Luke 24:21 “But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.”
Easter is coming!
We live in a world jam packed with fears and anxieties. So much tragic news bombards our airwaves that I think many folks are losing the capacity to even recognize good news. And Easter brings the richest promise, the deepest hope, the best news we could imagine. The very thing battered, weary souls are seeking gets dismissed under a pile of chocolate eggs and marshmallow bunnies. But the message of Easter lays the groundwork for all the other hopes, so if we miss it, we have nothing to build our lives upon than sinking sand. As the lyricist writes.
Few people are strangers to discouragement. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I get lost in a maze of if this…then whys. If I’m doing what I’m supposed to do….then why does it feel like I’m never measuring up? If you’re in control Lord…then why are you letting this happen? If this is really your path…then why so many potholes?
I think the early followers of Jesus must have experienced a lot of if this…then whys. The two disciples on the road to Emmaus certainly voiced their discouragement. When Jesus appeared to them after his resurrection, their disappointment ran so deep that they didn’t even recognize him. “But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel,” they lamented. Disappointment in what they expected to happen blinded them to the reality that Jesus’ death was part of a far bigger picture than the redemption of Israel.
Only after Jesus interpreted the Scripture and broke bread with them, did they finally recognize him. And did they ever! They returned to Jerusalem and found his disciples. They declared to them words that would change the trajectory of every lost hope known to man. “The Lord has risen…” (Luke 24:34).
Jesus has a plan that reaches much further than our disappointments. So the next time you find yourself in the dregs of discouragement, don’t lose heart. Let those life-giving words, “The Lord has risen,” remind you Jesus is the answer to every if this…then why. He can turn the death of your expectations into a resurrection of something far better. Don’t be afraid to hope.
Easter is coming!