From Dashed Hope to Hope Restored
Dear Friends, With the death of Jesus on that first Good Friday, his followers grieved and mourned not only for Jesus' death but also for the death of their hopes and dreams and the loss of purpose and meaning to their life. Their hopes were dashed, their dreams deflated and their purpose for living destroyed. All these things had been wrapped up in Jesus and who they thought he was and his purpose for coming. Even though Jesus had explained it to them, they had misunderstood him. They thought he had come to save them from the tyrannical rule of the Romans, they thought he was going to be their military leader. For 3 days they were grieving the loss of a loved one and they were in despair over all that they had lost. Two disciples on the road to Emmaus said to a stranger (they didn't at first realise it was Jesus in his new resurrection body) " We had hoped he was the Messiah who had come to rescue Israel. This all happened three days ago." Luke 24:21 (NLT)