Luke 24:13-25 - Disappointed, Discouraged, and Sad Hearts

"...21 But we were hoping that it was He whowas going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third daysince these things happened. ..." Luke24 is one of the most exciting chapters in the Bible as it describes theresurrection of Jesus Christ. When you have a perplexed heart like the womendid at the cross because they found no body, the tomb was opened and Jesusrevealed Himself to Mary Magdalene, I am reminded that Jesus knows our name andreveals Himself to perplexed hearts. And oh, what a difference it makes. Todaywe’re looking at verses 13 through 35, where we find two disciples on the roadto Emmaus. They had disappointed, discouraged hearts, and were sad until Jesusopened their eyes. Emmauswas a small village eight miles northwest of Jerusalem. The two men walkingfrom Jerusalem to Emmaus were disappointed and discouraged disciples who had noreason to be discouraged. They had heard the reports of the women that the tombwas empty and that Jesus was alive, but they did not believe them. They hadhoped that Jesus would redeem Israel (Luke 24:21), but their hopes had beenshattered. We get the impression that these men were discouraged anddisappointed because God did not do what they wanted Him to do. They saw theglory of the kingdom, but they failed to understand the suffering. Jesusgraciously walked with them and listened to their "animated heatedconversation" (Luke 24:17, Wuest). No doubt they were quoting various OldTestament prophecies and trying to remember what Jesus had taught, but theywere unable to put it all together and come up with an explanation that madesense. Was He a failure or a success? Why did He have to die? Was there afuture for the nation? Thereis a touch of humor in Luke 24:19 when Jesus asked, "What things?"He had been at the heart of all that had happened in Jerusalem, and now Hewas asking them to tell Him what occurred! How patient our Lord is with us asHe listens to us tell Him what He already knows (Romans 8:34). But we may come"boldly" ("with freedom of speech") to His throne and pourout our hearts to Him, and He will help us (Ps. 62:8; Heb. 4:16). Thelonger Cleopas talked, the more he indicted himself and his friend for theirunbelief. What more evidence could they want? Witnesses (including Apostles)had seen the tomb empty. Angels had announced that Jesus was alive. Witnesseshad seen Him alive and heard Him speak. The proof was there! "Faithcomes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17). Thisexplains why Jesus opened the Word to these two men as the three of them walkedto Emmaus. Their real problem was not in their heads but in their hearts (seeLuke 24:25 and 32, and note v. 38). They could have discussed the subject fordays and never arrived at a satisfactory answer. What they needed was a freshunderstanding of the Word of God, and Jesus gave that understanding to them. Heopened the Scriptures and then opened their eyes, and they realized that Jesuswas not only alive but right there with them! Whatwas their basic problem? They did not believe all that the prophets had writtenabout the Messiah. That was the problem with most of the Jews in that day: theysaw Messiah as a conquering Redeemer, but they did not see Him as a SufferingServant. As they read the Old Testament, they saw the glory but not thesuffering, the crown but not the cross. The teachers in that day were notunlike some of the "success preachers" today, blind to the totalmessage of the Bible. Maythe Lord help us to get into the Word and give Jesus and the Holy Spirit timeto open our eyes to the Truth! Remember Jesus parting words to His disciples: “…andlo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20). Godbless!