When Jesus Opens Our Eyes

Here is my sermon manuscript from this past Sunday.  The sermon text was Luke 24:13-35 where the risen Jesus appears to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus.  

Sometimes we cannot see what is directly in front of us.  This often happens when we misplace our car keys.  We look on the kitchen table and do not see them.  So then we go searching on night stands, coffee tables, and perhaps even underneath the couch.  Later we realize that the keys were on the kitchen table all along.  We had overlooked them.  Have you had that experience? 

Sometimes the same thing happens with Jesus.  He is right in front of us, but our eyes are closed to his living presence.  That’s what happened to these two disciples on the road to Emmaus.  Jesus was there with them, but they did not recognize that it was Jesus.  We read that their eyes were closed in verse 16, and it is not until verse 31 that their eyes are opened to see him for who he truly is.

The great cause of sadness and hopelessness in the world today is that the eyes of our hearts are closed to the resurrection of Jesus.  I am not talking about seeing Jesus physically, but I am talking about the fact that there are many who do not recognize the he is alive and able to give joy and hope.  The good news of this passage is that

Jesus opens our eyes to his resurrection 

and gives us joy and hope.

This morning I want us to look at this passage in two major sections.  First, I want us to look at verses 13-24 and see what we can learn about what life is like when our eyes are closed to the resurrection of Jesus.  Second, I want us to look at verses 25-35 and see what we can learn about how Jesus opens our eyes and gives us joy and hope.

1.  When our eyes are closed (vv. 13-24).

Sometimes our eyes are closed to the resurrection of Jesus.  This passage is a window into what life is like when we do not recognize that Jesus is alive. 

The first lesson we learn in this passage is that when our eyes are closed to the resurrection of Jesus, we are sad (vv. 13-17). 

The narrative begins with two disciples who are on the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus.  As they walk side by side they discuss all that has happened from Good Friday until Easter morning. 

Luke doesn’t tell us exactly what they discussed, but we might imagine them talking about the darkness of human depravity that casts its shadow over the end of Passion Week. 

Perhaps they spoke about the depravity of Judas’s betrayal of Christ for only thirty pieces of silver.  Or maybe they spoke about Peter’s three denials of Christ and how the rest of the disciples deserted him.  They may have discussed how the Sanhedrin had lied about him, how Pilate had refused to release an innocent man, and how the drunken Roman soldiers had mocked him and nailed his hands and feet to the cross. 

They had heard that the women discovered the empty tomb and claimed to have seen angels.  Perhaps they asked themselves, “Is it true?  Could Jesus really have risen from the dead, as he said?” 

What we do know is that when Jesus approaches, they do not recognize him (v. 16).  Some commentators suggest that they didn’t recognize him because he looked different in his resurrection body.  Others suggest that Jesus didn’t look different but that God kept their eyes from recognizing him in order to teach them an important lesson.  It may be that they simply didn’t recognize him because they didn’t expect to see him alive. 

When Jesus asks these two disciples what they are discussing, Luke tells us that “they stood still, looking sad” (v. 17).  They looked sad because they were still living in the darkness of Good Friday. 

We learn from this that the cross of Christ is only good news in light of the resurrection.  The death of Christ will only make us sad if he didn’t in fact rise again. 

Paul once wrote to the Corinthians and made the same point: “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Corinthians 15:19).  Many people in our culture today have their eyes closed to the resurrection of Jesus, and, as a result, their hearts are full of sadness.  For them, death is the end of the story.  Death gets the last word.  Death means, “Game Over.” 

When our eyes are closed to the resurrection of Jesus, we are sad.  Are you sad today?  Are you living with the impression that death is the end?  Or you living as if there is no hope for tomorrow?  Are you still dwelling on the depravity of Good Friday?  Even as disciples, we can live like this at times.  But we see here in this narrative that closed eyes not only brings sadness.    

We see also that when our eyes are closed to the resurrection of Jesus, we have an imcomplete understanding of Jesus (vv. 18-20). 

Cleopas is the one who responds to Jesus’s question about what they were discussing.  His response to Jesus is certainly accurate, but there is something missing.  He says, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”  Jesus entertains Cleopas’s question: “What things?” he asks.  The two disciples continue: “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him” (vv. 18-20). 

Now we all should agree that Cleopas’s explanation of Jesus is certainly accurate, but, at the same time, it is also inadequate.  It is an incomplete answer. 

Jesus is a prophet.  Jesus was condemned to death.  But he is so much more than a martyred prophet.  However, since their eyes are closed to the resurrection, they cannot see him as anything more. 

The same thing happens today.  There are people whose eyes are closed to Jesus yet they will affirm that Jesus was a good moral teacher.  They will affirm the Golden Rule.  We should follow the example of Jesus and be good people.  All of this is true yet we know that it is incomplete.  Jesus is more than a good moral teacher.  Yet when we remain in the darkness about the resurrection, that is all that we see of him. 

There’s more.  As we continue to read their response to Jesus, we see that when our eyes are closed to the resurrection, we are without the hope of redemption (v. 21). 

Verse 21 are some of the saddest words in the whole Bible.  Look what they say: “But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened.” 

We can hear the disciples's deep disappointment in these words.  We had hoped.  The book of Proverbs tells us that hope deferred makes the heart sick.  Their hearts were sick with sadness because they recognized that a dead Jesus was no Savior at all. 

They were, in point of fact, correct about that.  If Jesus is still in the tomb, we all should say, “We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.”  If Jesus is dead, then he is no Savior at all.  Long ago, Job said, “I know that my Redeemer lives” (Job 19:25).  The God of Israel had promised a living Redeemer, not a dead prophet. 

Matthew Henry puts their disappointment in other words: “Our hopes were all nailed to his cross, and buried in his grave.” 

When our eyes are closed to the resurrection of Jesus, we have no hope of redemption.  We need a living Savior.  We need the One who has died, but is now alive forevermore.  When our eyes are shut to the resurrection of Jesus, we see our sins and have no hope that we will ever be delivered from them.  We are who we are.  There is no hope of new life or change.          

There is another aspect to having our eyes shut to Jesus.  We are unsure what to believe (vv. 22-24). 

We see this in the disciples’ report of the empty tomb.  They tell of the women’s story.  They had found the tomb empty.  They had seen angels.  Some of the disciples had gone to the tomb and fount it empty. 

Yet there is a hint of doubt at the end of all they say in verse 24: “…but him they did not see.”  They have not yet seen Jesus. 

An empty tomb does not prove that he is alive.  Someone may have stolen the body.  He may have been moved.  They do not jump to the conclusion that Jesus is alive simply because of the report of some emotional women. 

Here is where they linger: “him they did not see.”  That is what it is like not to see Jesus for who he is.  We are confused about what we believe.  We may linger between two different opinions.  We may look out and hear the claims that the different philosophies and religions are making and have no living faith in a living Christ. 

Is that what life is like for you?  Are your eyes closed to a living Jesus?  Are you confused about what to believe?  Do you feel like you cannot trust anyone?  That can change for you, but only if Jesus opens your eyes to his resurrection life.   

Now here enters the good news found in the second half of this narrative.  Jesus is able to open our eyes to his resurrection and give us joy and hope.  He is able to turn our sadness to joy, our despair to hope, our death to life, our darkness to light, and our confusion to clarity.  Look with me at the second half of this narrative at how Jesus opens our eyes.

2.  When Jesus opens our eyes (vv. 25-35). 

Jesus loves us so much that he opens our eyes to see him as he truly is.  Notice that he begins the Scriptures. 

Jesus interprets the Scriptures to these disciples (vv. 25-27).  He first rebukes their unbelief (v. 25), not their unbelief in the testimony of the women, but their unbelief in the testimony of the Word.  They should have known that the Old Testament Scriptures foretold that the Messiah would suffer and die before rising again and entering into glory (v. 26).  He teaches them in verse 27 that the entire Old Testament is about him.  He explains to them that the Old Testament is a revelation of Jesus. 

When our eyes are closed to the resurrection of Jesus, the Bible can be a confusing book.  “What is it really all about?” we may ask.  But when Jesus uses the Scriptures to open our eyes, he shows us that the whole Bible is about him. 

St. Augustine said, “The Old Testament is the New Testament concealed, and the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed.”  There is a scarlet thread that runs from Genesis to Revelation, and the scarlet thread is salvation through Jesus. 

I wish I could have been there when Jesus explained how the Old Testament was all about him.  Perhaps he spoke to them of that ancient promise in the Garden of Eden where God said that the offspring of the woman would crush the serpent’s head.  Or maybe he took them to the call of Abram and spoke about how God said that one of his descendants would spread the blessing of forgiveness to all the nations of the earth.  Maybe he related to them the story of Abraham who almost offered his one and only son, Isaac, as a sacrifice, but God stayed his hand and provided another lamb to be the sacrifice in Isaac’s place.  He may have walked them through the days of King David and the covenant God made with him that one of his own sons would sit on the throne and rule the world.  Or perhaps he took them to the specific prophecies, like Isaiah 53 that we read in our service this morning, and spoke about how he was the One who would be wounded for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities.  Or maybe he simply walked through the sacrificial system of the Old Testament, pointing out each and every object and ritual and showing them how it was all about him.  He may have showed them how he was the temple where God’s presence dwells, and how he had said that if they destroyed the temple, that he would rebuild it in three days.  Or maybe he pointed to the Passover Lamb and said that he was the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  He would die, and God’s wrath would pass over all who believe in him. 

What a joy it would be to hear the Incarnate Word explain the written Word!  When Jesus opens our eyes, he shows us that the Bible reveals that he is our Savior.  He is the One who died for our sins.  He is the One who rose again to give us forgiveness, life, joy, and hope. 

But even though Jesus explains all this to them, their eyes are still closed.  He has not yet opened their eyes.  That doesn’t happen until they reach their destination. 

When they finally reach their destination, they invite Jesus to stay with them, and Jesus reveals himself in the breaking of bread (vv. 28-35). 

They were not celebrating the Lord’s Supper.  It was a common meal.  Yet when Jesus took the bread, broke it, and blessed it, they would have been reminded of the institution of the Lord’s Supper. 

On that dark night, he had taken bread, blessed it, broken it, and said, “This is my body, which is broken for you.”  He had also taken a cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for the remission of sins.” 

They make the connection in verse 31: “And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him.”  Then they knew their Lord!  Then they knew that he was alive! 

Verse 31 tells us that he then vanished.  One might conclude from this that Jesus was a ghost or a spirit, but Luke clarifies later in verse 39 where Jesus says, “See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself.  Touch me, and see.  For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”  Jesus was not a ghost or a spirit.  He was physically resurrection from the dead.  He touched the bread.  He blessed the bread.  He broke the bread.  This was no phantom. 

Yet we do see that his resurrected body was capable of things that we cannot explain naturally.  There is mystery here to be sure. 

When their eyes are opened, they say something amazing in verse 32, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”  They knew that this was Jesus.  They now had open eyes and burning hearts.  So they return to Jerusalem in time to see that Jesus has also appeared to Simon Peter (v. 34).  And they relate to the rest of them that Jesus had made himself known to them in the breaking of bread (v. 35). 

Jesus uses his Word to open our eyes, but he also uses the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.  For disciples, when we come to the Lord’s Table, we see that Christ is yet again opening our eyes to Good Friday and to Easter Sunday.  He is showing us that his body was broken for us and his blood shed for us.  He died in our place.  And he rose again to reign over us in heaven. 

And when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we are also reminded of the hope set before us because he shall return to drink the fruit of the vine anew with us in his Father’s kingdom. 

Jesus is able to open our eyes.  He is able to reveal himself to the eyes of our heart.  We do not see him with the eyes of flesh, but we are able to see him with the eyes of faith.  When Jesus opens our eyes to his resurrection, our lives change.  We have life, forgiveness, joy, and hope.  He died, but he is alive forevermore.  He has the keys of Death and Hades.  He is the Lamb of God, standing as though it had been slain.  He is the Living One who shall never die again.  He is the Resurrection and the Life.  Whoever lives and believes in him, though he die, yet shall he live.  Do you believe this?  Are your eyes opened?  “Turn your eyes to Jesus!  Look full in his wonderful face!  And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.”   

Reformed Bible Conference

     This past Lord's Day evening I had the honor of preaching at First Presbyterian's annual Reformed Bible Conference in Hinckley, MN.  I cannot believe that this was my third time preaching in this conference.  The theme of this year's conference is "The Mediation of Christ" and audio files are available here.  I preached from Hebrews 7:23-28 on "Christ Our Heavenly Intercessor."
     
     Here is my basic outline:

Christ is our great high priest who is presently interceding in our behalf before the Father in heaven.

1.  The Office of Christ's Intercession (vv. 23-24).

     -Christ intercedes as our great high priest.

     -Contrast between Levitical priests and Christ:
    
          -They were many in number and held office temporarily on
          account of death.

          -He hold his priesthood permanently because he lives   
         forever.

     -According to Leviticus 16, there are two phases to his priestly
     ministry:

          1.  Atonement outside the sanctuary.

          2.  Intercession inside the sanctuary. 

2.  The Nature of Christ's Intercession (v. 25).

     -Effective Prayers (Romans 8:33-34).

     -Representative Presence (Heb. 9:24).

     -Continual Advocacy (1 John 2:1-2).


3.  The Basis of Christ's Intercession (vv. 26-28).

     -His Sinless Person (v. 26).

     -His Sacrificial Death (vv. 27-28). 

Patiently Awaiting the Coming Lord

Here is my sermon manuscript from Sunday's sermon (October 14, 2012).  I write a manuscript as a discipline of preparation.  I reduce the manuscript to an outline and then preach extemporaneously from the outline.  Sometimes folks request a copy of the manuscript.  I do not stick to it at every point, and there are bound to be grammatical mistakes and other stumbling blocks for English teachers.  Yet here it is.  Enjoy!   

"7 Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. ⁸ You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. ⁹ Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. ¹⁰ As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. ¹¹ Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful."  James 5:7-11

The Second Coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is presented in the Scriptures as a day of judgment and salvation.  When our Lord returns, he will repay the wicked for their sin.  Last week we looked at the first six verses of this chapter and learned about the coming judgment on rich unbelievers.  This week we see in our text that this coming judgment on rich unbelievers means salvation for poor Christians.  God’s judgment on the wicked brings consolation to the faithful.  James assures us that God’s judgment on rich sinners (vv. 1-6) and God’s consolation to poor saints will happen at the coming of the Lord.  The coming of the Lord is mentioned in verses 7, 8, and 9.  We are told that the coming of the Lord is “at hand” (or “near”) and James provides a picture of the nearness of our Lord’s coming by presenting him to us standing outside the door (v. 9).  The Judge is ready to open the door and come in at any time.  Despite the fact that the coming of the Lord is imminent, believers may grow impatient as they await his return.  We may tire of serving him or grow discouraged by suffering and persecution or become defeated by temptation.  Yet James tells us that we must be patient as we await the coming of the Lord as verse 7 says. “Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord.”  This word “patient” means to suffer long.  We must suffer long and hard through the trials of life before the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.  He says, “Be patient,” in verse 7.  He says, “You also, be patient,” in verse 8.  He says that the prophets are an example of suffering and patience in verse 10.  So we are here summoned to patient endurance as we await the coming of our Lord.  This is the main point that I want to impress on your conscience today.  We must be patient as we await the coming of the Lord.  Now as we consider this patience I want us to examine our text in two divisions.  1.  The Exhortations to Patience in vv. 7-9.  2. The Encouragements to Patience in vv. 10-11.

1.  The Exhortations to Patience (vv. 7-9).

James exhorts us to patience by exhorting us to three tasks: waiting like the farmer (v. 7), establishing our hearts (v. 8), and not grumbling against one another (v. 9).

1. a.  Wait like the farmer (v. 7).

 Patience means that we must wait.  James illustrates the way that we are to wait by telling us about a farmer.  “See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains.”  This illustration would have been familiar to James’ readers who were living in an agrarian society.  Some of his readers were farmers.  Farming is an apt illustration of waiting on the coming Lord.  There are two main reasons for this.

          i.  The farmer waits actively. 

There is passive waiting and active waiting.  When we wait in line, we are passively waiting.  We are just standing there.  But this is not the way the farmer waits.  He plows the field.  He plants the seed.  He waters the crop.  He tends the garden for weeds and protects it from animals and other pests.  He is waiting for the plant to grow and bear fruit.  But he is not sitting around doing nothing.  He is actively waiting.  He works while he waits.  There have been some Christians who have gotten the idea that being patient and waiting for the coming of Jesus means inactivity.  This must have happened to the Thessalonians because when Paul writes to them about the Second Coming, he also warns them about idleness (1 Thess. 4:11-12; 5:13; 2 Thess. 3:6-12).  There have been cult leaders who have duped their unsuspecting followers into thinking that they should get together in a room and sit around and wait for the coming of the Lord.  This is not the teaching of our Lord.  Our Lord calls us to be ready.  He calls us to be prepared and watchful.  He tells us to be busy serving him until he comes.  “Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes” (Matt. 25:46).  We wait actively like the farmer who tends the crops as he waits for them to produce fruit.

ii.  The farmer waits expectantly.   

The second reason that the illustration of a farmer is an apt image of waiting for our Lord’s coming is because the farmer waits expectantly.  To be sure, he may tire of plowing or planting or tending his crops.  Yet he waits because he expects growth and fruit.  And why is the farmer willing to wait?  Because the precious fruit is worth the wait.  Sometimes we are willing to go to a nice restaurant and wait longer than usual because we know that the food is worth the wait.  We may become bored or tired or agitated.  Yet we are willing to wait because the wait is worth it.  In the same way, we should be willing to wait for the coming of the Lord because it will be worth it.  We shall be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.  Mortality shall put on immortality and death swallowed up in victory (1 Corinthians 15).  The sufferings of the present time cannot compare with the glory that is to be revealed to us.  Rom. 8:18.  We should wait actively.  We should be busy reading God’s Word, praying, sharing our goods with others, telling others about Jesus, and serving faithfully in our earthly vocations.  And we should be expectant.  Our precious fruit comes at the Lord’s return.  Rest assured that it shall be well worth the wait! 

1.b. Establish your hearts (v. 8).

After the illustration about the farmer, James says in v. 8, “You also, be patient.  Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.”  The phrase “establish your hearts” is translated “strengthen your hearts” in the NASB and even more loosely in the NIV as “stand firm.”  The NIV leaves out the Greek word for “hearts.”  As we await the coming of the Lord, we must tend to our hearts.  We must strengthen and establish them.  According to Louw-Nida’s Greek-English Lexicon of the NT, this word means “to cause someone to become stronger in the sense of more firm and unchanging in attitude or belief.”  So as we are tempted to doubt, despair, and discouragement as we await the Lord’s coming, we must strengthen our hearts.  We must make sure that our faith is firmly fixed on the truth that is in Jesus.  God strengthens and establishes us through the preaching of his gospel.  “Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ…” Rom. 16:25.  Sitting attentively under Christ-centered gospel preaching is the most important means of heart-strengthening.  James tells us that we must establish our hearts because the coming of the Lord is at hand.  The phrase “at hand” could also be translated “near.”  The Scriptures teach us that the Second Coming of Jesus is imminent.  Some theologians prefer to use the word impending.  We are to live every day as if he could come today.  We are to be ready.  And we can see that the way we get ready is by establishing and strengthening and confirming our hearts in the gospel.  We must be confident in Christ and his inerrant word.  We must trust God’s promises and pray for the faith to rely upon them.  We are not to be shifting from one idea to the next, but we are rather to be fixed upon the truth of the gospel.  We establish our hearts by bearing fruit in every good work.  We must put our faith to work in obedience.  We establish our hearts by increasing in the knowledge of God.  We must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord.  We establish our hearts by spurring one another to love and good deeds.  We establish our hearts by prayer.  We establish our hearts by fixing them on the Rock of Ages.

1.c. Do not grumble against one another (v. 9).

Verse 9 says, “Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.”  Grumbling or complaining against one another is a sign of unbelief and gross ingratitude.  When the Lord delivered his people from slavery in Egypt through the leadership of Moses, his servant, the people later grumbled in the wilderness.  They grumbled against Moses.  They grumbled against Aaron.  They grumbled against the Lord for bringing them out of Egypt to die in the wilderness.  They even grumbled about the manna that God provided from the Rock.  Grumbling and complaining are always out of place for God’s people.  We are to be patient on the Lord as we await his coming.  We must also be patient with one another.  Let us love each other and not complain about one another.  The motive here is that we may not be judged.  God sent a plague on his people for their grumbling.  Shall we fair any better if we share in their grumbling?  James adds: “the Judge is standing at the door.”  What an image!  Suppose a father tucks his two sons into bed and then tells them to stay in bed and not get up and fight as they are prone to do.  Then suppose he closes the door to their room and stands outside.  If they disobey his orders and get out of bed and begin to fight, then the father does not have far to go in order to enter the room and reprove them for defying his orders.  Suppose the sons’ know about the presence of their father outside the door.  Are they not less inclined to fight with one another?  Do they not fear the father coming inside the room and punishing them?  Similarly, when we consider that the Lord stands outside the door, this should make us cease our grumbling with one another.  Is this not a fitting image when we consider that much grumbling happens behind closed doors?  We ought to consider that our Lord stands at the door.  He is ready to enter.  He is ready to judge.  He can hear.  He is coming.  Again we see the impending nature of his coming.  It is “at hand” for he stands “at the door.”  Let us fear.

So much for the exhortations to patience.  Now let us turn to the encouragements to patience.

2.  The Encouragements to Patience (vv. 10-11)

Our Lord gives us exhortations to patience to show us what is involved in patient endurance.  He also gives us encouragements to motivate us as we patiently await his return.  There are three encouragements to patience in verses 10-11: the Lord’s suffering prophets (v. 10), the Lord’s sovereign purpose (v. 11a), and the Lord’s compassionate heart (v. 11b). 

2.a.  Consider the Lord’s suffering prophets (v. 10).

The Lord’s prophets are a great motivation and encouragement to patient endurance.  “As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord” (v. 10).  The prophets suffered greatly for their faithfulness to the Lord.  They spoke the Lord’s Word and received the Lord’s reproach.  The prophets remind us that following the Lord is not a bed of roses.  Christ has promised us a cross of nails, not a bed of roses.  The prophets were ridiculed, ignored, maligned, beaten, and many of them killed.  Jeremiah was known as the weeping prophet because of the agonies he endured even from his own people.  Isaiah preached and the more he preached, the harder the hearts of the people became.  Elijah and Elisha were both persecuted mercilessly.  We are not prophets. Yet when we patiently endure suffering in this life, we join their company.  We have the blessed privilege of suffering with those great men of God.  “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.  Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matt. 5:11-12). 

2.b.  Consider the Lord’s sovereign purpose (v. 11a).

James moves from the prophets in general to Job in particular.  Verse 11 speaks of what we learn from Job.  “Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast.  You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.”  James has already told us in 1:2-3 that our trials produce steadfastness (endurance) in the faithful.  He told us in 1:12 that those who endure trial will receive a crown of life.  Job is a great example of this.  He is one of the most well-known examples of righteous suffering. He did not suffer for his sin but for his righteousness.  That is why the devil wanted to afflict him and test him.  Job endured great suffering.  There are two aspects to the story of Job.  There is the human side, and there is the divine side.  The human side is Job’s steadfastness (endurance); the divine side is the Lord’s purpose.  When we finish the book of Job we realize that the Lord had a sovereign purpose for all that happened to Job.  God’s sovereign purpose is unstoppable.  Job 42:2 says, “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.”  That’s what Job learned from all the evil that the Lord brought upon him (Job 42:11).  He learned that God has a purpose that no one can counter.  Satan has nothing to say about it.  Wicked men have nothing to say about it.  We have nothing to say about it.  It is God’s sovereign plan.  He works all things according to the counsel of his will. Ephesians 1:11.  No one can stay his hand or say to him, “What are you doing?”  Daniel 4:35.  He does all that he pleases.  Psalm 115:3; 135:6.  This is good news because it means that Romans 8:28 is true.  And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.  God’s good purpose is to transform us into the likeness of his Son.  He seeks to make his people share in the holiness of Jesus. 

2.c.  Consider the Lord’s compassionate heart (v. 11b). 

The Lord’s sovereign purpose would not comfort us unless it was the sovereign purpose of the Lord who is compassionate and merciful.  Behind the purpose of the Lord is the Lord’s gracious plan for his people.  We must always remember that behind a frowning providence he hides a smiling face.  The Lord has a good purpose for the tribulations that we must endure before he returns.  So let us face them with courage because we are in the hands of our compassionate Lord.  He is wise and good.  Or as we sing, “Jesus doeth all things well.”  Let us entrust ourselves to our Creator while doing good. 

The Lord Jesus is coming soon to judge the wicked and console the righteous.  We must be patient and endure suffering as we await his return.  We may grow weary in well doing or be burdened by suffering or pressed in by persecution or overwhelmed by temptation.  Yet we must be patient.  We must be like the farmer who waits actively and expectantly.  We must strengthen our hearts.  We must not grumble or complain about one another.  We must be encouraged by considering the prophets who suffered so.  We must think of the Lord’s perfect plan.  And we must know that behind it all is the Lord who is compassionate and merciful.  We are looking for the coming of the Lord.  It will be well worth the wait if we are patient.  Let us lift our heads for our redemption draws near.  Amen.