Don’t discount resurrection when it’s all over and your hopes are dashed. When Joseph of Arimathea took the dead body of Jesus, wrapped it with spices and buried it in a fresh tomb it was all over. Death is pretty final. As far as all the disciples were concerned the whole thing had ended in failure.
Afterward, on the road to the town of Emmaus, two men who had been followers of Jesus were walking along dejected and downcast. This is what they said to a stranger who joined them: “we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel” (Luke 24:21). See, “we had hoped” – past tense. No chance for that now.
But the stranger was really no stranger. It was Jesus raised from the dead but they didn’t recognize him. He started explaining the scriptures to them how it was always part of God’s plan that the Messiah would suffer and die and then rise again. The prophesy had been there all along but they had failed to comprehend.
They expected a different result. They expected Jesus to be an earthly king who would restore Israel to its former glory but God had much bigger plans. They were looking at NOW and God was looking at the whole span of time. It was when Jesus blessed and broke bread and gave it to them that “their eyes were opened and they recognized him” (Luke 24:31). It wasn’t over after all was it?
Maybe you expected a different result. Maybe you had your eyes on NOW. Keep watching. The resurrection of Jesus was big enough to cover the dashed hopes of the whole world. It is even big enough for yours.
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