It raised the phrase “a walk to remember” to a new level. When I was a youth leader in Tuscaloosa, the youth pastor and I took a group of graduated senior guys to the beach. The youth pastor warned them of my love to walk the beach for miles and hours, but they still joined me. We began our journey at 10am with the sun to our backs, and at high noon we headed back as the sun had crossed over the sky and was at our backs again. One not-so-lucky walker started feeling really hot later that night and found that he was severely sunburned. After being confined to a couch with a near-by fan, food, and a videogame controller for the rest of the week at the beach house, one of the guys found a strong pain reliever in his bag on the last night of the trip. It sure made my friend feel better, but he was ticked it wasn’t found until the last day! I’m sure it’s hard to believe, but there is an even greater walk to remember in history. Three days after His death (ring a bell?), Jesus’ disciples were on a seven-mile walk of their own from Jerusalem to Emmaus when a stranger appears out of nowhere and joins them on their journey. Shhhh! It was Jesus in stealth-mode. Jesus asks the disciples what the topic of conversation for the day is. They thought surely he was some ignorant tourist with a camera around his neck since he hadn’t heard of the recent crucifixion and robbery of Jesus of Nazareth’s body. Jesus scolds them a bit by calling them foolish for their unbelief in the resurrection as He personally takes them through the OT to show them how Genesis through Malachi foretold the glorious resurrection He entered through His suffering of the cross. As night fell, they asked the strange traveler if he would stay with them. He did. He even broke bread with them and blessed it (ringing another bell?). At that very moment, they recognized who it was all this time! But then Jesus vanished. They both agreed that their hearts burned within them as He walked them through all the OT and interpreted it to be about Himself.
These disciples went running to the others to tell them that Jesus’ body wasn’t stolen, but He truly had been raised from the dead. Again, He appears in their midst. Jesus has got some great timing! He wanted to show them that He’s not a ghost, but He’s a real, risen human being with flesh, bones, blood, hair, and ear wax. And then to really show he’s a real human being, Jesus sits down and eats with them. I can only imagine how hungry He was after being dead 3 days. For a second time (but this time over dinner), Jesus takes them all back through the whole OT. He shows them how He fulfilled all of the prophecies, curses, and promises. He teaches them that His death provides forgiveness of sins through personal repentance, and that this great news (Gospel) must be told to all the nations through His witnesses…His disciples.
Side note - I walked into my bank one day. One of their cheesy drink coasters jumped off the counter at me (not quite literally). The bank was doing a promotion where every transaction would give the customer a point, and points could buy certain things. The coaster read: “Finally, it all has a point.” “Wow!” (That was me thinking loudly to myself) The world is sending a message that they all really are looking for the point of all life. What brings all of life together? What is the one point that makes sense of everything? It is Jesus Christ!
I think how teenagers are learning so many different subjects, sports, social skills, etc. They are begging with the question, “Yeah, but what’s the point?” Churched teens are learning so many different verses, doctrines, truths, stories, spiritual disciplines, etc. If they don’t get the point to it all, everything will just be a big disconnected jumbled mess in their lives. Jesus tells us how to interpret all of life, all of Scripture, and all of all things. The answer is Himself – Jesus Christ! God has created and designed all things to find their goal in Jesus (Eph 1:10-11), He finds His glory in Jesus Christ (Philippians 2:10-11), His will for our lives is that we are transformed into Christ’s image (Rom 8:29), and He wants us to experience our joy in Jesus. As you walk with Jesus through His Word, remember, He is the point to everything written there!
