Craving good news?

 

2 Chronicles 10; Zephaniah 2; Luke 24; Revelation 1

Our local television news is mostly Covid, Covid, Covid with occasional reports of crime in our city. I’m tired of it, of the statistics and the gloom. We are also in lockdown. Essential services stay open, but numbers in the stores are limited to 15% of their capacity. No one can come over for dinner or a visit. This will last four weeks, effectively shutting down Christmas dinner with family and friends. I’m tired of all the bad news. What is the good news for today?

Luke ends his gospel with the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead! That is good news. The women were first told, then the eleven — who didn’t believe them at first, but Peter went to the tomb and found it empty. That same day, Jesus appeared to two others. They didn’t realize it was Him. Who expects a dead person to walk beside them? Yet He explained and, “Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” (Luke 24:27)

What an experience that would have been! I remember a seminary class focused on the same theme — it was incredible, delightful, awesome. Seeing Jesus in the Old Testament enriches my life. I cannot imagine what it did to those two on that road to Emmaus except that finally “their eyes were opened and they recognized Him” and later, as He appeared to the others, He gave them this good news:

“These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” (Luke 24:44–49, italics mine)

Do those who suffer sickness know this? Do those whose livelihood has been threatened or lost realize the significance of this? Do those whose family has been broken know the power of what Jesus proclaimed?

I’m reading about liberation theology and realize that the message of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection is largely hidden to many of the most ‘religious’ people. They are oblivious to the power of Jesus to change everything through repentance and forgiveness of sin — not the sins of everyone else but ‘my own sin’. He opens blind eyes and dull hearts with the gifts of seeing who He is and understanding His Word. This seeing and understanding is impossible without His amazing power to make it happen. He can bring people into a kingdom that is otherwise unseen, invisible, hidden to the sharpest minds. This is incredible; the very high point of good news.

Jesus said He would send the promise of His Father upon them. He meant the power of the Holy Spirit. Without the Spirit, the things of God are hidden from even the most ‘religious’ — the best we can do is imagine, make up a system that sort of ‘works for us’ yet this does not bring freedom. For some, their religion puts the blame on their oppressors for their problems rather than where it is rooted and far more insidious. Sin blinds minds: “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death” (Proverbs 14:12) Without the illuminating power of Jesus to those He grants repentance and forgiveness, there is only blindness and folly, a stumbling that is oblivious to its own error.

APPLY: As I read how Jesus opened the eyes of those two men and gave understanding to these dull of heart disciples, I am more than ever convinced that only the power of God can change human lives. The Bible tells readers to choose, but without the enlightening grace of God, the choice to ‘do it my way’ will seem right as it leads people down the wrong path. Prayer is my response to this, prayer that God will touch blind eyes and give understanding to dull hearts, mine too. Without Jesus, we can do nothing, and most certainly cannot save ourselves. The reason this is good news is that is exactly what Jesus wants to do — save us from blindness and ignorance and from the deceptive notion that we can live without Him.