LUKE 24:13-53 UNDERSTAND THE SCRIPTURES How limiting are our expectations by nature. Things we touch, taste, smell, see and hear limit us to acting only in the physical areas of life. It is very difficult to find peace in our soul and spirit unless we go beyond what is normal to natural man. The Lord Jesus Christ in His resurrection opened a whole new kind of life to those who knew Him then and believe on Him now. From the opened tomb we know our Savior who died for our sins is alive. Jesus is not dead! He was, when He "died for our sins according to the scriptures." Then He "was buried and rose again the third day according to the scriptures." Those same scriptures were opened to the two walking to Emmaus, beginning with the promised "seed of the woman" in Genesis and going through each book of the Old Testament with testimonies of the Lord Jesus Christ is until He reached the "Messenger of the covenant" in the book of Malachi. In every book of the Old Testament there are written testimonies as to who the promised Messiah was to be. One of the reasons for teaching from the Old Testament is so we learn from the "opened scriptures" truths that God intends to be communicated to us. When one's eyes are opened, we truly recognize who the Lord Jesus is. There is a spiritual illumination and insight that doesn't go away and it affects everything we do from that time on.
I have wondered in what setting I will first see the opened wounds of the Savior. Will His hands be outstretched toward us when we are welcomed at the Rapture? When the last breath is taken on earth, will there be a hand with nail prints in it to touch me as I move into heaven? Watching people leave their bodies on occasion, has impressed me that some have a startling view that opens their eyes wide and the lines on the face seem to disappear. I wonder if they have seen the opened wounds and know who He is and where they are now?
For now, it is enough for me to have an opened understanding of written things like those the Lord Jesus taught when He appeared in that upper room with the closed door. The two who had heard the whole unfolding of Christ in the Old Testament as they walked the road into joy, Peter who had met the Lord some place that day and things had gotten straightened out between them, John who was caring for Jesus' mother, the women who had seen Him and Mary Magdalene who tears were now dry - these all were there. Before this time, they all had expected the redemption of Israel to have followed the course they were expecting of a Kinsman-Redeemer. Maybe they had expected some conference with Roman authorities to have been held. Perhaps they thought the Lord was going to deliver them by the use of power, and force the occupying military presence of Roman soldiers to retreat and submit to His authority. Now they could understand the scriptures as God intended. Now they would know the meaning of the rituals and types written in the books of Moses. They could follow the course of God dealing with His people all through the books of their history as they understood the scriptures and began to comprehend them. Not just two on the road to Emmaus but now all those who believed on Him would know He is David's King, the One who is altogether lovely, the Servant of Jehovah, Emmanuel, the Branch, the Plant of Renown, the Stone cut out without hands and all the other ways Christ was foretold of in the scriptures. What a blessing divine illumination is!
When joy comes from God, we are always amazed at the outpouring of grace that overcomes our doubts and fears. Unbelief when replaced by wonder and joy, embarrasses us and brings us to repentance for our questioning of God and His ways of blessing us. Our expectations are so often based only on our perceptions, but when God speaks to us, our souls are restored, our joy returns, and our resolve to love and serve Him becomes a passion to us. The call to "be witnesses unto Me," is welcomed and we are anxious to see how God works in us and through us to bring blessing to others and glory to Him. We cannot do this in the energy of the flesh. The Lord Jesus knew we needed "power from on high." After the journey to Galilee and back and all that happened in those forty days, again He went with them to the Mount of Olives.
Some things cannot be done in the hubbub of business, social pressure, religious forms or even family life. The challenge of divine service is one that has to be responded to personally. A witness and a martyr are similar. In each case the point of their experience and life is focused on another One, not themselves. There is the blessed privilege of paying a price to be able to be a witness for the Lord. The same Holy Spirit who enables us to understand the scriptures, also enables us to open our mouths in witness and testimony to the world around us. Those who watched the Lord ascend and heaven opened to receive Him would never lose sight of the reality of a Living Savior and Lord who is alive at God's right hand. The impact was worship right on the spot and joy as they returned to praise God in the temple. Their mouths were opened and from then until now, opened mouths have been testifying to the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Gospel of Luke presented Christ as the Son of Man right from His birth to His ascension into heaven. He is not presented as a phantom moving mysteriously across the span of His life, but as a real man who linked the physical and spiritual parts of humanity in a sanctified body. He knew the physical needs as well as the spiritual ones and met them both. We now as believers in Him are to testify for Him in linking these two parts of our personhood so others can see and believe on Him by faith.
He is and always was the Holy Son of God Who for a specific reason, here became a man; Not hidden or mysterious, He was the Living Word And responded right to every pressure as only he can Because in His perfection in character and life He brought a new dimension to living life by faith Never once did He question the Father's will, always in the light Every act of His life on earth had the motivation of grace.
The words He spoke, the things He did, the people who He blessed Were done in such a gracious way everyone had to know There was in Him, the Son of Man a nature He possessed
And testified to His divinity which in many ways did show From the miracle of His birth, through His life, death and resurrection God was here living among men, Emmanuel in a body He had been prophesied of long before the immaculate conception All through His life and work that He was the One God Most Holy.
Divine revelation through God's Word leaves no misunderstanding There was a purpose and a plan the Lord Jesus came to meet Opposition from Satan and religious leadership not withstanding He would not dismiss His spirit until redemption was complete Now from that Holy Person there are blessings brought to us Who did not deserve anything from Him, not even a second look; In Him and in God's Word we read, we have placed unreserv`ed trust And know we are accepted forever in the One who our place took.
"Father, may I this day be very conscious of being involved in those things which are directed entirely by Thy will. In this upcoming interview may Thy servants say the right things in the right way. May the questions I ask and comments I make be consistent with the mind and ways of the Lord Jesus. May the outcome bring much glory to God. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen."