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Passover was this week and this is Easter weekend, a good time to think of our deliverance from bondage. Reading the gospel accounts of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus and noticed a subplot in the story I found very interesting. The unbelief of the disciples, their lack of understanding…

John 20:9  For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.

Luke 24: 1-25 Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again. And they remembered his words, And returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest. It was Mary Magdalene and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles.  And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not. Then arose Peter, and ran unto the sepulchre; and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to pass.  And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. And they talked together of all these things which had happened.  And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them.  But their eyes were holden that they should not know him. And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad? And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?  And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him.  But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done.  Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre; And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive.  And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not. Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:

Didn’t understand, believed NOT, slow of heart

Found myself getting rather down on the disciples. It is the most important morning since creation and they missed it! Not like they hadn’t been warned (Matt 20:18, 19 “ Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.”) is as explicit as it could get. They “knew” the facts, they’d been schooled, been coached, they knew the scripture and the verse, but lacked understanding; what a crew Jesus chose. Imagine what the angles must have been saying, “they missed his birth, weren’t even looking for it; than after all he’s done and all he told them they missed his resurrection. Dense bunch, not the sharpest arrows in God’s arsenal”. Thinking the same way and it struck me that we are no better. We stand on the brink of the most stupendous event in earth’s history and we are lacking in understanding as they were. We don’t lack the facts, we tend to debate those, but we lack understanding. It’s a condition God calls Laodecian, wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. (Rev. 3:17) That describes us and is described the disciples, yet God likes to use people like that, the disciples to take the good news of a risen savior to the known world and you and I to give the world one final message of mercy. (3 Angles message)

Isa 42:16-23

Isa 43: 8 and 10---God has chosen the blind—the deaf

Eze 37

John 20:22 fearful unbelieving bunch

Peace be unto you----à breathed on them the Holy Spirit