Praise be to the name of Jesus. What a wonderful name! He came to this earth to set us free! Free from bondage, free from sickness, free from addictions, free from condemnation, guilt, lust, bitterness, fear, worries... Whatever darkness in our lives, He is there to shine with His light. Amen!
Two nights ago, I was watching the channel 8 TV series "Against the Tide" and at the ending of the show, Rui En was trying to re-enact the crime scene and a phrase at the end caught my attention.. It goes like this "You are in contact with darkness, darkness is in contact with you too. Belittle it and you will be engulfed by it"
Isn't it true? Since Adam's sin, forces of darkness has ruled this world. The world is out there to grab our attention in every way so that when we continue to dwell in the forces of darkness, we will be consumed! Remember the news we talked about the boy giving up his organ in exchange for the latest iphone! The power of lust of this world cannot be belittle, less we be consumed by it.
But be of good cheer, we as believer have the One who conquered death and He is on our side! Amen! Jesus said in John 8:12
“I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
Last week, we spoke about Mary Magdalene. She was the first one to see Jesus after His resurrection. When we look closely, we know that Mary's heart was all out for Jesus, yet she may not know everything about Him. Interestingly, Jesus chose to appear to her first.
Let's pause for a moment, assuming you are Jesus, You are resurrected, You are all-knowing God. Question: Who would you want to see when you first resurrected? Would you consider Mary whom knew little about you as your first choice of appearance?
In fact, according to the Bible, the disciples rushed to the tomb when Mary told them that the tomb was empty. Jesus could have chosen to reveal Himself to them since everyone were there, isn't it? But, no. Jesus did not.The Bible says Mary was heart-broken and she insisted to find His "body".
Interestingly, do you know that Jesus died of a broken-heart? Here's some findings of the explanation:
Dr. Stroud, in his book, tried to explain that the death of Christ resulted because His heart ruptured. He reasoned that the blood passed from the heart into the pericardium or caul of the heart where it collected into red clot (blood) and into the limpid serum (which he calls "water"). Therefore, after Jesus was dead, says this doctor, a spear was thrust into His side and out flowed a little blood and water which had collected around His heart So, it is reasoned, Jesus died of a broken heart!
James Thompson believed that Jesus did not die from exhaustion, the beatings or the 3 hours of crucifixion, but that he died from agony of mind producing rupture of the heart. His evidence comes from what happened when the Roman soldier pierced Christ’s left side. The spear released a sudden flow of blood and water (John 19:34). Not only does this prove that Jesus was already dead when pierced, but Thompson believes it is also evidence of cardiac rupture. Respected physiologist Samuel Houghton believed that only the combination of crucifixion and rupture of the heart could produce this result.
Hallelujah! Isn't Jesus a wonderful Saviour? He died of a broken heart and on the day of resurrection, He chose to appear before Mary who was heart-broken! And also appeared before Peter (Cephas) whose heart was also broken when he denied the Lord (This private meeting was not recorded in the Bible, but in 1 Cor 15:5, it was mentioned) Can't help it... How can we not love Jesus whose heart is always out to heal us, restore us and comfort us? The more you know what a wonderful Saviour He is, the more you fall in love with Him, isn't it?Hallelujah!
So, when we go to church every Sunday, we bring our hearts along. Amen! We don't leave it at home. We go to church not because it is Sunday, we go to church because we are hungry for Jesus, we long to dwell in His presence. Amen! Likewise, when we pray, we don't focus on how we pray.... We focus on Whom we pray to. Amen!
As I was preparing for this week sharing... I am thankful to God for revealing another passage to me which is related to what we have been discussing so far....
The chronological order of Jesus's appearance after His resurrection seems to have a significant meaning and purpose when we examine the Scriptures closely. What I found out about the order of appearance is Jesus first appear before Mary Magdalene and Mary, earthly mother of Jesus and Peter (notice the common thing about them? They were all heart-broken!)
and then He appear before two followers who were returning to Emmaus.
Strange, isn't it? I would think Jesus should appear before His disciples first, isn't it? After all, they have been with Him for three over years, ministered to many people together, ate together and slept together. Moreover, He had passed down instructions to them to continue His ministry after He died. He is relying on all His disciples to spread the good news. Won't He excited to show them He has been resurrected?
Why after appearing to Mary Magdalene, Mary and Peter, He decided to appear before these two followers?
Let's take a look at this passage and see what we can learn. Note that I'll put remarks next to the verses in BLUE.
Luke 24:13-35
13 And behold, that very day two of [the disciples] were going to a village called Emmaus, [which is] about seven miles from Jerusalem. (Emmaus means "warm baths"; Jerusalem to Emmaus is 7 miles)
14 And they were talking with each other about all these things that had occurred.
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| Road to Emmaus |
16 But their eyes were held, so that they did not recognize Him. (Jesus restrained their eyes, why?)
17 And He said to them, What is this discussion that you are exchanging ([f]throwing back and forth) between yourselves as you walk along? And they stood still, looking sad and downcast.
18 Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered Him, Do you alone dwell as a stranger in Jerusalem and not know the things that have occurred there in these days?
19 And He said to them, What [kind of] things? And they said to Him, About Jesus of Nazareth, Who was a Prophet mighty in work and word before God and all the people—
20 And how our chief priests and rulers gave Him up to be sentenced to death, and crucified Him.
21 But we were hoping that it was He Who would redeem and set Israel free. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things occurred. (Notice they were looking for outward redemption; They thought that Jesus had come to redeem Israel)
22 And moreover, some women of our company astounded us and [g]drove us out of our senses. They were at the tomb early [in the morning]
23 But did not find His body; and they returned saying that they had [even] seen a vision of angels, who said that He was alive!
24 So some of those [who were] with us went to the tomb and they found it just as the women had said, but Him they did not see.
25 And [Jesus] said to them, O foolish ones [sluggish in mind, dull of perception] and slow of heart to believe (adhere to and trust in and rely on) everything that the prophets have spoken!
26 Was it not necessary and [h]essentially fitting that the Christ (the Messiah) should suffer all these things before entering into His glory (His majesty and splendor)?
27 Then beginning with Moses and [throughout] all the Prophets, He went on explaining and interpreting to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning and referring to Himself. (Jesus gave them a bible study; And He is referring to Himself in the Old Testament; New Testament has not been written yet!)
28 Then they drew near the village to which they were going, and He acted as if He would go further.
29 But they urged and insisted, saying to Him, Remain with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is now far spent. So He went in to stay with them. (When we ask Him to stay, He will stay!)
30 And it occurred that as He reclined at table with them, He took [a loaf of] bread and praised [God] and gave thanks and asked a blessing, and then broke it and was giving it to them
, 31 When their eyes were [instantly] opened and they [clearly] recognized Him, and He vanished ([i]departed invisibly). (Sounds familiarly? Breaking bread? Holy Communion. Have you been partaking it? It has physical healing benefits!)
32 And they said to one another, Were not our hearts greatly moved and burning within us while He was talking with us on the road and as He opened and explained to us [the sense of] the Scriptures? (When we see Jesus in the Scriptures, our hearts can be moved and warmed; that's what Road to Emmaus (warm baths) is all about!)
33 And rising up that very hour, they went back to Jerusalem, where they found the Eleven [apostles] gathered together and those who were with them, (They just walked 7 miles from Jerusalem; Now they went back; A total of 14 miles! When we encounter Jesus, our strength are renewed!)
34 Who said, The Lord really has risen and has appeared to Simon (Peter)!
35 Then they [themselves] [j]related [in full] what had happened on the road, and how He was known and recognized by them in the breaking of bread.(Now these two disciples were giving bible study to the rest)
Note that these two disciples were not the original 12 disciples. Here I will call them "followers" so as not to be confused. One of them was called Cleopas. They were sad because the Messiah they had in mind did not come true to their expectation. You see they were thinking that the Messiah would restore Israel, the physical land. But, Jesus is not interested in the temporal things, He has come to give us eternal life! Amen!
Let's continue... they were on their way back to Emmaus, 7 miles from Jerusalem. Jesus caught up with them and joined them in their conversation.
Notice Jesus restrained their eyes from recognizing Him......Why? We saw earlier Jesus appeared before Mary Magdalene and Mary, mother of Jesus and these two followers were next to encounter Jesus and yet Jesus restrained their eyes?
The reason is He is giving everyone equal opportunities, including us. Jesus want us to see Him in the Bible. If those two disciples were to recognize Him, they won't be excited to see the Scriptures. Who would want to see a person in the book when the real person is in front of them, agreed? According to the passage, their hearts were burning. Not because they saw Jesus in person but they saw Jesus in the Scriptures! Hallelujah! In other words, when we see Jesus in the Bible, our hearts will burn and our strength be renewed (walked 14 miles, no sweat)! Running 100km will be chicken feet for you! Amen!
Note that the Scriptures they referred to were the Old Testament. The New Testament hasn't been written yet. I remember many years ago, I heard a preacher saying "Jesus is in the Old Testament." At that time, I scratched my head and said "Got meh? Boh leh? I don't see His name in the Old Testament leh..." Well, if Jesus can give bible study to the two disciples concerning Himself in the Old Testament, then it has to be so. I'll not elaborate on this. In short, Jesus is hidden in the Old Testament, but when you find Him, it will warm your heart. I will probably start a new series in the future to talk about this.
Let's continue.... When they returned to Emmaus, the two followers asked Jesus to stay with them. Jesus broke bread with them and revealed Himself to them. What can we learn here? Breaking of bread is a customary in those days, I believe. Yet, at the Last Supper, Jesus instituted the Holy Communion with His disciples. He did this before He went to the cross and after resurrection, He did it again with these followers in Emmaus and their eyes were opened!
From here, we can see the importance of Holy Communion or else why would He need to show us this partaking twice? Simply thing like eating bread can bring healing to our bodies. We have spoken enough of the importance of Holy Communion. We shall not elaborate here.
First, Jesus appeared before Mary Magdalene whom heart was all out for Jesus, we see that Jesus mended her broken-heart even though she might not know much about Jesus.
Then, we see Jesus appearance before these two followers and yet He restrained their eyes from recognizing Him. He wanted them to "see" Him in the Scriptures more than to see Him physically. Therefore, He placed everyone on equal ground. Today, we don't cry out to Jesus and said "Jesus, appear before me and I'll believe You!"
In short, when we look from the perspective of Jesus, notice after His resurrection He first restore / heal the broken-hearts, then He revealed Himself in the Scriptures and then He revealed physically (His nails marks) to His disciples (Luke 24:36-40).
Do you see the order of God? Healing come first, then revelation come later. We don't need to have a full knowledge of God before we can receive healing, blessing and favor from God. When we tasted the goodness of God, we will naturally seek God and His Words joyfully! Seeking God is never striving... Amen!
Also, revelation of God through the Scriptures takes higher priority than seeing God in physical formed. We have hope! Amen! We don't have to travel to Israel to meet Jesus. We can always meet Jesus in the Scriptures! Amen! Isn't Jesus so thoughtful? If blessing can only come by meeting Jesus personally, then most of us would have been disqualified! Amen!
Phew! What a long sharing! Hope you are coping well... Do take time to go through this sharing.... Hope you are blessed.
As I will be away for in-camp training for the next two weeks, I may not have the time to do any sharing then.... We'll see how it goes.
Grace, love and peace be with you always!
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