But the men want more, so they invite Jesus in. They invite him into one of the most precious and special places they can offer: the place where they’re staying, resting, eating. They invite Jesus to share with them, to join in a meal with them. This was special in those days, it showed fellowship, respect, and humility to share supplies.
Jesus went in and ate with them, and they with he.
It was only when Jesus blessed the food, and in association, blessed them that their eyes were opened to see it was really Jesus in front of them. Sometimes we can be introspective and focus on our own hurt and hopelessness, and sometimes we can read the scriptures passively without actually letting God in. But it’s when we invite God into the precious areas of our lives, when we share things with Him, that He blesses us with his presence and opens our eyes to what He’s been doing all along.
But then Jesus disappeared from the scene. I wonder if this is because it was no longer necessary for him to be with his followers physically. He had taught them what to do with hopelessness, he had blessed them, and he restored their faith and their hope in him because they saw the resurrected Jesus. And of course, they did what we all naturally do when we are taught, blessed, and restored by God – they went out and encouraged others. We can’t contain what wasn’t meant to be restrained, so they go and testify of the resurrected Jesus and His work to the disciples.
Let’s learn what this passage shows us about not losing hope, how to deal with it when we do, and how to respond when our hope is restored, which it will be when we encounter God.
Let’s pray:
Lord Jesus, thank you that you are the source of hope and with you, God, there is no room for hopelessness. Lord God, we are foolish and slow of heart to believe, help us not to be. Lord, change our hearts so that our first instinct in all situations is to trust and hope in you. Father help those who are struggling with hopelessness right now, help them to let you in when that’s difficult. And for those of us who are witnessing teaching, blessing and restoration from you now, help us to encourage one another, to encourage those who are struggling Lord. Thank you that because of your Holy Spirit, you are always with us, and you will always enter deeper into our hearts when we invite you in.
Amen.