Luke 24:13-35

                 “Have you been living under a rock?”  That’s how we might say it today.  These two disciples of Jesus simply can’t believe what this traveler is asking them.  “What do you mean, ‘What are you talking about?’  Where have you been?”  So they give him the whole story… right up to, and including that day, the events of Easter morning.

                 And I love Jesus’ response: “That sounds about right.  Haven’t you two been paying attention in Sabbath School?”  And then Jesus, walking right beside them, tells them everything that was written in the Bible about… himself!  What’s so intriguing is what Jesus does not do.  He doesn’t remove the disguise.  He doesn’t wave his hands over his face and reveal his true identity.  He doesn’t say, “Surprise!  It’s me!”  He leads them, step by step, through all of God’s promises.

                 Because he is the fulfillment of those promises. It’s so easy to look at the world… at one’s situation and get caught up in it, as if that’s all there is!  But God’s Word tells us something else.  Yes, there’s brokenness, but there’s healing – a Healer!  Yes, there’s sin, but there’s a fixing – a Savior!  The temptation of the world is to believe that Jesus (if he even existed at all) was just another person, going through what we went through… just as these two disciples first mistook him for just another traveler.

                 And, to be fair, his earthly life had plenty of that.  But then he showed himself to be so much more!  He’d been revealing throughout history, going all the way back to Creation that He’s so much more.  You are saved because God is a God who saves His people!  And the long-awaited, long-promised Savior came.  God promised a Rescuer… and He rescued.  God promised a Deliverer…. And He delivered! 

 Jesus is not just another guy… just another traveler (and a seemingly ill-informed one at that!).  He is not just another person.  He is the person.  And he directs all of us, just like he pointed these two disciples, by God’s Word.  It is there that we still find who he is.  It is there that we keep finding God’s promises.  This Word and these promises are for us, and for all who will believe… for all of those people that God brings into our lives for no other reason than to say, “Have you been living under a rock?!  Let me tell you the greatest news you will ever hear!”

 Lord, thank You for saving me.  And thank You for Your faith-creating, faith-sustaining Word.  May I find strength in it myself, and share it with all who come my way.  Amen.