The afternoon that changed them forever….
On the first day after His resurrection, Jesus chooses to spend the afternoon with two discouraged men, on a road away from Jerusalem.
Lu 24:19 And He said to them, “What things?” So they said to Him, “The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people…
He says, What things? After six parts of trials, He is beaten, killed, buried, and resurrected and now He asks…. “What Things?”.
He draws them out, then He listens to them at length .
If we were writing this script:
1) Would introduce a miracle? Would we announce His presence with power?
2) But God hides His identity. (So the long hair, white, shiny robe is out!) Jesus is anonymous.
3) He points them to His word, the Old Testament
Then He rebukes them. Lu 24:25 Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!
Lu 24:26 “Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?”
Then he smiled. “O foolish men,” he chuckled quietly. “O foolish men? How slow your hearts are to believe all that the prophets have spoken.”
His eyes twinkled. What could this strange Traveler mean? Would he mock them? Then he was serious again. “Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” he asked.
How simple the question, but it struck at the root of the problem.
He tells them by the scriptures. You want to see Jesus – He talks about this Jesus in the 3rd person
Lu 24:26 “Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?”
The suffering of the Cross is the key to them and it is for us today. Jesus made this point on at least two occasions after His Resurrection.
First, to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus:
Luke 24:27 And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.
Then, later with the apostles themselves:
Ps 40:7 Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me.
Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written
- 1) in the Law of Moses
- 2) and the Prophets
- 3) and the Psalms concerning Me.”
Lu 24:5 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, and He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.
Ho 12:10 I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitude’s, by the ministry of the prophets. {ministry: Heb. hand}
Ho 12:10 I have also spoken unto the prophets, and I have multiplied visions; and by the ministry of the prophets have I used similitude’s.
