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Easter Meditation

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Easter Meditation

6 minuten leestijd Arcering uitzetten

“And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus Himself drew near, and went with them” (Luke 24:15).

Two of the friends of Jesus went to Emmaus. They had left Jerusalem, the city of blood, where their hope had all but perished when the dead body of Jesus was laid in the grave in Joseph’s garden. With heavy hearts and sad faces they shuffled along the dreary road. Leaving the city, they felt they were leaving behind only death and desolation, a cross and a grave. But what would they find at home? They were bringing with them hearts full of dead hopes. Do you understand the language of these friends?

As these two men walked wearily along, a stranger unexpectedly fell into step with them. The stranger was none other than Jesus Himself. “Jesus Himself drew near, and went with them.” There was a need only Jesus Himself could meet. When we have no peace on earth, when it becomes more and more impossible, then there is a work to be done in the hearts of His own which only Jesus can perform. Only He could satisfy the thirst of these men. By nature no one thirsts after God. Because of sin, we are all enemies, and it is a serious matter when we do not know this.

A person who becomes a subject of grace unconditionally thirsts for God. His sins grieve him, and he begins to cry, “I have lost God.” Such become concerned with their actual sins and try to reform, but it becomes impossible for them. They think it possible for others, but not for themselves. They receive impressions of the justice of God, and they run to and fro through the earth, crying to God for mercy. These are they who thirst for God. The cause of their misery is that they have fallen from communion with God through their own sins. They yearn for the water of life, their souls being faint and dry like a desert land. They need the Surety for eternity. Their every expectation was built upon Jesus, but Jesus is dead.

“And He said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad?” So they poured out their hearts to Him about the sorrowful way of Jesus, their hope and their joy. And now Jesus is dead; His voice is silent. “We trusted that it had been He who should have redeemed Israel.” We trusted in days gone by when He was alive, but who can trust in a dead man?

Jesus patiently listened to the outpouring of their troubles and sorrows. Oh, that we, too, might tell Him our troubles this day. Shall we unburden our hearts in prayer? May it drive you to the throne of grace. But why tell God what He knows even better than we do? Well, the Lord Jesus asked these men to tell Him what their troubles were, even though He knew all about them. And the Lord has not changed. It is His way of leading His own out of darkness into the light.

These two men had been considering only one part of God’s promise to redeem Israel. They were looking to the end purpose of God in sending the Messiah. They overlooked the revealed way by which the Messiah would enter into the glory of the Redeemer of His people. All God’s prophets had spoken of the sufferings of Christ which had to be endured if He was to reach the glory. The journey of God’s church is also a journey through the wilderness. First He led in the path of humiliation. Is not then the way of salvation one-sided, free, and sovereign?

“And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.” To that testimony of God we must give our attention if we would know Him as He is. If we may receive one drop out of the Fountain Head, it becomes an eternal wonder. When the storm is at its peak, the voice of the Lord will be heard.

In nature the day was gone. But wonder, in their soul the night was gone. Therefore, people of God, you who are no strangers of the fruitful ministration of grace, be aware that there are many broken cisterns which hold no water. Christ alone has living water, and what a glorious promise Jesus gives: “Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst.”

The two friends wanted more of Jesus’ instructions, more of His presence. Therefore they invited this stranger in for the night. “Come in, stranger, come in. You know so much. Tell us more about Jesus. Tell us, oh, tell us.” Their invitation to Jesus to come in was occasioned by Jesus coming to them. No one ever invited the Lord until the Lord had first invited Himself. Oh, wonder of free and sovereign grace!

Even after He found us and endeared Himself to us, how often we have closed our hearts against Him and wandered far from Him. Always He comes to seek the wandering one and to lead the confused ones upon the sure way. Blessed Jesus, blessed Savior.

“And He went in to tarry with them.” He was walking with them and talking to them, but as yet they did not recognize Him. “And it came to pass, as He sat at meat with them, He took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them.”

God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform.

What tumultuous thoughts must have surged through their minds as the stranger took the bread and broke it, and gave it to them. That was the way in which Jesus did things in the past. Now their eyes were opened, and they knew Him. Oh, what a wonder! Their Lord Jesus is alive, has arisen from the dead. One drop of Jesus’ love in our cup of bitterness will make it sweet. “And He vanished out of their sight.” But it was not out of their eyes of faith, not out of their hearts.

Have you become a sinner? Oh, that you might receive grace to surrender the weapons of enmity. Destitute and wretched is man, full of misery, and on the way to hell. Grace is a sovereign deed of God. It is not pleasant to hear, yet it is an eternal truth that we must be born again. On the other hand, if Jesus has found us on our dark and hopeless way, if we, by the grace of God, have come to know Jesus as the lover of our soul, then the night will hold no terrors for us. Then the way will not be dangerous, for at the end of the often dark and heavy road will be Jesus. Oh, that it might be our prayer for Easter, “Dear Lord Jesus, draw near to us on our pilgrim way; go with us, abide with us.”

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Bekijk de hele uitgave van maandag 1 april 1996

The Banner of Truth | 28 Pagina's

Easter Meditation

Bekijk de hele uitgave van maandag 1 april 1996

The Banner of Truth | 28 Pagina's