The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 4

III. Startling Parallel to Disciple Disappointment

As they journeyed back and forth among the homes of the advent believers, Edson and his companion reviewed with increasing fascination the crisis hour of the disciple band of old. They pondered how, after the crucifixion, two of that distraught group were plodding along the road to Emma us in sorrowful meditation on the tragic events that had convulsed Jerusalem and had blasted the hopes of Christ’s followers. (That was their great disappointment; much like our own, Edson thought.) The prophecies that had assuredly foretold the time of Messiah’s advent had also prophesied that He would become King of Israel, but without specifying when. And only a few days prior He had ridden into Jerusalem in triumphant acclaim, just as foretold by the prophet. (Matthew 21:4, 5; cf. Zechariah 9:9.) But He had of been crowned king. Instead, He had been tried, condemned, and crucified; nailed to a cross, and suspended in ignominy between two thieves. And then He had been buried in a tomb. It had been a terrible shock to His expectant followers. They were completely mistaken in the event to occur. PFF4 884.1

But now, as these two disciples walked on, another (the resurrected Jesus Himself) joined them. He drew out the sorrowful admission that they had fondly hoped Jesus Christ to have been the promised Messiah. But apparently He was not. Then the Stranger recalled to their minds various scriptures concerning the Messiah, which they had not comprehended. And He asked, “Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into glory?” (Luke 24:26.) Then, as He expounded these scriptures anew, light from the writings of Moses and all the prophets gradually opened their understanding. PFF4 884.2

And that evening, as they sat at meat in their lodging in Emmaus, the light of Christ’s real mission burst suddenly upon them. He was indeed the crucified Christ, the very same One they had expected to see crowned king. But He was not yet king. Indeed, such a transaction was never designed in the plan of God to be His mission at that time. That was to come later. He had first to become their atoning Sacrifice. This He had accomplished on Calvary. And now He was about to ascend to His Father, to become their merciful, high priestly Mediator in heaven above. Finally, when that priestly ministry was finished, He would then come back to earth again, this time as King of kings. (That, Edson and Crosier saw, was the paralleling disappointment to their own experience. They too must wait a little while yet before the glorious outcome of it all. Christ still had a work to perform in heaven before coming back to earth.) PFF4 885.1

Then, just before the ascension, the eleven stood in joyful expectation with their risen Christ on the Mount of Olives. And again, despite all the light that had dawned on His earthly mission, they still urged the point, “Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6.) But His answer was: “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, arid in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” (Acts 1:7, 8.) (See frontispiece, opposite title page.) PFF4 885.2

Edson and Crosier then remembered how, as Jesus lifted up His hands and blessed them, He “was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.” Soon the shining cloud that “received him out of their sight” faded out in the distance. Then, as they were still gazing upward in wonderment, suddenly two swift messengers of heaven appeared and declared, “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11.) ⁸ Forty days before He had said, “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” (John 14:2, 3.) He had already given a partial answer to them, but they had failed to grasp it. Now the story was completed and enforced. Thus it was that the glorious provision of the second advent, which has since been the supreme hope of the ages, became the declared climax of all prophecy. It was the rock upon which the entire gospel structure was built. This second thought, of the paralleling disciple disappointment, was of tremendous encouragement. PFF4 885.3