Do We Have Unfulfilled Expectations or Faith

Do We Have Unfulfilled Expectations or Faith

During late winter and early spring we spend time self-evaluating in preparation for the upcoming Passover. We understand “the wages of sin is death”. And “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away.”
As we are going through this process we often are reminded of our shortcomings, our faults and our sins. Between these and the trials we find ourselves in we can become depressed and find ourselves with unfulfilled expectations. We may even start to doubt. In this message we look at a couple of the disciples who had unfulfilled expectations, and seemingly lost their faith and left Jerusalem. On their way down the road they meet someone whom they do not recognize. Who asks them what they are talking about and why are they so sad? They then tell Him about recent events. Events concerning the death of Jesus Christ. And how it wasn’t supposed to be this way. Then He explains to them, beginning with Moses and the prophets, why things happened the way they did. Every event was foretold. Although the stranger’s intent was to go further down the road, the disciples convinced Him to stay with them because it was getting late. And when He blessed the bread and broke it the disciples recognized him. He was Jesus Christ. And then He vanished. Between hearing the explanation of why the events had to happen and then seeing Jesus Christ alive and not dead, they headed back to tell the disciples.
They had been restored. Their belief, or better stated their faith, had been restored. Restored by Christ. Christ is also known as the Word. And although we do not have Christ in the flesh we do have the Word. The written Word. It’s through reading and studying the written word that we can have the confidence that God knows what He is doing and have faith that Christ’s sacrifice covers our sins, that we are to repent and draw near to God. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.”