Lk.24:25-27 – And then He said to them, “You foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to come into His glory?” Then beginning with Moses and with all the Prophets, He explained to them the things written about Himself in all the Scriptures.
At first thought it is really hard for us to understand why the Jews, and the disciples for that matter, could not recognize the reason Jesus came. The scriptures described it for several thousand years, John the Baptist introduced Jesus’ ministry as the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. It was shown in the types and shadows like Jonah and the whale, the betrayal of Joseph, the sacrifice of Isaac, and the temple itself. But like the scriptures said, even the disciples had eyes but they couldn’t see. In a moment of time that changes when Jesus opens our understanding to spiritual reality. In a moment of time redemption is clear and God’s handiwork is all around us. Here is how Augustine describes this.
“All that we read in holy Scripture for our instruction and salvation demands an attentive ear. You have just heard how the eyes of those two disciples whom the Lord joined on their way were kept from recognizing him. He found them in despair of the redemption that was in Christ, supposing him now to have suffered and died as a man, not imagining him to live forever as the Son of God. So he opened to them the Scriptures and showed them that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and for all things to be fulfilled that were written concerning him in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms—in short, the whole of the Old Testament. Everything in those Scriptures speaks of Christ, but only to him who has ears. He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. And so let us pray that he will open our own.”
Today’s passage comes from the very day Jesus was raised from the dead. Not only could these followers of Jesus not see Christ in the scripture, He was right in front of them and they couldn’t recognize Him. Maybe there is something in this for all of us. What is the message? He has been walking with you all along, stop for a moment. Listen and observe everything carefully. Suddenly you too will see Him and His work will suddenly be everywhere you look.