Let's Cut Cleopas & His Sidekick Some Slack, Too!

Walking in the Truth after Easter

Today's Scriptural Truths

Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about 7 miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked & discussed these things w/each other, Jesus himself came up & walked along with them, but they were kept from recognizing Him. He asked them, 'What are you discussing together as you walk along?'       
      "They stood still, their faces downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, asked Him, 'Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem & do not know the things that have happened here in these days?' 'What things?' He asked . . . 
      "He said to them, 'How foolish you are, & how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things & then enter His glory?' And beginning w/Moses & all the Prophets, He explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself . . . 
      "When He was at the table w/them, He took bread, gave thanks, broke it & began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened & they recognized Him, & He disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, 'Were not our hearts burning within us while He talked w/us on the road & opened the Scriptures to us?'"  Luke 24:13-19, 25-27, 30-32  [To get the full effect, you really need to read the full context in Luke 24:13-35.]

Today's Devotional Thoughts

It seems incredible, doesn't it? Jesus--yes, that would be the same Jesus recently crucified on the cross just several days earlier . . . witnessed by MANY, probably including these two disciples . . . walks up beside Cleopas & his fellow disciple on the lonely road from Jerusalem back to Emmaus on Sunday, late afternoon, early evening . . . 

And they don't recognize Him? Well, let's not be too hard on them.

• The past few days have been very traumatic, to say the least.
• Probably the last sight they had of Jesus was unforgettable . . . & not in a good way.
• They were undoubtedly exhausted, fatigued, numbed by grief . . . Was PTSD a recognized mental health disorder in 33 A.D.?
• Cleopas sums it up for the stranger when he says, "He was a prophet, powerful in word & deed before God & all the people. The chief priests & our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, & they crucified him; but we had hoped that He was the one who was going to redeem Israel." [24:19b-21a]
• Did you catch that? He was a . . . prophet . . . We had hoped He was the one to redeem Israel.
• Redeem Israel from what? From whom? From subjection to the Romans? From the oppression of the religious leaders whose idea of holy living included hundred of Sabbath-day injunctions?

Stop for a moment & ponder . . . What kind of Messiah do we want . . . do you want? Do we want, expect, crave a Messiah who will deliver us from every earthly sorrow, ache & pain? A Savior from poverty, depression, terrorism, war?

A Christ to make American great again?

Why should we expect to react any differently than Cleopas & his sidekick?

Disciples whose faith has been irretrievably lost? Not so fast . . . because Cleopas continues, "And what is more, it is the 3rd day 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 & told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb & found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see." [vv.21b-24]

I think they're holding onto at least a shred of hope, don't you? And Jesus, who could have shaken His head in disgust, grabbed his thorn-pocked noggin in frustration, rolled His holy eyes & dismissed these two thick-headed Judeans [I think Emmaus is in Judea?!], leaving them in their dust & depression . . . does what?

Yes, He does call them "foolish," which is, after all, His prerogative, but then, "BEGINNING WITH MOSES & ALL THE PROPHETS, HE EXPLAINED TO THEM WHAT WAS SAID IN ALL THE SCRIPTURES CONCERNING HIMSELF." [v. 27]

And by the power of the Holy Spirit, He unlocks all the Scriptures concerning Himself to us, as well! By the grace given to us freely as a gift from God, He enables us to believe that the bloody corpse on the cross is GONE!

It's GONE . . . and the tomb where we last saw Him on Friday evening, wrapped in a burial shroud . . . It's EMPTY! As empty as the women found it on that first Easter Sunday morning . . . Those burial cloths as empty & neatly wrapped as Peter & John discovered them later that same morning.

Because our God is alive!

No, He's not a Savior from illness, injury, bad childhood memories, debilitating infirmity, depression--wretched hips that need to be replaced--all these are the consequences of a sinful world.

Much better than all of these things . . . Jesus Christ is our Savior who has defeated sin . . . 

. . . and death . . . and Satan.

A Last Scriptural Truth Better Than Anything I Have to Offer

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast."  Ephesians 2:8-9

Today's Prayer *

St. 1  Christ has arisen, alleluia. Rejoice and praise Him, alleluia.
For our Redeemer burst from the tomb, Even from death, dispelling its gloom.
Let us sing praise to Him with endless joy; 
Death's fearful sting He has come to destroy.
Our sin forgiving, alleluia! Jesus is living, alleluia!

* Another favorite Easter hymn:  Christ Has Arisen, Alleluia, LSB #466

Addendum

This is a devotion I wrote for the 2016 post-Easter season.