Focus

Blinding Blizzards

By Major Anne Pickup – 

Major Bill Pickup has sustained severe complications following surgery for cancer of the esophagus. He has stabilized, but his condition is critical at publication. His family requests your prayers. Messages of encouragement may be sent to: 5720 Shadow Ridge Dr., Castro Valley, CA 94552.

“Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus-they were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing Him.” Luke 24: 13-16

The “Road to Emmaus” is a familiar scene of the Easter drama. Maybe-like me-you have wondered why it was that these two, Cleopas and an unnamed person, missed knowing it was Jesus who walked with them. They had clearly been in Jerusalem as followers of Jesus. They knew how “powerful in word and deed” Jesus was and they “had hoped He was the redeemer of Israel.” Ironically, they remembered Jesus saying He would rise from the dead on the third day, and this was the third day-but they were confused and blinded.

How could they be so blind to who was walking with them? Is it possible we are blinded from seeing Jesus in our lives in the same way?

They Were Blinded by Different Expectations

These two travelers, and many other Jews with them, were looking for a military or political redeemer of Israel. One who would free them from slavery to foreign rulers. They never expected their Redeemer to come on a spiritual level, freeing them from the bondage of sin.

How often have we defined how God should come to us? We expect He will answer our prayer a certain way. We are looking for God to function according to our expectationsÉand then we miss Him because He came differently than we imagined!

They Were Blinded by Their Tears

With the death of Jesus and the disappearance of His body their hopes were destroyed. Their dreams of deliverance faded with every step taken away from Jerusalem. They were devastated.

When we are distressed by life’s difficulties, when circumstances confuse us and pain is expressed in tears, we too have been blinded from seeing Jesus. Storms of life can become blinding blizzards and Jesus can seem very illusive.

They Were Blinded by Their Lack of Faith in the Mystery of God

It’s really quite stunning that they were so sure of this prophet’s power, and knew of His prediction of resurrection, and still they didn’t believe. They had heard the testimony of several people who had seen the empty tomb and still they didn’t believe. They simply did not have faith in thy mysterious power of God that could work beyond human knowledge. They did not believe in the supernatural.

Don’t be too critical… we are blined by the same thing! Ours is a scientific world that demands empirical evidence. Anything that functions outside the laws of nature is not automatically deemed supernatural, but needing further investigation that will lead to perfectly logical explainations.

But God is supernatural. He still performs miracles. He is able to function outside the laws of nature. God is also beyond our ability to understand, therefore, mysterious. Rather than be blinded by our need to reason things out and understand everything, could we see God more often if we allowed Him to surprise us?

“Open our eyes, Lord, we want to see Jesus!”