‘And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.’ - Luke 24:27 NIV
Have you ever had an encounter reading the Bible where a fresh new perspective was revealed to you from reading a familiar passage that inspired you?
This inquiry is inspired from my recollection of the two men walking along the Road to Emmaus, in the Gospel of Luke, following Jesus’ death and resurrection. In my previous blog post titled Rebirth: A Living Hope I wrote about the reality of how the men felt about the death of Jesus Christ and the sense of hopelessness that lingered thinking whatever promise and hope for the future they had in Jesus while He was alive died with Him after being crucified. They alluded to this sentiment in their conversation with Jesus as He walked with them being unaware it was Jesus they were talking to. The reality of the circumstances surrounding Jesus’ death and its immediate aftermath left these men without hope anything good would result out of Jesus’ departure. Any ideas or sentiment associated with hope, possibilities of what can be, or belief in a better day and brighter tomorrow was nowhere to be found in the conversation they were sharing with each other as Jesus accompanied them.
It is not difficult to understand how they were feeling when you take their perspective and cast it upon the social landscape of our nation today. The reality of the pandemic, the scourge of racism eating away at the soul of our nation like a malignant cancerous tumor, and the plight of so many among us who have suffered great loss, misfortune, and grief; it is easy to understand why anyone would have a conversation without hope for anything good to come out of the reality of the conditions associated with death, despair, and demise. The irony of the conversation the two men were having was in the understanding they had been told that Jesus had risen and was no longer in the tomb where He was laid. The weight of sorrow and disappointment in the events leading up to and surrounding Jesus’ death made it difficult for the two men to believe such a thing could be possible let alone happen. It is intriguing, because they acknowledged that Jesus was powerful in word and deed and a great prophet of God, but the idea of Him overcoming the tragedy of his death was beyond their capacity to comprehend let alone believe.
How often have we been slow to believe in the power of the resurrection and its ability to inspire hope in us in the face of dark, difficult, dire circumstances? Instead of condemning these men for being slow to believe, although Jesus begins His conversation with them from that perspective, I invite you to consider this. Jesus comes alongside them and provides them a fresh perspective of hope, according to the scriptures beginning with Moses and the prophets concerning himself, so the two men can experience the grace and truth of scripture in a new way that fosters a living hope. He later reveals himself to the two men and disappears and they are left with burning hearts set ablaze by the fresh perspective Jesus provided from the Scriptures as the Bible teaches that what was written in the past would provide us encouragement and endurance by which we would have hope. Continue to spend time with Jesus in the Scriptures to receive the fresh perspective of hope to keep you encouraged and uplifted and set ablaze in walking by faith to share the grace and truth of Christ with others.
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