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By Peter Biggs
READ - LUKE 24
 When we read the Scriptures we can read them too fast and too lightly. This account of Jesus is one of the first things he did after rising from the dead, after he appeared in the garden to Mary... on the same day he is found outside the city on a dry dusty road... walking? Here Jesus actually leaves the main flock in Jerusalem, taking some hours, to rescue two lost sheep. That is Jesus prioritizing of his precious time.
Jesus the good shepherd
Luke 15:4 "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?
The first thing he does after rising from the dead is take most of this 1st resurrection day to rescue these 2 ordinary followers. Isn't that amazing! But perhaps of all the disciples perhaps these two were in most jeopardy.
13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem.
They had belonged to the disciples in Jerusalem.
14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened.
This is all happening on the first Easter Sunday. They were talking about things that had happened that day. They had been parlay to both the women and Peter's report of the empty tomb. It was all too much for these two, they were on their way home.
7 miles - perhaps a 2 - 3 hour walk. This is probably mid afternoon.
(v29 "the day is almost over" when they arrived)
15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other,
Luke shows their mounting bewilderment...he uses 2 different Greek words to denote a mounting tension... "talked then discussed..."
Later as Jesus uses yet another Greek. verb in v17 "What are you discussing" it has the idea of literally "throwing back and forth"
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"The scene is one of a persistent but rather baffled attempt to understand the meaning of this most momentous weekend in history." Liefeld Exp. Commentary.
Jesus comes alongside our lives
Jesus himself came up and walked along with them;
First he simply walks with them... for a while "in their footsteps" as it were. He listens. Sometimes God seems 'quiet' - he listens.
16 but they were kept from recognising him.
It's not easy to help lost sheep. He needs stealth.
A thought:
God is capable of being right alongside us and yet hide himself at the same time, in order to teach us. He is walking in such a way with many of you right now!!
17 He asked them,
God speaks... but only after a while and his words to us are few. When he speaks it is with a question not an answer.
Jesus asking them... so often he asks... he asks us what is wrong....
We need to answer him... not be smart and say "He is God - he knows anyway..."
That 'logical rational' thinking kills relationship... God wants us to tell him... he is surprised by our answers sometimes!! We are creative!! Remember Jesus was amazed at the Roman centurian's faith. Mary moved him to tears at the tomb of Lazarus. If God asks us we need to answer.
Pray your heart out to him. Express your feelings. Don't say "he knows anyway".
Next week we continue to observe God rescuing lost sheep
August 20/2009
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In a day when churches gladly welcome wealthy Ananiases and Sapphiras', Jesus' math is ignored. 'These men who were hired last worked only one hour,' we say, 'and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.'
To quote Yancey; "[leaving the 99 to rescue the 1 is] a noble deed, but reflect for a moment on the underlying arithmetic. Jesus says the shepherd left the ninety-nine sheep 'in the country,' which presumably means they were vulnerable to rustlers, wolves, or a feral desire to bolt free. How would the shepherd feel if he returned with the one lost lamb slung across his shoulders only to find twenty-three others now missing?"
The master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. —Matthew 18:27
From childhood we are taught how to succeed in the world of ungrace. “You get what you pay for.” “The early bird gets the worm.” “No pain, no gain.” I know these rules well because I live by them. I work for what I earn; I like to win; I insist on my rights. I want people to get what they deserve.
But Jesus’ parables about grace teach a radically different concept. In Matthew 18, no one could accumulate a debt as huge as the servant did (vv.23-24). This underscores the point: The debt is unforgivable. Nevertheless, the master let the servant off scot-free.
The more I reflect on Jesus’ parables proclaiming grace, the more tempted I am to apply the word atrocious to describe the mathematics of the gospel. I believe Jesus gave us these stories to call us to step completely outside our tit-for-tat world of ungrace and enter into God’s realm of infinite grace.
If I care to listen, I hear a loud whisper from the gospel that I did not get what I deserved. I deserved punishment and got forgiveness. I deserved wrath and got love. I deserved debtor’s prison and got instead a clean credit history. I deserved stern lectures and crawl-on-your-knees repentance. Instead, I got a banquet spread for me.