Dee Brestin in her book, Jesus Who Surprises, speaks about how her children loved playing hide and seek and I can so relate.
My two sons removed pots and pans from the kitchen cabinets just so they could hide inside. They would wait patiently to be discovered. Often I would hear giggles as I walked past their hide outs.
My sons took great delight in my surprised expression when I opened the door!
We want to be found too by Jesus, but are we searching for Him?
I love the way Dee shares that “Jesus hides in every Old Testament book” through the foreshadowing of every prophet, priest, slain lamb, and suffering servant.
It is easy to find myself hidden throughout the Bible in the form of the scared disciples in the boat, Zaccheus up in the tree, and even Eve when she disobeyed.
But to find Jesus in the Old Testament, we need to look carefully. Dee even mentions the veil needs to be removed from our eyes in order to see Jesus “in the Old Testament and in our everyday lives.”
In Luke Chapter 24 the two disciples were “kept” from recognizing Jesus. I wondered about the purpose for this and it reminded me how famous people often hide their identity from the public.
I also marveled about how the disciples asked Jesus the same question that I often do when things in my life are in a downward spiral.
Don’t you know all that is happening?
Jesus did know all that was happening and showed up to explain what they had yet to grasp.
I wonder if they had immediately recognized him if they would have listened so intently or fully understood ALL that the prophets had spoken.
I wonder if sometimes we are “kept” from recognizing Jesus in our daily lives. And the kicker is that He is right there beside us teaching us himself as we desperately search for Him.
Perhaps they would have been so excited to see Him that they would have been distracted to fully ponder all that Jesus needed for them to learn. We are good listeners when we have a great need to understand.
The Road to Emmaus
That same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. And as they talked and deliberated, Jesus Himself came up and walked along with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing Him.
He asked them, “What are you discussing so intently as you walk along?”
They stood still, with sadness on their faces. One of them, named Cleopas, asked Him, “Are You the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in recent days?”
“What things?” He asked.
“The events involving Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered. “This man was a prophet, powerful in speech and action before God and all the people. Our chief priests and rulers delivered Him up to the sentence of death, and they crucified Him. But we were hoping He was the One who would redeem Israel. And besides all this, it is the third day since these things took place.
Furthermore, some of our women astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, but they did not find His body. They came and told us they had seen a vision of angels, who said that Jesus was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had described. But Him they did not see.”
Then Jesus said to them, “O foolish ones, how slow are your hearts to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and then to enter His glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was written in all the Scriptures about Himself.
As they approached the village where they were headed, He seemed to be going farther. But they pleaded with Him, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.”
So He went in to stay with them. While He was reclining at the table with them, He took bread, spoke a blessing and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Jesus—and He disappeared from their sight.
They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us as He spoke with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” And they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem.
There they found the Eleven and those with them, gathered together and saying, “The Lord has indeed risen and has appeared to Simon!”
Then the two told what had happened on the road, and how they had recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread. (Luke 24 BSB, Bible hub)
Tim Keller shares how the resurrection equals restoration in the Jesus Vindicated sermon about Luke 24 (approx 1 hour). If you have recently suffered a loss, you may find comfort in the sermon below.
Give thanks for all good gifts
Dee challenged us at the end of every day to write down one good gift that we received that day. Within the last few days, I’ve been surprised twice by a family of deer. It’s a special treat to see how beautiful God’s creatures are.
Get your soul happy in the Lord every morning.
Dee Brestin, Jesus Who Surprises
One of the ways I get my soul happy every morning is to walk outside. As I walk, I talk to the Lord and marvel at his creation.
How does Jesus Surprise You?
One way that I’m often surprised is that during times when I should be in great fear instead I feel unanticipated peace, joy and hope.
It is amazing that the God of the universe would create a perfect plan to send Jesus to earth to show us the way of life, granting us the joy of His presence and the pleasure of living with Him forever.
I pray along with Dee that God will remove the veil from all our eyes so that we may find Jesus in the scriptures as well as in our daily lives.
Feel free to write in the comments a good gift you’ve received today.
Reference:
Brestin, D. The Jesus Who Surprises. (website of free videos)
Abide in Christ's Love 