WATCH TODAY’S EPISODE ON YOUTUBE.
CONSECRATE
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Jesus, I belong to you.
I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice.
Jesus, we belong to you.
Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
HEAR
Luke 24:17–21 ESV
And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened.
CONSIDER
But we had hoped . . .
The cancer is back and with a vengeance.
But we had hoped . . .
We lost the baby, and this was the third pregnancy.
But we had hoped . . .
The bank is going to foreclose on the house, and there’s no way out.
But we had hoped . . .
Our daughter has a mental illness and is off the rails and not coming back this time.
But we had hoped . . .
Our son is in jail for ten more years of a twenty-year sentence.
But we had hoped . . .
My husband is leaving me for another man.
But we had hoped . . .
My wife is addicted to drugs and alcohol and will not stop lying about it.
But we had hoped . . .
Our son took his own life in the face of a very promising path ahead.
But we had hoped . . .
The bank is not going to carry over our crop loans another year. We’re done.
But we had hoped . . .
Our son and his wonderful family are being deported after decades here, and no one can help.
But we had hoped . . .
We lost everything in the fire, and the insurance company is not paying.
But we had hoped . . .
The mild memory loss is turning into full-blown early-onset dementia.
But we had hoped . . .
Another disappointing relationship, and I have still not found my spouse.
But we had hoped . . .
My dream job turned out to be a nightmare, and I have no idea what to do.
But we had hoped . . .
My best friend and right-hand man at the company lost his life in a tragic accident.
But we had hoped . . .
Every single situation named represents a real person who wakes up with us every single morning. We are all walking together on that road to Emmaus—which is simply the place we are hanging our hat at the end of these hard days—the place we call home.
We prayed and fasted and pleaded and did everything we knew to do. We had hoped God would redeem the situation, but it’s not turning out like we had hoped.
Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened.
The death of hope is the hardest thing. The turning away from a desperately anticipated outcome is horrific. The letting go of a deeply desired future is devastating.
As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; (24:15 NIV)
It’s what he does, because that’s who he is. He comes up and walks along with us. Right here and right now, he is walking along with you. But where? You ask. He has hidden himself in the ones who love him all around you. Could he be writing and speaking these very words?
. . . but they were kept from recognizing him. (24:16 NIV)
Grief can be so destabilizing that it blinds us to everything but loss.
Why is it so hard to see and experience Jesus in these disappointments? Often it’s because we so deeply connected our hoped-for outcome to him that we can no longer separate his presence from our hope. This is how our hopes can blind us to our Hope.
Meanwhile, he’s walking up on us now. He’s ready to enter our conversation. He’s ready to hold our broken hopes and heal our broken hearts. He has come to walk us home, back to Emmaus, and into the new thing he is doing and the new day he is dawning—as hard to believe as this may sound. He has come to walk us home.
And, friends, that’s what he’s doing in and with us as we walk along this long, hard road of life. We are walking each other home.
Let’s give our two friends from Emmaus the last word today:
. . . it is now the third day since these things happened.
Yes, it’s still the third day. And I am shifting from “we had hoped,” to “I now hope in you, Jesus, alone.”
PRAY
Lord Jesus, thank you for holding our broken hopes. We put them in your hands now. I put my broken hopes in your hands now. I receive your healing for my broken heart. You are the new thing, Jesus. You are the new day. You are the resurrection and the life. You are better than my best hopes. You are my all. And I put my hope and my hopes in you alone. For your glory. For others’ gain. For my good. And in your name, amen.
JOURNAL
Did you see yourself in this list of broken hopes? How might your particular hope be obscuring your view and vision of Jesus? What might letting go of lesser hopes look like? What might taking hold of our great hope look like? Who are you walking home today? Who is Jesus identifying for you to walk along the road with today?
SING
Today, we will sing “Open My Eyes, That I May See” (hymn 311) from our Seedbed hymnal, Our Great Redeemer’s Praise.
For the Awakening,
J. D. Walt
John David (J. D.) Walt Jr. is the Sower-in-Chief for Seedbed and the pastor of the Gillett Methodist Church in Gillett, Arkansas.
Subscribe to get this in your inbox daily, and please share this link with friends.
12 Responses
Wow, JD, the timing for this message is so fitting. I am serving a Jubilee weekend that starts today praying for all the prayer requests these women will write and place in prayer baskets. I have served on many of these weekends by serving as a musician. But this weekend God wanted me to walk along side these woman by reading and praying for what their hearts have revealed as their hopes. Isn’t it always the way God works? As I am learning to walk along side of these women in this part of this ministry, these words just touched my heart, because it was my Emmaus weekend that changed my own life.
♥
thank you for you do
Walking Life’s Emmaus Roads
To get to know and grow
Closer to Jesus.
Begin to listen to
Christ inside of you
And do what He tells you.
Go walk along and flow
With the inner leading
Of God the Spirit.
Live at God’s tempo.
It’s time to overflow
With the hope of glory
And with holy gusto.
You need to receive
The illumination
Of revelation
Directly from God.
The enumeration
Of religious ideas
And information
Is just not enough!
You need to become
A habitation
Of the risen Jesus.
Go experience what
Christ in you can do!
(Colossians 1:27)
Jesus promised His followers inner rivers of living water. (John 7:38-39) Yet far too many of us are content to let our heart be a dusty dried-up riverbed. It’s easy to walk through life unaware of the actual presence of the risen Jesus.
I’ve left what I don’t think is right. It seems to me that both the left and the right have abandoned true humility, overlooked the real presence of the risen Jesus, and given up on His supernatural insight. Now that’s a fright!
I choose to center on Christ living in and walking with me. I seek first to keep my focus on His mercy and grace and on His call for us all to humbly repent and to “Go and sin no more.”
It is now the third day…but we had hoped. My son several years ago decided to transition, despite our differences and direction, and prayers, but we had hoped.
You know what? My mother prayed for me for many years, and it took many years of trials before I woke up to hear the Lord’s voice calling me to wake up. I pray every day for my children. I’m now 71 and still keeping the faith. With God all things are possible. My prayer for that son is that he/she will find a relationship with Jesus Christ. It does not matter what we have done, only that we are willing to turn our hearts over to the Lord and accept the transformation that He has for us. It doesn’t matter what we look like, if we are missing an arm or leg, or years in the past. God can make us new again and change our hearts and minds. That is my faith and what I hope for now in that person. Emmaus is just ahead and Jesus is walking beside us. Oh glory to God.
I love to hear JD and his dad singing in the morning. A beautiful way to start the day. Good WUC!
This is so perfectly timed as Mississippi Cursillo #255 got underway last night at Camp Lake Stephens in Oxford, MS. Such a wonderful experience to attend and then serve. It truly helped deepen my relationship with Jesus. My relationship with Jesus has been the only thing that has helped me with my “I had hoped” statements throughout my life and especially this year.
Thank you JD for such a wonderful reminder of a hopeful Savior we have.
Today’s message was such a powerful one for me. Today is the 3-year anniversary of my husband’s fatal car accident. The image of Christ walking alongside us during this season is one that I really needed. By the time you ended with the impromptu singing of my absolute favorite Easter hymn, I was in complete tears. Thank you so much for sharing each and every day.
JD, I have been joining you on this walk for a couple of years or more. Today, I wept as you read and called out so many situations that I’ve walked either personally or along side someone. I remembered how Jesus did walk through each season with me. I will soon be 74 and am so thankful that he doesn’t leave me behind but walks beside me. Each time we walked through it, he took me Weltons new level of closeness to him. Thank you for reminding me of his faithfulness in these words. I appreciate you being a vessel who pours out into those who long to plant seeds.
praying today for an urgent family need precipitated by bad choices. Asking God for wisdom and obedience and a new vision of hope.
Thank you for this JD – I’ve preached on this and love the passage…have been part of the “Walk to Emmaus” ministry as well.
It spoke to many situations in my own life, past and present, and was perfectly timed by our Lord today!
Many Blessings – see you on the field!
In walk to Emmaus Jesus is actually present with two or more walking the road.
And I mean actual Jesus so far as the Bible says it not just some vaporous spiritual being or imagination.
By the way I didn’t do walk to emmaus, I went to Tres Dias. And what else reading this can look that up if you want.
Jesus is not materializing for us. Not as some vaporous spiritual entity nor as his actual self. Or her actual self for those who feel gender has to be specific to your need.
Now other human beings can be there. If they really are Christians they would want to show love and reach out and help others. And if you want to say that’s Jesus in a religious sense fine. It’s still not physically Jesus. So if we need help, and there are people around us trying to help, we can be hopeful and thankful
Let’s stop playing games with the wording to say Jesus is actually standing there or walking there. Or somebody looking in their teacup saying God told me or Jesus told me. The mysticism isn’t going to really pay the bills… Unless selling mysticism is what’s paying the bills.
JD,
You will never know how grateful I am for your wonderful commentary. The Holy Spirit uses you to gently wield the “sharpened two edged sword “ in a way that is convicting, at times a bit painful-in a great of way(like the removal of an unwanted growth- surgically, and yet very encouraging and inspiring. Thank you for being His instrument.