OK so here is the rundown. Jesus had just been crucified three days before and all the Jewish community in Jerusalem especially the followers of Jesus were all in a state of loss and confusion. So these two guys are walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus which was about 7 miles away and they were talking about all that had happened. All of a sudden Jesus began walking with them but God kept them from recognizing him. He asked them what they were talking about and they shared with him about the fate of Jesus and how 3 days before, he had been crucified. They were very discouraged because they thought that he was the messiah who had come to rescue Israel. But that very morning some of their friends said they had seen angels that said he was alive and that the body was missing from His tomb.
This is the part that I think is interesting.....So jesus pretty much tells them that they are ding dongs for doubting that this guy was the messiah and he runs through the scriptures with them showing them all of the prophecy that had been fulfilled in Jesus. So when they got to Emmaus they asked Jesus to stay the night with them. When they settled down to eat their evening meal Jesus took the bread and blessed it and then he broke it and gave it to them......when this happened their eyes were "opened" and they realized who he was and at that moment he disappeared!
OK so I personally think this would be a pretty outrageous experience. Can you imagine eating dinner with some guy you met while you were traveling and then he turns into Jesus and then all of a sudden he vanishes into thin air..........yeah time to lay off the Jerusalem wine. But that's not the end of the story. Directly after all this happened they walked all the way back to Jerusalem to find the disciples. The disciples told them that Jesus was alive and they pretty much said, "Yah we figured that much", and they told their story to them. Now get this... as they were telling their story to the disciples Jesus pops in again and says, "Peace be with You". Everyone freaked out and thought he was a ghost and the funny part is that he asks everyone, "Why are you frightened?" OK you know he knew the answer to that one. It's not everyday that dead people come back to life and all of a sudden have the ability to disappear and reappear whenever they want to.
Ok so in all seriousness now....Jesus asks them why their hearts are filled with doubt and he shows them his wounds from the crucifixion, his hands and feet where the nails had held him to the cross. At this point he does something funny and asks them if they have anything to eat, so they gave him some fish and they all watched him eat it. I personally think this was his way of showing them that he was really not a ghost but that he was really a living being with needs like hunger. So they all watched him eat dumbfounded and he said to them the same thing that he told the two on the road to Emmaus about how he was the fullfillment of the scriptures. and then the bible says,"He Opened their minds to understand the Scriptures". And he says this, "Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day. It was also written that this message would be proclaimed in the authority of his name to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem: "There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent."
How many of you still don't believe that Jesus is anything more than a good guy who had good things to say and good lessons for people to learn. There were over 300 prophecies in the old testament about the Messiah "Savior" and they were all fullfilled in Jesus. If you would like to learn more about this, you can check out this website http://www.bprc.org/topics/fulfill.html#header_4
Is it all just coincidence? How do you explain it? Does it matter to you? If there was a book that was written hundreds of years ago saying that their was going to be a huge disaster that was going to destroy the whole earth except for all the people who took shelter in a certain building and the book pretty much gave the description of the building, the address, phone number, and website. Wouldn't you take shelter in that building when you saw it built exactly as the book said it would be hundreds of years before. OK so that's pretty much a butchered analogy but you know what I mean.
Jesus is either who he said he was or ......he was a liar, deceiver and pretty much a nutcase. He can't just be a good guy who taught good things. Which do you believe?
In the last part of the story of the two guys that were walking to Emmaus Jesus says, "Their is forgiveness of Sins for all who repent". For some reason after all that he went through he felt that this was the most important thing to say. Why is that? Maybe because it's important.......
1 John 1:9 (The Message) says...
If we claim that we're free of sin, we're only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins—make a clean breast of them—he won't let us down; he'll be true to himself. He'll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim that we've never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God—make a liar out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God.
Their is forgiveness of sins for all who repent
"Perhaps there is no better definition of repentance than that which is given in our little children’s hymnbook — Charles Spurgeon
"Repentance is to leave,
The sins we loved before,
And show that we in earnest grieve,
By doing so no more."
The sins we loved before,
And show that we in earnest grieve,
By doing so no more."
Jesus is the way the truth and the life, No one comes to the father except through him............I didn't say it, He did!
