The Road to Emmaus

It had been an intense few weeks for the two disciples as they replayed in their minds some of the events and conversations they had experienced. The triumphal entry into Jerusalem and the clearing of the temple. The Passover in the upper room. Jesus’ prayers in Gethsemane. Judas’ ugly betrayal. The trial, the mocking, the beating. Jesus’ bruised body hanging on a cross and His final words before He breathed His last as the afternoon sky turned black. The loud rip of the temple curtain. The open graves of the righteous. Gently taking Jesus’ body off the cross and laying Him in the tomb before Sabbath. And then the confusion, discouragement, and questions in the disciples’ minds. How had they gotten it so wrong?

Jesus’ followers were disappointed, discouraged, and confused. This was the greatest setback of their lives. What they didn’t see was that this was merely a moment in the greatest story of all time. As two of them walked on the road to Emmaus, Jesus appeared and walked with them.

Read the conversation in Luke 24:13-27 and think about the two different perspectives: the two followers, and Jesus.

Once their eyes were opened, the two followers rushed to Jerusalem to share about the things that had happened on the road (Luke 24:33-35). As Jesus came and stood in their midst, they were terrified. Notice His questions to them: “Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts?” (Luke 24:38, NKJV).

This is also Jesus’ message for us today. Too often, we forget that Jesus walks beside us in our valleys. Too often we don’t recognize Him. Too often we forget that there’s much more to the story. Too often we feel troubled and allow doubts to arise in our hearts, forgetting that Jesus holds our lives securely in His hands. And too often we think we know better than Jesus does about what’s really happening in our lives (Luke 24:18).

The Bible gives such good counsel about how we as Christians can respond to challenges and setbacks. Take some time to study these short passages: Rom. 8:28; Phil. 4:4-13; James 1:2-4, 12; and 2 Cor. 12:9-10. As part of your study, write down three key messages you can share with someone who is facing setbacks right now, keeping 2 Corinthians 1:4 in mind.

Job

When we think of setbacks in the Bible, Job is perhaps the person who first comes to mind. Not only did he lose all his wealth (Job 1:14-17), but he also lost his children (Job 1:18-19) and his health (Job 2:7). His wife then tried to convince him to curse God and die (Job 2:9).

After some time, three friends came to sit with Job. They were so shocked at his appearance that they sat with him, speechless, for seven days (Job 2:13). Eventually, when they spoke, they tried to offer human reasons for why such misfortune had come to Job, but in doing so, they unintentionally increased his suffering. Three friends blamed him, saying he must have some hidden sin in his life to repent of (Job 8, 11, 15), even saying, “Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked, and this is the place of him who does not know God” (Job 18:21, NKJV).

How did Job respond? Read Job 19:23-27 and Job 23:8-12.

No matter the tragic events that surrounded him, and the fact that he didn’t understand them, Job remained faithful. He held fast. He didn’t blame God or curse Him. Instead, when tempted to blame God, he declared: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job 1:21, NKJV).

We, too, live in the middle of this same battle. Satan afflicts us with pain, suffering, loss, and hardship as part of his plan to distort our picture of a loving God. In such time, we can respond in one of two ways: blame and reject God or cling to Him with all our might. Although the battle rages around us, we must remember that, in light of eternity, our momentary troubles are but temporary trials (2 Cor. 4:16-18). There is so much more to the picture than what we see here and now, and one of the great challenges for a believer is to trust God even in the darkest times. God has, in many ways, revealed to us the reality of His love. We must cling to this crucial truth--that of God’s love--even when we might not at the moment sense it.

If you are in the middle of a difficult time right now, run to God. Take your Bible and a notebook and be with God outside in nature. Copy down Romans 5:3-5 and reflect on the different messages in this passage, believing that God’s love and care for you is the surest and most stable factor in your life.

Be Made Well

Imagine the throng of people on the shore of Galilee. They’ve been waiting for Jesus’ return since early morning, and as He steps from the boat, they press close around Him, following Him into the village of Capernaum. Suddenly, Jairus, ruler of the synagogue, appears and begs Jesus to come to make his daughter well.

One of the people in the crowd is a woman who has been unwell for many years. She’s spent all her money on doctors, but she “was no better, but rather grew worse” (Mark 5:26, NKJV). She’s heard about this great Man of Galilee and, with hope in her heart, gathers what little strength she had to leave her house that morning to join the crowd. The press of the people feels almost suffocating as she inches closer to Jesus. And then, through the pushing and shoving, she sees Him. She encourages herself: “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well” (Mark 5:28, NKJV).

Read Mark 5:21-34. What happened, and what can we learn?

This incident shows Jesus’ care and compassion for the sick and lonely, and those usually lost in the crowd. Many that day were pressed close to Jesus’ side as they drifted along with the crowd, but only one intentionally reached out to touch Jesus to receive the blessing she so desperately needed. However, it wasn’t her touch that healed her; it was her faith that made her well (Mark 5:34). “The Saviour could distinguish the touch of faith from the casual contact of the careless throng.”--Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 344. Jesus’ garment held no special power; rather, it was the woman’s faith and her choice to reach out to touch Him that healed her.

That frail woman, in her suffering and distress, could have stayed in bed at home on that morning, but instead, she deliberately and hopefully sought Jesus out in the hope of healing. Seeing Him at a distance wasn’t enough; she drew close to Him.

Jesus beckons us to do the same today. He says, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matt. 11:28-29, NLT).

How did this woman in such great need demonstrate the ideas in Romans 5:3-5? What might this look like in your life?

Tuesday ↥       

Life’s Storms

Jesus had spent the day speaking to large crowds of people on the shores of Galilee. Jesus’ words would echo in the people’s minds for a long time and down throughout eternity.

As evening fell, Jesus spoke to His disciples, inviting them on a journey with Him. “Let us cross over to the other side” (Mark 4:35, NKJV). Jesus knew a storm would come but suggested they go anyway. He had an important life lesson to teach His closest followers.

You likely know what happened next.

Read about this storm again in Mark 4:35-41. What lessons on faith can you take from here?

Consider these points:

1. Jesus falls asleep on what was likely the only pillow in the boat. The fishing boats usually had one pillow, which the driver of the boat, at the stern, sat on. The person at the stern guided the boat to the destination. So here, Jesus is in the position of the boat’s “driver,” but He falls asleep at the wheel.
2. Not all the disciples were new to sailing. Peter, James, and John were experienced fishermen. They knew the Sea of Galilee, and they would have known how to navigate a storm.
3. This is the only recorded Gospel account of Jesus sleeping. During one of the worst storms in their lives, when the disciples are terrified and think they’re going to die, Jesus is asleep at the stern.
4. The disciples’ response in their time of crisis is “Do You not care?” They questioned Jesus’ character and His love for them. Too often, this is also our response when we face hard times.

It’s in the midst of hopelessness that we can try to save ourselves (like the disciples), or sometimes it’s when we feel pain or loss that we start to question or doubt God’s love and care for us. We presume that He should act in a certain way based on what we think and see from our human perspective. But, as with the disciples, it’s in life’s storms that God can work the greatest miracles. God is always faithful, even when His apparent lack of involvement doesn’t make sense to us. He’s in our storms with us and can calm the storm when we cannot.

What is your usual response when you face a storm in your life? How do such moments impact your relationship with God? When have you lived out 2 Corinthians 5:7?

Sabbath Afternoon

Read for This Week’s Study: Mark 4:35-41; Mark 5:21-34; Rom. 5:3-5; Job 19:23-27; Job 23:8-12; Luke 24:13-27; Rom. 8:18, 28

Memory Text: “And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Romans 5:3-5, NKJV).

One evening, as the sun dipped over the horizon, a girl was walking home when a dark storm blew in. She quickened her pace, knowing there was still a way to go. A lone raindrop fell on her cheek, then another, and, before she knew it, she was drenched. She started to run until she flung open the door of her home, her father rushing toward her from the front window. As he wrapped a blanket around her shoulders, he asked her, “I saw you just now, in the rain. Why, with every bolt of lightning, did you stop running to look up and smile?” “Oh, I stopped to look up,” she said, “because God was taking my picture!”

What is our response when the storms of life come or when we have certain setbacks in our relationship with God? Do we put our head down as the rain pelts upon our backs or do we look up, knowing and trusting that God is there as we turn our face toward Him?

This week, we’ll explore some responses we often have when life is challenging. We’ll consider how we might use life’s setbacks to strengthen, not weaken, our most important relationship.

*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, June 13.

Further Thought: The Bible often uses agricultural metaphors to describe our spiritual condition. Hosea 10:12 is one example that captures what we have discussed this week: “Sow for yourselves righteousness;

Reap in mercy;

Break up your fallow ground,

For it is time to seek the LORD,

Till He comes and rains righteousness on you” (NKJV).

We sow, reap, break up the hard soil, and seek God to come close to us. The soil of our hearts must be prepared and ready for the rain (Holy Spirit) to fall. God can give us the desire to prepare the soil, but, ultimately, a relationship with God is a partnership (see Phil. 2:12-13). We have to turn our heads toward Him, reach out to Him, and cling onto Him. Then He works in us to do the rest.

One great example of what clinging to God means can be found in these verses: “Your eyes have seen what the LORD did because of Baalpeor: for all the men that followed Baalpeor, the LORD thy God hath destroyed them from among you. But ye that did cleave unto the LORD your God are alive every one of you this day” (Deut. 4:3-4).

Discussion Questions:

1. “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matt. 6:13). Jesus specifically taught His disciples to pray this way, but do we keep this line of thought in our daily prayers? How regularly do you pray for protection against temptation and sin?
2. How would you explain the precious gift of Christ’s robe of righteousness to a non-Christian or a new believer?
3. How does Christ’s robe of righteousness connect to the message of the sanctuary, which is all about God forgiving and cleaning the repentant sinner? How well do you understand the beauty and richness of this message?

Summary: Identifying our sins in response to the Holy Spirit’s promptings and surrendering self in repentance are vital parts of having a thriving relationship with God. Knowing that we are completely forgiven and covered by Jesus’ robe of righteousness is the most transformative experience for a human being. Not only do we feel the weight of sin lifted, but we feel the love of God surround us as we are drawn closer to Him. This binds us to God, strengthens us spiritually, and compels us to love Him with every fiber of our being.

The Most Expensive Robe

Nice clothing too often defines the rich by worldly standards. Some people say, “I dress this way to express who I am.” But in heaven, everything other than our relationships will fade away (Matt. 6:19-21, NKJV). Our personal identity should be wrapped up in Jesus and His perfect robe of righteousness.

Read  the parable in Matthew 22:1-14 that Jesus told to explain this. What messages can you find in this parable?

Jesus called the man without a robe “friend,” and despite his lack of response, they must have had a relationship. The man must have known about the robe but had chosen not to wear it. Jesus’ character is perfect and spotless, and He offers this to us “that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white” (Rev. 19:8), “not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing” (Eph. 5:27).

The white linen “is the righteousness of Christ, His own unblemished character, that through faith is imparted to all who receive Him as their personal Saviour.”--Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 310.

Adam and Eve wore a white robe of soft light before they sinned; after they sinned, they realized they were naked (Gen. 3:7) and made clothing of fig leaves. Then God replaced their fig leaves with a clothing from animal skins. There was a sacrifice that produced their garment. In a similar way, we accept Jesus’ sacrifice by accepting His robe of righteousness. “Naked and ashamed, they tried to supply the place of the heavenly garments by sewing together fig leaves for covering…. Nothing can man devise to supply the place of his lost robe of innocence. No fig-leaf garment, no worldly citizen dress, can be worn by those who sit down with Christ and angels at the marriage supper of the Lamb. Only the covering which Christ Himself has provided can make us meet to appear in God’s presence. This covering, the robe of His own righteousness, Christ will put upon every repenting, believing soul.”--Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 311.

Reflect: We should daily choose to be clothed with Jesus’ robe of righteousness. What does this really mean, and how do we do this?

Sufficient Grace

When we feel the weight of our sin and allow the Holy Spirit to lead us to the foot of the cross, we should ask for God’s forgiveness, knowing that “the LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy” (Ps. 103:8, NKJV). This same verse was spoken by God Himself (Exod. 34:6) after His chosen nation had grieved Him.

Read Exodus 34:1-10. What crucial truth is found here?

The fact that the Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy is also the very reason Jesus died on the cross--so that our relationship with God could be made right again.

It’s when we are willing to acknowledge and confess our sin; when we say, O, Lord, here I am again … “Be merciful to me a sinner!” (Luke 18:13, NKJV), that Jesus--who has already been working in us and for us with the Holy Spirit before we even call out to Him--sees the weight and takes it from us. Our burdens are lifted at Calvary, and Jesus is surely very near when we come to Him and, even before, seeks us as the Good Shepherd and stands at the door and knocks (Rev. 3:20). Let’s not stay away from the Cross, looking at God from a distance. Let’s run to Jesus and exchange our sins and burdens for His righteousness (Zech. 3:4).

Slowly read the following verses. Write in your own words what they tell you about God’s grace toward you: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23, NKJV).

“But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 5:20-21, NKJV).

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8, NKJV).

Real Repentance

The secular world bombards us with messages of independence, indulgence, and self-promotion--the opposite of the principles of God’s kingdom. Interestingly, the first words recorded in the Bible by John the Baptist and Jesus were similar. John said, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (Matt. 3:1-2, NKJV). Jesus said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:14-15, NKJV; see also Luke 24:46-47). Both Jesus and John called those listening to repentance because the kingdom of heaven was near. Could it be that this same message is equally as relevant to us today?

Read Acts 3:18-19. Why is repentance so important in the process of spiritual growth? What is a time of “refreshing”?

The kindness and goodness of God lead us to repentance (Rom. 2:4). Repentance involves two steps: (1) sincere pain and sorrow for our sins; and (2) the honest decision to abandon sin. In the Bible, repentance is almost always connected to forgiveness. We genuinely repent; God forgives. It’s that simple (1 John 1:9, Rev. 3:19). “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9, NKJV). As we personally prepare our souls for the Second Coming, God is giving us time to make things right with Him.

Jesus suffered, died, and rose so that when we repent, His grace can work a miracle in our lives. Contrary to the world, which tells us we are fine just the way we are, God asks that we turn to Him in repentance and faith (Acts 20:21), placing ourselves fully in His hands so that He can prune and beautifully shape our characters into His likeness, to testify of Him (John 15:2, 8). We then grow and produce fruit in keeping with repentance (Matt. 3:8). “No repentance is genuine that does not work reformation. The righteousness of Christ is not a cloak to cover unconfessed and unforsaken sin; it is a principle of life that transforms the character and controls the conduct.”--Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, pp. 555, 556.

Repentance leads to life (Acts 11:18) and is a vital part of growing in a relationship with God. In the process of surrender, repentance, and allowing God to prune you, what step is most challenging for you?

Holy Spirit Promptings

As he thought about the distance between himself and his wife, he knew that he had been wrong. He’d been unkind and harsh and had said some things he’d regretted. Yet his next thought was Didn’t she deserve it, even a little bit?

Is this thought process familiar to you? It’s easy to flip from a sense of remorse to a justification of our thoughts and actions. It’s not always easy to say “I’m sorry …” when we have done wrong, yet this is so essential to rebuilding or strengthening any relationship.

The same is true of us and God. The Holy Spirit often prompts our minds to think about the sins that we commit. Our hearts are moved because of these promptings, but it can be easy to push away that still, small voice as we justify why we acted a certain way. One of the roles of the Holy Spirit is to “convict the world of sin” (John 16:8, NKJV). What an incredible gift from God (Luke 11:13), for how we need such convictions to repair the distance that can creep into our walk with Him!

Read Hosea 6. What specifically do you notice here about how God describes Himself in His appeal for repentance?

Consider the role of the Holy Spirit in the process of grafting us back onto the Vine (John 15:4). “We often sorrow because our evil deeds bring unpleasant consequences to ourselves; but this is not repentance. Real sorrow for sin is the result of the working of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit reveals the ingratitude of the heart that has slighted and grieved the Saviour, and brings us in contrition to the foot of the cross. By every sin Jesus is wounded afresh; … we mourn for the sins that have brought anguish upon Him. Such mourning will lead to the renunciation of sin.”--Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 300.

The truth is, we can’t grow in our relationship with God when chosen and cherished sin stands between us and Him. We’ve all fallen short of the glory of God, but we can--and should--repent of our sins when the Holy Spirit brings them into our minds (Eph. 4:30).

When did you last hear a rebuke or a call to repentance? How did you respond? Spend some time right now in prayer, asking God to soften your heart and open your ears to His voice in His Word this week.