One day two of Jesus’ disciples were walking down the road towards Emmaus, when unbeknownst to them – Jesus approached and started traveling the road with them. All they could do was “stand still and look sad“, according to Luke 24:17.  Like my father used to say when I asked him what he and mother were doing, he would retort – “we are just sitting around looking ugly.”  These disciples were sadly moping around looking ugly.  Have you ever been in this place? Maybe you’re in this place right now.  As these two walked along, Jesus took the Scriptures and explained everything concerning Himself and what they had just witnessed.  All their “why” questions were answered as they strolled along to their destination.

My question is… Why didn’t Jesus do this in the beginning of His ministry? Why doesn’t He operate this way with us personally? Why doesn’t He tell us the “whys” before we go through trials, hardships, and the tribulations of life. I sure could have used more information ahead of time!

The key to understanding this is found in verse 25… Jesus called these two “foolish and slow of heart to believe.” Hey, this is harsh – but the truth.  Jesus is not really calling them foolish, but dull… dull in perceiving or arriving at the truth.  But the word slow means the same thing as it does in English. Someone who takes a loooong time to believe or to arrive at the correct conclusion.  Most of the time we accuse God of being slow, but the actual truth is most of the time, if not all of the time… He is waiting for us to come around to truth.

So… if we can barely handle and understand the truth at the end of our difficulties and hardships, how can we ever fully understand or comprehend what God is doing from the beginning.  As Jack so elegantly put it… “You want the truth? You can’t handle the truth!”

These two confessed later of the encounter…

Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us? Luke 24:32

This type of burning is what we all need to feel and experience. It is when God brings the truth of Scripture alive in our present day experience. Until this happens we will just “stand still and look sad.”  Not only do you need to hear the voice of the Lord today, but tomorrow,  the next day and the next.  Take some time to allow the Lord’s voice and truth to burn in your heart.  It will change your life.

Blessings,

Pastor