Luke 24:13-32 - That same day two of Jesus’ followers were walking to the village of Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem. As they walked along they were talking about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things, Jesus himself suddenly came and began walking with them. But God kept them from recognizing him.
He asked them, “What are you discussing so intently as you walk along?”
They stopped short, sadness written across their faces. Then one of them, Cleopas, replied, “You must be the only person in Jerusalem who hasn’t heard about all the things that have happened there the last few days.”
“What things?” Jesus asked. “The things that happened to Jesus, the man from Nazareth,” they said. “He was a prophet who did powerful miracles, and he was a mighty teacher in the eyes of God and all the people. But our leading priests and other religious leaders handed him over to be condemned to death, and they crucified him. We had hoped he was the Messiah who had come to rescue Israel. This all happened three days ago. Then some women from our group of his followers were at his tomb early this morning, and they came back with an amazing report. They said his body was missing, and they had seen angels who told them Jesus is alive! Some of our men ran out to see, and sure enough, his body was gone, just as the women had said.”
Then Jesus said to them, “You foolish people! You find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures. Wasn’t it clearly predicted that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his glory?”
Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.By this time they were nearing Emmaus and the end of their journey. Jesus acted as if he were going on, but they begged him, “Stay the night with us, since it is getting late.” So he went home with them. As they sat down to eat, he took the bread and blessed it. Then he broke it and gave it to them. Suddenly, their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And at that moment he disappeared!
They said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?”
There are so many interesting things about these scriptures, but the thing that intrigues me the most is where it says, "God kept them from recognizing him" (24:16)
Why? Why would He do this? Why would God not reveal himself to them. They were sad and upset over Jesus's crucifixion and here he is risen from the dead; and yet, God keeps them from recognizing him. This doesn't make sense. It almost seems like a cruel joke.
Have you ever walked through a season in life and wondered God where are you? Those seasons are usually pretty dark and it's not until you've made it through that you realize, like these travelers to Emmaus, that God was really with you the whole time. But why would God do that? Why during the darkest days of your life would God hide himself in plain sight from you? This doesn't seem like the loving trustworthy God he's supposed to be; but can I say, the opposite is actually true. God hiding himself from you for a season is the very essence of a loving God. Let me show you.
Jesus asked them, "what are you discussing so intently?" They were incredulous that he didn't know about the crucifixion of Jesus. But their answer to his question, reveals the answer to ours: why would God purposely hide from us? They said, "We had hoped he was the Messiah."
We know that the Messiah came to save us from our sins first and will be coming back again. But these are Jews, their understanding of the Messiah was that he would come as the conquering king. They were looking for a temporary deliverer from their current oppressors. They had a limited perception of who the Messiah was. I believe this is why God kept them from seeing Jesus right in front of them, because look at what happens next... "Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets explaining from all the Scriptures the things about himself" (24:27).
They had a limited idea of who Jesus was and if their eyes hadn't been purposely blinded to Him, he wouldn't have had an opportunity to reveal himself in a deeper way to them.
Think about a dark season in your life, could it be that you had a limited view of who God was and He wanted to give you a greater revelation of who He is. You've always known the verse that says, "By his stripes we are healed." But it wasn't until you walked through the season of cancer that God revealed himself as the Healer.
You know verses about God restoring the years the cankerworm have destroyed; but not until, He walked you through the season of teenage rebellion, was he able to reveal Himself to you as Restorer.
Could it be that God is walking you through a dark season in your life, where you're not even sure He's there, because He wants to give you a deeper revelation of Himself? Isn't that exactly what a loving God would do? It seems counterintuitive to us. We think why can't he just tell us who He is. If He was a loving God why would He let me go through this. But the problem is we're just like those travelers on the road to Emmaus, we sometimes have a distorted view of who God is; and it isn't until we walk through these seasons that we can get the deeper revelation of who God is.
Once we've made it through the season, we, like the travelers, understand that God really was with us the whole time. We didn't see Him as we walked through it, but when we came to the end we see, Wow God you really were there. Wow God you really are ______________. Fill in the blank of how God has revealed himself to you. Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Healer, Deliverer, Restorer, Refuge, Provider... Messiah.
It's hard to see anything past the pain and confusion of a dark season, but in the end, if you allow yourself to walk through it and not get stuck in it, I'm sure you will see that God really was with you the whole time, and that you now have a more intimate understanding of who God really is.
