The reason the Word is powerful is because the entire Bible – from Genesis through Revelation – reveals Who Jesus is and the depth of His love for us.
You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. John 5:39
This eternal truth was made evident on a seven-mile journey early one Sunday morning.
Two disappointed and devastated men walked slowly toward home from Jerusalem. Every hope that Cleopas and his friend held came crashing down two days before. Everything they had believed in, everything they had lived for, had died with Jesus on Friday afternoon.
Where had they gone wrong? Had they totally missed God’s leading? Was Jesus really not who He claimed to be? How could everything have gone off track so totally and completely? And now, now what were they going to do? How could they face their families and friends and endure the ridicule that was sure to come?
They walked and reasoned, trying to wrap their minds around the events of the weekend. Every question only led to more questions. Their weary and broken souls could find no solid answers on which to stand.
And then, suddenly, from out of the blue a third man started walking with them. Cleopas and his friend had been so wrapped up in their grief and reasoning that they had no idea how long this third man had been there. How much had he heard? Was the ridicule going to start so soon?
The third man asked Cleopas and his friend what they had been talking about so earnestly and what had made them so sad. They were surprised that anyone in the vicinity had not heard of the horrific events over the past few days. Thinking that an unbiased viewpoint on the situation might be a good thing, they proceeded to tell the third man all that happened and how devastated they were as a result.
After listening intently, “Then He said to them, ‘O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?’ And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.” Luke 24:25-27
Cleopas and his friend were amazed. The third man had put Scripture passages together in such a way that they had never seen before. The fuzzy picture of all they had been through was beginning to come into focus. Before they knew it, the three of them were in Emmaus and the third man was just going to continue on his journey and leave them there. They couldn’t have that! So they invited the third man to spend the night in Cleopas’ home.
As the three of them sat down to supper, the third man volunteered to offer the blessing. During the familiarity of the blessing, Cleopas and his friend finally saw who had been walking and talking with them all those miles. In their joy and astonishment, they froze. And before they could collect themselves and fall at Jesus’ feet, He was gone.
And they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?” So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem. Luke 24:32-33
That long discouraging seven-mile walk that Cleopas and his friend had taken just a little while before turned into a joyous run back to Jerusalem to share the good news.
What made the difference? What turned disappointment and devastation into abject joy and hope?
The Word of God.
Jesus could have immediately revealed Who He was the moment He caught up to Cleopas and his friend on that road to Emmaus. But He didn’t. Instead, Jesus gave a Bible study pointing Cleopas and his friend to the Word as the antidote to their disappointment and discouragement.
King David wrote in Psalm 119:81, “My soul faints for Your salvation, But I hope in Your word.”
The joy and hope of God’s Word that turned the world right side up again for Cleopas and his friend can still be found by each one of us today. The best antidote for disappointment and discouragement is the living Word of God.
For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Hebrews 4:12
This is why Binding Broken Hearts is passionate about getting God’s Word into prisons and into the hands of inmates who so desperately need the creative and recreative power of God. Because these are men and women who need Jesus most.
Perhaps you want to help spread the power of His Word to an inmate who desperately needs its creative and recreative power. If so, please consider becoming a financial partner with us. Click here to see how you can help.