Yesterday we talked a bit about the expectations that the Jews had for the Messiah. They expected someone who would rescue them from Rome, who would be a warrior king. However what they received was a humble, sacrificial man who happened to be the Lord. Yesterday I heard someone talk about the passage concerning the road to Emmaus. Jesus is talking with two disciples who have left Jerusalem totally dejected after His crucifixion. The Spirit prevents them from recognizing Him, and when He asks them what they are discussing, they share about their disappointment that Jesus didn’t turn out to be the One. In verse 21 they say “we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.” We had hoped.. How many things have you hoped for that didn’t come to pass? How many things just in 2020? I had hoped to visit my grandsons. I had hoped to continue traveling around the country working with churches. I had hoped to see my dear friends in the northwest. This year turned out quite differently, didn’t it? For me, the key to avoiding despair has been to recognize Jesus as He has walked with me through these months. In this Advent season I will choose to put my hope in Him. Perhaps spend some time today thinking about things that you had hoped for this year and then laying them at Jesus‘s feet in prayer. He understands disappointment.
Lord Jesus, we are grateful that You walk with us even when we don’t recognize that You were there. Please show us the ways that You have blessed us. This is a season of expectation, and we are grateful that You are everything that we could hope for and more. Amen.
Luke 24:7-21
He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along? They stood still, their faces down cast. One of them, named Theopolis, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened in these days?” “What things?” he asked. “About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “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.
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