We are not informed how many of the sixty furloughs they had already
passed over on their way when "Jesus himself drew near, and went with
them;" but from the loving kindness of our Lord we readily conclude
they had not gone very far. "Can a mother forget her sucking child?
Yea, she may forget; yet will not I forget thee." He knew the depth of
their disappointment and the grief that followed when they could say:
"We hoped that it was he which should redeem Israel." "_We hoped_--;"
but alas! all hope is now forever gone. It lies buried with him in his
tomb.
If one born blind could unexpectedly open his eyes to see the light of
the morning sun in a cloudless sky, the surprise and joy could not be
greater than were these to the two sitting at the table. They forgot
to eat. They were so filled with the sight of the Lord that their
hunger for that which merely represented him was all gone. They not
only saw the proof of his resurrection; but in him they felt the
resurrection of their own buried _faith_, and _hope_, and _love_.
"They rose up that very hour,--" I do not believe they sat still one
minute after he vanished out of their sight--"and returned to
Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, ... saying, The
Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon." This was to them
one of the wonders connected with his rising, as Simon had so
shamefully denied him so shortly before. But such is the fullness of
his grace, that where sin abounds, grace does much more abound unto
all such as are willing to receive it.
Some people do not believe the story of the resurrection. But, strange
to say, they can believe something a hundred times less reasonable,
and absolutely false. They can believe that a LIE has done more to
better the condition of mankind in this world than all the truth that
has ever been told. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the keystone
to the great arch upon which rest all the truths of Divine Revelation.
Destroy this, and the arch, with all upon it, falls a pile of ruins.
There is one special fact connected with the Lord's resurrection which
we must not forget. He never appeared to any but his own. They, only,
had eyes to see him. Some may wonder why he did not go out into the
streets of Jerusalem and there, to gaping crowds, show his risen form
with the nail prints and the spear mark still fresh in his hands and
his feet, and in his side. In answer to this I have but little to say,
more than that he was ever averse to casting pearls before swine or
giving that which is holy unto dogs. I will add this, however, that as
none but spiritual eyes can see him now, so none but spiritual eyes
could see him then. This is what he meant by saying: "Yet a little
while, and the world beholdeth me no more; but ye behold me: because I
live, ye shall live also."
And now, my dear Brethren, what have we learned by our meditation
to-day? If we have learned to know the Lord a little better, that we
may draw nearer to him, we are edified, and our preaching and hearing
have not been void. In all our communings with him, Brethren, let us
believe and love with all our hearts. In our reasonings together let
us know and _feel_ that "_he is nigh, even at hand_." When we are in
the way of duty, we love to feel that Jesus is with us, that he knows
all we think, and sees all we do; but when out of the way, when
walking in forbidden paths, how abashed and confused would we feel, if
"_Jesus himself_ were to draw near!" O brethren and sisters, let us so
live, that every thought and word and act of our lives may be fit for
his eye. Lord, give us grace so to live. Amen!