Greetings Beloveds
This past Sunday, the Elders and I had the opportunity to check in with our newest members. The conversation was rich and satisfying to our hearts. I heard God in the voices of our newest folks, bringing about peace and comfort. Two observations rang true for me. One is trust in the love of God through Christ Jesus, which never fails because it is loud and unrelenting. The other is the “Walk to Emmaus” outlined in Luke 24. Specifically, in verse 21, “But we had hoped he was the one to redeem Israel.”
Hope that comes crashing down resonates with me on a deeply personal level. I have experienced moments in my life where I felt like all hope was lost and my world was crashing down around my feet. It truly felt like a knife to my soul, a deep wound that could shake our faith and make us question everything we thought we believed in. I am sure most of you remember the crucifixion story. The religious authority conspired to be rid of Jesus once and for all. Even Pilate and Herod could not find any fault with Jesus, so they offered Barabbas, who was convicted of insurrection. The people were having none of it and chose the criminal Barabbas over Jesus. Fast forward, now, Jesus was resurrected and has appeared to his followers several times. Cleopas and an unnamed follower of Jesus left Jerusalem and headed toward Emmaus because their hearts were broken. Hope gave way to despair. They had enough and were washing their hands of the whole matter. The rest of the story Luke relays indicates Jesus came to them as they walked and talked together. However, they did not recognize Him. At the end of the journey, they invited this stranger to stay for dinner. The stranger (Jesus) took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them.
Here is the hope! Something wonderful happened amid the taking, blessing, breaking, and giving of the bread. Cleopas says wait a minute, I’ve seen this movie before. We have needed some bread before. This isn’t the first time a blessing has come through the breaking. Cleopas gets a flashback to when they were out in the wilderness when Jesus fed 5,000. They remembered he took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it. Luke tells us that’s when their eyes were open. (v31)
Family, we have been here before. Jesus is not taken off guard by the situations and circumstances we are confronting. Wentz’s God has a way of showing up in times of grief and pain. It can be easy to lose sight of God’s presence and plan. The Emmaus account reminds us that God has a way of showing up when we least expect it, even during our brokenness. He walks and talks with us on our road to Emmaus, offering comfort and reminding us that he is with us every step of the way.
Let us hold onto hope, knowing that even when everything falls apart, God can turn our brokenness into something satisfying and beautiful.
Luke 24:35: “Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.”