Two lessons we must learn...
| He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. (Luke24:25-27) |
But before we look at these lessons, there is an issue we must resolve and it is this: What tone of voice do you think Jesus used when He called them "foolish" and "slow of heart?" Was He angry, exasperated or sad?
I think He was more sad than mad. His patient exegesis (unpacking) of the Old Testament and His subsequent self-revelation at the supper-communion table reveals a great depth of compassion and warmth toward the two travellers.
But let's get back to the two lessons:
- The first lesson is that there is no guarantee that life will be easy. If you look at yesterday's reading, we see that they struggled with the injustice of the arrest, trial and crucifixion of Jesus. They concluded that the body had been stolen and this traumatised them even more. Jesus has to remind them that suffering is part of the journey – that this is a road we must all walk.
Is your picture of God big enough to accept that He chooses to use and transform suffering - often by going through it; or are you guilty of having a triumphalist faith that can't cope with the inevitable brokenness we must face? The Christ had to suffer these things. Can we, as He followers then expect not to suffer?
- The second lesson is that Scripture provides a framework for us to make sense of it all. If this was the only reason for Jesus to spend all these hours with the Emmaus Duo, it would be worth it. He patiently unpacks Scripture as a framework for all that has happened.
I can't wait for the "action replay of heaven" to hear Jesus explain how the Old Testament systematically points to His incarnation and ministry.
These two lessons around Suffering and Scripture are part of the significance of the Emmaus walk - we should be sure not to miss them.
