A Jesus Journey
If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. John 5:46
He gave sermons, taught parables, and read passages in the synagogue, but there is only one time recorded where Jesus gave a Bible study to prove who He is; why He must die on a cross; and that He would be resurrected the third day. Because of the amount of scripture He covered, we have no way of knowing what else he discussed, but this we know for sure, it was all about Him! What a powerful study that must have been!
At first, the study was given to only two disciples, but later that day, Jesus repeated it to all His disciples except Thomas. Thomas would meet the live Jesus 8 days later.
This story is found in Luke 24: 13-45 and is the basis for the following first person account.
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It was early afternoon, the sun was high in the sky as I walked the dusty road speaking in low tones with my friend Cleopas about the things that had transpired over the last few days. So many things! All very bad!
It started with the arrest of Jesus in the Garden east of the city. During the night and into the early morning of the Preparation Day (Friday) the soldiers and mob began to move Him between the governor and religious leadership. Then they beat Him to a pulp and eventually crucified Him on a Roman cross on the hill outside of Jerusalem later in the afternoon of the Preparation Day. I watched from afar as He hung His head and took his last breath. He said something at the end, but I was unable to hear because I was trying to stay far enough away so that no one would try to connect me with Him . I would certainly be labeled as a fanatic believer in this prophet who the clergy labeled as a blasphemer. I think I saw Peter off in the distance. He appeared to be on his knees with his face in his hands. His disappointment must be very great!
There had been an earthquake and the sun refused to shine. Darkness took over the land like a thick smothering blanket. Everything seemed out of place…frightening. The large curtain in the temple had been ripped from top to bottom by some unseen hand. There were even reports of people, considered saints, coming out of their graves and appearing to many in the city! (See Matthew 27: 51-53)
My personal disappointment was great, because I believed everything He said and was amazed at His great miracles and works of kindness. His followers thought Him to be the Messiah prophesied by many of the prophets hundreds of years ago. He was going to set up His kingdom and deliver our people from the iron rule of Rome.
He was the coming king upon which I hung all our hopes. But, it seemed like He did not want to be king. I had left everything to follow Him and learn His teachings, but all this seemed to come to nothing on that Friday afternoon when He died. Now only doubt, sadness, and disappointment hung on Cleopas and me like a heavy smelly cloak belonging to someone else. I want explanation, but the reality of deception was creeping into my thoughts and it made me feel sick and foolish.
On top of everything else, the body of Jesus is missing! The women said He was alive, confirmed by a couple of other disciples, but I know better. It is just wishful thinking on their part. No one could have survived the beating, the nails, the loss of blood, and finally the sharp sword in the side. I saw it and refuse to believe anything but what my eyes can confirm. There was no mistaking… the vision of so much blood and the pale appearance of death was real.
We are on our way to Emmaus to start over; a walk of about 7 miles. It will take me the usual 2 1/2 hours or so to walk…maybe longer today because of our conversation and heavy heart. This will give us plenty of time to try and put all the pieces together….to try to understand and make sense of everything and to decide what to do with the rest of our lives.
All of a sudden and unexpected, a stranger walks up from behind and joins us. He asks,
“Why are you so sad and what are you discussing?”
I find these two questions odd in the light of the excitement and well-known events of the weekend. Slightly agitated and amazed Cleopas speaks before I can open my mouth and he answers the question with a question. He throws in some sarcasm for good measure.
“Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem that does not know the things which happened there this last few days?”
I am even more amazed when the stranger asks,
“What things?”
In disbelief, we began to explain to the stranger the events of the weekend. Reviewing everything does not help my disappointment and we rush through them as a courtesy to the stranger.
About Jesus of Nazareth,” we replied in unison! “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”
Then the stranger calls Cleopas and me “foolish ones” and that we are “slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken” This is certainly not so! I have always believed the prophets. I have come from a family who believes in the Tanakh (Old Testament) and I have read it often. The prophets said, that the Messiah would come and deliver Israel from its enemies. But the stranger began to recite the writings of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy) and all the Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Micah, Malachi, etc) of the Tanakh and explain things I had missed before.
The stranger clearly points out passages that were references to Jesus. For the next 3 hours, I am amazed at the knowledge and clarity of the stranger’s words. As I listened to the stranger recite our ancient books, I begin to see that it was necessary for Jesus to die for the sins of the world, but that He would be raised up the third day! How had I missed that? Why had we not believed Jesus when He said it was necessary for Him to die and that he would rise again? It was like I had been reading the scripture the way I wanted it to read instead of letting it talk to me! Indeed, we felt foolish, but encouraged by the words of the stranger. My heart burned within me! I wanted to hear more! This was all exciting and new to me!
As we get near the village where we are going it is almost dark. I don’t want the stranger to go and I look for excuses for Him to stay the night so we can hear more. Thankfully, He agrees to have supper with us. As He breaks the bread, I recognize those hands and the manner in which He breaks the bread! I finally look across the table into his eyes about the same time as Cleopas. It is Jesus! As soon as we recognize him, He disappears! We had been talking to Jesus the whole time and we didn’t recognize Him!
With intense excitement and joy, Cleopas and I jump up and run the 7 miles back to Jerusalem in the dusk that eventually turns our path to darkness! We must tell the 11 and the others who were behind closed doors when we left them. They, too, share our confusion and disappointment.
When we arrive, we find them excited and questioning Simon Peter about his encounter with! There is a strange mixture of doubt and hope in the room. We then begin to tell them what had happened over the last several hours. Still some doubt, but hope is getting brighter by the moment. As we are talking with them and answering their questions, Jesus appears in the room!
Everyone jumps back. They think they are seeing a spirit, but Jesus tells them it is Him and that He is not a spirit. To prove it, He invites them to touch Him and He asks for something to eat. We give Him some fish and some honeycomb. My heart beats fast!
After everyone settles down and the scales of their eyes begin to fall away as it did with Cleopas and me, Jesus repeats the same type of study we heard on the road to Emmaus. This time, He uses the entire Tanakh including the Psalms to explain how He is found all through scripture. All the disciples begin to understand that He had to die, but that He would rise on the third day. How could we have missed this? It was right there!
Then He said to us,
“These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you. that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me. And He opened our understanding that we might comprehend the Scriptures.”
Now our hearts are filled with joy and conviction! We spend the next hour or so talking with Jesus. Then He tells us that the Father will send us the gift of the Holy Spirit, but we must wait for it and stay in the city. Our message will go to the world in power. It will be a message of repentance and forgiveness of sins!
He is risen!
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Do we need Jesus to open our understanding of Scriptures? Have we missed Jesus as we have read the Old Testament? What detail did Jesus teach these disciples when He explained passages from all the books of the Old Testament? Is the Old Testament not relevant to New Testament Christians? Have we missed something in our understanding of Jesus? Thomas was the only one not there in that room when Jesus appeared and taught them from the scripture about himself.
Next, we will take a look at Jesus through the eyes of a well-known doubter, Thomas. We will attempt to understand why the resurrection of Jesus is an absolute cornerstone of the Christian faith. In fact, without it, Paul says we are most pitiful of all men. But, after we see through the eyes of Thomas we will exclaim as he did:
“My Lord and My God.” John 20:28