When We Can’t See Jesus: The Road to Emmaus
“Why can’t Jesus just show up to me, like He did to people a long, long time ago?”
I recently spoke with a young, hurting, incarcerated woman who asked me that very question. Feeling very alone in her prison cell, she had real struggles. She’d been praying and praying for something in her life to change, and in particular and above all, she had been praying for Christ’s presence in her life.
As I listened, I reassured her with Scripture that Christ is in fact with her; I comforted her with the promises Jesus gave us in the Bible; I reminded her that we hear the voice of God not only through His word, but also through the encouragement of His people.
And then I left, returning home -- feeling like I had read her a script.
Not because I didn’t believe what I said – I did. I do. And certainly not because what I told her was untrue. It was and is true. But because I felt convicted and burdened.
Because I proclaimed these truths triumphantly to her that afternoon but had lived it weakly myself that very morning. Because I recalled the passages quickly with the young lady and barely when I was alone. Because when I am honest, I ask myself the same thing that young girl asked me. Her question is my question. And maybe it’s your question too. When she asked me “Why can’t I see Jesus” what she was asking on some level is the question I ask in my darker moments as well -- “Where are you, Jesus?”
The Bible is replete with folks just like you and me wondering the very same thing, all looking for Christ and missing Him in plain sight. Maybe you are, too. I know I am. There are many factors that account for our “missing” Him. Each of them resonates with me in various ways. The first one we’ll look at in this series of devotions is when we just can’t “see” Jesus because of our confusion as to who He is and what He has promised us.
In Luke Chapter 24, we read about two gentlemen walking home to Emmaus who just did not “get it.” They were distraught, not sure what to make of the events that transpired over the last several days, events that seemed to take Christ away from them. They were confused about who Jesus was and what he was out to accomplish, weren’t they? They were sad, despite being told that some of the women had seen the resurrected Savior (v.24). They had “hoped” – notice the past tense – that Jesus was going to be the one to redeem Israel (v.21).
The greatest event in human history (the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ) had just happened, and they were missing the momentous nature of it all, looking purely “downcast” (v.17). Let’s add on top of this that they were experiencing these emotions and their confusion while Jesus literally “came up and walked along with them” (v15). They did not see Him; they did not know it was Christ despite His being right there.
Now let’s be fair, we’re told in verse 16 that they were “kept from recognizing Him.” But I wonder, reading their dialogue, if they would have recognized Christ for who he really was, regardless. By concealing their visual perception of Him, Christ delved into their heart’s perception of who He was; and He found confusion on their part. Christ himself questioned their perceptions as well when he essentially asked (colloquially!) “Do you two still not get this? Really? Let me explain this to you guys…” (v. 25-27)
Friends, we’re all on our own Emmaus journey. Like these two disciples, we ruminate over the events of the last couple of days or weeks, or years of our lives. Like the two travelers we read about in Luke, we have our ideas as to what God looks like, what he “should be doing” in our lives, and what plans we want fulfilled on our timeline.
But when He didn’t show up to heal my dad, or keep my nephew healthy, or rectify that argument with my sister (insert your own trial or disappointment), I too was walking this road, dismayed. I “had hoped” for healing, quick recoveries, and reunion - just as the two disciples “had hoped” that Christ was the one who would redeem the nation.
When our prayers seem “unanswered,” we ask ourselves all sorts of questions – “Where is God? Doesn’t God love me and fix things for me? Isn’t that what He does? Can’t God see that my plan would fix my pain? Why can’t I see Him working my plans out then? Where is He?” May I suggest that He is as close to us as He was to our two friends in Luke. May I further suggest that we may be just as confused as our two brethren were that day.
How did their confusion get cleaned up? And in turn, how can ours? The disciples explained the source of their sorrow (and confusion!), pinning it on the events of the last couple of days. Notice that Christ didn’t modify or change the facts of the last few days when He spoke with them. Christ was still dealing with the same set of events; instead, He changed their perspective of the events, using God’s word (…“He explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself” v. 27).
With Christ using the clarifying Word, the two gentlemen viewed the same set of facts that had just happened a few days earlier, but this time with a different lens. Their confusion as to who God was and how He’d show up in their lives was rectified. He explained how not getting the Jesus they had “hoped” for was actually for their benefit; and not just theirs, but rather the entire world’s. What appeared to be utter devastation turned into eternal salvation for all of mankind. Finally, they could then see the Jesus they were missing. Their “eyes were opened and they recognized Him” (v. 31).
Similarly, let there be no confusion on our part: God never takes away our good without replacing it with His best. And what that means is we get Jesus. As the old, beautiful hymn says, “Take the world, but give me Jesus.” The Jesus who tells us to look at Him, to really see Him via His Word -- not just by our side, but also on the cross. When we see that sacrifice, can we truly ever doubt that He would withhold any good thing (Romans 8:32)?
Like the disciples in Emmaus, the events in our lives may not have changed, but prayerfully our perspective of them can. Our confusion can get cleaned up. One of my favorite quotes that helps keep this in perspective for me is, “God always gives us what we would have asked for had we known everything that He knows.” In other words – God is giving us the answers to our prayers, we just don’t see it at the time. As frail humans, we are asking with incomplete information; God has the full breadth of information, and His answers are always derivative of His love for us.
As Christ harkened these Emmaus disciples back to the Scriptures to clarify confusion, let us take our Savior’s example and turn our eyes to the saving Word. It is there we find Christ’s reassurance of His peace and presence. We see Christ as He truly is – the Son of God who loved us so much that He willingly gave up His life on the cross to pay for our sins and secure our salvation.
What happens on Earth may still not make any sense to us or get rectified as we had prayed. Our hearts may in fact still ache with sorrow. Our tears may still fall, heavy with worry. Our losses and disappointments are still all too real.
God give us Your strength to truly believe, and not just tritely acknowledge, that we can rest completely assured that You, the all-knowing heavenly Author, have written a beautiful story - despite how confusing or daunting the circumstances!