Thursday: Divine Encounter With the Word
It was the third day after Jesus’ death. His followers were still numb with shock. They thought He would crush the Romans, but the Romans had, it seemed, crushed Him instead.
Image © Graham Braddock from GoodSalt.com
Many disciples met together with the apostles after the crucifixion. A group of women from their midst visited the tomb early Sunday morning. Luke names three of them, but there were others who had come with Jesus from Galilee (Luke 23:55; Luke 24:1, Luke 24:10). They returned from the empty tomb to tell the “eleven and . . . all the rest” of two men in shining clothes they had seen there (Luke 24:9, NKJV).
Luke records that on that Sunday afternoon two of Jesus’ followers walked the two to three hour journey from Jerusalem, back to their home in Emmaus (Luke 24:13). It is likely that they were so engrossed in their discussion of what had happened over the weekend that they did not notice a stranger walking nearby. Maybe they would never have noticed Him if He had not entered their conversation by asking why they were so sad (Luke 24:17).
This question really fired up the one called Cleopas. He wondered how the Stranger could be so ignorant of all the things that had happened. “‘What things?'” the Stranger asked (Luke 24:19).
Read Luke 24:19-35. What did these people say that revealed their lack of understanding, and how did Jesus explain to them the truth?
Notice that Jesus’ whole emphasis was on the Scriptures. Just as He resorted to Scripture in His battle with Satan in the wilderness, He goes to the Scriptures here in order to push back the darkness that these two were in. Only after He grounded them in the biblical teachings about Himself and His mission did Jesus then give them some powerful experiences to help buttress those biblical teachings: first, He revealed Himself to them, showing that He indeed had been raised from the dead; second, “He vanished from their sight”(Luke 24:31, NKJV). Between the no doubt perfectly clear Bible study on the atoning death of Jesus, followed by these powerful experiences, these two had plenty of reasons for faith.
Here, again, as all through the Gospels, we see Jesus keeping the Bible front and center. How, then, can we guard ourselves against any type of thinking that would cause us to question the authority of Scripture?
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We can guard ourselves if we "Study to show ourselves approved, mighty workmen who needeth not to be ashamed." Shorter: Know God's Word.
Jesus always keeping and using the Bible (OT) to explain about himself to his disciples (i.e. Luk 24:27). No other books/resources he will use .
This fact give us a clear direction to do the same nowdays.
Christ Jesus our Lord and Saviour is a perfect teacher. All the while His disciples lingered due the pain they had suffered as a result of His death, He had already prepared a way out for them. He was there to comfort the ignorant and slow to understand apostles. Love is patient really. See how God who is the purest love exercised patience with weak humanity becuase He, in human form understood its weakness. Thats why Paul said that he could do almost everything through Him who dwelt in him and thats true to all humanity.
Please notice the Title of Today’s lesson ‘DIVINE ENCOUNTER WITH THE WORD. The disciples had a Divine encounter with Jesus and it reminds me that Jesus is the Word that is being spoken about, read John 1:1. What we need to have is a Divine encounter with Jesus. The Word with no Jesus is no Word at all. The message of the cross is of great significance to us. As we go out there, we are going with the Word not our own. We are introducing Jesus to the world so that they can also have a divine encounter with Him. Let us not become too busy in this world and fail to see that He is with us. At times we act like the disciples who were sad and yet Jesus was just with them. The Word is what we need, it won’t make us sad but will give us the peace of God and is our powerful weapon. The Word is a necessity in our lives.
How was it possible for the disciples to have the best Bible Teacher this world has ever seen and yet be confused? It could not have have been for a lack of clear instructions. Jesus told them plainly that He would be crucified and raised the third day and yet they were confused when it happened. So I can KNOW the truth and still be deceived?
There seems to be some surrendering and humility required on my part. I have to read and study AND ask God's Spirit to open my understanding to OBEY that revelation otherwise the seed will not fall on good soil.
The holy scriptures are our only safeguard, if it is not written we have to reject any wrong teaching. Isaiah 8:20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. We are living in very confusing time and we have to diligently study the bible and the spirit of prophesy today more than ever.
May God help me to saturate my life with God's words.
I must keep it in my heart;let it light my path;
let it be the armor that sheilds me from Satan's darts;
they are spirit and they are life
Jesus is this word
We, like Jesus, MUST keep the WORD "front and center", to avoid being deceived and carried away by any strange wind of false teachings or thinking. The Psalmist declares, "Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee" (Psalm 119:11). When we hide the written word in our hearts, it will take priority position in our frontal lobes, the center of our decision-making, and we are sure to have a Divine encounter with The Living Word.
This how studying and committing God's word to memory will become effective in transforming our will and sinful propensity so that our steps are ordered after the manner of Christ, our consummate Exemplar. WE CANNOT afford to forget its precepts and instructions in time of trial, temptation and when we are going through the crucibles that attend standing up for what we believe. More so, in the near future, as many of us will have to stand before judges and tribunals to defend the reason for our faith.
We cannot truthfully introduce Jesus to anyone if we ourselves, have not had a personal encounter with Him.
TODAY'S HYMN:
We have no known Thee as we ought,
Nor learned Thy wisdom, grace and power;
The things of earth have filled our thought,
And trifles of the passing hour.
Lord give us light Thy truth to see,
And make us wise in knowing Thee.
It is so wonderful to reflect on this idea Jesus never leaves us.
I learned in last week’s lesson that Satan does his best to snatch away God’s word from us (Matt 13:5). He knows that without it we’re nothing (John 15:5).
Yes, at times, the archenemy succeeds in doing that. We hear the gospel but it is of no use to us. For many times, Jesus told His disciples about His death and resurrection. But because they were focusing on earthly things, the Destroyer took it away. Jesus has been crucified and is now alive. The women brought the glad tidings to the disciples but it was nonsense to them (Luke 24:9-11). They were sad and hopeless. Did Jesus leave them to their fate? No!
He appeared to them and replanted His Word in them full of reassurance (Luke 24:27). Joy displaced the dismay and then love for the Lord was rekindled.
Satan can rise like a pent-up flood but Jesus is with us through the storm.
Life might be gloomy but let’s continue to talk about Jesus like Cleopas and the other disciple did (Luke 24:15) and Jesus will come to us with His marvelous light.
How can we Guard ourselves against any type of Thinking that would cause us to question the Authority of the Scripture? Proverbs 4:23- Above all else, Guard your Heart, for everything you do Flows from it. Philippians 4:8-Finally Brothers and Sisters, whatever is True, Whatever is Noble, Whatever is Right, Whatever is Pure, Whatever is Lovely, Whatever is Admirable. If anything is Excellent or Praiseworthy-Think about such things. John 15:5-Iam the vine; you are the branches, If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. Eph 6:14- Stand firm therefore having Gird your Loins with Truth, and having put on the Breastplate of Righteousness. And one more thing is in 1Cor 2:16- Since we have the Mind of Christ we must put out all Thoughts that are Negative or Detrimental to us or others. Christ nature will only show in us when we choose to listen to and Obey him. AMEN!
No God's Word, no relationship with Christ. Know God's Word, know a present relationship with Christ.
Salvation is now, not sometime in the future,knowing the Word/Jesus Christ is relationship bound and binding to this present moment, this narrow gate or path that few will chose to walk, leaves us soaked in the gift of faith, whose faith? Christ Jesus(in us) our elder brother...
The gift of at~one~ment has brought us closer to the Father then Adam or Eve experienced in the garden before the fall. Acceptance of these simple tenants need not be excruciating, like the traditions and superstitions of men would have us believe. Acceptance of the nature of our situation is simple, we all have been provided a vessel(Temple) to abide in with Christ tenting up in and or upon each of us. His sacrifice has provided this creative juggernaut, catapulting us into the very Presence of the Father, no mediator necessary as was before God's sacrifice of the Worthy Lamb,God's own Son.
Now and always right NOW we may communicate directly with the Father, the Most High God,the invisible an ever present Presence.
As I write this I recognize a spirit within me the spirit of the child I once was,the child I Am now, reemerging via the fruits of His Spirit. Tears of humble joy flow and I want to scream out, Hosanna from the Highest, Worthy is the Lamb!
"I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. ~Matt.11:25
To a large extent the two disciples that walked to Emmauus represented the whole body of believers. They had suffered a great disappointment - only a week before this, Jesus was the MESSIAH, but now He is only "a prophet". True, "a prophet mighty in deed and [in] word" - but only a PROPHET.
They lamented - "But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel" (Lk 24:21). Their hopes were dashed.
In 1844 the Advent people expected Jesus to come at the end of the "2300 days".
After their "great disappointment" they were corrected through the Scriptures. They were shown that, while they were correct in one respect, their expectation was completely wrong in another. This is what had happened to the disciples after the crucifixion of Jesus too. They had experienced a "great disappointment", but it was corrected through the Scriptures.
Last Monday we studied about the farmer who planted seeds. Some fell on the path some on rocky soil some on weedy land and some on good soil. My question is "What kind of soil were the disciples before the cross?
Gordon, I would suggest that all the disciples (except the betrayer) were, in GENERAL terms, good ground before the cross. But I believe also that the disciples had areas of "wayside" ground in them, and when Jesus sowed seeds of truth on those areas, the proverbial birds of the air came and took them away.
Fortunately, their "wayside" ground was broken up, and that ground finally [after the fact] became receptive to the truth that Jesus was destined to die, and that His kingdom was never going to be of this world.
Would "good" soil, void of all rocks, weeds and compacted soil, be arguing "who is the greatest" or sit unmoved while Jesus rises to wash feet? I tend to lean to the idea that Jesus' work among them was breaking up the fallow ground, removing the rocks and digging out the weed by their roots. His death and eventually His resurrection planted the seed deeply as witnessed by what followed Pentecost.
It is the work of Christ to make good ground from the naturally poor growing conditions of the natural heart. This is a work the ground cannot do by itself.
I can't deny that the disciples all had problems. Yes, they all had fallow ground that needed breaking up. Yes, they were ready to argue and fight. (Some more than others.) But it is interesting to me, that much of Jesus work was carried out in Galilee. Because the people there, I believe, were less under the control of bigotry. This made a huge difference to the reception of Gospel truths. So while I agree with you in many respects, I would still suggest that, in relative terms, that kind of person constitutes "good" ground.
From Desire of Ages :
"The people of Galilee were despised by the rabbis of Jerusalem as rude and unlearned, yet they presented a more favorable field for the Saviour’s work. They were more earnest and sincere; less under the control of bigotry; their minds were more open for the reception of truth." (DA p.232)
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Robert, the thought about the disciples being unmoved while Jesus rises to wash feet, caught my eye, because of the following comment relating to that event :
"As the disciples watched Christ’s action, they were greatly moved." (DA p.645)
Yes Stewart, once Jesus actually washed their feet they were ashamed of their pride. But no one moved to fulfill the expected role of a servant as Jesus paused and gave them time to do so before fulfilling the task Himself. They were glued in place by pride which is why He taught them(and us) this vital lesson.
There was a comment to the affect that the two disciples on the way to Emmaus were slow to understand what they should have known by our logic.
There was a reasonable explanation, Luke 24:16. Jesus had a lesson in revealing the rest of the story so to speak. Jesus' purpose was to accomplish the Fathers will. By what ever means He chooses.
After a divine encounter with the Word the men were revived and rejuvenated. Notwithstanding it was toward evening and the day being far spent; upon realizing that this "Stranger" was Jesus, that very hour they made the long journey back to Jerusalem. They had to pass on this good news (like Jeremiah who felt like the fire was shut up within his bones).
my is a question what did these people say say that revealed their lack of understanding, and how did explain to them the truth
These two disciples, speaking for all the followers of Jesus, expressed their great sorrow and disappointment for having thought Jesus was the Messiah, who they believed now to be dead. Jesus, who was very much alive though hidden from being recognized by them, began with Moses and explained how His death was a fulfillment of the great promise given to Adam and Eve and passed on to all generations through the prophets. The testimony of His earthly life was the prophecy fulfilled in living, breathing flesh(Rev 19:10).
Robert, agree completely with your last sentence,i.e., "the testimony of His earthly life was the prophecy fulfilled in living, breathing flesh (Revelation 19:10)." Years ago I came across this explanation of Rev. 19:10 from EGW PP 367: "It is the voice of Christ that speaks to us through the Old Testament."