To Rescue Wandering Sheep
Luke 24
We’ve finally come to the end of the Gospel of Luke.
Story wise, we’ve just had the dark moment when all seems lost. The disciples are gathered in one place and, though we’re not told it directly, I imagine they are grieving and confused about all that had just occurred.
I wonder if they had begun to think about what was next. Would they just go back to their lives as they lived them before? How much ridicule would they face for believing “that Jesus fellow”? Just what sorts of doubts and struggles might they have been enduring during this time?
And then, the unbelievable happens – at least, according to some women it does – Jesus has risen? There were angels at the tomb? I can imagine how that must have seemed like nonsense to them (v. 11). Even when Jesus was performing miracles, no one raised themselves from the dead. That just didn’t happen.
A couple of disciples, though only one is mentioned in Luke’s account, decided that the report of the women was worth checking out, and so they ran to the tomb. Peter is the one who is mentioned here. And I wonder if he went so that he could beg his rabbi’s forgiveness. Perhaps he wanted to be first to fall at his teacher’s feet, to feel the burden of guilt he had been carrying lifted, to say “I’m not departed. I’m still here”? No matter what Peter’s motivation or thoughts for racing to the tomb, Jesus wasn’t there. His burial wrappings were, but He wasn’t.
They’ll see Him soon. He’ll appear in their midst. But first, He must chase down a couple of wandering sheep.
You remember that story, don’t you? The parable of the shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine in the fold to go find the one lost sheep? That’s the story that came to mind as I was reading about the two disciples who were headed to Emmaus. They had left the others. And as they wandered down that seven-mile road to Emmaus, the Good Shepherd found them.
Notice that they did not recognize Him. “They were kept from recognizing him.” (v. 16) Have you thought about what He must have looked like? I imagine He looked a lot like how He had looked before the crucifixion. A miracle in and of itself.
Now, remember, it had only been three days ago that He had been beaten and battered to a pulp before being hung on a cross. His beard had been ripped out. He had worn a crown of thorns that would have dug into and cut His head. The fact that he quite obviously didn’t look like an assault victim in need of medical attention might have played into their not recognizing him. Even if they did believe He had risen, would they have expected him to look whole? I’m not sure they would have.
But whether they would have or would not have recognized Jesus is a moot point, because we are told that they were kept from recognizing Him. It was important for some reason for them to not see Jesus as Jesus until later.
Would they have been able to process their thoughts and feelings as openly as they did if they had recognized Him? Would they have learned what they needed to know if all their doubts were wiped away in one fell swoop by seeing Jesus? Would those doubts have come back later on? Would the lesson that Jesus was going to teach them have been as effective if they knew it was Jesus teaching the lesson from the beginning? I don’t think so. Jesus knew what He was doing. He knew exactly what these two men needed. He knew how best to send these two wandering sheep running back to the fold.
He asked them about what they were talking and didn’t settle for a short reply. He made them reveal their sorrow over losing their teacher and their shattered hopes about a physical kingdom that wasn’t going to be. They had hoped He was the Messiah (see verse 21), but how could He be if He had been killed? They were utterly disappointed and heartbroken.
And then, Jesus corrects their error in thinking. These men had not yet understood all the scripture they knew. Let that thought sink in for a bit. These guys knew the scripture (aka Old Testament). They had spent time with Jesus, and yet, they didn’t understand all they knew.
Does that still happen today? Do we know the stories of the Bible, have we won prizes for memorizing verses, do we fill a seat every single week in our churches, and yet, we still don’t understand all we know? And because we don’t, do we end up mischaracterizing God and not seeing Jesus for who He is?
That’s a sobering thought and one which prompts me to pray to see God as He truly is and to discern truth and shun erroneous teaching whether it’s during my own reading of the Word or when I’m watching/listening to an online teacher, and even when I attend church. I want to see God as He truly is. Not as some human says He is, but as He says He is.
But back to the story.
How did Jesus correct their error in thinking? He opened the scripture to them. Figuratively, not literally. None of them had a Bible in their pockets or an app on their phones. They had the scripture in their minds. I mean, they knew it well! They had it memorized. And Jesus uses this knowledge as He guides them through a study of what they knew.
And beginning with Moses, and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. Luke 24:27 NIV
Wow! Wouldn’t that be the ultimate Bible study? You know, we can have a version of that study today. We might not have Jesus walking physically down the road with us, but we have the Holy Spirit.
Again, back to the story. :)
As His teaching about Himself drew to a close, they approached their destination, and “Jesus continued on as if he was going farther.” But the disciples wouldn’t let him continue on. They urged him to come in and stay with them.
And that’s when it happens.
[Notice here that Jesus doesn’t force Himself on them. He only enters because He is invited. And what happens next only happens because they took the action to invite Him in.]
As they sit at the table, Jesus gives thanks, breaks the bread, and begins to distribute it. That’s when the penny dropped, so to speak. That’s when they finally “got it.” The eyes of their understanding popped fully open. Jesus was the Messiah. Not as they had thought He would be based on their lack of understanding but as He had been prophesied to be in the Scriptures.
It’s at this moment that Jesus disappears. He doesn’t get up and leave. He just wasn’t there anymore. Poof. Gone.
As would be expected, the disciples begin to discuss what has happened, and, then, getting up, they immediately return to Jerusalem to report to the others the truth of who Jesus was and that He was indeed alive!
The wandering sheep had found their way back to the fold thanks to the goodness and care of their Shepherd!
Can you imagine how long that report to the others must have been? I imagine one speaking and the other filling in details.
“We were just walking along and feeling weighed down with grief when this stranger - though he really wasn’t a stranger at all - not that we knew that at the time.”
“Remember how He seemed to not know about what had happened in Jerusalem?”
“And then, He started teaching us the Scriptures. It was such a familiar manner of teaching. It was so filled with authority.”
“Truly our hearts burned as He spoke…”
I wonder how many of the things Jesus had shared with them they had gotten through before they were interrupted by Jesus appearing in their midst?
After a few verses about Jesus with all the disciples, the chapter concludes with the ascension of Jesus back into heaven – which is exactly where Luke’s second book, The Acts of the Apostles, begins. And that’s my next book to read.
As we close out this book of the Bible, I want to take a minute to go back to that through line that began this whole study – the goodness of God.
From the beginning of Luke and right through to the closing verses, God’s goodness is on display – and I have learned so much about His goodness. In fact, it’s become one of the character qualities of God that now sits at the forefront of my mind. I’m not saying I’ve arrived at complete automatic trust in His goodness. I still struggle with those images of an angry old man sitting in heaven just waiting to pelt me with thunderbolts when I mess up, but I see that image less often now. The teachings from my past are fading a little more each day. So to help with that, let’s one last time take note of the goodness of God before we leave this book of the Bible to venture on to a new study.
Here, as we end the account of Jesus’s ministry on earth, we see Him gathering His flock of disciples together by directing the wanders back to the fold. We see Him opening the minds of all His disciples to understand the Scripture so that they can know the fullness of the Good News that they would spread to the world. Such goodness! Such loving kindness!
But, they were not to set out on their mission just yet. There was one more major good and perfect gift to be imparted to them before they could begin – power from on high (aka the Holy Spirit).
This conclusion by Luke seems to set up the theme – or perhaps through line – for his second book: power from on high. From what I know about the book of Acts (since this will not be my first or even second time through the book) it seems to fit, but I’ve never gone into a study of that book looking for a through line. It’s been more about the stories and how the church spread than specifically looking for a connecting theme. So, I think it will be interesting to discover how the Holy Spirit reveals more of who God is to me, and I plan to share some of my discoveries with you. Here. In these journal entries.
However, just like the disciples had to wait, you’re going to have to wait for posts from my new study to begin as the end of August is vacation time at my house and, therefore, routines may not be as routine as normal and journal writing may or may not get done. I’m also deciding if I want to do a couple of journal entries from Galatians before I start sharing from Acts, since I recently read that when my church studied it in small groups. Whether I share Acts or Galatians next, those posts won’t begin until mid or late September.
Thank you for reading along as I studied Luke. I’m sure I’ll never approach any part of the Bible the same way again after what has been revealed to my understanding through this study. I have been forever changed by it, and I hope that at least a few of the thoughts I shared blessed you as they did me. I pray that in these journal entries, God has used my words to show you more of Himself, just as He has done for me.