The Risen Savior: Hope Giver
by Pastor Jim Lincoln on April 8, 2007
A High School senior made a pack with her best friend while in Junior high school to study hard and fulfill their dream of going to college together at a college in the Midwest. After five years of dedication, excellent grades, and strong SAT scores for no apparent reason her application was rejected. She was so confident and certain that this was God's will she had no plan "B". She was numb with devastation and discouragement.
A young man grows up in the home of an abusive alcoholic step-father. As he seeks to earn his approval he discovers that his achievements expose and even magnify the failures of his step-father's sons. He makes good grades, succeeds in sports, and keeps his nose clean. His step-father's sons don't do so well. The more he achieves to win his dad's approval the angrier he is with him. The harder he tries and the more success he has, the more abusive his step-father becomes. His natural father will have nothing to do with him. The hole in this young man's heart is so big and deep there is nothing on earth that can fill it.
She was in her sixties, married over thirty years, and her husband suffers from Alzheimer's. He doesn't recognize her or know her any more. Before the disease they were a deeply affectionate couple, held hands, lots of hugs, kisses, and more. But as the disease progressed, he would no longer hold her hand, pull her close on the couch, or offer to take long walks. At night, he wouldn't even let her in his bedroom. She goes to her pastor and says, "I don't know my own husband. I'm so lonely and I ache for the love and affection that defined our lives for all these years. I'm living with a stranger who won't return an ounce of affection. How long can I keep this up? How do I do it? Pastor, this just hurts beyond words."
Each one of these had their hopes about life crushed and obliterated. Hold those three stories in your head and I'll come back to them in a few moments.
Friday Devastated Their Hopes
On that first Good Friday, when Jesus cried out on the cross, "It is finished," those around him didn't recognize His victory. Their despair ran so deep; none of them had the slightest thought of resurrection. On Sunday morning, when the women found the tomb empty, the angels told them Jesus was alive. He even appeared to Mary. But still, none of the others believed her. They were so traumatized with confusion and hopelessness they couldn't believe it. Many just decided to give up the faith and go home.
In Luke 24, Luke tells us about a couple that did just that. From Jn.19:25 we know that Cleopas was Jesus' uncle by marriage to Mary's sister. So, it's reasonable to conclude that they could have been Jesus' aunt and uncle on Mary's side of the family. They too are devastated by the death of Jesus. I love the transparency of the Scriptures. They don't fabricate stories of ideal people without the real doubts and normal concerns any of us would have had. They were so devastated by Jesus' death that no one said, "Hey, why don't just go to the tomb and wait and see if what he said will happen." If Jesus hadn't revealed Himself to them with convincing evidence in real life, they would have never believed in the resurrection. They just weren't capable of it.
Emmaus was about seven miles from Jerusalem and under normal conditions it took about two hours to make it. You can feel their hopelessness in v. 21, "We had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel." Translation, "He, wasn't." A Messiah that manages to get himself crucified had to be a delusion. It was simply inconceivable. They had committed their lives to an empty claim. Their hopes and dreams that Jesus would liberate Israel from her Roman occupiers and establish His kingdom were over. Try to imagine how they felt? Everything they had believed in was now false. Here are two obscure people. We're not even certain who they are. They're from some small town in the middle of nowhere. They're disillusioned, confused without any clue about how to start over again or what to think. Everything they believed in has now vaporized into thin air.
Does God care about them? Where is God in all of this? The truth is that not one moment of their struggle escaped His gaze. He knows exactly where they are on that road and what's going on in their hearts. He knows the number of hairs on Cleopas' head, on average that's about 342,000, for most of us. They don't yet know it but God knows them better than they could ever imagine. David wrote this about God,
"You know when I sit down, you know when I rise up, you perceive my thoughts from afar, you discern my going out, and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. If I rise on the wings of the dawn or if I settle on the far side of the sea there your right hand will lead me and hold me fast."
Look, if you want to know how well God knows you and your battles in life, think about Jesus three days after his crucifixion and resurrection on Easter morning attending to the footsteps and the broken heartbeat of these two disciples. If you think that he knows or cares less about any of his disciples, you are infinitely mistaken.
If you've ever wondered if God had forgotten something He had started in your life, you know how they feel. At the beginning, His direction was so clear and then bam!... that dream/relationship that you gave everything you had to, was crushed, and it didn't turn out the way it was supposed to. If you've known something like this, then you know something of their despair.
The Risen Jesus Tends to His Sheep
Let's look at how the risen Jesus takes care of His disciples. Somehow, he shows up walking along beside them listening to their conversation. They can't yet recognize him. He asked, "What are you talking about?" (18) Clopas said,
"Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who doesn't know the things that have just happened?" "What things?" Jesus asked. They said, "Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people. Our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. And beside all of this, it is now the third day since these things happened. Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning. And when they did not find his body they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see."
Few events had ever been more public and riveting as the hope of Palm Sunday, the arrest, the trial, and crucifixion of Jesus. How could anyone not know these things about Jesus who was hailed by the people as the Messiah on Sunday and on Friday crucified? "We thought He was the One. But anyone who gets himself crucified couldn't possible be anymore than a prophet. Also, it's the third day and no Jesus." That comment in v. 21 suggests that they did remember His teaching about rising on the third day, but they just couldn't believe it unless, like Thomas, they saw him with their own eyes and touched Him with their hands. "Oh," they said, "Some women amazed us by saying that an angel told them Jesus was alive. So, the men went to the tomb, but He wasn't there. He's not alive. It's a joke." Reading between the lines ..."Some hysterical and emotional women who are prone to exaggerate came to us with an idle tale. However, the men found that Jesus wasn't really there."
By the way if they were making this story up to convince people of the resurrection, they would have never used the testimony of women as the first witnesses of the resurrection. A woman's testimony wasn't even permitted in a court of law. The reason they did was because that's the way it happened.
But they don't believe the women. They were so crushed by the crucifixion that it was beyond their capacity to interpret the facts in any positive way. When you get beaten down by devastating circumstances you can become amazingly resourceful in finding reasons not to take comfort in anything. You're afraid. If you do, you may be just setting yourself up for another disappointment. I once read about an experiment with fish. Prey and predator were put in the same tank, but the tank was divided by a Plexiglas divider. At first, the predator aggressively went after the prey, but after he smashed his nose in the glass a thousand times he simply stopped. The researchers removed the glass divider. This new reality made no difference. He stayed on his side of the tank. We learn what hurts, and we have a natural defense mechanism to prevent it from happening again.
To this couple, the new reality of the empty tomb only represented that the body had been stolen. But they weren't thinking it through. How could some disciples overpower the Roman guard, roll back the stone, and take his body without being noticed? His enemies had no reason to take it. But when you're in despair it's easy to hear everything as bad news.
A Rebuke of Love & the Power of the Word
Now, I love what Jesus didn't do and didn't say. He doesn't say this. "OK all you people. Listen up! None of you believed me when I told you the Messiah had to die and on the third day and He would rise up from the dead. So, I've had it with you, and I'm moving on to those who will treat me better." What does he do? He pursues them, coaxes them into opening up, and then he loves them by rebuking their unbelief in the word of God. He has to, because it's that unbelief that is stealing their joy and hope.
"How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself." (25-27)
Beloved, this isn't a harsh insult. This is the love of Jesus who knows that it's foolish for us to disbelieve the word of God. You can't hang the heavy weight of your soul on anything less than the word of your creator and redeemer. The only sane thing for us to do is to regulate our lives by His word. It's the only true north; it's the only certain anchor that is irrevocable and imperishable; it's the only true measuring rod we have to assess anything as valid and true. He's not insulting them. He's pointing them to the river that makes the people of God glad. He's pulling their chairs up to the only banquet table that satisfies the deepest yearnings of our hearts. Don't be foolish and put your faith in anything but the certainty of God's word. The word says that it was necessary that the Messiah must first suffer these things and then enter his glory? God hasn't failed you! Jesus didn't fail you!
A thousand of years before crucifixion was even invented, Psalm 22 said,"they have pierced my hands and my feet and they divide my garments and cast lots for them?" What happened was forecast in God's words for thousands of years. And then, beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. The OT Scriptures were given that people would read them and be drawn to the Savior. Jesus said, "You diligently search the Scriptures...yet the Scriptures testify about Me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life (Jn.5:39,40).
Beginning in Genesis 3:16, He showed them that seed of the woman who would crush the head of the serpent was Jesus whose heal would be bruised in the battle. The sacrifice of Isaac, the sacrificial Lamb God provided, is a story about Jesus. The Passover Lamb, the Yom Kipper sacrifices, The Tabernacle, the Temple, the serpent raised up on the pole, and the manna from heaven. The hope the prophets spoke of the One who would bring about the new covenant because Israel had so grievously broken the first one was Jesus. The entire Old Testament pointed to the fact that Jesus had to suffer death. His crucifixion wasn't an obstacle to Jesus being the Messiah. It was compelling and necessary evidence that He, in fact, was the Messiah. And the more Jesus opened the Word; the flicker of their faith began to burn brighter and brighter. Their unbelief began to thaw. Their confusion and despair began to melt like morning frost in the sun. God had not failed them! The word had not failed them! Jesus had to die and He had to be raised as well. Everything is right on track! It was their ignorance and unbelief in God's word that had stolen their hope and joy.
Notice that Jesus didn't first reveal himself to them. Why not? Why didn't Jesus just say, "Here I am? Why this entire Bible study first? Look, Jesus kept them from recognizing Him so that they wouldn't base their hopes and faith in the resurrection on their private personal experience. Jesus wants their faith to be grounded first, in the objective and immutable word of God, not in some private religious experience that could be easily questioned and doubted in weaker moments. He spares them from the temptation that they may have imagined all of this by anchoring this reality in the certain and objective word of God. No matter how they feel or what they are experiencing, this word will never change. Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22 will never change as the word of God for all to hear.
The Risen Jesus Shares a Meal with Them.
When they made it home, Jesus walked ahead of them as if he was going on ahead. But they urged him to stay with them. Although they are now more encouraged, they still don't yet know who he is. While sharing a meal, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and began to give it to them. Then, their eyes were opened and they recognized Him, and he suddenly disappeared from their sight. Perhaps they saw the nailed scared hands when he broke the bread. Who knows? They recognized Him as he took the lead to feed them. Jesus is the bread of life and the only one who can satisfy our souls. When we believe this, we do see Him as he is. Immediately he was gone.
Notice the first thing they say "Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road while He opened to us the Scriptures." What melted the ice of unbelief, fear, hopelessness, and grief was not an ineffable, unintelligible, vague, post-modern encounter with Jesus. It was the fact that the risen Jesus opened up the imperishable, certain, knowable, and irrevocable word of God that will never fade, spoil, or pass away. As soon as they could, they raced back to Jerusalem, apologized to the women (I'm adding this), shared with Peter and the others their various resurrection experiences, and then told them what the risen Jesus did for them.
Let me make three applications:
1. The servant isn't greater than the master. If the pattern of love is to suffer before we can come to glory, then we shouldn't be so surprised when God leads us through serious suffering. By instinct, we recoil from suffering. We interpret it as a sign that God is against us. Jacob and Naomi did the same. That's natural. We aren't wired to be masochists. Yet, if you are to gain your life, you must first lose it. God will used a broken dream, relationship, or failed mission to let you know that God is the only one worthy to satisfy the deepest yearnings of your heart. At times these, things become false idols. He will also use them to make you more like His Son Jesus. Beloved, what looks like God is bringing against you may be what He is doing for you.
2. The relief we want from despair can only come from a heart that knows and yields to God's word. Jesus could have simply revealed Himself to satisfy their need to know he was alive. He didn't. He quoted the Word. He didn't have to. He is the word of God. But he did to show us where we could find His voice every moment of every day. He healed their wounds by first pointing them to trust in His word.
3. Notice that Jesus walked ahead of them, which put them in a position of choosing what was really important to them. He intentionally put them in a position to invite him into their home. There is something about making that invitation that reveals what we have come to really value. Will they remain in their unbelief and despair? Or do they really want to be healed? Inviting Jesus in reveals what their hearts really value. If they value God's word, they will invite Him to stay. And they did. Do you want to be healed? Listen, whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved? Who will you call on to stay with you? What do you invite into your life to save you?
Beloved, Jesus has risen from the dead. He knows you better than you know yourself. He knows everything about you. He died to cover our sins. And yet, with all that, He still says, Come unto me and I will give you rest.
Remember that girl whose application was rejected at the college? Shortly after that she got a letter of apology. She got to go to school with her dear friend. Her faith is stronger through that suffering.
Remember that young man who had a hole so big in his heart that no one on earth could fill. God brought him the good news of Jesus who saves sinners like us and makes us His children. And now he knows how great the Father's love for him (us) is.
Remember that woman whose husband had Alzheimer's? Well, just before he died she asked him why he wouldn't hug her, go to bed with her, and show her the affection he used to. He said, Thirty years earlier, I made a promise to my wife that I would love, honor her, cherish her, and keep myself to her AND TO HER ONLY as long as we both lived." He said, with tears in his eyes, "I can't break that promise I made to that wonderful woman over thirty years ago." The reality of his love for her redeemed her suffering.
The risen Jesus is able to transform our despair into hope. No one will ever love you like Jesus. If you haven't, receive him as the risen Lord of your life, yield to His word, rejoice in His tender mercies. Say with us today, "He is risen indeed!"