Time with Jesus - Friday, 23 March
2012
Hi all,
Have you ever wanted to be a
“fly on the wall”? Most of us do at one time or another. For me there is one
Bible Study I would love to have heard. The Bible study when Jesus taught the
two believers on the Emmaus Road. Later, when He appeared to the Apostles the
following is recorded: 44 Then he said
to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with
you, that everything written about me in the
Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms
must be fulfilled." Luke 24:44 ESV It
must have been an extraordinary teaching. Direct from the lips of the “Author”
through the various Scripture writers. WOW!
The Jewish Bible is different
from ours. The books were the same but they were classified differently. The
Law (Genesis to Deuteronomy) is the Pentateuch. (The same as ours) Their next
classification was “the Prophets”; the former Prophets and the latter Prophets.
The final classification was what they called “the Writings”. The Writings
included the Psalms and similar books. There are reasons why the Christian Old
Testament and the Jewish Scriptures are not classified the same way. Whether or
not the reasons are valid is something about which I’m not sufficiently
qualified to comment.
Strangely enough, they include
the Book of Daniel among the Writings. Whether this makes any difference as far
as interpretation is concerned is not clear to me.
Who were these two disciples
of Jesus? One of them was thought to be Cleophas or Alphaeus. The name of the
other is thought to be Luke the Gospel writer or possibly Nathaniel. If Luke
was one of them it would be interesting to note that Jesus walked with a
Gentile after His resurrection.
As stated above, I would have
loved to have been with them.
For our meditation today I’ve
focused on the Emmaus walk. The dialogue is imaginary. I’ve tried to stick to
what we know from Scripture. I’ve also tried to weave some of the other evening
Scriptures into the meditation. It’s up to you to decide if I've achieved this.
Blessings
Jim & Phyllida Strickland
Emmaus Revelation
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“What a mess!” he
stated, “And after these three years!
“I thought He would deliver us.
But finally, the jeers,
And mocking words they hurled
at Him. Had we got it wrong?
The wondrous things He did for
us. I thought he had a strong,
Claim as the Messiah. How could
it end that way?
To friends who said “I told you
so”. To them what will we say?”
“I wish I had an answer” the
other man replied.
“How could this man of miracles
be flogged and crucified?
I cannot understand it. It
makes so little sense.
He seemed to walk so close to
God; Was that His recompense?”
And then a voice behind them
said, “What is it that you speak?”
“We’re talking of the person. A
young man at His peak.
We thought He was Messiah. But
all our hopes were dashed.
The Romans flogged and murdered
Him and all our trust was smashed.”
“Perhaps I can explain it!” the
voice behind them said.
And then He started talking of
things deep in their head.
The prophets had predicted it.
The Law showed it was true.
The writings showed exactly
what the people would all do.
It wasn’t by an accident this
man they loved had died.
He showed them that their
Scriptures said He would be crucified.
What a Scripture study! I wish
I had been there.
To hear the Lord expounding and
speaking of the care,
That God had for all sinners; a
love so deep and true.
He’d come and He’d be crucified
for folk like me and you.
He’d come into His garden; the
world forged by His hands.
He’d come to reassure them He’d
smashed the devil’s bands.
He said He hadn’t spoken in
secret, locked away.
His words were very simple.
They said to Him “Please stay”.
But He had other purposes and
when He broke the bread,
He vanished from their vision
before they all had fed.
For forty days He stayed with
them and He played “peek-a-boo”.
“Now you see Me. Now you don’t. But
I am still with you”.
He said He’d never leave them,
forsaken and alone.
He’d send His Holy Spirit the
way that He had shown.
And so when they were gathered
in groups of two or more,
His presence would be with them
to be worshiped and adored.
And to this very moment, for
some two thousand years,
We know that when we gather,
our words are in His ears.
Jim Strickland
Written Friday 23rd March 2012
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