April 15 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Luke 24:17–24

Devotional

Two men walk on the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus. They had hoped in the One who said: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” Now they could only see the reality that Jesus died and was buried. Their hopes were gone. Their expectations were smashed. The anchor of hope was not lying deep enough in the lives of these two men. It was shaken loose. They had hoped for an earthly kingdom. They failed to see that Christ was not a King with an earthly glory. He was the Messiah who would be anointed as King of the spiritual kingdom of God. This realm could only come through the depths of His suffering and death. Not the dominance of a foreign political power, but the power of hell, had to be broken. Not an earthly Jerusalem, but a heavenly Jerusalem had to be acquired by Christ.

Imagine for a moment that Christ had fulfilled the hopes of these two men. The men of Emmaus would have witnessed the return of the time of David, who as king subdued his enemies under his feet. But they also would have had hope in Christ only for this life; and their hope would have been in vain for they would have remained in their sins (1 Cor. 15:17).

The men had hoped to follow a path that would promote the cause of God in this life. But the stranger, Christ the Risen One, showed them a more excellent way. Christ had to suffer according to the Scriptures, that is, according to the eternal counsel of God. So in the place of their perishing hope, they received a deepening of their hope. The way of redemption must be anchored in the work of the Surety. Only on that foundation can someone’s ship of life be secured for eternity.

Child of God, it is a blessed privilege that the Lord does not save you according to your own insights. God’s redeeming love moves Him to confront you with the ruins of your own expectations. For your eternal salvation, the Lord sets you in places where you lament, questioning your hope and courage. Your hope must be crushed to enable you to see your need for a dying Mediator.

We trust, we think, we suppose, and we expect, but blessed is he who recognizes that his own devised ways fall short of making room for the way of salvation. Oh, what an incredible wonder is this counsel of God! If we were to determine the way for the Surety to go, we would have chosen a different path for Jesus. But that path would have resulted in our destruction. We must be anchored in the truths of God’s ways. An eternal downfall awaits everyone who is not anchored in the depths of His humiliation. Let God be praised, for the Lord Himself has shown the way and His ways are more excellent than the devices of man.

 

From The Everlasting Word by Frans Bakker, compiled and translated by Gerald R. Procee. Reformation Heritage Books and Free Reformed Publications, 2007. Used by permission. For further information, click here.