Why Are You Surprised?
By Rev. Heidi L. Barham | April 23, 2023
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Read Luke 24:13 – 35
Throughout the Lenten and Easter seasons, we read many scriptures that are familiar to us because we tend to read them year after year. But one thing I have noticed is that no matter how many times we may read a particular verse or passage of scripture, our perspective may shift… depending on what is going on in our lives or in the world around us in that moment.
And today’s New Testament lesson is one of those passages.
There is no way I can begin to count how many times I have read or have heard someone else read this story of the men on the road to Emmaus… and yet it never ceases to amaze me that as these two men were walking along and talking about what had happened… they had no clue that the “stranger” who had walked up alongside of them was Jesus.
Now when they first encountered the risen Christ, the scriptures tell us that Cleopas and his companion thought the man walking beside them was some clueless foreigner who had no idea about what had happened over the course of the preceding days.
But even as they tried to bring Jesus up to speed so to speak… they were apparently either not listening or were not fully processing what they were saying themselves. According to the text, they said:
…now some of our women have completely confused us. Early this morning they were at the tomb and couldn’t find his body. They came back with the story that they had seen a vision of angels who said he was alive. Some of our friends went off to the tomb to check and found it empty just as the women said, but they didn’t see Jesus (MSG).
Clearly, they had not been paying attention when Jesus had told them what was going to happen to Him… He had already explained to them:
“…the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!”” (Matthew 20:18b – 19)
He could not have been any more concise in describing what was going to take place… but these men apparently got hung up on the part about Jesus being crucified… and that seems to be where they got stuck…
That part about Jesus being raised to life must have gone right over their heads… because they said they were “confused” by the reports that the women had seen Jesus and that all their friends found when they went to look was an empty tomb.
And so, as I looked at this text, the question came to mind, “Men on the road to Emmaus… WHY ARE YOU SURPRISED?”
And why are you confused? After all… Jesus had already told you He was going to rise… and that is exactly what He did.
Now it would also seem that these travelers who were on their way to Emmaus had not understood the teachings from the Old Testament that were filled with the prophecies about the Messiah.
Because had they fully comprehended what was being taught in the temple… they would have remembered hearing the words of the Lord God who told the serpent that there would be enmity between it and the woman… and that the offspring of the woman [Jesus] would crush the head of the serpent [Satan] (see Genesis 3).
And they would have remembered hearing the words about the suffering servant who Isaiah describes in Isaiah 53… and they would have recalled the description of mourning and grief in Zechariah 12 because of “the one they pierced” … just as Jesus was pierced in His side. And they would have been reminded of the many other prophecies they had heard as well… which leads me to ask again… men on the road to Emmaus, WHY ARE YOU SURPRISED?
Could it be that you did not actually believe the scriptures after all those years? Or did you think you had discovered some other way to get into the kingdom of heaven?
Well, whatever the case may have been… as He walked the two men through the scriptures… by virtue of what He said to them… Jesus clearly demonstrated that He was not just some clueless foreigner… He took them through the scriptures and pointed them to the truth that was right there… before their blinded eyes.
Perhaps one could say that the men had not been able to see the forest for the trees… and that almost caused them to miss the boat…
But thankfully, Jesus gave them and gives us more than one chance to come to the truth… and as He sat down to eat with the men and broke the bread… the scriptures tell us, “…their eyes were opened and they recognized Him.”
Now, before we come down too hard on these men for not realizing that they had been in the presence of Jesus all along…
perhaps we should take a moment and think about how many times we have failed to recognize Jesus’ presence because we have been too focused on the circumstances around us… we have been feeling dejected and deflated like those men when they started walking on that road to Emmaus… so much so that, just like them, we have not realized, Jesus has been right there beside us.
We think that all hope is lost… that God has not heard or answered our prayers… and we start sounding like Eeyore, “Oh, woe is me.”
But let us not forget Jesus’ promise to be with us “… always, even to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). And the assurance from the Lord found in both the Old and New Testaments, that He will never leave us nor forsake us (see Deuteronomy 31:6, Isaiah 1:5, Hebrews 13:5).
So, why are we surprised when we are able to make it through one challenge after another… one heartbreak after the other…? Why are we caught off guard when werealize that once again the Lord has been right there with us all along… blessing us in the midst of our storms?
Now, as I thought about all of this, I was reminded of the story about Peter and the disciples that is found in Matthew 14. It follows right after the miracle of Jesus feeding more than five thousand people with two fish and five loaves of bread… and not only was Jesus able to feed all those people… the scriptures tell us that there were twelve basketfuls of broken pieces left over…
And, after having just witnessed such a miraculous feast… what happens next with the disciples does raise the question yet again, WHY ARE YOU SURPRISED?
Listen to this passage from Matthew 14 (22-27) as it appears in the Message:
Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
The disciples had been so focused on the storm that they were not able to recognize Jesus when He walked right up to them!
And keep in mind, by this point in time, not only had they witnessed the whole miracle of the fishes and loaves… they had seen Jesus heal Peter’s mother-in-law, as well as a man with leprosy, a paralyzed man, a man with a withered hand, and a woman with an issue of blood… and as if that were not enough… they had even seen Him raise Jairus’ daughter back to life…
Disciples… exactly WHY ARE YOU SURPRISED by Jesus walking on the water?
And then… as if to add insult to injury… Peter had the nerve to ask for proof that it really was Jesus. Listen to these next verses from Matthew 14 (28 – 33):
“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
“Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
It does not compute. All their first-hand experiences… their opportunities to be eyewitnesses to miracle after miracle after miracle… Peter… disciples… WHY ARE YOU SURPRISED???
My guess would be that they [and we] are not really all that different… we have a tendency to take our eyes off Jesus and instead put the focus on the problems that feel like they are coming at us from every side…
Perhaps it is because we may think that Jesus is too busy with other people’s problems to pay attention to ours… but I happen to believe that Jesus is the ultimate multi-tasker.
Because even as He was preparing for His own crucifixion… Jesus was offering words of encouragement to His disciples… telling them that they should not let their hearts be troubled… that they believed in God and should also believe in Him because He was going to prepare a place for them (see John 14:1 – 3) … did you catch that? He is getting ready to be crucified and He is talking about preparing a place for the disciples [and by extension a place for us!].
And as Jesus hung upon that cross at Calvary… He offered words of forgiveness for the very ones who were responsible for crucifying Him… and He extended the promise of eternity to one of the men who had been sentenced to death alongside of Him… and He made arrangements for His mother to be cared for in His absence.
In essence, even in the midst of the most horrific things that were taking place in His own life… Jesus was busy taking care of everyone else…
And let us not lose sight of the significance of why Jesus was up on that cross in the first place… He was taking on the punishment that all of our sins deserved.
So, we should not be surprised by anything He does to bless us…
Instead, we should be grateful…
Grateful that we can cast our cares, our worries, and our anxieties on Him because He cares for us (see Psalm 55:22, 1 Peter 5:7).
Grateful that when we feel weary and burdened… overloaded and overwhelmed… Jesus says we can come to Him and find rest for our souls (see Matthew 11:28 – 30).
Grateful that when the storms of life feel like they are going to overtake us and possibly cause us to drown… just like He did with Peter… Jesus calls us to come and follow Him (see Matthew 14:29).
Now, interestingly enough, just this morning as I was reading one of my daily devotionals, I was taken to a passage from 1 John 3 (13) and the verse that reads, “Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.”
Do not be surprised…
It was confirmation and a reminder that when we make the decision to follow Jesus… it does not mean that life will be easy or that we will not face challenges… And yet even with all of that… Jesus calls us to follow Him anyhow and to walk the path of love that He has laid out for us…
Because if we read just a little further in that passage from 1 John 3… we find:
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
Jesus is calling us to follow Him… to do what it takes for us to show love to one another… to care for one another… to speak up for one another… to look out for one another… because “by this everyone will know that [we] are [His] disciples, if [we] love one another” (John 13:35).
And as His disciples… as His followers… none of this likely comes as a surprise to any of us. So today, if you are still committed to following Jesus… to loving others as Jesus has loved us… then I want to invite you to stand and join in singing our Hymn of Discipleship: Jesus Calls Us O'er the Tumult (v. 1, 3, 4) #337.
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