Inertia is the tendency of matter to remain at rest if at rest; or if moving, to keep moving in the same direction. It is the disinclination to act, the unlikelihood of changing. Those who have lost often live as losers, and it is hard to change. Good news is reinterpreted. Facts are assembled to fit in with their pessimism. Someone has said, "Always borrow money from a pessimist. He doesn't expect it back."
The report had come to the Emmaus men from the women that Jesus was alive (
24:23), but it was too good to be true. A friend of mine said recently, "It's an amazing thing about us humans; we have an incredible capacity for doubt."
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I received a call this Easter at 6:00 a.m. The person on the other end said, "Did you hear the news?" My first thought was "The President has been shot." I responded, "No, what happened?" The voice at the other end said, "He is alive. Jesus is risen." I laughed and said, "Amen, He is risen indeed." When I hung up, I said, "Lord, forgive me for so often thinking the worst rather than the best."
Jesus rebuked them for being "foolish men, and slow of heart to believe" (
24:25). These are hard words for depressed people. Was Jesus being insensitive to them, or were they being insensitive to Him? Living in the past makes it hard to see the future as any different. Even the strong words of Jesus about His death, just days before, did not register now with them. They didn't lack for evidence, but they lacked for hope.
We've all been there. Life has a way of making us feel like losers, of trading off a hopeful future for a dismal present. Is there a way out? Yes....
The Resurrection Puts Us in the Future Tense.
1. We are given a new beginning.
Our Emmaus friends invited Jesus to spend the evening with them. As He broke bread with them, "their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished out of their sight" (
24:31). Imagine their excitement. "He's alive. He's really alive. He was dead, but He is alive. Did you hear that? He's alive. I can hardly believe it but it is true. He is alive. Jesus is alive."
If Jesus is alive, what could have been still can be. The resurrection takes us out of the past and puts us in the future. Everything is new. Paul says that "as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life" (
Rom. 6:4). If the worst happened -- death -- and God turned that around, it must be a new day. Death looks like the enemy's period, but the resurrection is God's exclamation point. The disciples told the religious leaders, "You crucified Him, but God raised Him up." Their defiant no was answered by God's irreversible yes. Death is what people do, resurrection is what God does.