From Shattered Hopes to Hearts Ablaze

Have you ever had your hopes shattered? You poured your life into working towards some great goal only to fall short. Maybe, you had years or decades invested into a relationship only to experience a great loss. As Jesus said, "In the world you will have tribulation" (John 16:33).

It is difficult to imagine the personal, family, and national hopes that the disciples had placed upon Jesus. They had left everything to follow him and now Jesus was crucified and his body placed into the grave. It would be hard for us to consider a more hope shattering circumstance. 

Sunday morning on the third day after Jesus had died on the cross, rumors began to spread among the disciples of Jesus. The initial reports were not that Jesus had risen from the dead. The initial reports were that Jesus's body was now missing. 

On that Sunday afternoon, two of Jesus's disciples were walking seven miles from Jerusalem another city named Emmaus. As they processed the trauma of the last few days and their confusion about Jesus body now missing, they meet a fellow traveler who asks them why they were so distraught. The traveler begins to explain to them the unfolding plan of God through the Jewish Scriptures, to redeem and save the lost through the promised Messiah.  

Once they realized their traveling companion was Jesus and he disappears from them, they reflect on what it was like listening to him explain the Old Testament. One of the disciples asks the other, "Did not your heart burn while he talked with us?" What moved them from shattered hopes to hearts ablaze?