Downhearted Disciples

Show me someone who has lost hope, and I’ll show you someone who isn’t reading the Scriptures. Reading God’s Word bolsters our faith and renews our hope. Romans 10:17 tells us that “faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ” (NLT).

And Romans 15:4 says, “Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled” (NLT).

We as Christians should be very hopeful—overflowing with hope, in fact. But sometimes we lose our hope. The Gospel of Luke records the story of two downhearted disciples on the Emmaus Road. In their minds, Jesus had failed in His mission. He had been crucified, and He was gone.

They had pinned their hopes to Him, thinking He would overthrow the tyranny of Rome. What a disappointment, they thought. As they were walking along the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus, a stranger joined them. They didn’t know who this guy was, but it turned out to be Jesus.

Jesus effectively said to them, “What’s up? What’s been going on? Why the long faces? You look sad.”

So they began telling Jesus about Jesus. And they weren’t doing a very good job, by the way. They said, “We had hoped he was the Messiah who had come to rescue Israel” (Luke 24:21 NLT). Then Jesus gave them a guided tour of all the Old Testament passages that pointed to Him.

As He talked with them on the road, they had their hope returned. And when they sat down to eat with Jesus, they realized it was Him. Then He suddenly disappeared.

So how did Jesus restore the hope of these disciples? He restored it through the Scriptures. Of all people, we who are followers of Jesus should be filled with hope.