And Restores All Hope

Hidden In Plain Sight

4.23.23 [Luke 24:13-35] River of Life (3rd Sunday of Easter)

It’s the first game that most infants learn: peekaboo. Sometimes, it's hard to tell who enjoys that moment of surprise more—the child or the adult. Soon peekaboo grows up and becomes hide and seek. When you get older, people hide and yell surprise at your surprise birthday party. That moment of surprise remains exhilarating. Hiding can be a part of a fun game people play with one another.

But playing games isn’t the only reason people hide. Sometimes, we hide because we’re embarrassed, ashamed, scared—or a combination of all three. Adam and Eve invented hiding for these reasons. The hunt makes people hide, too. When you or something you value is being hunted, you hide yourself or that precious item. When you are the hunter, you may hide so that your hunt might be successful.

There are many reasons a person may hide: playing a game, because they are scared or ashamed or threatened. When people are on a hunt or they have something others want, they hide. These reasons make sense to us. But none of these reasons help us make sense of what Jesus is doing in our Gospel reading. (Lk. 24:15) As Jesus came up and walked along these two disciples headed for Emmaus on Easter Sunday afternoon, (Lk. 24:16) they were kept from recognizing him. God did this on purpose. But why?

Time and again in our reading and in living as Christians we want to ask God why? Why do you do what you do? Here is no different.

But we also notice, by the end of this walk, Jesus chooses to open their eyes so that they can recognize him. God must have had a purpose in Jesus’ identity being hidden. So let’s dig in & discover why.

When Jesus falls in step with these two disciples, he asks a question. (Lk. 24:17) What are you discussing together as you walk along?

They stopped dead in their tracks. (Lk. 24:17) Their faces were downcast. Without a hint of irony and more than a hint of sass, Cleopas said: (Lk. 24:18) Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who doesn’t know the things that have happened there in these days? Have you been living under a rock? How do you not know what we are talking about?

What things? Jesus asks. If anyone else were to say this, I would say it has to be a joke. But Jesus can be funny & constructive at once. Of course, these two had no idea who was asking them these questions. They launch into a quick recap of the past week plus.

(Lk. 24:19) Jesus was a prophet, they said. He did miracles. He taught with unrivaled authority. The people loved him and God was with him. But our rulers hated him. They put an end to him by handing him over to be crucified by Pilate. (Lk. 24:21) We had hoped he was going to be the one who would redeem Israel. It’s been three days since he died. And the weirdest thing happened this morning. Some women who followed him like we did went to the tomb this morning. But he wasn’t there. They said some angels told them that he was alive. So Peter and John ran down there and the tomb was empty, just like they said. But Jesus wasn’t there.

They’ve just poured out their hearts to this complete stranger. And this is the moment when we expect Jesus to snap his fingers and open their eyes and give them a heartwarming surprise.

Instead, Jesus says: (Lk. 24:25) How foolish you are! How slow you are to believe—not what the women had told you—but what the prophets had spoken. God has been saying since Adam that the Messiah’s suffering would come before his glory.

This response demonstrates why Jesus kept his identity hidden. If he had, they would have been overjoyed. But they would have also been unprepared for the next discouragement and the next season of despair. Like an expert teacher, Jesus doesn’t just give them the answer. He wants them to be able to learn how to deal with this problem properly. So he walks them through it. (Lk. 24:27) Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, Jesus explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. By opening the Scriptures to them before opening their eyes, he also opened the eyes of countless other disciples. By revealing how he fulfilled God’s plan before revealing his identity he enables us to find peace and joy even in the midst of disappointment and discouragement. Suffering comes before glory. This is how God has redeemed us in Christ. We need this lesson as well. Because in the midst of our hardships and moments of disappointment, it’s easy to think as these two did. I had hoped that God was going to…

How many times have you tried to do the right thing, hoping that God was going to reward your faithfulness, only to find out that more trials and hardships were waiting for you on the other side?

You defend someone’s reputation. But when they have the chance to do the same, they stoke the fires of gossip. You forgive someone who hurt you deeply. And then they hurt you again. You had hoped this time would be different, but now you feel like a fool. You give generously to someone in need. Then you find out that their need wasn’t as dire as they made it out to be.

You spend a lifetime training your child in the way they should go. But when they leave the nest they seem to leave all of that behind. You and your spouse live as a shining example of what a godly marriage should be. But cancer, heart disease, or dementia rob you of what you had hoped your golden years would be like.

You pour yourself out into the spiritual life of a friend or a coworker, hoping that their hearts will be changed by your perseverance and devotion. You pray every night for them. But they can’t seem to even be bothered to take their spiritual needs half as seriously as you do.

I had hoped that God was going to… Even for mature Christians, that sentence is a spiritual bear trap. We think because we know God, we know what God is going to do or at least what he ought to do.

But our hopes never include suffering, trials, hardships, losses, looking foolish or feeling weak, or death. We never say, I had hoped God was going to show how weak I am. I had hoped God was going to bring my sin to light. I had hoped that God was going to develop my perseverance and character. I had hoped that God was going to teach me to trust in him and not my own understanding. I had hoped that God was going to lead me through the valley of the shadow of death. We can’t ever see the wisdom in an untimely or tragic death.

To our way of thinking, suffering is always a setback. Feeling foolish is always a failure. Death is always a loss. But look at the Scriptures.

How many of God’s faithful people go through times of suffering and hardship and (Rom. 8:28) God works it out for their eternal good. Look at Joseph. Sold into slavery by his brothers. Thrown into prison for a crime he didn’t commit. Forgotten by the cupbearer who promised to give him a good recommendation. Or the Apostle Paul. Run out of town, time and again. Persecuted. Beaten. Imprisoned. Shipwrecked. Stoned half to death. And, on top of all that, some mysterious thorn in his flesh tormented him most of his ministry.

But what did God do through those sufferings and hardships? He saved many lives. He developed character in Joseph so that when he had the chance to exact revenge on his good-for-nothing brothers, he forgave them instead. Through Paul, many churches were planted, often because he had been run out of the previous place. When he was imprisoned, God used him to write powerfully encouraging letters that have served believers ever since!

But neither Joseph nor Paul suffered as Jesus did. Though he was powerful and merciful and truthful in everything that he said and did, he was hated by those who should have rejoiced to see him. They despised him without reason. They demanded he be put to death even though no one could identify anything he had ever done wrong.

But this was (Acts 2:23) God’s deliberate plan of redemption. God did not plan to restore Israel to her former glory. He ushered in a greater kingdom. Jesus redeemed sinners. But in order to accomplish that, he had to suffer first. In order to crush the (Gen. 3:15) serpent’s head, his heel had to be struck. In order to redeem us from all our unrighteousness, he had (2. Cor. 5:21) to be made sin for us. In order to bring us (Is. 53:5) peace and healing he had to be punished and wounded. In order to defeat death, he had to (Heb. 2:9) taste death in our place. All these bad things had to happen so that we could have joy eternal. And with each passage of Moses and the Prophets, Jesus was throwing another log on the fire the Holy Spirit had kindled in their hearts. As he opened the Scriptures before their eyes, they were being filled with peace and joy and even hope.

Then they finally arrived at Emmaus. Where did the time go? And it seemed like this stranger was going to go on a little farther. But they wanted him to stay with them. Keep explaining the Scriptures to us.

So he did. And as they sat down for dinner, he did something ordinary. He took the bread and gave thanks and broke it and began to give it to them. At that moment God opened their eyes. Maybe it reminded them of how he fed the 5,000. Who knows? But suddenly he was gone. But their joy remained. Jesus was opening the Word to us!

So, even though it was nearly evening, they had to share the good news. All those things the women had told them, that once seemed like nonsense, were true. The clues had been there the whole time. Jesus was alive. Just as he said he would. Our Lord & Savior has risen!

Have you learned the lesson that Jesus taught them? When God seems to be hidden, when your fine-sounding hopes are falling apart, where will you go? Go on a journey through the living word of God. See God’s power & wisdom.Be flabbergasted by his faithfulness. Celebrate his mercy, his grace, and how he rejoices in forgiving sins. Look & see that no word from God can ever fail. We don’t read the Word of God regularly so that we can look good. We study because we know this life is full of tests and trials. And the answer—God’s love—is right in front of us. Amen.