On that first Easter Morning
Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking
with each other about everything that had happened.
As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus Himself came up and walked 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...
And they told Him what had just happened in Jerusalem -- all of it -- the horrible suffering of Jesus, their hopelessness, their confusion when the women visited the tomb that morning and about the angels who said Jesus was really alive...
So Jesus explained:
Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter into his glory?
And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
-- Luke 24:13-27
There's only one key to unlocking the mystery about God's activity in the world - then and now - the Hebrew Scriptures.
For observant Jews, in the first century as well as today, the writings of Moses and the Prophets are the nearest things to the mind of God in human language.
"If God is alive, then the Bible is His voice," writes Jewish thinker Abraham Heschel.
It is to this book, and no other, that the Stranger immediately takes His listeners.
What does He tell them?
We are not given the details, but we can guess from the preaching of the early church what was said to them on the Emmaus road.
From the opening pages of the Bible, the two friends are reminded of the fierce and unfaltering love of God for the world He has made.
His divine love burns hotter than any star in the universe. Here is love that is never lazy, indulgent, or indifferent, but always vigilant -- committed to the perfect good of the beloved.
The Stranger describes the deep enmity that has rejected this love and spoiled the world, the rage of those who will not yield their hearts to their Creator.
Men and women, made to love God and enjoy Him forever, somehow succumbed to the forces of deceit and darkness set against Him symbolized by a serpent.
"You will be like God," the serpent whispered.
Instead, they became captives to the suffocating selfishness of a life cut off from God's goodness.
No one, the Stranger, insists, no matter what his status or achievement in the world, can escape that state of affairs.
It would remain the burden and the blight of human beings everywhere in every age -- unless a Rescuer were sent to set them free.
The crucifixion and resurrection of the Messiah, God's Christ, is God's Secret Rescue Mission to free the world from the forces of darkness.
Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him....They asked each other, "Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked with us the road and opened Scripture to us?"
Then they joyfully rushed back to Jerusalem and joined the other disciples in spreading the good news.
"He is risen! Christ is risen indeed!"
Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking
with each other about everything that had happened.
As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus Himself came up and walked 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...
And they told Him what had just happened in Jerusalem -- all of it -- the horrible suffering of Jesus, their hopelessness, their confusion when the women visited the tomb that morning and about the angels who said Jesus was really alive...
So Jesus explained:
Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter into his glory?
And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
-- Luke 24:13-27
There's only one key to unlocking the mystery about God's activity in the world - then and now - the Hebrew Scriptures.
For observant Jews, in the first century as well as today, the writings of Moses and the Prophets are the nearest things to the mind of God in human language.
"If God is alive, then the Bible is His voice," writes Jewish thinker Abraham Heschel.
It is to this book, and no other, that the Stranger immediately takes His listeners.
What does He tell them?
We are not given the details, but we can guess from the preaching of the early church what was said to them on the Emmaus road.
From the opening pages of the Bible, the two friends are reminded of the fierce and unfaltering love of God for the world He has made.
His divine love burns hotter than any star in the universe. Here is love that is never lazy, indulgent, or indifferent, but always vigilant -- committed to the perfect good of the beloved.
The Stranger describes the deep enmity that has rejected this love and spoiled the world, the rage of those who will not yield their hearts to their Creator.
Men and women, made to love God and enjoy Him forever, somehow succumbed to the forces of deceit and darkness set against Him symbolized by a serpent.
"You will be like God," the serpent whispered.
Instead, they became captives to the suffocating selfishness of a life cut off from God's goodness.
No one, the Stranger, insists, no matter what his status or achievement in the world, can escape that state of affairs.
It would remain the burden and the blight of human beings everywhere in every age -- unless a Rescuer were sent to set them free.
The crucifixion and resurrection of the Messiah, God's Christ, is God's Secret Rescue Mission to free the world from the forces of darkness.
Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him....They asked each other, "Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked with us the road and opened Scripture to us?"
Then they joyfully rushed back to Jerusalem and joined the other disciples in spreading the good news.
"He is risen! Christ is risen indeed!"
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