Luke 24

Think about the movie with the biggest shocker you've ever seen. Maybe Sixth Sense. Maybe The Usual Suspects. Something with a total twist at the end that you never saw coming. I think that feeling like you just came through hyper space is a tiny glimpse of what Jesus' followers experienced in this chapter.

I don't know about you, but I seriously cannot recall a time when I did not know the twist at the end of the story of Jesus. I've never heard the crucifixion story without already knowing about the resurrection. Can you even imagine how these people must have felt? Can you even fathom the depth of their disappointment? The utter despair and hopelessness they experienced for three days? They knew about Lazarus and the others that came back from the dead. But with every passing second, the stakes went up a little higher that nothing would happen. That it was all over.

Brannon told me a story he heard of a woman who lost her 2-year-old daughter in a crowded market in Mexico. For two hours she didn't know what had become of her child. She finally found her trying to communicate with a king old woman who only spoke Spanish. I hate to hear stories like that. The gripping anxiety of a missing child. Every passing moment the likelihood of your child being found alive decreases a little more. Still, that doesn't come close to how sick the disciples must have felt. Not just a child, their entire worldview was shattered. They had lost their religion.

When I see Jesus walking alongside his two friends on the road to Emmaus, I think how sweet it was of Him to follow them and finally reveal himself to them. For whatever reason, they had heard the rumors of the resurrection but had left town. My head swims thinking of that rush of realization they experienced as they recognized Him. The entire Old Testament and every word of Jesus in the past few years flashed before their eyes.

Let us worship God today as we remember how the followers must have felt on this day. The day before the resurrection. When they didn't know what happens next.