# The Road to Emmaus Victorious Christian Living Language: en Author: by Lee Rufener Athens, WI Original issue: The Heartbeat of The Remnant, Summer 2022, Number 2 Source pages: 14–17 Read article: Original PDF: Summer\-2022\-Remnant\.pdf [The Heartbeat of The Remnant, Summer 2022]() > *And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these > that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad? –Luke 24:17\.* On June 6, 1944, 156,000 American, British, and Canadian troops landed on a 50\-mile stretch of beach in Normandy, France\. After several months of intense fighting, they overcame the initial defenses and swarmed into the German\-held territory\. The surprise attack, known as D\-Day, caught the Germans off guard\. However, it wasn’t until March of the next year that France was finally liberated from German forces\. D\-day was the beginning of the end of World War II on the western front and it was the event that seemed to sap the life from the notorious German army, from which they never recovered\. It appears rather coincidental that so many words with a negative connotation begin with the letter D: Disappointment, Doubt, Doleful, Doom, Disillusionment, Discouragement, Dreary, Defeat, Despondency, Depression, Despair, Devastation, Deception, and Death\. I can imagine that these two believers, plodding upon the road to Emmaus that dim and dismal evening, were feeling a little the same way\. Their D\-Day had arrived totally unexpected\. I would suspect that every living person has at one time or another experienced moments of intense sadness—their own D\-day, so\-to\-speak\. Even some animals have been known to express a melancholy mood at the death of their master or mate\. But these two disciples seemed to be experiencing a pain far beyond the normal loss of a friend\. They were staring into the face of the grim reality that all their bright hopes of a shining tomorrow were hopelessly shattered in a ruinous heap at the foot of the cross\. This agony was no ordinary fit of depression but rather it was a depression linked to a crisis of faith\. This type of discouragement is a state of intense spiritual anguish in which the struggling, despairing believer feels he is abandoned by God\. It is a hopeless feeling that the sun of God's blessedness has been eclipsed and the dark night of the soul has become a permanent resident within\. While all of us seek to valiantly resist such dark temptations, a brief search into the lives of many godly men will reveal that these temptations are very real and are quite common to man\. In such a condition, life seems impossible and the impending gloom that has settled upon the heart sees no light at the end of the tunnel\. *Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail? –Jeremiah 15:18\.* This is obviously an overstated exaggeration that escaped the lips of the weeping prophet, but it gives us a direct snapshot into the dreaded pain in the depths of his soul\. *For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead –2 Corinthians 1:8\-9\.* This dark night of the soul shows no respect to persons\. It invades the lives of princes and paupers, preachers and penitents, public and private people, pulpits and pews\. These two disciples had verbally revisited every possible scenario in their journey along the Emmaus Road\. They had no doubt found plenty of fault in others as well as personal regret\. The “what ifs” and “if onlys” had thoroughly been discussed, but nothing could reverse the outcome and their restless anxiety lingered still\. The road from Jerusalem to Emmaus was *about threescore furlongs* or approximately seven miles\. And along this doleful journey a Stranger joined ranks with the distraught duo in their D\-Day and asked them for an account of their sadness\. But he is no curious onlooker\. He is the risen Lord who has come to cast His heavenly light upon our darkened pathway\. Rather than revealing Himself abruptly, and perhaps for our benefit, he patiently allows them to expose the depleted spiritual road that they were treading upon\. Thus, the conversation unfolds as the mile markers pass, each revealing our sincere erroneous efforts that lead us further from the city of peace and into the dark night of the soul… ### …The Ignorance of Others *And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? –Luke 24:18\.* Ask any stranger on the streets of New York City why the flags were flying at half\-mast three days after the towers fell on September 11, and you would receive the same incredulous answer ascribed to these two\. “How can you be so ignorant?” We all tend to marvel at people who do not hold the same knowledge that we imagine ourselves to possess\. The younger the man, the more answers that he believes the coffers of his understanding hold\. This is nothing new\. Moses, as a young man, *…supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not –Acts 7:25\.* While he firmly understood that he owned the plan of God, he was badly mistaken in the percentage that he possessed\. If our recourse cannot rectify the given situation, our answers are not the real answer\. The heartfelt disdain that naturally arises toward those who see it differently is the beginning marker that we are on the wrong path\. Miles down the pathway of life, Moses began to feel the desperation of that pain and the darkness of the hour\. *I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me\. And if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favour in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness –Numbers 11:14\-15\.* Why did Moses not see this earlier in life? For the same cause that these two fervent disciples’ *…eyes were holden that they should not know him –Luke 24:16\.* ### …Reason *And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people –Luke 24:19\.* They had their private perception of who the Christ was, but they were seeing *…through a glass, darkly… –1 Corinthians 13:12\.* Their partial knowledge was leaning heavily on their own understanding and looking for the wrong kind of redemption\. To them, their redeemer was \(past tense\) a prophet that no longer could do what they wanted him to do\. We all want Jesus to solve our problems and make us feel better, but His purpose is to free us from our presumption and sin\. Jacob had every *reason* to believe that the birthright and blessing was to be his\. At Bethel, God had promised to bless him\. Jacob reckoned this to arrive in a material format\. *And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God –Genesis 28:20\-21\.* But the greatest blessing he ever received from God arrived to him on the wings of a deep dark night\. *And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day\. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him\. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh\. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me\. And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob\. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed –Genesis 32:24\-28\.* Jacob had already accumulated an abundance of earthly possessions\. What more could he want? It was a dark night for Jacob when he discovered that he’d spent his life pursuing possessions and resisting God\. He now seeks godly character and spiritual affluence\. His victory was through surrender, and he limped away as a cripple with a crown\. The Lord cannot fully bless a man until He has first conquered his powers of reason\. ### …Ill Fate *And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him –Luke 24:20\.* God specializes in turning grave dilemmas into monumental victories\. Still, man looks around him and curses the darkness about him\. Though there may be a volley of good reciprocating them, *…the morning is to them even as the shadow of death… –Job 24:17\.* To give undo emphasis upon the evil about us is to mock the divinity of God\. While we all may regret at times things that we could have done or said differently, we must invariably leave the results in the hands of God\. Job experienced as much ill fate as anybody\. So much so that he opened *…his mouth, and cursed his day\. And Job spake, and said, Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived\. Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it\. Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it\. As for that night, let darkness seize upon it… –Job 3:1\-6\.* But somewhere before the dark events were rectified and lifted, the light shined into his soul, and he laid his hand to his mouth and worshiped\. ### …Personal Agenda *But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel… –Luke 24:21\.* It is but natural to attempt to understand any given situation and these two had selected the correct equation\. Their folly lay in the presumption of the means that Christ was to perform this and the type of redemption they were to receive\. They were looking forward to the day when their nation would be exalted over the Romans\. When we unwittingly seek our own security, it is bound to lead to bitter disappointment\. Naaman thought *…He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper –2 Kings 5:11\.* Abraham was promised the land of Canaan and he asked for a confirmation\. He then prepared the covenant sacrifice prescribed by God, but the entire day passed, and God did nothing with them\. *And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him\. –Genesis 15:12\.* As Abraham waited on God to receive his offering, he continued to beat back the birds of prey\. But as the day neared an end he began to feel abandoned by God and the dark night began to settle upon his soul\. It takes a midnight experience for things to get dark enough for us to see the stars and quiet enough to hear His voice\. *But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead –2 Corinthians 1:9\.* ### …Impatience *…And beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done –Luke 24:21\.* Many of us are disciplined enough to hold out for a season\. It is when our hope is deferred *\(see Proverbs 13:12\)* that our hearts grow sick and faint\. Three days seemed like a long time to these two\. But three days, weeks, months, years, or even decades are all within the disposal of God’s clock\. *How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me? –Psalm 13:1\.* Joseph patiently endured the ill treatment of his brothers and Potiphar, but the dungeon got long, and he entreated the butler to send for him when he was restored his position\. But it was *two full years* \(Genesis 41:1\) until Pharoah dreamed and Joseph was finally hailed forth\. But it was not so much the fault of the butler as it was the will of God who had called Joseph to be *…laid in iron: Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him –Psalm 105:18\-19\.* There is no more effective avenue to teach us patience than the discipline of darkness, from which few saints are exempt\. ### …Self\-Pity *Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre; And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive –Luke 24:22\-23\.* No one enjoys missing out\. In fact, psychology has uncovered a new disorder –FOMO \(fear of missing out\)\. The tidings brought by the women was good news and an amazing turn of events, yet it brought the others no joy for it did not happen to them\. Good news can rarely penetrate a person immersed in self\-pity and Elijah was one such\. His dark night arrived on the heels of a breathtaking triumph on Mount Carmel against the prophets of Baal\. But in the blackness of his own inner feelings *…he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers –1 Kings 19:4\.* ### …Feelings of Failure *And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not –Luke 24:24\.* It is easy to think, “It worked for them but it’s not working for me\.” While unsuccessful efforts may discourage us, it is not necessarily a failure on our part\. John the Baptist had faithfully called the people to repentance, baptized Christ, and witnessed the thundering voice from heaven\. He accurately announced the coming Messiah and pointed his disciples to *…the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world –John 1:29\.* This ministry earned him a secure place in a dark prison cell\. He had been well accustomed to the lack of comfort and a meager diet, but it was the feelings of utter abandonment by God that brought him unto dark doubts\. *And John calling unto him two of his disciples sent them to Jesus, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another? –Luke 7:19\.* “Was I wrong?” In the darkness he began to experience life on the sloping back of a question mark\. John Bunyan describes it as the slough of despond\. It may appear like D\-Day for the Christian, but undue emphasis upon our unsuccessful efforts promotes no resurrection\. ### Conclusion Not all spiritual darkness is completely avoidable\. Not every spiritual experience is a time of heartfelt blessing, nor is every place\. There are times of persecution and testing that are designed to bring saints unto the soul reckoning that only dark nights can minister unto\. Jesus Himself was tempted in a similar manner to us, when in the pervading darkness of the ninth hour on the cross, His voice rang out *…with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? –Matthew 27:46\.* The road to Emmaus bears witness to the fact that a vibrant existence of faith gives no guarantee of the absence of spiritual depression\. It is a story about real people with real faith experiencing real trials\. It is helpful to teach us that even spiritual pleasures ought not to be held too tightly\. Our confident visions for the future both immediate and long term must be immersed in the fires of humility\. The dark night is the place where such self\-deception dies, and an intimate knowledge of God is birthed\. It transitions us from loving God for the blessings He gives us, to loving God for our relationship with Him and the communion that follows\. The traveling companion of Cleopas was never mentioned\. Some think it was his wife\. Some claim it was Luke\. But their identity was omitted, perhaps so that we might be more apt to fill the vacancy with our own name\. Seven miles from Jerusalem we stumble upon the stark reality of whom the Savior really is and that salvation is more than just a rubber stamp marking His possession\. The scales fall from our eyes and the dark night of the soul gives way to the brightness of the noonday light of the presence of God\. It is then that we make our joyous dash back to the city of peace only to be misunderstood again\. *And they went and told it unto the residue: neither believed they them –Mark 16:13\.* And so, I wonder even at the profitability of writing down such thoughts\. It is not an encounter that can be manufactured and intellectually understood\. It is a highly personal convocation with God and tailored specifically to each individual\. But perhaps we, in our shallow generation, can be encouraged to reach out and embrace the darkness instead of meeting it with a loathing resistance\. And there in the menacing darkness of night, learn to embrace the Savior of light\. > Long my imprisoned spirit lay, > Fast bound in sin and nature's night\. > Thine eye diffused a quickening ray, > I woke; the dungeon flamed with light\. > My chains fell off\. My heart was free\. > I rose, went forth, and followed Thee\. > > > > *\- Charles Wesley* ![Raised hands reaching toward a beam of light from a high window]() ## Magazine citation - [Raised hands reaching toward a beam of light from a high window](): Adobestock\.com