Throughout the New Testament, we
read about Jesus preaching the Good News, working miracles, and teaching
his disciples to follow in his footsteps. He was focused only on one thing
-- the path to Jerusalem, his death, and the subsequent great glory
of his resurrection. He came to die. For you and me.
As Christians, being followers of Jesus Christ, we have to walk in the
same footsteps of our Lord, leading to our own personal Jerusalem
-- to be resurrected and live forever with Him.
But,
very often, we walk away from our cherished goal because of
disappointments in our life.
The disappointments that lead us to walk away from our own personal
Jerusalem’s may be:
(a) At the body level - health problems, family problems, etc.
(b) At the soul level - emotional problems, or
(c) At the spirit level - spiritual problems The two followers of Jesus walking away from Jerusalem, on the very day of
his greatest triumph, were disappointed that he had not accomplished what
they had hoped for - setting Israel free (Luke 24: 13 - 21). In our life,
too, what we initially perceive as disappointments, turn out to be
blessings in disguise.
And, although Jesus' death and resurrection was foretold in the
Scriptures, right from the beginning of time, the two followers' emotional
and spiritual levels were so low that they failed to recognize Jesus when
he came up to them on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24: 15 - 16).
Similarly, Jesus may be within us, but we fail to recognize him unless we
have a personal experience with him. Jesus makes himself available to us
only when we increase our spirituality to a higher level.
The two followers of Jesus had a personal experience with him only when he
explained to them what the Scriptures said about him. It caused a
spiritual renewal in their hearts
(Luke 24: 32).
So, when they reached Emmaus, and Jesus acted as if he was going further,
they held him back, saying, "Stay with us...." So he went in to stay with
them (Luke 24: 28 - 29). Jesus never forces himself on us. He knows our
disappointments, but he waits for us to make the decision to call upon him
to be with us.
Only when Jesus took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them,
were the eyes of the two followers opened, and they recognized Jesus (Luke
24: 30 - 31). Once our eyes are opened and we recognize Jesus, he
responds instantly to mitigate our disappointments.
And, when this happens, we are once again focused on our spiritual goal,
and eager to witness to the Lord. The two followers of Jesus were tired
after walking eleven kilometers, and it was night, but they got up at once
and went back to Jerusalem! (Luke 24: 33) |
