Readings for the Day:
Sermon:
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Original Manuscript:
The Israelites, God's chosen people, spent much of their life as a nation in subjugation to many different nations. Over that time, the Israelites looked to their prophecies of old to find hope. Through this, they began to look and hope for the Messiah, the Anointed One who would free them or rather redeem them.
As the years went on, the Israelites began to view this Anointed One as a military ruler who would free them Roman rule and restore the kingdom of Israel. This is view that many of Jesus' followers had of the Messiah. It's the view Cleopas shares with his mysterious companion on the road to Emmaus.
It's why many of Jesus' followers and disciples were hiding in fear. They really believed Jesus was the Messiah, and they never expected His death, certainly not a painful and disgraceful one at the hands of the Romans.
But God had other plans, and turned their expectations completely on their heads. As Cleopas' mysterious companion, Jesus, tells him, all these things, even the unexpected death of Jesus, had been foretold already in Scripture. They had just failed to hear it.
God doesn't work within our realm of expectations. God's plan is often completely different from ours. The plan of salvation and redemption was certainly different from what Jesus' followers would have expected.
Instead of getting stuck inside our own plans, we need instead to stop and listen. We need to look at the Scriptures in a new light with Jesus. Then maybe we can see what God truly has in store for us. With God, we should expect the unexpected, but we don't have to be surprised by it if we stop and listen.