HOPE ON THE ROAD OF DESPAIR
SERIES: JESUS SAVIOR OF THE LOST
by Ron Ritchie
Last Tuesday evening the elections booths were closed, the voting was over,
and before we went to bed we knew that we had a new president and vice-president.
We also were aware that in the days to come we would see new cabinet members,
senators, and representatives. Our president-elect told us that he would
be a man who would bring many changes to our society through programs that
would promote jobs, enhance education, and open doors for trade. He would
appoint new Supreme Court justices, work on pro-choice programs for pregnant
woman, and open the door to introduce gays into the military, etc.
The election has caused mixed reactions among the citizens of our country,
running the spectrum from great joy to great despair and fear. I also experienced
a range of emotions, as did the students gathered that night for my Discovery
Seminar; that is, until we were able to remind ourselves of the truth found
in Daniel 2:20-21:
"Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever,
For wisdom and power belong to Him.
And it is He who changes the times and the epochs;
He removes kings and establishes kings."
Paul would pick up this truth in writing to the Romans: "For there
is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by
God." (13:1) Yet in spite of these Biblical truths, despair can attack
us not only on a political level but also on a personal level, affecting
our mental, emotional, and spiritual lives. Despair is a deep feeling which
leaves us with a sense of hopelessness, a feeling that there is no hope
of change or escape from the difficulties of our current situation. And
unless we invite Jesus to become our king and set up his kingdom in our
hearts, we will remain in a state of deep despair.
If you ever have gone through, or are now in, a time of despair, a time
of hopelessness and fear, then you will appreciate the two disciples we
meet in Luke 24:13-35, who were found on a Sunday afternoon long ago walking
down the road of despair.
The road of despair
Luke 24:13-24
And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village
named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. And they were
conversing with each other about all these things which had taken place.
And it came about that while they were conversing and discussing, Jesus
Himself approached, and began traveling with them. But their eyes were prevented
from recognizing Him. And He said to them, "What are these words that
you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?" And they stood
still, looking sad. And one of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to
Him, "Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things
which have happened here in these days?" And He said to them, "What
things?" And they said to Him, "The things about Jesus the Nazarene,
who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the
people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him up to the
sentence of death, and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He
who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third
day since these things happened. But also some women among us amazed us.
When they were at the tomb early in the morning, and did not find His body,
they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels, who said that
He was alive. And some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found
it just exactly as the women also had said; but Him they did not see."
It was the third day after the death and burial of Jesus. Early that morning,
several faithful women, arriving at the tomb with spices to anoint his body,
instead found the stone rolled away and the body of Jesus missing. In the
midst of their perplexity, "two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling
apparel; and ...said to them, 'Why do you seek the living One among the
dead? He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while
He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into
the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.'"
(24:4-7) The women reported these things to the apostles and the other disciples
who thought they were nonsense. But Peter, even in his unbelief, ran to
the tomb to find it empty just as the women had said.
It was after those events that two of the disciples left Jerusalem and began
the seven-mile walk down through the hills of Judea to the village of Emmaus.
Perhaps, as they conversed and reviewed the events of the past three days,
they found themselves "iffing." If only Jesus had run from the
garden when he had the chance, what a different day this would have been.
If only we had stood with him during his trial. If only Peter had not denied
Jesus. If only Jesus had not admitted to Pilate that he was a king. If only
the secret disciples among the Pharisees like Joseph and Nicodemus had spoken
out on Jesus' behalf. If, if, if only...
While they were conversing and discussing [and iffing] Jesus Himself approached,
and began traveling with them. But their eyes were prevented from recognizing
Him." I believe Jesus prevented these disciples from seeing him as
their risen Lord in order to show them who they were at this moment without
him, as well as how much they needed him to continue living out their lives
on this earth to the glory of God and their spiritual joy. How often we
get caught up in the hopelessness of a situation, blinded to what God is
doing beyond that current circumstance. We hear the truth of God, but the
eyes of our hearts are prevented from being enlightened because we choose
to invite despair to overwhelm us. We often don't understand the immediate
events of our lives and allow perplexity and sadness to confuse us to the
point where we settle for the physical or historical interpretation of what
is going on around or within us. Thus, we become blind to the spiritual
realities behind those events.
Jesus wanted the disciples to articulate the cause of their sadness. Cleopas
questioned the stranger: "Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and
unaware of the things which have happened here in these last days?"
And Jesus said to them, "What things?" Our Lord was going to let
them review who he had been before he showed them who he is. For at this
moment they were living in the past and he was living in the present (and
still is). Imagine these two disciples telling their story of hope and subsequent
despair to Jesus along that road to Emmaus. (Note their use of the word
"was.")
1. "He was Jesus the Nazarene." There were many men
who were named Jesus, but this man from Nazareth was given his name before
he was born. An angel appeared in a dream and said to Joseph, "Do not
be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for that which has been conceived in
her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His
name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins."
(Matthew 1:20, 21)
2. He was a prophet who was. "[He] was a prophet mighty in deed and
word in the sight of God and all the people. He was a mighty man of God
who made the Scripture shine forth so that we understood who God was, who
we were, and what God wanted of us. It was always an exciting adventure
to be with him. We were hoping that he was the prophet that Moses spoke
of in Deuteronomy, but unfortunately, he was a prophet who was."
3. "He was mighty in deeds. He did many signs and miracles among us
which can be best summed up in his words to John the Baptist who was sitting
in prison wondering if Jesus was the Messiah. Jesus instructed two of John's
disciples, 'Go and report to John...: the blind receive sight, the lame
walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up,
the poor have the gospel preached to them.'" (Luke 7:22)
4. "He was mighty in word. When he spoke his words rang with the power
and authority of God himself." At the end of the Sermon on the Mount
Matthew recorded: "The result was that when Jesus had finished these
words, the multitudes were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them
as one having authority, and not as their scribes." (Matthew 7:28-29)
5. "God loved him and the common people loved him, but the chief priests
and our rulers delivered Him up to the sentence of death, and crucified
Him. They crucified a good man, a great prophet, and a possible messiah,
shattering our dreams and hopes. [The disciples viewed the cross as a failure.]
He almost made it, but he failed. He got caught on two stupid charges-the
religious charge of blaspheming God by admitting he was the Son of God in
presence of the high priest [Matthew 26:63-65], and the political charge
of declaring himself the King of the Jews in the presence of Pilate, the
Roman governor [Matthew 27:11]. As a result they nailed him to a cross."
Writing about the crucifixion, Ralph Earle says:
"True, it was the world's blackest hour, but also the
world's brightest hour. It was the blackest hour because human hatred came
to its fiercest focus. It was the brightest hour because divine love came
to it fullest flower. At Calvary, hatred was seen in all of its heinous
horror, but there also love revealed the heart of God. Calvary stands at
the crossroads of human history. At the cross, all the sins of the ages
were placed on the heart of the sinless Son of God, as he became the representative
of all humanity. From the cross salvation flows to every believing soul.
This is the gospel, the greatest good news the world had ever heard."
And these disciples were missing it.
The disciples spoke of their shattered dreams and hopes. "We were hoping
that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this,
it is the third day since these things happened. We thought that this man
whom we followed for three years was the promised Messiah who would redeem
us from the yoke of the Romans, like God redeemed Israel from Egypt, the
Canaanites, the Philistines, the Babylonians, the Persians, and the Greeks.
We were hoping it was he who would bring in the 'New World Order,' the kingdom
of God in which Israel would once again become the true vine, the salt and
light, and the righteous nation which would bring salvation to the nations.
If he was the prophet, the Messiah, the Son of God and the King of kings;
if he promised us he would rise again from the dead-where is he? After all,
it has already been three days." Jesus had told his disciples four
times in the gospel of Luke, "He will be delivered up to the Gentiles,
and will be mocked and mistreated and spit upon, and after they have scourged
Him, they will kill Him; and the third day He will rise again." (9:22;
9:44;18:32,33; 22) At that time, however, the full meaning was hidden from
them. Now they were slowly beginning to understand on "the third day"
but were showing impatience because of their shattered dreams and hopes.
They went on to tell Jesus of the mystery of the empty tomb, relating all
the events from the story of the women to the disciples' own investigation.
These strange things left them saddened, for they were blinded to the spiritual
realities behind the apparently tragic events of the past few days. They
did not fully understand that it was necessary for Jesus to go to the cross
as the perfect, innocent, unblemished lamb of God in order to cancel the
sin, guilt, and shame of humanity for each and every individual who placed
their faith in him as their Lord and Savior.
But thanks be to God for the empty tomb! The bodily resurrection of Jesus
is the cornerstone of the Christian faith. For without the resurrection
the cross would have been in vain. It is his resurrection that validates
the atoning death of Jesus, that proves Jesus' death for our sins has been
accepted by God the Father. Without the resurrection there would be no forgiveness
of sins, no salvation, no hope now or in the future, no life filled with
righteousness, peace, and joy now or later. Peter, some thirty years later,
would summarize the value of the resurrection in a letter written to the
suffering church in Turkey: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born
again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the
dead." (1 Peter 1:3)
I have seen this hope clearly illustrated at memorial services or funeral
services where there is an open casket. You can divide the room right in
half between those who have a living hope and those who have a living death.
On one side are those who believe that the life of the person in the casket
is over. They think that's it; they'll never see them again. There is such
despair and anguish, such mourning and weeping over the body, touching it
and kissing it as though that were the end. Then there are the Christians
on the other side. They walk up, they glance... they know the person is
not there. They are already with the Lord. And there is a joy-a sadness
because they won't see them for a while, but a joy. The separation is only
for a moment. That is hope based on the resurrection of Jesus.
Our resurrected Lord Jesus lovingly and patiently listened to his disciples
trapped in their blindness, despair, grief, perplexity, and incredible unbelief.
Then he moved them from the apparent tragedy of the last three days to a
higher spiritual plane, a place of spiritual reality, and once again reminded
them of the eternal truths which had been written by the prophets concerning
the suffering and glory of the Messiah.
Are you reading your Bible?
Luke 24:25-27
And He said to them, "O foolish men and slow of heart to
believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the
Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?" And beginning
with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning
Himself in all the Scriptures.
The Lord told these two men that they, as well as the other disciples, were
suffering from a spiritual illness. The symptoms of this illness were foolishness
in their thinking and slowness of heart. He said, "You kept foolishly
hoping that the Son of Man would be the great warrior Messiah who would
come with an army, defeat the Romans in a war, and set up his physical kingdom
on this earth. Instead, he came into Jerusalem riding on a colt, symbolizing
peace, and desiring to set up his spiritual kingdom in the hearts of his
people. He told you on more than one occasion, the Son of Man has come to
seek and to save that which was lost. [Luke19:10] His offer has always been
a message of spiritual salvation, not a war against Rome." Then he
said, "You had in hand the many prophecies of first the suffering and
then the glory of Messiah. But you were slow to believe them; you kept trying
to skip the suffering of the cross as recorded in Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53
and to get right to the glory as recorded in Isaiah 60-66.
Then the Lord took this teachable moment, "and beginning with Moses
and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself
in all the Scriptures." The spiritual review may be summarized something
like this:
"The Christ is the Passover Lamb in Exodus.
The Christ is the Atoning Sacrifice in Leviticus.
The Christ is the Smitten Rock in Numbers.
The Christ is the Prophet to come in Deuteronomy.
The Christ is the Sheep that was lead to slaughter in Isaiah.
The Christ is the Branch of Righteousness in Jeremiah.
The Christ is the Plant of Renown in Ezekiel.
The Christ is the Stone that smote the image in Daniel.
The Christ is the Ideal Israel in Hosea.
The Christ is the Hope of the people in Joel.
The Christ is the Heavenly Husbandman in Amos.
The Christ is the Savior in Obadiah.
The Christ is the Resurrection and Life in Jonah.
The Christ is the Restorer in Micah.
The Christ is the Publisher of Peace in Nahum.
The Christ is the Anointed One in Habakkuk.
The Christ is the Mighty One to save in Zephaniah.
The Christ is the Desired One of all the nations in Haggai.
The Christ is the Headstone of the House of God in Zechariah.
The Christ is the Son of Righteousness with healing in His wings in Malachi."
What a lesson! How blind they had become! But he spent the time to show
them that he was on every page of the Old Testament. He reminded them of
what the Scriptures taught of his need to suffer and to die for the sins
of humanity, and that on the third day he would be raised from the grave
by the power of his Father. The truths that Jesus shared with the disciples
on the road to Emmaus have important applications to us today. He was the
suffering servant of Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22, but he is now the risen Messiah,
the one and only Son of God, the Savior of the world, as well as the righteous
prophet, priest, and king over all mankind in the past, present, and future.
And he desires to be that prophet, priest, and king within our hearts. He
wants to work out his plan of redemption in and through us, his people.
At Dallas Seminary I had a Greek professor named Dr. Johnson who was from
Charleston, South Carolina. He left a profound mark on my spirit. Sitting
in his class, I would listen as he opened up the Greek text in the Gospel
of Mark. He not only taught us Greek but he would share his thoughts on
the spiritual truths and mysteries of a particular passage. I can still
remember the first time I had the courage to ask him a question about his
view of a verse in Mark. He looked at me, paused, and then said in that
wonderful Carolinian accent, "Mr. Ritchie, are you reading your Bible?
Because all the answers are right there in front of you." For the rest
of our year together, with great humor each and every time I would ask a
question, he, at first, and then later the whole class in chorus, would
say, "Mr. Ritchie are you reading your Bible?" It was just as
Christ was saying to the disciples: "You could have avoided all this
despair if you had read your Bibles." It was right there in front of
them, but they missed it.
These disciples had a very difficult weekend. The despair which already
filled their hearts was made more intense in the meeting of a stranger who
seemed to have missed all the events around Jesus' life, death and burial.
And to make matters worse, this stranger began to rebuke them from the Scriptures
about the Messiah's need to suffer before he could enter into his glory.
But their despair was about to turn into a living hope.
Opened eyes and burning hearts
Luke 24:28-32
And they approached the village where they were going, and He
acted as though He would go farther. And they urged Him, saying, "Stay
with us, for it is getting toward evening, and the day is now nearly over."
And He went in to stay with them. And it came about that when He had reclined
at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it,
He began giving it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognized
Him; and He vanished from their sight. And they said to one another, "Were
not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road,
while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?"
Upon reaching the village of Emmaus the two disciples asked this stranger
to stay with them, for the sun was setting and it was time for dinner and
a night of rest. After dinner was served, he reached out, took the bread,
blessed it, and then handed it to them. It was at that moment that "their
eyes were opened and they recognized Him," for here he was serving
them again but this time with nail-pierced hands. And then he just disappeared,
leaving them to ponder this revelation.
The disciples saw their road of despair begin to turn into a highway of
living hope as they said to one another, "Were not our hearts burning
within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining
the Scriptures to us?" Finally, we understand what the Scriptures mean
because the risen Christ has explained them to us. The Spirit of God entered
our hearts, and they were set on fire because we knew what he was saying
was true.
At present, the Bible is the most published book of all time. Bibles are
freely available in the western world and are hungered for in the eastern
block of nations. We can find them in hotel rooms, libraries, airports,
and bus stops. But to read the Bible is not to understand it. The Bible
can only be understood by spiritually hungry men and women who are willing
to depend on our risen Lord Jesus to explain the spiritual truth contained
within its pages. The Bible is not a magic book. We need the Spirit of God
to open our eyes and show us who Jesus Christ is. Then our hearts too will
start to burn within us, and we will desire to learn more about this wonderful
Lord Jesus and the life he desires for all of us to live to his glory and
our joy.
Back up the highway of hope
Luke 24:33-35
And they arose that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and
found gathered together the eleven and those who were with them, saying,
"The Lord has really risen, and has appeared to Simon." And they
began to relate their experiences on the road and how He was recognized
by them in the breaking of the bread.
Hope had replaced despair, and, after rising from the table, they began
what I am sure was a steady run back up the hills to Jerusalem, and were
soon reunited with the rest of the disciples. As the two sweating but joyful
disciples entered the room, their hearts filled with the good news, they
walked into a cluster of men and women all confirming for one another and
anyone else who would listen, the good news that "the Lord has really
risen." Mary Magdalene had seen, touched, and spoken with Jesus in
the garden (John 20:11-18). Peter, who had been struggling with his own
guilt over denying Jesus at the trial, related how he also went to the tomb
and found it empty. And then, sometime during that same day, the risen Lord
had appeared to him. Finally, the two disciples were given time in the midst
of all the rejoicing to share their experience on the road to Emmaus, and
how they finally recognized him "in the breaking of the bread."
What a weekend those men and women had to go through. First, they felt great
despair because they saw the cross as the end of Jesus' life, the end of
their hopes, and the end of the story. But what a difference on that first
Easter Sunday evening, the gloom and confusion ending as they finally came
to the realization that Jesus had risen from the grave. Their despair turned
to hope not hope that existed for its own sake, but hope in the truth of
the resurrection based on the physical evidences of at least four witnesses:
Mary, Peter, Cleopas, and his friend.
What a difference that day could make to so many of us who say we are followers
of Jesus Christ but continue to struggle with the idea that his resurrection
means that he is alive, and though invisible, present and available to empower
us with the same resurrection power that raised him from the grave. That
resurrection power will be needed in the days ahead, which promise to be
filled with many changes. Those changes, seen from God's viewpoint, will
be great opportunities to share the good news of our risen Lord Jesus as
the world's only "living hope."
Those of you who are not only struggling with Jesus as the risen Lord and
the world's only Savior, but are also struggling with the hopelessness and
despair of your own personal lives, I would encourage you to go by faith
to the risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Go to him with your unbelief,
and ask him to open the eyes of your heart to see, based on the personal
testimony of family members and friends all around you, that Jesus is the
risen Son of God and is willing to become your Lord if you would place your
faith in him as your personal Savior. What a difference that decision could
make in your life today!
With the words Paul wrote to encourage the Ephesians, "I pray that
the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is
the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance
in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward
us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength
of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the
dead, and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places."
Catalog No. 4281
Luke 24:13-35
66th Message
Ron Ritchie
November 8, 1992
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