Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?
Christ had to suffer before entering into his glory, for suffering and glory belong together in necessary order and failure to grasp this showed unbelief. The suffering meant going into the depths of human misery through Gethsemane, shame, rejection, the cross and death to bear the penalty of transgression, while entering into glory meant overcoming death, rising on the third day, being worshiped by angels, ascending to the Father and taking his throne. Both the suffering and the glory were foretold in Moses, the law and all the prophets, and every specification was exactly fulfilled so that what seemed to destroy hope was the strongest evidence that he is Messiah and more than a prophet. The disciples had missed this because they had not searched the Scriptures, were clouded by false teaching and tradition, expected a temporal power on David's throne and applied the glory of his second coming to his first, so on the road to Emmaus he rebuked them as slow of heart, traced his life, death and resurrection through all the Scriptures and opened their understanding to their unity and meaning. That opening of the word restored shaken faith with burning hearts and holy joy, grounded bold witness to his resurrection as the great central truth of the church, made salvation with pardon, peace and everlasting righteousness possible for the repentant, and he still walks unseen beside the despondent to feed them with the bread of life.
Emmaus Road Setting
On resurrection day the risen Jesus spoke these words to two disciples traveling from Jerusalem to Emmaus who were grieving, sad, hopeless, discouraged and confused by His trial and crucifixion and unable to reconcile His suffering with their hope that He was the Christ. They saw Him only as a weary traveler like themselves and told Him of the crucifixion of Christ as a prophet mighty in power by wicked hands, having buried their hopes in the tomb with Jesus and talking of their troubles. Their faith was so small they did not recognize Jesus when He drew near, yet while treading the rough way with them He revived their hopes so they felt tenderly toward Him.
He kept His identity hidden and did not first reveal Himself as risen, appearing of the same size as before with no immediately revealing marks that He was the Son of God. Overflowing joy at seeing Him alive would have satisfied their souls and left no hunger for the sacred truths He wanted fixed indelibly in their minds. He wanted truth to take firm root not because it was supported by His personal testimony but because the typical law and the prophets agreeing with the facts of His life and death presented unquestionable evidence, leading them to an intelligent faith in His life, character, mission to earth, death and resurrection.
Beginning with Moses and continuing through all the prophets, He traced His very history, life, mission, sufferings, death and resurrection, laying open what was written about Himself. He opened their understanding to the meaning and unity of Scripture, showing truths in the Old Testament that they had not recognized, to help them understand what they read. In this way He gave abundant evidence that the Saviour was living and that His resurrection was certain.
He rebuked them as fools and slow of heart to believe all the prophets had spoken, a question that searched their souls with earnestness, tenderness, sympathy and hopefulness. Their slowness came from hardly grasping the idea of a suffering Saviour and from not searching the Scriptures to see if these things were so. It was caused by being influenced by maxims and traditionary lore so that truths spoken by the greatest Teacher the world has ever known were lost to them, and old truths expounded became as a new revelation with a depth of meaning the writers themselves had not seen.
They could not yet take it in until He revealed Himself in the breaking of bread by His manner and the marks of crucifixion. When the object of His labor was gained He revealed Himself to them that their joy might be full, and then vanished from their sight. The one who died on the cross had entered glory by resurrection, coming forth raised from the dead from Joseph's sepulchre amid earthquake and mighty angels rolling back the stone, proclaiming Himself the resurrection and the life, and He afterward revealed Himself in the upper room and in the upper chamber to the eleven as one risen from the dead.
His humble walking with them and sharing their road shows that, though He had passed through death and ascended to the Father, He retains the same human sympathy and love. He identifies with suffering and perplexed people, walks with and comforts His suffering people, and remains beside those who grieve and long for His company. The risen Jesus, who had suffered and died and then conquered death, thus comforted the despondent disciples and can give peace and life and comfort to those who accept Him.
Suffering Before Glory
Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory, for suffering had to come first and glory afterward in necessary order. The prophets had spoken of how he would be treated, and failure to understand this sequence showed unbelief and left faith and hope shaken. The disciples could not reconcile the humiliated and crucified Jesus with the Messiah, but his lesson was that suffering and glory belong together. Renewed attention to the promises linked to his death began to restore hope, expectation and joy.
The suffering meant the conflict in Gethsemane and the shame, humiliation, rejection, trial by wicked hands, cross and death. In it he went into the depths of human misery and died to bear the penalty of human transgression. His humble ride into Jerusalem, honored like a king's procession, faintly prefigured his future glory as Zion's King while directing attention to the sacrifice he was about to make for guilty humanity.
Entering into glory means overcoming death and the tomb, rising on the third day, triumphing with angels worshiping him, ascending to the Father, taking his throne and being enthroned. Victory over death and bursting the fetters of the tomb is joined to his glory. Every specification of prophecy about his first advent was fulfilled in his life, death and resurrection, with the prophecies leading down to the time of his first coming made clear by divine light.
His death was not the destruction of his mission or his disciples' hopes and not a failure. The trial, death and resurrection fulfilled exactly what Moses, the types and all the prophets had spoken concerning him. The events that seemed to destroy hope were the strongest evidence for faith, proving he is Messiah and more than a prophet.
His kingdom was not a temporal power nor an earthly reign on David's throne. It is manifested in the hearts of his people through divine grace to rescue the lost world. Only through his humiliation, suffering and death, ordained in the counsels of the Father and the Son with rejection, resurrection on the third day and entrance into glory, could the kingdom of his glory finally be established.
Foretold and Fulfilled Prophecy
Both the suffering and the entrance into glory were foretold in Scripture, in Moses and all the prophets, in the typical law and the types and prophecies, and in the prophetic chain extending from the patriarchs to Christ's time. What was foretold concerned his life, suffering, death, resurrection and glory, his character and mission, and the necessity that he suffer before entering glory. On the road to Emmaus he explained this from Moses and through all the prophets, showing that the events of his life and death fulfilled what was written about him and establishing his identity as Messiah. His death therefore fulfilled what the prophets had spoken and was not the destruction of his mission or his disciples' hopes, and he delayed revealing himself until he had explained these Scriptures so that faith would rest on their evidence and the facts and not merely on seeing him.
Every specification of prophecy about his first advent was exactly fulfilled in his life, death and resurrection, including the prophecies leading down to the time of his first coming. His life fulfilled what Scripture foretold and established the certainty and necessity of his suffering, death and resurrection, with triumph over death and bursting the fetters of the tomb proving him Messiah and more than a prophet. His suffering and death were not a failure or defeat of his mission but the ordained path to his throne and glory, for he rose on the third day after the prophecies of his humiliation, rejection and death were fulfilled. His purpose was to establish a spiritual kingdom and not to reign as a temporal king on David's throne. Divine light on those prophecies makes them clear and gives boldness to present the truth about Jesus, to show their fulfillment, and to correct any perversion of the Scriptures.
The disciples and leaders misunderstood because they had not searched the Scriptures and had hardly grasped a suffering Saviour, burying their hopes in the tomb and talking of troubles instead of testing whether these things were so. Their faith was small, their comprehension slow, and their minds clouded by misinterpretation, by maxims and traditionary lore, and by false teachings of the priests that confused ideas of Messiah and his mission. They expected a temporal power and an earthly kingdom and wrongly applied to the first coming the glory foretold for the second, so error must be unlearned to accept that suffering must come before glory. When understanding was opened, old truths became as a new revelation with a depth even the writers had not seen, for his sayings are spirit and life and bread from heaven that quickens and nourishes spiritual life, and as diligently sought as hidden treasure they lift believers from the obscurity of dawn to the radiance of noon in realizing the value of his grace and righteousness. He rebuked this slowness to believe all that the prophets had spoken, and while walking the rough way with them he opened the prophecies to revive hope and make hearts tender toward him.
His exposition from Moses and in all the prophets of the things concerning himself gave abundant, unquestionable evidence that the Saviour was living and not dead and that his resurrection was certain. The typical law and the prophets agreeing with the facts of his life and death presented unquestionable evidence, so he wanted truth to take firm root not because supported by his personal testimony but because of that agreement, leading to intelligent faith in his life, character, mission to earth, death and resurrection. When that work was done he revealed himself to make joy full, then revealed himself in the upper room to the eleven as one risen from the dead. This grounded the disciples' calm, joyful, unflinching declaration that Christ had risen, made of none effect the falsehood of the priests, and established Christianity by evidence that could not be controverted. The same light later enabled Saul to show that Jesus was the Son of God.
The fact of Christ's resurrection proclaimed by human lips as never before is the great central truth around which all the faith and hope of the church center and rest. His opening of the Scriptures about suffering and entering into glory makes hearts burn within and turns despair into still greater joy.
Restoring Faith Through Scripture
Failure to know what the prophets had spoken had left faith shaken, weakened and small, for the two on the road to Emmaus were sad and hopeless because they had not searched the Scriptures and had hardly grasped a suffering Saviour. They had buried their hopes in the tomb with Jesus and talked only of their troubles instead of testing whether these things were so, so small was their faith that they did not recognize Him when He drew near. Remembering the promises linked to His death and giving renewed attention to suffering before glory began to restore hope, expectation and joy, for the events that had seemed to destroy hope were the exact fulfillment of prophecy and the proof that faith in Him was right. The rebuke as fools and slow of heart to believe all the prophets searched their souls with earnestness, tenderness, sympathy and hopefulness, and the words sounded like His own words, filling them with amazement. For the first time since the betrayal they felt hopeful with throbbing hearts of expectation, hope and joy, their hopes revived so that they felt tenderly toward Him, and the risen Christ as educator bound their hearts with holy, new, sacred hope and joy.
The illuminating power in the Scriptures quickens faith and makes hearts burn within, turning despair into still greater joy. When they told Him as a weary traveler like themselves of the crucifixion of Christ as a prophet mighty in power by wicked hands, He began with Moses and the prophets and traced His very history as the Christ of God, showing that His suffering and all that had transpired was written there and laying it open to their understanding. They could not yet take it in until He revealed Himself in the breaking of bread by His manner and the marks of crucifixion. Searching the Scriptures with a humble heart and taking hold of the truth in its simplicity as verity warms and kindles the heart with the love of God, and contemplating His incarnation and great sacrifice to save and bring pardon, peace and everlasting righteousness fills the heart with holy joy and nourishes faith.
He kept His identity hidden until He had interpreted the Scriptures and led them to an intelligent faith in His life, character, mission to earth, death and resurrection. He delayed personal revelation because overflowing joy at seeing Him risen would have satisfied their souls and taken away hunger for the sacred truths He wanted fixed in their minds. He wanted truth to take firm root not because it was supported by His personal testimony but because the typical law and the prophets agreeing with the facts of His life and death presented unquestionable evidence. When the object of His labor was gained He revealed Himself that their joy might be full, and then vanished from their sight. That firmly rooted truth was to be imparted to others, and others in turn would spread it until thousands received the light given that day.
That joy made hunger and fatigue forgotten and compelled urgent witness, even late at night over a rough, dark road with stumbling, losing the path and pressing on to return to Jerusalem to impart the newly found knowledge and rejoice together. Jesus walks unseen beside such witnesses and hears their expressions of joy and gratitude with gladness. Their report of how prophecy foretold what happened to Jesus and how they had seen Him and talked with Him helped revive the others' faith. Those who claim God has given them great light should follow the same course instead of taking a different line and breaking up unity, returning to find those whom God had led and was still leading, going to those chosen of God to bear a living testimony, giving evidence that this light would better qualify them to prepare a people to stand in the great day of God, and seeking counsel of those who have been and are still bearing the truth and giving the last message of warning and who have had a deep experience in the things of God.
Salvation and Present Experience
His suffering and death before entering glory made salvation possible, for on the cross he bore the penalty of human transgression to save from perdition. That sacrifice brings pardon, peace, forgiveness of sins, everlasting righteousness and sanctification to repentant and converted people who come to the Father through faith in him, follow his example, and believe the truth. Contemplating his incarnation and great sacrifice directs the mind to him and fills the heart with holy joy that nourishes faith.
The same opening of understanding given on the road to Emmaus is needed today, with prayer for the Holy Spirit shining on the sacred page to know what is truth, including through study of Daniel, Revelation and the other prophecies of the Old and New Testaments. His sayings are spirit and life and bread from heaven that quickens and nourishes spiritual life, and as eaten they quicken understanding. In that light old truths become a new revelation with wonderful things and a depth of meaning even the writers themselves had not seen. As truth is diligently sought as hidden treasure, believers better understand the value of his grace and righteousness, stepping from the obscurity of dawn to the radiance of noon and noonday.
Jesus still walks unseen beside believers, surrounding them with the holy atmosphere of his presence, hearing their talk and feeding them with the bread of life. He remains beside those who grieve and are despondent to give peace, life, consolation and comfort. His presence and teaching make hearts burn within with holy joy as truth is received and his lessons are spoken of. The strengthening of the Waldenses by Christ in their lonely retreats to reject false guides and worship God alone is like that meeting on the road to Emmaus where he opened the truths of Scripture.
Those seeking his righteousness dwell upon his incarnation and suffering sacrifice for salvation, and as they meditate upon the word their souls are supplied with nourishing food. Their thoughts are occupied with holiness and truth, grace and righteousness, self dies and Christ lives in them, and their hearts burn within as did the disciples' hearts. Knowing he is beside them brings holy joy and a relish for speaking of his lessons, so that when truth abides in the heart criticism ceases and what is in the heart flows from the lips in living streams of life and gladness.
Christ had to suffer before entering into his glory, for suffering and glory belong together in necessary order and failure to grasp this showed unbelief. The suffering meant going into the depths of human misery through Gethsemane, shame, rejection, the cross and death to bear the penalty of transgression, while entering into glory meant overcoming death, rising on the third day, being worshiped by angels, ascending to the Father and taking his throne. Both the suffering and the glory were foretold in Moses, the law and all the prophets, and every specification was exactly fulfilled so that what seemed to destroy hope was the strongest evidence that he is Messiah and more than a prophet. The disciples had missed this because they had not searched the Scriptures, were clouded by false teaching and tradition, expected a temporal power on David's throne and applied the glory of his second coming to his first, so on the road to Emmaus he rebuked them as slow of heart, traced his life, death and resurrection through all the Scriptures and opened their understanding to their unity and meaning. That opening of the word restored shaken faith with burning hearts and holy joy, grounded bold witness to his resurrection as the great central truth of the church, made salvation with pardon, peace and everlasting righteousness possible for the repentant, and he still walks unseen beside the despondent to feed them with the bread of life.
Emmaus Road Setting
On resurrection day the risen Jesus spoke these words to two disciples traveling from Jerusalem to Emmaus who were grieving, sad, hopeless, discouraged and confused by His trial and crucifixion and unable to reconcile His suffering with their hope that He was the Christ. They saw Him only as a weary traveler like themselves and told Him of the crucifixion of Christ as a prophet mighty in power by wicked hands, having buried their hopes in the tomb with Jesus and talking of their troubles. Their faith was so small they did not recognize Jesus when He drew near, yet while treading the rough way with them He revived their hopes so they felt tenderly toward Him.
He kept His identity hidden and did not first reveal Himself as risen, appearing of the same size as before with no immediately revealing marks that He was the Son of God. Overflowing joy at seeing Him alive would have satisfied their souls and left no hunger for the sacred truths He wanted fixed indelibly in their minds. He wanted truth to take firm root not because it was supported by His personal testimony but because the typical law and the prophets agreeing with the facts of His life and death presented unquestionable evidence, leading them to an intelligent faith in His life, character, mission to earth, death and resurrection.
Beginning with Moses and continuing through all the prophets, He traced His very history, life, mission, sufferings, death and resurrection, laying open what was written about Himself. He opened their understanding to the meaning and unity of Scripture, showing truths in the Old Testament that they had not recognized, to help them understand what they read. In this way He gave abundant evidence that the Saviour was living and that His resurrection was certain.
He rebuked them as fools and slow of heart to believe all the prophets had spoken, a question that searched their souls with earnestness, tenderness, sympathy and hopefulness. Their slowness came from hardly grasping the idea of a suffering Saviour and from not searching the Scriptures to see if these things were so. It was caused by being influenced by maxims and traditionary lore so that truths spoken by the greatest Teacher the world has ever known were lost to them, and old truths expounded became as a new revelation with a depth of meaning the writers themselves had not seen.
They could not yet take it in until He revealed Himself in the breaking of bread by His manner and the marks of crucifixion. When the object of His labor was gained He revealed Himself to them that their joy might be full, and then vanished from their sight. The one who died on the cross had entered glory by resurrection, coming forth raised from the dead from Joseph's sepulchre amid earthquake and mighty angels rolling back the stone, proclaiming Himself the resurrection and the life, and He afterward revealed Himself in the upper room and in the upper chamber to the eleven as one risen from the dead.
His humble walking with them and sharing their road shows that, though He had passed through death and ascended to the Father, He retains the same human sympathy and love. He identifies with suffering and perplexed people, walks with and comforts His suffering people, and remains beside those who grieve and long for His company. The risen Jesus, who had suffered and died and then conquered death, thus comforted the despondent disciples and can give peace and life and comfort to those who accept Him.
Suffering Before Glory
Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory, for suffering had to come first and glory afterward in necessary order. The prophets had spoken of how he would be treated, and failure to understand this sequence showed unbelief and left faith and hope shaken. The disciples could not reconcile the humiliated and crucified Jesus with the Messiah, but his lesson was that suffering and glory belong together. Renewed attention to the promises linked to his death began to restore hope, expectation and joy.
The suffering meant the conflict in Gethsemane and the shame, humiliation, rejection, trial by wicked hands, cross and death. In it he went into the depths of human misery and died to bear the penalty of human transgression. His humble ride into Jerusalem, honored like a king's procession, faintly prefigured his future glory as Zion's King while directing attention to the sacrifice he was about to make for guilty humanity.
Entering into glory means overcoming death and the tomb, rising on the third day, triumphing with angels worshiping him, ascending to the Father, taking his throne and being enthroned. Victory over death and bursting the fetters of the tomb is joined to his glory. Every specification of prophecy about his first advent was fulfilled in his life, death and resurrection, with the prophecies leading down to the time of his first coming made clear by divine light.
His death was not the destruction of his mission or his disciples' hopes and not a failure. The trial, death and resurrection fulfilled exactly what Moses, the types and all the prophets had spoken concerning him. The events that seemed to destroy hope were the strongest evidence for faith, proving he is Messiah and more than a prophet.
His kingdom was not a temporal power nor an earthly reign on David's throne. It is manifested in the hearts of his people through divine grace to rescue the lost world. Only through his humiliation, suffering and death, ordained in the counsels of the Father and the Son with rejection, resurrection on the third day and entrance into glory, could the kingdom of his glory finally be established.
Foretold and Fulfilled Prophecy
Both the suffering and the entrance into glory were foretold in Scripture, in Moses and all the prophets, in the typical law and the types and prophecies, and in the prophetic chain extending from the patriarchs to Christ's time. What was foretold concerned his life, suffering, death, resurrection and glory, his character and mission, and the necessity that he suffer before entering glory. On the road to Emmaus he explained this from Moses and through all the prophets, showing that the events of his life and death fulfilled what was written about him and establishing his identity as Messiah. His death therefore fulfilled what the prophets had spoken and was not the destruction of his mission or his disciples' hopes, and he delayed revealing himself until he had explained these Scriptures so that faith would rest on their evidence and the facts and not merely on seeing him.
Every specification of prophecy about his first advent was exactly fulfilled in his life, death and resurrection, including the prophecies leading down to the time of his first coming. His life fulfilled what Scripture foretold and established the certainty and necessity of his suffering, death and resurrection, with triumph over death and bursting the fetters of the tomb proving him Messiah and more than a prophet. His suffering and death were not a failure or defeat of his mission but the ordained path to his throne and glory, for he rose on the third day after the prophecies of his humiliation, rejection and death were fulfilled. His purpose was to establish a spiritual kingdom and not to reign as a temporal king on David's throne. Divine light on those prophecies makes them clear and gives boldness to present the truth about Jesus, to show their fulfillment, and to correct any perversion of the Scriptures.
The disciples and leaders misunderstood because they had not searched the Scriptures and had hardly grasped a suffering Saviour, burying their hopes in the tomb and talking of troubles instead of testing whether these things were so. Their faith was small, their comprehension slow, and their minds clouded by misinterpretation, by maxims and traditionary lore, and by false teachings of the priests that confused ideas of Messiah and his mission. They expected a temporal power and an earthly kingdom and wrongly applied to the first coming the glory foretold for the second, so error must be unlearned to accept that suffering must come before glory. When understanding was opened, old truths became as a new revelation with a depth even the writers had not seen, for his sayings are spirit and life and bread from heaven that quickens and nourishes spiritual life, and as diligently sought as hidden treasure they lift believers from the obscurity of dawn to the radiance of noon in realizing the value of his grace and righteousness. He rebuked this slowness to believe all that the prophets had spoken, and while walking the rough way with them he opened the prophecies to revive hope and make hearts tender toward him.
His exposition from Moses and in all the prophets of the things concerning himself gave abundant, unquestionable evidence that the Saviour was living and not dead and that his resurrection was certain. The typical law and the prophets agreeing with the facts of his life and death presented unquestionable evidence, so he wanted truth to take firm root not because supported by his personal testimony but because of that agreement, leading to intelligent faith in his life, character, mission to earth, death and resurrection. When that work was done he revealed himself to make joy full, then revealed himself in the upper room to the eleven as one risen from the dead. This grounded the disciples' calm, joyful, unflinching declaration that Christ had risen, made of none effect the falsehood of the priests, and established Christianity by evidence that could not be controverted. The same light later enabled Saul to show that Jesus was the Son of God.
The fact of Christ's resurrection proclaimed by human lips as never before is the great central truth around which all the faith and hope of the church center and rest. His opening of the Scriptures about suffering and entering into glory makes hearts burn within and turns despair into still greater joy.
Restoring Faith Through Scripture
Failure to know what the prophets had spoken had left faith shaken, weakened and small, for the two on the road to Emmaus were sad and hopeless because they had not searched the Scriptures and had hardly grasped a suffering Saviour. They had buried their hopes in the tomb with Jesus and talked only of their troubles instead of testing whether these things were so, so small was their faith that they did not recognize Him when He drew near. Remembering the promises linked to His death and giving renewed attention to suffering before glory began to restore hope, expectation and joy, for the events that had seemed to destroy hope were the exact fulfillment of prophecy and the proof that faith in Him was right. The rebuke as fools and slow of heart to believe all the prophets searched their souls with earnestness, tenderness, sympathy and hopefulness, and the words sounded like His own words, filling them with amazement. For the first time since the betrayal they felt hopeful with throbbing hearts of expectation, hope and joy, their hopes revived so that they felt tenderly toward Him, and the risen Christ as educator bound their hearts with holy, new, sacred hope and joy.
The illuminating power in the Scriptures quickens faith and makes hearts burn within, turning despair into still greater joy. When they told Him as a weary traveler like themselves of the crucifixion of Christ as a prophet mighty in power by wicked hands, He began with Moses and the prophets and traced His very history as the Christ of God, showing that His suffering and all that had transpired was written there and laying it open to their understanding. They could not yet take it in until He revealed Himself in the breaking of bread by His manner and the marks of crucifixion. Searching the Scriptures with a humble heart and taking hold of the truth in its simplicity as verity warms and kindles the heart with the love of God, and contemplating His incarnation and great sacrifice to save and bring pardon, peace and everlasting righteousness fills the heart with holy joy and nourishes faith.
He kept His identity hidden until He had interpreted the Scriptures and led them to an intelligent faith in His life, character, mission to earth, death and resurrection. He delayed personal revelation because overflowing joy at seeing Him risen would have satisfied their souls and taken away hunger for the sacred truths He wanted fixed in their minds. He wanted truth to take firm root not because it was supported by His personal testimony but because the typical law and the prophets agreeing with the facts of His life and death presented unquestionable evidence. When the object of His labor was gained He revealed Himself that their joy might be full, and then vanished from their sight. That firmly rooted truth was to be imparted to others, and others in turn would spread it until thousands received the light given that day.
That joy made hunger and fatigue forgotten and compelled urgent witness, even late at night over a rough, dark road with stumbling, losing the path and pressing on to return to Jerusalem to impart the newly found knowledge and rejoice together. Jesus walks unseen beside such witnesses and hears their expressions of joy and gratitude with gladness. Their report of how prophecy foretold what happened to Jesus and how they had seen Him and talked with Him helped revive the others' faith. Those who claim God has given them great light should follow the same course instead of taking a different line and breaking up unity, returning to find those whom God had led and was still leading, going to those chosen of God to bear a living testimony, giving evidence that this light would better qualify them to prepare a people to stand in the great day of God, and seeking counsel of those who have been and are still bearing the truth and giving the last message of warning and who have had a deep experience in the things of God.
Salvation and Present Experience
His suffering and death before entering glory made salvation possible, for on the cross he bore the penalty of human transgression to save from perdition. That sacrifice brings pardon, peace, forgiveness of sins, everlasting righteousness and sanctification to repentant and converted people who come to the Father through faith in him, follow his example, and believe the truth. Contemplating his incarnation and great sacrifice directs the mind to him and fills the heart with holy joy that nourishes faith.
The same opening of understanding given on the road to Emmaus is needed today, with prayer for the Holy Spirit shining on the sacred page to know what is truth, including through study of Daniel, Revelation and the other prophecies of the Old and New Testaments. His sayings are spirit and life and bread from heaven that quickens and nourishes spiritual life, and as eaten they quicken understanding. In that light old truths become a new revelation with wonderful things and a depth of meaning even the writers themselves had not seen. As truth is diligently sought as hidden treasure, believers better understand the value of his grace and righteousness, stepping from the obscurity of dawn to the radiance of noon and noonday.
Jesus still walks unseen beside believers, surrounding them with the holy atmosphere of his presence, hearing their talk and feeding them with the bread of life. He remains beside those who grieve and are despondent to give peace, life, consolation and comfort. His presence and teaching make hearts burn within with holy joy as truth is received and his lessons are spoken of. The strengthening of the Waldenses by Christ in their lonely retreats to reject false guides and worship God alone is like that meeting on the road to Emmaus where he opened the truths of Scripture.
Those seeking his righteousness dwell upon his incarnation and suffering sacrifice for salvation, and as they meditate upon the word their souls are supplied with nourishing food. Their thoughts are occupied with holiness and truth, grace and righteousness, self dies and Christ lives in them, and their hearts burn within as did the disciples' hearts. Knowing he is beside them brings holy joy and a relish for speaking of his lessons, so that when truth abides in the heart criticism ceases and what is in the heart flows from the lips in living streams of life and gladness.