Luke 24:13-35 Leaving So Soon?

Wednesday of Easter Octave

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That very day, the first day of the week, two of Jesus' disciples were going to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus.

I have always been saddened by people who seemed so alive in their faith only to never see them again.  It happens.  It happens all the time, especially if we remain “childish” at heart. 

I quit.  Kids are quitting all the time.  They quit playing football after a few practices or piano after a few lessons.  They quit their major (even college) after a few semesters.  They even quit their marriage after a few years.  They claim they didn’t know how hard it would be.  So, what did they think?  Did they think anything that is worth anything would come easily?

The same is true of God.  Instead of following in the Lord’s footsteps, we often find ourselves on the defensive, backtracking and walking away.

They were going to a village.  That’s it!  I’m done.  I’m finished!  This isn’t fun anymore.  It's crystal clear the disciples no longer felt the same way about the Lord, especially as they walked away from Jerusalem and from Him.  Three days were enough for them, and the time had come to quit and go back to their former ways of life. 

I can’t even begin to tell you how often I have felt this way when it comes to the priesthood and doing my daily meditations.   What’s it worth?  Why even bother?  I have enough on my plate!

It’s clear we are a quitting society.  We really think things should come easily to us.  That probably explains why we don't value much of anything.  You would think by now someone would have taught us otherwise.  Well, someone did:  the Lord.  Nothing that is worth something comes easily.  In fact, the most beautiful things in life take a great deal of patience, pain and sacrifice to accomplish.  Love takes patience, pain and sacrifice.

We want results immediately.  But quick results and easy lives spell disaster down the road. 

To the rescue.  The Lord hid himself from their eyes.  His presence would not be revealed suddenly or even shockingly.  It would come gradually, very gradually:  “It happened that while they (the two disciples) were conversing and debating, Jesus himself drew near and walked with them.”

“They were conversing and debating.”  Interesting.  But what were they conversing about?  Were they debating over the facts?  Were they feeding on each other’s pain, loss and despair?  Maybe, but what is for sure is they were not praying, and that was their greatest mistake.  They were reliving what happened in Jerusalem on a purely human level.  They were remaining in the hamster’s cage on a hamster’s wheel.  They were going nowhere fast and getting very frustrated over it:  “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know of these things that have taken place there in these days?”    

They were going over the events of the day in their heart and mind.  Not good enough!  They needed to go over these things with the Lord in their soul.

Without the Lord, the tragedies in our life will only reach the depths of hell and never the heights of heaven.  Without the Lord, all our burdens are boulders ad never blessings.

A book just came out a few days ago from a family that lost their daughter in a freak accident.  “Taylor’s Gift” begins with the day Todd and Tara Storch lost their oldest daughter, Taylor, and recounts the amazing events that followed soon after.  I highly recommend this book to everyone.  I know the family well and they have become a tremendous blessing in my life.  So often they tempted to walk away from the Lord’s Passion and walk towards the darkness associated with the loss of faith, hope and love.  Today, they are living witnesses to the amazing love and amazing grace of Jesus Christ. 

That very day, the first day of the week.  Where are you going?  Don't leave so soon!  Amazing things are about to happen!

Resolution:  Let’s keep Christ in our passions and in our death.  And He will keep us in our resurrection!