Worshipping and Waiting in Restored Hope

By Bishop Linda Adams

Two discouraged disciples trudged the long seven miles to their home as the afternoon sun slowly slid down toward the horizon. Cleopas and his companion talked as they walked, trying to untangle the knots of their experience. They wrestled with how three days before, unimaginably, Jesus had been crucified. They were confused and disheartened. None of it made sense.

_

“Why would He have allowed His reign to be cut short before it even began?”

_m

Following three years of miracles, how could Jesus Messiah have submitted to this? After raising Lazarus from the dead, how could He succumb to His own death? A few days before, He had ridden into Jerusalem to shouts of “Hosanna!” “God saves!” The people had finally owned Him as king — why would He have allowed His reign to be cut short before it even began? Having only the comfort of one another’s shared grief and broken hearts, they journeyed on.

The Gospel writer Luke chose not to name the second disciple. According to some scholars from the second century, she may have been “Mary, the wife of Clopas,” whom John’s Gospel tells us was at the foot of Jesus’ cross (John 19:25). If so, she had vivid personal memories of Jesus’ suffering and crucifixion and would have relived them on this journey. For his own reasons, Luke left her identity a mystery.

Another Traveler

Another mysterious figure entered the scene. An unnamed man matched his pace to theirs and casually inquired about what they were discussing, stopping them in their tracks.

“Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” Cleopas replied.

At his prodding, they laid out the whole story of Jesus of Nazareth. He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people, but He had been crucified three days ago.

With a sigh of resignation, they revealed their deep disappointment: “We had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.”

They “had hoped,” in the past perfect tense. Hope had died with Jesus.

The first two travelers mentioned another mystery — some women in their circle had gone to Jesus’ tomb that very morning and had found the tomb empty! Angels had told them Jesus was alive! Others of their group had gone to verify the women’s story and had found it just as they had claimed.

Still incognito, their new companion responded, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter His glory?”

So, beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained all that the Scriptures had predicted regarding the Messiah. We can only imagine what passages he quoted.

Zechariah 9:9–10? “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the warhorses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.”

_

“Prophecies and the history of Israel had been pointing to something all along…”

_m

Isaiah 53:7–9? “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment, he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.”

As they listened intently, the mysterious teacher reframed for them the devastating events of the week. He revealed how they fit into a much larger story in which God’s plan for the ages unfolded and culminated in the sacrificial death and resurrection of the Messiah. Prophecies and the history of Israel had been pointing to something all along, something God’s people in that time and place had missed. God would achieve His ends through a most perplexing route, the downward path of suffering and death for the sin of the world.

At dusk, the travelers approached their home in Emmaus and invited the stranger to spend the night. As they sat down to eat, the guest became host, praying a blessing over the bread. In that moment, their eyes were opened, and they recognized Jesus! Immediately, He disappeared from their sight. Only then did they exclaim to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

Burning hearts! The Spirit of God, speaking through Jesus, had opened their minds to comprehend spiritual realities as revealed in Scripture. The experience of the Word of God being opened to them had set their hearts on fire! What happens when hearts blaze? We tell others! They hurried back to Jerusalem and told the Eleven and the rest, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon!” (Never mind that the first witnesses had been the women, and in Luke’s Gospel, Simon had only corroborated their story!)

In any case, while they were still talking, Jesus Himself appeared, offered them peace, and showed them His hands and feet. “And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement,” He ate fish in their presence, convincing them He was not a ghost.

Now Jesus opened more minds to understand all the Old Testament prophecies that were fulfilled in His life, death, and resurrection. He forecast the expansion of the Good News to all nations and promised to send them the promised Holy Spirit while they waited in the city.

As Luke draws his Gospel to a close, we see this band of hot-hearted disciples worshipping with great joy. Jesus’ ascension didn’t frighten them or cause them to scatter; it unified them in worship and in expectantly waiting for the promise of the Father. Hope was restored!

Worshipping and waiting in hope.

_

“What began internally in each surrendered believer’s heart burst into ignition for the whole world to see.”

_m

This whole account is from the last chapter of Luke’s Gospel, which is the first of his two books. His second book, Acts, finds these same people in an upper room, worshipping and praying and waiting, in one accord. The Day of Pentecost comes, the Holy Spirit is poured out, and the flames in their hearts become flames on their heads! What began internally in each surrendered believer’s heart burst into ignition for the whole world to see.

Expanding and Igniting

As Free Methodists, we believe God is calling us to worship and wait in hope. God has inspired us to ask Him to ignite a Spirit-fueled movement in the Free Methodist Church USA. Before, during, and after our General Conference gathers in Orlando on July 25-28, 2023, our Lord is inviting us to ask Him to expand our minds and ignite our hearts. Whether you plan to attend GC23 or not, join us in praying for this Spirit-fueled movement in your own church and community, across the land and around the world.

Some of us may be discouraged, like the Emmaus Road disciples. We may know in our heads that Jesus is right beside us, but we can’t grasp the reality in our spirits or take courage from His nearness. Maybe He seems frustratingly invisible on our journey. Perhaps we admit that after all we’ve been through, our hearts are lukewarm at best and our hope has died. With these two disciples, we sigh, “We had hoped…” Although we have known for years that Jesus is alive, we experience the ironic sadness of the Emmaus pair as if we were left in the dark.

_

“God is willing and ready to move among us in new ways.”

_m

Now is the time to seek the Lord in worship and waiting. It’s time to read God’s Word and prayerfully look for God-given revelation, seeing beyond what we’ve already grasped. It’s time for us to ask God to ignite a Spirit-fueled movement that compels us to express His love in holiness and justice, multiplication and cross-cultural collaboration.

We are now in the 50-day season between Easter and Pentecost called Eastertide. As the disciples who watched Jesus’ ascension responded in worship and joy, let this season be one of holy excitement that our God is willing and ready to move among us in new ways. Like the believers at Pentecost, let us wait in hope for the promise of the Father. Blaze, Spirit, blaze. Set our hearts on fire!

+