Easter – You Can Open Your Eyes Now

How is it possible to be in the presence of Jesus, and even talking with him and be clinically depressed?

It happened on the day Jesus rose from the dead on the Emmaus road. The two so-called believers were miserable. How is it possible to live in sadness when the tomb is empty? But the women were crying their eyes out while Jesus was behind them. How is it possible that we live with a heaviness over the heart when we say we believe Jesus conquered death? Because our eyes are closed. We believe he was a jolly good fellow, but we don’t see him alive and all- powerful because our eyes are close.

 

I think the wounds in the heart close our eyes. We close our eyes when a pain is coming like a fastball, and we close our heart’s eyes because the pain of getting hit is still there. We have been burned, betrayed and bruised. Like Judas handed over Jesus to the religious authorities who handed over Jesus to Pilate who handed over Jesus to Herod who handed him back over to Pilate who handed him over to the soldiers to crucified him, we feel we have been handed and tumbled over in life. Like a cat inside a dryer, we have our eyes shut tight.

 

Jesus came to the two shut-eyed believers on the way to Emmaus, which mean “warm baths.” It must have been a tourist trap. When we have pain, we shut our eyes and walk toward our Emmaus; the fridge, TV, the sport’s page, Facebook or the serious drugs. But Jesus, God in tennis shoes, butt into their depressing conversation about how they had hoped Jesus was the Messiah, but he was “handed over” to the bad guys. Jesus started to talk about himself in the Bible. He proved to them that he was “handed over” to death by the prophecies of old. In John 19:11 it says Jesus gave up His spirit to the Father. The word is “handed over.” He told Judas to hand Him over quickly. God was behind it all. Little by little their hearts burned and then their eyes opened. Suddenly, all their depression turned into joy just because they saw Him. They saw Jesus over fastballs, Pilate, Herod, democrats, republicans, strained relationships, sin, addictions, taxes and death on a cross.

 

On this Resurrection Sunday, just open your eyes a little. Peek. He is waiting to talk to you.

 

OUR STORY:

In 1994, the McMillan family traveled to the kidnapping, murder, and drug capital of the western hemisphere to plant a church and a foundation. God thought Medellin, Colombia a good place to raise a family. And turns out He was right (as He usually is). It became a very large family: The church, Comunidad (Community), is now the largest church in Medellin with over 8,000 members, the Foundation, Viento Fresco, cares for over 150 high-risk children, and a non-profit coffee shop, New Hearts Cafe, serves cups of caffeine and the love of Jesus to thousands of college students.

God is doing so much in Medellin, and we write about here on the Teammcmillan.org blog!

THERE ARE FIVE WAYS TO BE PART OF THE STORY.

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