Disappointments

“But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened.” (Luke 24:21, NKJV)

Elections

We have just finished our elections for this year.  In this country,  it is constantly election time, it seems.  I know that there are some people that are rejoicing because they or their favorite politician has “won”.  There are some people who are greatly disappointed because things didn’t turn out as they had hoped.  But the disappointment of the losing candidates and their supporters is nothing compared to the disappointment two thousand years ago for those who had pinned their hopes on the Lord Jesus to free them from Roman rule.  They had expected Him to set up a righteous kingdom and some of them wanted a prominent place in His administration.

The Two Travelers Going Home

In the Bible record, there were two people who were leaving Jerusalem and were going home by foot after the passover week was over.  Actually they were traveling to Emmaus which I am assuming was their home. The journey was not a happy journey.  They had apparently witnessed the crucifixion of the One that they thought was going to reign.  They had not considered the fact that even in the Old Testament, there were predictions that the Lord would rise again.  But death seems final to us all.  These two admitted to a stranger that had joined them on their journey that they were disappointed and confused.  And now, according to them,  rumor had it that the Lord had been raised from the dead.  They wondered how this “stranger” could have been ignorant of all of this.

The Stranger

The person going with them must have had a real love for them.  When I think of all the people to whom he could have appeared and taught, he picked these two who were talking about Him and wondering what was really going on.  Now He had already appeared to Mary Magdalene and perhaps other women but these two discouraged disciples were able to spend quality time with Him while He walked with them and taught them.  He called them foolish because they had not believed ALL that had been written about HIm.  This implies that they were knowledgeable about the Old Testament teachings concerning the Messiah.  But His teaching could be summed up in the statement, “Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” (Luke 24:26, NKJV).   And then “beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.” (Luke 24:27, NKJV).  I don’t know how long this journey from Jerusalem to Emmaus takes but during that walk the Lord was able to expound all the Scriptures concerning Himself.  Now I suspect He expounded from all the Scriptures but I doubt if He explained everything that could be taught about Him from the Old Testament.  But still I would like to have been there for that “conference”.  Just two people and the Lord.  Wow!  What an experience.  And those two must have learned things that we haven’t learned yet.

Our Disappointments

The Lord said that He was going to turn “sorrow to joy.”  He did that through the resurrection which was predicted but not expected by His disciples and friends.  Many of us are disappointed today that the Lord has not returned.  He has promised that we who are saved have been delivered from the “wrath to come.”  And it doesn’t take a seminary degree to understand that the Lord is going to take vengeance on those who reject Him.  While I do not believe that we are in the seven years marked out by Daniel when the Lord takes up dealings with Israel and the nations that have rejected Him, I do believe that man’s inhumanity to man, man’s ability to wage war in ways that could destroy mankind, the changes in our environment that seem to be leading to earthquakes, hurricanes, pestilences and famine,  are all leading up to great catastrophes.  God’s word will be fulfilled.  We should be honest enough to say we don’t know when and exactly how .  But judgment is coming and that we do know.

Jesus Himself

What must that meeting with the Lord have been like?  I have to admit that when I look at the world that my grandchildren are inheriting, I am afraid.  I keep remembering that it was the religious rulers that told Pilate, “We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God.” (John 19:7, NKJV).  I would rather be listening to the Lord Himself with one or two others on a walk in the country than to be following religious leaders who think that they can usher in righteousness through the ballot box.

I am glad I am saved.  I thank the Lord that I can read the Bible for myself and that there are quiet times when “Jesus Himself” draws near.   I may be disappointed that the Lord has not come to save the saved from coming wrath.  But I do know that, come what may, He will turn the water to wine.  He will turn sorrow to joy.

He will not disappoint.

Bruce Collins

Meditation for the week of November 5, 2023