“Walking is good for you.” My doctor regularly reminds me of that during my routine physicals when we talk about exercise. “Walking is good for you.” My wife regularly reminds of that as she asks if I have time to take a walk with her. Both my doctor and my wife are right. Walking is good for me. It gives me some much needed exercise, it gets me outside, and gives me some time to talk with my wife about things that we probably otherwise would not talk about. For so many different reasons, walking is good for me. Still, I regularly need to be reminded to keep on taking those walks. How about you? Ever need those reminders to do something that you already know is good for you?
Two of Jesus’ disciples went for a walk on Easter afternoon, a walk that was really good for them because it would refocus and refresh their hope. These two disciples were walking home from Jerusalem, headed to a town called Emmaus. They were physically and emotionally exhausted. It had been a long and confusing week. As they walked along they were joined by a man who could sense their disappointment and asked what they were talking about. The question stopped Cleopas, one of the disciples, in his tracks. He was shocked that this man didn’t know what had happened in Jerusalem. How could he not have heard! Everyone in Jerusalem was talking about Jesus and what had happened to him. Cleopas began explaining to this man, “Jesus of Nazareth was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people” (Luke 24:19). You can almost sense the excitement in Cleopas’ words as he recalls the fond memories of Jesus before his death. Jesus was like no one they had ever met or seen. It was like living during the days of the Old Testament prophets, but even better! Jesus’ preaching was powerful drawing tens of thousands of people to hear him. The miracles he performed were absolutely amazing, casting out demons, healing the sick, raising the dead, calming storms, walking on water. It was awesome! And Cleopas confesses to the man with whom he walked, “We had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel” (Luke 24:21).
Cleopas and his fellow disciple had hoped that this Jesus of Nazareth was going to be the one who would restore the nation of Israel to the prominent position that they thought it deserved. With every miracle their hopes grew that Jesus was the one who was finally going to overthrow the Roman tyranny, and establish a kingdom on earth that would bring peace and prosperity to God’s oppressed people, people like Cleopas.
But all their hopes had seemed to come crashing down like a house of cards. Cleopas said, “The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death and they crucified him” (Luke 24:20). Their king was crucified. Their hopes for an earthly kingdom dashed. Now what? How could they have hope when the one they placed their hope in was dead? Sure there were some women who had gone to the place where Jesus was buried and said that angels told them that Jesus was alive. But that seemed like crazy talk. What was the likelihood of someone coming back from the dead? It just didn’t make sense to them. So they started walking home disappointed and confused.
The man looked over at Cleopas and said, “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” (Luke 24:25,26). And the risen Jesus, whose identity was hidden from these two men – the risen Jesus begins to walk with them through the Scriptures to refocus and refresh their hope.
And the hope Jesus gave to those disciples, is the hope that the living Jesus has given go you. For our confirmands and many of you, that hope was given before you even took your first steps, as someone carried you to a baptismal font. Through water and God’s powerful Word, the Holy Spirit created faith in your heart through which you received the hope that Christ came into this world to bring to all. On that day your walk with Jesus began, and you were given a sure hope that comes from what God has promised is yours – sins forgiven, child of God, heir of heaven.
Like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, Jesus has walked with you through the Scriptures, growing in your knowledge and understanding of your Savior-God. You have discovered the source of suffering and sadness, frustration and fear, guilt and death – that the source is sin. Sin does created a truly hopeless situation for the sinner as the Bible announces, “Your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you” (Isaiah 59:2). Yes, God had every right to walk away from us.
But as you walked with Jesus through the Scriptures you have learned of the hope that only Jesus can provide to hopelessly lost sinners. It is the hope that the prophet Isaiah described when he pointed to Jesus and said, “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). Jesus came into the world not merely to walk beside us and cheer us on to live better lives. No! Jesus came to walk in our place. He faced the temptations of those teenage years, the challenges of changing relationships, he suffered the loss of friends, overcame the temptations of fame, and endured the bitterness of betrayal. But unlike us, his walk never wavered from following the Father’s will. He walked to the cross, and placed the punishment of our sins upon himself, and allowed himself to be crushed under the damning weight of our sins.
While it may have appeared that the cross crushed any hope the disciples ever had, it was actually just the opposite. The cross gave them a hope that was better than they could have ever imagined. The cross takes us to the empty tomb of Easter to see a living Jesus. Jesus rises from the dead to announce that the eternally glorious life in heaven awaits you. Punishment from God has been replaced by peace with God; fear replaced with forgiveness. That is the hope that Jesus gave to his disciples as he walked with them, the hope that Jesus has given to you because he lives!
You sometimes hear people talk about their hopes and dreams for the future. Some of those dreams are pretty ambitious especially when you listen to children: dreams to be an astronaut, super hero, professional athlete, actress or singer. Our confirmands might hope simply to make it through examination or that first year of high school. As we grow our hopes and dreams might change a bit: college and career aspirations, hopes to purchase a home or find a spouse, hopes for children and grandchildren, hopes to attend graduations and weddings. Ambition can certainly be a gift from God. We naturally have a desire to use what God has given to us in abilities, intellect, time and energy. But do OUR hopes and dreams ever get us off track, leading us AWAY from Jesus instead of walking WITH Jesus? The hope for popularity among fellow parents or friends attempts to convince us that church isn’t so important at this time in our lives. The hope of a certain career or lifestyle results in leaving little time for your family, or convinces you to compromise your Christian beliefs. The hope of happiness leads you to give up on a difficult marriage, or give into the temptations of addiction.
Did you notice what Jesus did when the hopes of those two disciples got off track? Where did Jesus take them? He took them for a walk through the Scriptures to refocus and refresh their hope. Dear friends, we also need those regular walks with Jesus through his Word, don’t we? Bring your hopes and your dreams, your ambitions and bring them to Jesus. I mean, who better to walk with? It’s good to walk with someone who knows where they are going, right? Jesus not only knows where you are going, but he knows where you have been, and what you are going through right now. Walk with Jesus as he Word reveals how you have wandered into sin. Let Jesus show you his perfect life, his innocent death, and his empty tomb all of which assure you that your sin is forgiven and you stand at peace with God. Let Jesus shape your hopes, dreams and ambitions, so that they may honor the one who was willing to give his life to make you his own. Let Jesus comfort, encourage and strengthen you when your walk through this life may be confusing and hard. Let Jesus regularly show you the hope of heaven that a living Jesus has given to you, so that your decisions may be one and relationships filled with people that encourage you along that road that leads to heaven. Yes, taking those walks with Jesus are not only good, but they are necessary for our faith to stay refreshed and focused.
I remember being so excited when my oldest daughter was learning to walk. She was 9 months old and I was encouraging her to take those first steps. Not only did I think that it would be neat to see this very little person walking around, but selfishly I was looking forward to not having to carry her around all the time. Then she started walking and I realized that now I had a whole new world of worries. Running into the street? Wandering away in the grocery store? Falling down the stairs? And the list went on and on. As hard as you try, even the best parent just can’t always be there to hold their hand and walk beside them. But you know what? That’s alright when you know that Jesus is walking with them and with you. If that child knows Jesus through faith, they have everything that they need. They have a powerful, loving, faithful and living Savior walking beside them through whatever they go through in this life, and will welcome them safely at the end of this life to be with him, and all those who have walked in faith.
My hope for you and for all our confirmands, is that you daily take those walks with Jesus. After all, walking is good for you. Walk with Jesus and have the living Jesus refocus and refresh your hope. Amen.
