The auditorium is now empty. The pictures have been taken and posted to social meida. The anticipation of Easter Sunday is now 364 days away. The shelves have already been emptied of Easter candy and the outfits we purchased for our children are soon to be in the “hand-me-down” pile in their closet. There will be an empty feeling in our hearts and minds as we start “normal” again tomorrow.
This same empty feeling, and the “back to normal” mentality found itself permeating many after the death of Christ (Lk 24; Jn 21).
The disciples were incredibly defeated. Despite the foretelling of death and
Imagine walking down your street today and running into a neighbor. After some short talk you ask, “So, what’s your take on the war in Ukraine?” To your surprise they say, “What war in Ukraine?” How could that be? Everyone in the world knows! How can they not know? What rock did they crawl out of?
The news of the day over 2,000 years ago was about a body that had gone missing. Jesus was missing! Theories were rampant. As the two on the road to Emmaus were discussing it, they were shocked to run into a man that seemed oblivious to this current event. He approached them with a seemingly obvious question, “Why are you all so sad, what has happened?” (Lk 24:19).
These two were sad and there was an emptiness in their spirit because they had lost their hope. They said in verse 21, “We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.” They lost hope because Jesus was nowhere to be found.
Where is one to find fullness in midst of the emptiness?
By Pondering the Power of God (Ps 139)
In the Presence of God (Ps 16:11)
To perceive the love of God (Eph 3:19)
We all have a tendency to base our hope on a feeling or a perceived fact. We lose hope when things don’t go our way or a prayer seems to go unanswered. We
We will lose hope the moment we begin to think Christ is nowhere to be found. Yet the hope of the resurrection is the fact Jesus is always there! You see, the Savior was walking with them and they didn’t know it. Mary thought He was the gardener, and Christ was watching the disciples fish and they didn’t know him. If you are without hope today please remember Jesus is there. He has never left you. Maybe you just need to look.
English