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Printer Friendly Version‘Desert
Island Discs’ is a radio program in the United Kingdom. On the program
celebrities are asked to choose their favourite songs, ones they would take
with them if they were on a desert island. If I was ever asked to select one
section of the Bible to take with me to a desert island, I would select Luke
24. I love the account of the walk to Emmaus. I believe it is the best story
ever written. The whole meaning of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is found
in the story. Here on the most human road in the Scriptures Jesus cares enough
for two people that He walks with them, He listens to them, He talks with
them, and He reveals Himself to them.
On the pilgrimage
of life we all have to walk along different roads of experience. There are
days when the road is Marvellous. Wonderful things happen. Thank God for those
interludes. There are days when the road is Monotonous. We just have to get
up and get on with the daily routine of life.
There are
days when the road is Mysterious. We cannot work out what is happening. The
Emmaus Road falls into this category. It is a road each of us walks along
at some point in our lives. It is the Road of Disappointment, the road of
dashed hopes; the road of shattered dreams; the road of the broken heart.
On the road
are two. They are walking away from Jerusalem. They are going home. Things
have not worked out the way they had expected. They had pinned their hopes
on Jesus being the Messiah. They had left everything to follow Him. But now
He was dead. They were going home. One is called Cleopas. The other is not
named. There are days I like to think the other is Mrs. Cleopas because I
have walked many times on the road of disappointment with my wife. On other
days I think the second is anonymous because I can slip my own name in there.
It is me.
Let’s
walk with the two.
The conversation
of the two had been dominated by the tragedy of the events of Friday. They
had traced over the circumstances and put themselves in the centre. Things
had not turned out the way they had hoped. Despair fed despair as they talked.
But in v. 15 a ray of light enters the picture: Jesus draws near. The important
point of this verse is that when a Christian feels all alone on the Road of
Despair they never are.
In Matthew
21:17 there is another road out of Jerusalem. Jesus had ridden on that road
into Jerusalem in the morning as crowds hailed Him as King. They had thrown
their coats before Him. He rode on a carpet of palm branches. But that evening
He walked out of Jerusalem all alone. He walked alone so we would never have
to. He died alone so we would never have to.
Did He not
say to His followers, “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake
you”? Did He not tell the parable of the lost sheep and how the shepherd
left 99 together to seek the one on its own? Here He put the parable into
practice. Here He seeks two in danger of being lost. He was determined that
darkness would not overtake them.
Are you on
the Road called Disappointment? Is the word that dominates your mind “why?”
Know this. Jesus is closer to you than you can ever imagine. He died forsaken
so that you never would be.
I read of
a painting entitled “Hope.” In the picture a woman sits blindfolded.
She is downcast. In her left hand there is a stringed instrument with all
of its strings broken but one. She is playing one string. Her life has lost
its music. There is not much hope when you focus on the woman. But above her
shines the morning star. Behind her the sky is growing lighter. The sun is
about to rise. Soon she will be bathed in light. The darkness will pass.
Do you feel
like the strings of your life have broken? Is your worldview dark? Hold on.
The Morning Star is nearby. You can play life on one string. There is one
string that will never break. The promise of Jesus, “Never will I leave
you, never will I forsake you.”
Starting
with Moses, Jesus showed them the golden thread of grace that runs through
the whole of Scripture. Alongside it, He showed them the scarlet thread of
redemption. He then showed how the two were inseparably intertwined. What
a sermon that must have been. That is one tape I want to hear when I get to
heaven.
He pointed
them to the Scriptures. There is no better guide on the Road of Disappointment
than the Word of God. An old preacher once told me, “Jesus almost died
with a ‘Why’ on His lips. But He broke through the ‘Why’
barrier and asked a more important question: ‘To whom can I turn?’
And He died saying, ‘Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.’”
When faced
with the “Whys” of life, we too have to ask deeper questions.
What happens now? Where do I go? To whom can I turn? Jesus pointed them to
the Scriptures. He showed them that grace and redemption have been working
together all along. He showed them there is a higher purpose, that God is
still in control, and He knows exactly what is going on. Nothing has ever
taken Him by surprise and He has His way of “making all things beautiful
in His time.”
I am greatly
indebted to that old preacher I mentioned earlier. He taught me about the
Resurrection. He told me, “I believe in the Resurrection of the Third
Day. I believe there is a third day when God will vindicate the righteous
and light will pierce the darkness.”
Child of
God, if you are on the Road called Disappointment, the best guide you could
ever have is the Word of God. Even though the heavens seem like brass, like
there are no answers to your “Whys,” and it appears as though
evil has the upper hand, hold on. Grace and Redemption are still at work.
Hold on to the promises of God. He is still in control. Nothing has taken
Him by surprise, and you too will experience the Resurrection of the Third
Day.
They go to
an inn because night is falling. They order their food. It is their usual
routine. They have done this many times before when they travelling. They
were mindful to invite the stranger to join them for the night. It is business
as usual. But with Jesus, life’s most common moments can become sacred
and special. The miraculous is often found in the ordinary. As the meal was
served, “They knew Him in the breaking of the bread.” There was
something characteristic about how Jesus broke bread. They had witnessed Him
bless food many times before. And here at supper they looked beyond their
despair to see Him, to recognise Him; to gain another perspective.
That look
was all they needed to have their perspective changed. With hindsight they
realized Jesus had been with them as they walked on the road. “Suddenly”
their eyes were opened and they returned to where they should have been. Sometimes
the miraculous can be found in the ordinary. Sometimes we can get a new perspective
in the routine of life. It has been my experience that the miraculous is found
in the ordinary. I became a Christian kneeling by my bedside. I was sanctified
holy at a regular Sunday evening service. I was called into full-time ministry
in a midweek missionary meeting. Often the miraculous is found in the ordinary.
Are you on
the Road of Disappointment? Is “Why” on your lips? Jesus is nearer
to you than you think. He wants you to know that Grace and Redemption are
still at work. He wants to reveal himself to you so you can get a new perspective.
This is an ordinary Sunday. We are not doing anything that we don’t usually do on Sundays. The miraculous can be found in the ordinary. As you sit, open your heart to the Lord and let Him minister His grace to you. You are on the most human road in the Word of God. Let Him draw near to you. Let Him speak to you through the Scriptures. Let Him reveal himself to you. Ask Him to turn the Mysterious into the Miraculous for you today.