Thoughts on the Road to Emmaus…
Before we begin, these thoughts are part of a study done in 1984 in response to some teaching that basically stated that since Jesus appeared our experience is Grace VS Law.
A rigorous examination of NT uses of the word LAW has led me to conclude that Grace + Law = balanced living. The two may appear at odds with each other, but further study proves something wonderful… life breathing… sustaining! Grace without the law is license and the Law with out grace is legalism. Lets begin with a look at the NT word for LAW.
Reflections on the LAW of the New Testament Greek
Wow, a delightful subject. To set the record… I am still asking questions about this and have much to experience. It has fed me through many times of famine and feasting, and pangs of hunger through the night. It has been life giving and life changing. It banquets the spiritual man and starves the dead bottomless pit of carnality. I would much rather be sitting face to face with you. I find it more accurate and less prone to missing intent. First, my hunger dictates a need to revisit the uses of the word LAW in Rom 8:2 and other NT locations for clarity.
Part 1: From Journal notes 1984 A Study of Nomos
• LAW is “Nomos” and its use in Scripture. It occurs about 200 times in the NT.
• The word LAW here is “nomos” and from the root “nemo”… to parcel out/portion, especially food or areas of grazing. Law is important spiritual/physical nourishment as well as allotments, fenced acreage, boundaries that keep in and out for the intent of helping us in health, wellness of spirit and mind, or being blessed… or Jewish-ly “Shaloam-ed”
• This is the LAW Jesus was to/has fulfilled.
• It is the jot and tittle LAW
• This LAW hangs (along with all the prophets) on 2 commandments
• This LAW has weight: measured in right judgment, mercy and faith (think of steak, collard greens and a big ass baked potato!)
• It is the LAW of the Lord, the LAW of Moses
• It is the LAW and the prophets that were until John, now with the Kingdom of God being preached (Hint: a law of righteousness, peace and joy)
• It is the “written in the LAW of Moses, the prophets, and psalms that Jesus fulfilled
• It is the LAW of certain people, who do not KNOW it.
• It is the LAW that proclaims us gods.
• It is the LAW by which men hated Jesus… without a cause
• It is the LAW by which men said Jesus blasphemed
• It is the LAW of Acts… walk orderly and keep the LAW
• It is the LAW of Paul’s defense “”according to the perfect manner of the LAW”
• It is the LAW of the imprisoned Paul, expounding the kingdom, persuading all of Jesus, BOTH out of the LAW of Moses and the prophets.
• Rom 2:12 those that sin WITHOUT law “a-nomos” shall perish & As many as have sinned in the LAW shall be judged by the LAW
• The doers (those who see the LAW as poetry) of the LAW shall be justified.
o The poets of the LAW see its beauty, not as in black and white do/don’t, but see its beauty of color, intent and spirit of the LAW. The LAW enables creativity in the liberty of God’s glory… to state it artistically, as a portrait or painting; a rendering of anointed words.
•
• It is the LAW that some are UNDER
• It is the LAW by which sin is acknowledged
• It is the entered LAW that allowed the offense to abound
• It is the LAW that has dominion over a man as long as…
• We are to also become dead to the LAW (to be released from our 1st husband) by Christ’s body, so we can marry Jesus and bring forth fruit
• We are delivered from the LAW, to serve in the newness of spirit and not the oldness of the letter.
• I was alive WITHOUT the LAW once, but then commandment “entole” (an injunction entered due to my true lineage) came, sin revived, and I died
• Without the LAW, sin was dead
• The strength of sin is the LAW
• The LAW is holy… and His commandments (regally issued reminders regarding my true lineage) is holy, and just, and good
• The LAW is spiritual
• I delight in the LAW of God
• There is the LAW of sin and death and is likened to a warrior
• There is another LAW which wars against the LAW of my mind and brings into captivity to the LAW of sin and death
• With my mind I serve the LAW of God, but with my flesh the Law of sin
• It is the LAW of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus and…
It is the LAW of sin and death (Rom 8:2)
• Rom. 8:21 “the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” The passage begins (vs.2) with “the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus” has made me… free… from another law. The emphasis of the passage refocuses on freedom when God introduces the words “the glory” to be revealed in us (vs18).
• To help me understand, the Lord breathed verse 21 “as creation itself shall be freed from gripping ropes and choking chains and corruptible cuffs by the “liberty of the glory” of the child/sons, demonstrated by those once damned kids now addicted to God”. Liberty is not even the emphasis, but “the Glory” is. Its operation is proof that God is present//right here! The “liberty of the glory of God” is a powerful ability to respond… a responsibility to build faith, hope and a love of Jesus… as well as a majestic tool to wreck havoc on doomed purposes, wherever the law of sin and death hides. The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus is to be enjoyed, embraced and kept and given away!
• In reference to the beauty of Romans 8:21 “brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God” NIV… and particularly the greek word for “child”. As defined by scholars in it’s full use, it is “teknon”, a male child who WAS previously cursed, but now is addicted to the love of God. The key binding/bridging word of the scripture here is the word “brought”… and is the Greek word “eleutheroō”. It means to set at liberty from another’s control. Used in John 8 twice as “makes free” and Rom8:2 as “made free from sin”, and in Gal 5:1 as “made free” to stand fast in the liberty and not be roped, chained, cuffed or yoked/entangled AGAIN to bondage… another’s control. While once we were controlled… now we stand free in the LAW of the liberty of the glory. We have absolute authority to love.
• It is the LAW of righteousness, unattainable by works
• It is the LAW of righteousness obtainable by faith
• Christ is the end “telos” (the ongoing heavenly tribute tax, the related aim and finished purpose concerning eternal things) of the LAW for righteousness. Nothing can be added to this LAW to make it better. Its eternal weight is settled and sealed and the toll/custom/tribute tax confirms it validity/weight/quality/value.
• Fulfill the LAW, love one another
• Love fulfills the LAW
• The inheritance of the LAW is by promise
• LAW has works… Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the LAW, or faith?
• The LAW has a curse.
• If a LAW could bring life to a son (metaph-ysically used/spiritually), (the cursed child sons not yet addicted to God’s love), then righteousness should have been by LAW
• We were locked under the LAW before faith came… imprisoned
• During that time the LAW was our schoolmaster, to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith
• The LAW can be heard, for it has a voice
• The LAW is fulfilled in one word… love your neighbor as yourself
• Fulfill the LAW by bearing one another’s burdens
• The LAW is good, if so used lawfully
• The LAW is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless
• For the priesthood being changed (transferred/passed over/transposed/fall away), there is made of necessity a “metathesis” (transfer/change= translation) or (a transfer from one place to another) also of the LAW. Here is a double meaning for the word used as change/translation:
1. By the Spirit, we need the LAW put into terms of a teacher, that we may hear the heart/intent/spirit of the LAW. How it sounds in heaven is clear.
2. It is the same word used for Enoch’s translation… the LAW had to be removed to Heaven
3. Like Enoch, the LAW had a testimony that it pleased God.
• The LAW made nothing perfect
• I will put my LAWS into their minds… hearts
• The LAW had a shadow of goods to come.
• The perfect LAW of liberty
• Fulfill the royal LAW… love
So what say we now?
“For the LAW of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the LAW of sin and death.” I think immediately of another scripture where if we are led of the Spirit, I am not UNDER the LAW. (Gal5:18) The issue to me is not the LAW itself, so much as my position to it, which enhances my relationship with it. My position limits or enhances my vision of it. Just as the disciple is not ABOVE his master neither am I ABOVE the LAW. Jesus is far ABOVE every name, all principalities, power, might, dominion and any name from the world to come. Another position is “BEHIND”, as where Jesus sent satan, from where the issues woman touched his garment, and from where the cross bearer assisted Jesus. That leaves the better choice to be “BESIDE” the LAW, much like Adam and Eve or a marriage/walk between husband and wife.
With Jesus, marriage is such a sweet invitation to walk… to walk together, side by side… by side. It is a threesome…not below Him, not behind Him, not above Him. But paracleted to Him. He is the catalysis of marriage…the loosening agent, the dissolving agent, the sparking agent, and the secret agent.
It is the visual I get when Jesus walked with the men on the road to Emmaus. For seven miles Jesus translates the LAW, the prophets and psalms from Heaven’s clear perspective as their hearts began to burn. Again it was a threesome, with Jesus in the middle and his arms embracing both hopelessly mad men. It is the translated LAW if you will… the breath LAW, the LAW of liberty which are all attributes of the LAW of the spirit, the spirit of life, the LAW of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus at work. It gave them freedom to be healed, rebuilt, reworded, rebooted, concluded, wisdom-ized, humbled… slain; all while they gave Jesus the liberty to wield his purpose in their lives.
As you read Luke’s account, Jesus uses the LAW of liberty (the demonstrative love action of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus) to correct their previous assumptions, their bruised and marred conclusions concerning what they had seen and experienced personally, most specifically over the last 3 days. Public murder is unsettling, especially if it was your Messiah’s. In just 7 miles Jesus provides the LAW… the key, and the lens to see God’s purposes in ALL they had beheld. They were prime candidates to learn the meaning of “necessary”.
Both men (certainly one of them) had been with Jesus from the beginning of his ministry. Cephas/Peter was a man of revelation, known for his outspokenness and hearty faith and energy. A man’s man… a hearty fisherman well acquainted with danger. A man balanced by miracles and a leader, always in the middle of life and an invitee to Jesus’ inner circle of James and John.
Over the last 3 years they had witnessed miracles daily and in the public life of Jesus they experienced the love of the common folk and the hatred from the religious. These men were not on the road to Emmaus by accident… they were hand picked. They had a working foundation of discipleship and had made many sacrifices to get them to the last three day’s experiences. These men had witnessed the most amazing week of their whole lives, starting with a glorious reception as the Messiah with palms and cheering and cries of adoration… only to be replaced with him being betrayed, accused, moot trialed, savagely beaten, a public humiliation, another parade… this one of blood, stripes, agony, and all the weakness of his humanity. And maximum brutality displayed for all to see, complete with blood, lots of blood with splatter trails recording the vicious velocity that only the demonic could produce.
And crying… deep sorrowful pangs, an intercession earth had never heard before. Even the earth threw up her dead.
After his public crucifixion these two men had heard of the barter for his cloak and later his body, its preparation and the spices and wrapping of the death shroud and the inescapable burial. He was caved in a borrowed sepulcher by a massive stone, the seal of Rome and her best guard of elite soldiers. These two men were witness to all of this trauma… a trauma that will not let you rest… it will not let you sleep, for when you close your eyes… the images reappear. The smugness of Israel’s leadership, the mocking, the merciless revenge for prior public humiliation and the looks of scorn and hatred that were etched in a disciplined memory would not be silent. These were the recognized lawyers of Israel… the Lions of the Sanhedrin. They had all escaped from their cages, now hunting a remnant prey. It was as the days of Samuel’s death… and Saul ruled without restraint. Madness is sweeping a nation as a generation seeks safety underground, as David did in Adullam’s cave while Saul seeks to slay the future priesthood.
Three days have passed and all they wanted to do was to stop the madness… to somehow reconcile what they had witnesses to what they had been promised. They rehearsed over and over together to confirm what the other had been promised, about what it would be like with Jesus as Lord of the whole earth… and their places within that kingdom. No one had ever said that the Pharisees would actually kill him. Jesus had escaped so many times before. Why his voice alone had knocked over the company of soldiers during his garden betrayal. Why didn’t he speak up? Why was he silent? Oh, for just a moment to rest my head and my heart… just a little piece of my experience that can be scripturally and spiritually reconciled together. But all these two men were left with was contemplation and just one result… how could we have been so wrong. How could God’s word fail, how could his promises of hope fail, how could he have lied to us?
All their prophetic hopes had been smashed, broken, and cracked past all repair. They were stripped of everything they had held dear. They had stuck their necks out for Jesus, only to be publicly abandoned by him.
They were the dated rapture predictors of their day, and the date had passed and only Jesus was missing.
They were left as fools, heretics of their culture. He was their Messiah; the one anointed to overthrow Rome and rebuild an elegant temple and set up a government of righteousness… the same person who had just two weeks earlier been transfigured beside Moses and Elijah! You don’t get more heavenly Jewish approval than that… or do you? They just knew that everything was right on course to their appointments over cities and land and this new kingdom of power and miracles and this crazy, crazy kind of love. And most of all a promise that this was indeed God’s son! What in the world could go wrong now? Messiah… had become a Mess! Had God just used my last three years to mess with me? We were young lions in training, men of growing renown and respectability. Our words carried weight. The other disciples told us so. We were not always the inner circle, but we were not the sidelines either. More aching hours passed. They started to hear voices they never heard in the presence of Jesus. They now heard voices they normally would have rebuked. They tried to remember the mighty lion deeds they witnessed… a gentle roar that rebuked all disease and any elements of the fall… but they faded into roaring and ferocious anger towards this imposter lion. They were left as zombies… mad, raging zombies of the kingdom. Untouched… these men would do more damage to the kingdom than many mighty miffed lions before them.
To set the record straight, I am in love with the Judah’s lion. Those who know me are aware that I am addicted to individual and corporate praise and worship. It is the battle side of Jesus, our brazen warrior/captain. And it is our adoring side! By worship we turn the enemy to flight and chaos… even to the point of them slaying each other. Worship is the staged foundation for revelation and the manifestations of the Spirit among us! It is this atmosphere where God’s word comes alive, where miracles appear and songs write themselves! It is the place of heavenly music and the voices of heaven joining in! It portals heaven to earth and liberates dancing and rejoicing and warfare with a smile!
I am not anti-lion. But I am humbly requesting a focused discourse for clarity. We need a clear perspective of and from the Lamb.
If we had to choose between the wrath of a lion, and the wrath of a lamb to get a job done, we would certainly choose the regal roaring of wrath from a lion. We would rather conjure up a good scare into our enemies than love them into submission. And God chose his lamb to do what no other named nature could do. More than just scaring and scarring enemies into their place or current strongholds in your ministry, it is the Lamb’s wrath… where you both grant permission and welcome and embrace the liberty of his glory to slay every barrier, doubt, hesitation… giving him the sovereign freedom of fulfilling the LAW of liberty in your life. Why? Because it is the Lamb who is worthy… “Worthy is the slain Lamb to receive power, riches, wisdom, strength, honor, glory and blessing.” What he has received of the Father, he is longing to share with those he can trust.
It is the simplicity of the kingdom… he was slain by his Father, as agreed by the Godhead well before the foundation of the cosmos. Before you or I were born here, it was settled in the heavens. Our route to the throne was by slaying. No exceptions, no short cuts, no deals. Putting it another way, who would you rather trust your slaying to? To God himself… or one of his other servants. Read on…
• Rev 6:7And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
• 8And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.
• Rev 6:9… I saw under the altar the souls of them that were SLAIN for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
• 10And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
• 11And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.
I would note that the above process does not end in ruler ship… but yelling for vengeance from UNDER the altar. Vengeance will disqualify you from the throne. Our only choice is to invite the Lamb’s wrath into our lives. It is what darkness cannot embrace, behold or believe… that God would slay his own son or any once damned son-child that would give Jesus liberty for the process to be addicted to God! That is what darkness fears. It is their paralyzing nightmare… come true.
The men on the road to Emmaus were now barely surviving… and both of them had forgotten something very important… he was God’s lamb first.
Jesus’ power was not in the nature of a lion, but hidden in the nature of the slain lamb. He is God’s lamb, slain from before the foundations of the world. By sacred trust, he is the worthy TAKER of the BOOK and the opener of the SEALS thereof… BECAUSE he was slain! Respectfully, it was not a slain Lion that redeemed me… it was a slain Lamb that redeemed us to God by his blood. It is the slain Lamb that MADE us kings and priests unto God, to reign on the earth.
When it comes to the real path to the throne… it is not the way of a lion. It takes a slain lamb to make a humble king… and an intercessory priest who can rule.
Their experience’s conclusions need validity. Through their lens there was none. Their lives needed the key, the lens of the LAW held by a slain lamb… the very one who wrote that LAW of the spirit of zoe and the liberty of the glory that accompanies it. That is why experience alone, which can leave you with false conclusions, is not valid, BUT it is valid when combined with the always-needed shaking scrutiny from the LAW of liberty and the life & freedom it produces. Simply said, it is the sovereign right of the author to breath the LAW into us. It automatically writes the right conclusions for what we have just experienced. The fleshy heart now feels the finger of God.
When this LAW is held/declared by anyone other than the slain lamb, such as in the wrong hands, un-pierced hands, immature hands, or claw pawed hands (as these men held it and even Job’s friends before them), it is the LAW of sin and death to the hearers. Only a slain lamb can be trusted to rule. No claws allowed. The road to Emmaus will frisk us, stripping of every hidden weapon, deceptions, forked tongues and rotten rudders. The amazing difference is that it is the same LAW, the same words, but a different speaker… who is renown for his silence.!
Boy, oh boy… I love you my God! I adore you and your hands… thank you for your wisdom and silence and care for us in our most confused and broken state! I love you for your freedom to save and rescue and mend and your words of life to us… that wish to walk with us and ask, “What manner of communion is this… that you are sad?”
They had been shaken to the very fiber of their core… now they needed slaying.
Everything changes when the route of the slain lamb begins to work in your life… just as it did for these two men who were trying to put it all together. But it couldn’t add up… Jesus had died and with him all the hopes of shared ruler ship… and vengeance toward all those that had not followed as they had… their faithfulness was not just on hold, it had died with Jesus on the tree. They were jobless, food-less, paranoid for being recognized as followers, mad that Jesus had failed them and sad that he was no longer in their presence. How could we both have been so duped? They were only left with the cloaks on their back and the bitter doubts in their hearts. Their world had been shattered… and soon it would be ground to powder.
• As we experiment in the kingdom, we stub our toes, we stumble, we fall, and we speak when we should be silent and stutter when asked to speak. We learn by failure and perseverance. All the time we are trying to see the world from the kingdom’s view. We study the love letter to see precedent… but more importantly exception. We want our conclusions to be biblical, rooted, grounded and foundational. We ask that wisdom build our house. Many stop here. We want the exceptional experience, not the exception offered.
The Exception Offered
The exception is exceptional… exceptionally necessary, exceptionally painful and full of mercy, exceptionally dark where trust is the only way through, with exceptional ridicule at the hands of renown spiritual leaders, exceptional false witness that is aided by strangers at your most vulnerable display, exceptional betrayal, vinegar refreshments and exceptional abandonment that leaves you… all of you as powder, the remains of a very necessary sacrifice. You have nothing to say. It is liberating. Then you draw your breath, your first breath since the process seemed to end. Not that it has really stopped, but like the “end”, that toll/custom/tribute tax that confirms it validity/weight/quality/value. Slowly you hear heavenly smiles breaking and what seems to be the voice of Moses… laughing.
There are others… men & women of exception. To only give one example, Job was a spiritual man, loved by family and peers…”a hedged man”… protected. Without a doubt a man of Godly stature… so fortified that satan could not touch him. So God gives a challenge and Job learns what it is to live outside the hedge… the route of the slain lamb. You fill in the blanks… Job was justified, got a new bride, children, his portion doubled and satan embarrassed throughout all the levels of heaven and for the eternity. Job’s knowledge of God was turned on its ear. He was marred, scarred, blamed, rebuked, condemned, suffered disease and learned to hear the silent God and to appreciate that silence. He was publicly slain, yet lived… nay, prospered! He challenged a generation and its culture to rethink the nature of God and the kingdom that he rules, and the sons who were once cursed children are now addicted to love him, which live by the LAW, the LAW of the spirit of his Life!
Job’s experience and the journey to Emmaus are the same. We are stumbling at times and seasons to grasp the beauty and mystery of this LAW life in Jesus. Somehow we find ourselves as a band of believers, witnesses to something misunderstood in its purpose. We know what we thought we knew about law and grace and mercy and commandments and sin and death and liberty. We thought we had scriptural rights to say our say. We stand at the height of nearly ruling and reigning and our cubit being stretched and our portioned being enlarged. We are so near we can taste it. My faithfulness has paid off, my study has paid off, my churching has paid off and my keeping has paid off… the wages of righteousness are about to be deposited… I am ready to reap the promises. But when we witnessed death from afar… we stumbled. Death to the dream we had framed by the LAW, an un-breathable LAW. This dream of tangled fame that was leavened with pride… it appears as success to the masses but is below the calling to which we were predestined. We had settled for an armchair and a big ass desk when we were called to the streets of heaven and then the streets of earth. We were call to be administrators, but without the suits and ties. I am almost crucified with Christ, I am almost dead to sin, I am almost in love with my neighbor and I am almost addicted to God and his crazy love. And then Jesus appears… as a stranger… to give us liberty… to fulfill the calling. Liberty and the LAW of life kept Jesus on that tree. It was the Father’s agenda and the lamb chose it. As he is invited into our walk… not as savior, or rabbi, or any of the Jehovah names… but as slain lamb, our world and all its experience and forgone conclusions are about to be challenged. This is the reformation of which we have prayed. What was my shattered world is about to become powder. You are about to give Jesus all the liberty he can bring to bear in/on/through your life to accomplish his desire. Agendas are ground to powder and sacrifice is re-defined… rebreathed. Everything changes when he arrives. The slaying begins with a question. He addresses the sadness… the unspeakable loss of these men. The LAW speaks; it is like the voice of silent sorrows, as Lambic tones with a voice that whispers with the power of 7 thunders. It disorients at first and leaves you wanting to scream over and over again “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lamb that was slain!” You seek the lowest spot around you only to realize that you are being held, as a “teknon” is held… close to the heart, with unlocking arms. Safety settles in as the rebukes begin.
That is why experience alone is not valid BUT it is valid when combined with the always needed shaking of scrutiny from the LAW of liberty. Jesus brought 3 major accusations against these 2 men. In doing so, he demonstrated his love for them. The Truth of the LAW razed them, and then rebuilt these men. He delivered them from their theory and directed them toward the righteous route of the slain lamb. His anointed conversation of the LAW focused and put into proper perspective their history.
In 7 miles he re-wrote their heart history because it was his history to re-write. And he does it without changing a word. Same words, but now it is the author speaking. His breath adorns each word. His aroma was present and the hot coals of the altar of sacrifice and of worship permeated from his heaven to his earth. Never had it been so true that the earth was the Lords. It is what has been missing in many theological discussions and kingdom theology. We crave spiritual acreage and cubits to our stature; yet will have no dominion until we recognize the owner’s privilege and his desire to trust us in the sharing of this LAW… as it comes natural to us. It is the “necessary” right of passage of every son, (once a damned kid who now is addicted to God’s love) with the words “righteous ruler” in their history’s heavenly resume. God will only trust a slain lamb to rule… and to manage your suffered loss.
The key question of the whole Emmaus walk is “ought not Christ to have suffered”. It is the necessity of the LAW… the necessary route of the slain lamb. Emmaus road offers the credentials I seek… and kindly slays us to graduate “summa cum laude”. The route of the slain lamb is a route of silence. It is a profound by-product of the process.
PS 68 tells us why it is important in our training/experience.
Psalm 68: The Silent Treatment
1 “May God arise, may his enemies be scattered (without a sound); may his foes flee before him (speechlessly).”
2 “May you blow them (silently) away like smoke (being quietly dispersed)— as wax melts (silently) before the (whispering) fire, may the wicked perish (conforming to silence) before God.”
3 “But may the righteous be (vocally) glad and rejoice before God (noisily); may they be happy and joyful (I ain’t got no quiet in me!)”…
35 “O God, You are awesome from Your sanctuary! “
Once Jesus began to “re-write” their history, they could only listen… as a lamb… as Isaiah’s lamb before the slaughter…
Once Jesus began to “re-write” their history, they could only listen… as a lamb… as Isaiah’s lamb before the slaughter…
Isaiah 53
Living sacrifice… most willing
For he was God’s Lamb, indeed
As love prevailed, no need for nails
To keep him on that tree
As a bruised reed, most broken
Hematoma, his condition
Isaiah saw… a Godly straw
Unvisageable mission
Form distorted… more than any man
He will sprinkle nations bittered
Untold things seen, shuts mouths of kings
Things unheard… now considered
And who would believe this report?
Arm of the Lord revealed
A tender shoot, sod-busting root
With no comeliness appeal
Undesirable… His beauty
He’s rejected and despised
Sorrow’s painted, grief acquainted
Shamefully… our faces hide
He has carried all our sorrow
All our grief He surely bore
A stricken rod, smitten… of God
Transgression’s wounds he wore
And bruised for our iniquities
Chastisement of our peace… sealed
Transgressor’s mark, disfigured bark
Scarred righteous branch… revealed
Like sheep that have been scattered
We have turned away from Him
Iniquity, taken for me
Was laid on this priestly limb
He was oppressed and afflicted
Lamb of God, suffering violence
Sheepish shearers, drawing nearer
Lessons learned… by Lamb’s silence
Taken from judgmental prison
His generation… undeclared
He was cut short, promise abort
For all transgressors… He prepared
He made His grave with the lawless
With the rich, he rents death’s seat
Prophetic law, his purposed call
Yet his mouth held no deceit
So it pleased the Lord… to bruise Him
Trespass offering … was His soul
Envisioned seed, prophetic creed
Jehovah’s pleasure shall unfold
Soul’s travail… manifested
Prospered hand by pleasured Lord
Intercession, His profession
Satisfaction… His reward
Portion granted… with the mighty
Spoil divided, full and plenty
Although condemned, justified them
For He bore the sin… of many
It is the route of the slain lamb in its process, is stripping, its adornments and equipping, its enabling, its breaking and wrecking and destroying the familiar, even its risk that is so unappealing! You will be marred to the point of being unrecognized for the man you were. It is a part of the preparation to receive more: more of what he paid for, more of his mercy and grace and all the responsibility he shares only to scream out loud that “I delight to do your will, OH Lord”. God will only trust a slain lamb to rule, one void of any agenda other than God’s purposes. A spiritual misstep, a striking of the rock can be costly. The lamb’s liberty assures us to speak to the rock… by 2nd nature, we might say.
It is HOW the LAW of the spirit of life “zoe” in Christ Jesus must be handled/administered… for it is the nature of the slain lamb. It expands those initial acres of the LAW portioned for grazing and nourishment. There are no retreats because there is no threat in this LAW. The slain lamb carries no threats. There is no alien agenda. Hands are ready to bless, arms are wide-open, and convictions flows freely as redemption unfolds. Rebellion melts. Intersession’s weeping is for joy and irrigation for growing your cow steaks, collard greens and big ass potatoes.
Those Emmaus men were magnetized to Jesus. This LAW was inescapable because as they walked with the slain Lamb of God, they wanted to break in the joint! They were feasting and drinking in life, layer by layer long before the journey ended… yet still blinded to the redemptive process as each grudge is addressed. The last 3 days experience had left them in shock, dehydrated… and near death, even to the point of suicide. (the word used as sad is actually sad unto depression or “maddened”) When these two men heard Jesus cry out aloud “it is finished” just a few days before, they dropped the LAW like a hot potato and walked away as zombies in the earth. All they had surmised after some 3 years of following and serving Jesus ended at his final cry on the cross.
Yet to the Roman legionnaires, those who had participated in his torture throughout the night and was now his new posse, what they heard was something very different… they heard their own battle cry of frontline victory. The moment the Roman’s enemy surrendered in the battle, the front commander shouted “IT IS FINISHED” to those in wait behind them, and all those next to or beside the battle joined in the chorus. So powerful was Jesus cry, that a Centurion was the only one who heard it and exclaimed, “truly, this man was the son of God”. His conviction was sealed and a weighted as Peter’s cry “you are the Christ, the son of the living God!” It was the same voicing of 2 blind men to receive mercy, and the croaked question of the legion’s torment… the voice of “Hosanna’s to the son of David” and “Let him be crucified!” It is the voice of rocks and stones in adoration. It is the invitation to “come and drink of me.” It is the voice of a dying man named Stephen. It was the cry for the great Diana of the Ephesians and our cry for Abba, Father. And it is the cry of angels and the revelation of Jesus Christ; where men cry from under the altar for vengeance and others cry “Salvation to our God… and unto the Lamb.” It is a roar of Judah’s lion and the voice of seven thunders… and the cry of travailing birth. It is the cry of reaping and Babylon’s demised desolation… and it is a loud call for supper, that fowls may eat the flesh of imposter kings.
It is the LAW that beckons you to your portion of daily spiritual nourishment. Many believers have asked to have their history re-written, to hear what the Emmaus rocks heard that day. They ache for truth and understanding and the wisdom to embrace such life… Zoe! God will only trust a slain lamb to rule. Why? The answer is because the Father only will trust a slain lamb… not just a lamb, for anyone can fain pacifism. A slain lamb has no agenda of his own, no other purpose than to execute the LAW of the spirit of life in Christ… the same LAW of the liberty of the Glory. Once the LAW was translated (moved to heaven if you will) it has been translated properly in our hearing. What we beheld as deadly, while cursed sons, we now hear things previously unheard in which we live and move and have our being, just like Moses did for 40 days and nights as he swam in the misty intercession of Mt Sinai whose rocks were crying out in adoration and joyous weeping intercession. Addiction begins with a simple invitation!
When this LAW is mishandled (in the wrong/immature or claw pawed hands) it is the LAW of sin and death to the hearer. A lion, even a Judah lion poser cannot handle its truth. In the 80’s, many chose the shortcut route to the throne by pursuing young lion status among their prides. Some are the kingdom legalists of today… and only an Emmaus road can re-write them. My Emmaus road began in 1973 with a visitor in my room appearing… and represents my revelation of the LAW of liberty.
CHALK LINE
Young man… alone… in worship mode
Fellowship… fully engaged
Adoring Lord… is never bored
Heaven’s author… pens his page
Hungry heart needs its full feeding
Passion for creator… burned
Willing singer… yearning lingered
For time was not… concerned
Past mere points of introduction
Face to face … was this discourse
From heavens hush … a fervent gush
Drink from the thirsted source
For this worshiper… no closure
Unable… to express
His worship tongue… intercession
His heavy heart… seemed oppressed
As he groaned for pure communion
Unbound… in tribulation
This freedom sought… remained uncaught
His thirst… Lamb’s jubilation
Greater presence fills the seeker
He’s aware of one… once slain
T’was heaven’s lamb… with chalk in hand
He divides the room… in twain
His mark was drawn within the midst
And splits the room… asunder
“Sobriety… to walk with me”
His words as lightening … thundered
Within his hand… that held the chalk
His forefinger… beckons call
Towards powdered line… an endless sign
For this is… liberty’s law
Invitation… with direction
Law of liberty’s mission
“Walk heel to toe” … that he may know…
Staggering truth… of his condition
Drunk on his presumed stature
Priestly labor… void of rest
Spiritual size… leads to demise
When you’ve lost love’s labored nest
Humbled seeker… seeking answers
Weaving balance is… unkempt
With vision… blurred… and slurring words
“I can’t follow in your steps!!”
Frustration breeds… a hopelessness
Disillusioned…this dancer
“Why can’t I walk… within the chalk?”
His cry goes not… unanswered
One gracious look… was given
Covers price… that failure paid
Hopeless junction… godly function
Hungry heart gets visual aid
Overwhelming presence… staggers
Mercy changed the way… to think
From Calvary’s view… liberty grew
Worshiper began… to shrink
Of the increase of his kingdom
Borders growing… fruitful peace
Torment within… finds closure’s end
As he shrinks… chalk line increased
Until all that one’s eye could see
Chalk line in each direction
North, east & west… south too, no less
Liberty… now his confession
Law of liberty increases
As a bank-less river’s bath
Stand-fast inside… chalk line… will hide
You from legalism’s math
Walk in freedom… not outside it
Neither above, nor below… feed
Last Adam’s bride… as side by side
Boundless authority…
To do the will… of worship’s focus
Put away the hide and seek
Games are not found… on holy ground
Pride’s addiction… foolish feat
Liberty is not for license…
That caused unrighteous tokens
To stumble men… where sons once sinned
Liberty … is for the broken…
That was the price he paid… in full
For that joy… piercing nails
“Come off that tree”… yet liberty…
Let him remain… and seem to fail
No less… is asked… of every son
Who comes for treasured time?
Unshackling rule… reduction’s jewel
Found in the Lamb’s chalk line
My Emmaus road is not over. Many times I find myself at the table, just after Jesus takes over the meal, and realize that I need to grant him liberty to work afresh in me. I rest in that I can fully trust how he handles everything he is hosting for me. It is the bread of heaven being broken afresh! It is a daily communion. In Moses tabernacle there was a place for this face-to-face…
This learned inside the Holy Place
Of Moses’ covered tent
Where lamp-stand shines, on renewed minds
Helping others… to repent
Light which reveals heaven’s hunger
Now comes the time to be fed
Look to the north, a second course
It’s the table of shewbread
Made of wood and gold covered
Divinity upon man
Two crowns surround, which set the bounds
Cubit and a half it stands
A table in the wilderness
Set in the priestly fashion
So come and dine, you too will find
Two crowns it wears, with passion
Servant’s crown of humility
Comes to many as a shock
This crown was worn, adorned with thorns
Bestowed by those who mock
Fellowship of His suffering
To some is just a fable
The shepherd’s psalm, cannot be wrong
Foes watch this prepared table
Sabbath was made for man’s hunger
Shewbread cakes, not common, baking
David’s request, five loaves, the best
Bread… of kings in the making
In the presence of His enemies
The bread of life partakes
What Father willed, He did fulfill
And became the priestly cake
Communion that is most costly
A new side of His graces
His love, fierce… this cake, pierced
Hebrew tongue… “table of faces”
See yourself in His own image
Participants seek the host
Renewal comes, with every crumb
As we look upon this loaf
The priest takes bread… blesses, breaks, gives
It’s the plan for all of time
Humiliate, then elevate
Broken bread served with new wine
Grapes cannot escape this process
Vineyard fruit made into drink
Crushed by His feet, He’ll turn you sweet
New wine is communion’s link
For new wine is the fluid
Which lit upon man’s tongue
The righteous brew, come have a few
You can’t stop once you’ve begun
Heaven’s Bar was grandly opened
New wine flowed, spirited sweet
One hundred twenty, drinking plenty
At Two-Twenty-Eight Joel Street
Bar tab paid with crimson money
Liquid currency, none more high
This wealth he gave, speaks for the saved
Heaven’s carafe, never dry
Some swear drinking days are over
Bloodless insult to the Lamb
Truth’s barkeep pleads: “this drink’s on me”
But they swig dark liquored scams
Full joy comes from liquid presence
Shining faces and raised palms
Acts 2, intent… inebriant
David’s golden sixteenth psalm
Full pleasure from his countenance
David shown the way of joy
Bread and wine dipped, your sop equipped
Jesus, the bread of zoe
Pierced bread and new wine bear witness
Shewbread table is now set
His body, bread… this wine, blood red
Partake, so you don’t forget
Remember… price of fellowship
He became the highest donor
In doing so, new crown bestowed
This one, on top, for honor
This second crown of honor seen
It’s just a hand’s width away
Authority, for those indeed
Who will seek His face, and pay…
… The price of divine fellowship
There’s only room for two
Though table small, it’s best of all
Seeking Him who’s seeking you
Table of faces, yours and his
In whose image you’ll behold
A mirrored face, peers back with grace
Reflects from tabletop’s gold
Table of faces, his and yours
In whose likeness you were made
Bone of his bones, without timed tones
For this meals’ not micro-waved
But was seasoned centuries past
Well before times creation
The Godhead met, a promise kept
Lamb slain before foundations
Truth seen by aureated lamp
Illuminates two old friends
As Moses’ gazed, for forty days
Longing it would never end
For every priest ordained of God
His destiny revealed
Your one career, is to draw near
Be that wheel within the wheel
Moses was more than a prophet
Seer, leader with a rod
For he did taste, of face to face
He was the friend of God
Not as those who’ve left their first love
God’s friendship unattended
As Eli did, the faces hid
Hannah’s prayers only offended
Peter warming with the wrong crowd
State of denial reached
When Jesus died, new fire he tried
But betrayed… by his own speech
Friendship demands attentiveness
Eye to eye that is consistent
Clearest intent, by covenant
Reconciling persistence
Seven miles out from Emmaus
Two men communed and mused
A courtly tort, logic abort
Jesus’ death had them confused
Then a stranger overtakes them
Asking, “Why this saddened talk?”
Cleopas cursed, and then rehearsed
To this loner as they walked…
“This Jesus was supposed to be
Messiah, sent to redeem…
Condemned to death, he failed the test…
Victory goes to chief priest’s schemes.”
The loner’s lips began to speak
Pierced words as frankincense
Fragrant phrases, melted mazes
Speaking only in first tense
He took them to Eden’s garden
Genesis is where he led
With enmity, between the seed
“He shall bruise the serpent’s head”
Prophetic psalms that David sang
About a rejected rock
Isaiah’s man, a slaughtered lamb
Puzzled pieces interlocked
Throughout each verse of Holy Script
Convicting with smile, dimpled
Imparting life, that swallowed strife
He made it seem so simple
Major prophets and those minor
To remember…what they said
And then he looked, to the last book
Priest that baked polluted bread
From Moses’ day ‘til Malachi
Expounding prophet’s story
To suffer first, and crack the curse
Then… enter into glory
Constraining cries ask to abide
The day’s ignorance far spent
Please be our guest, we’ll serve our best
Hospitality… they’ve lent
Two men… and guest… at a table
As the guest beckons them close
With open face, their eyes embraced
As the guest… became the host
He takes the bread, then blesses it
Then breaks it with his hands
With sparkling grace, remembered face
He was Calvary’s middleman
Smoldering hearts now ignited
Fission burns where smoking haze
Taken bread, blessed, broken, fed
Communion’s loaf solves puzzled maze
For though the King of all Glory
He will walk the extra miles
So men would see, with clarity
Messiah’s guileless style
Suffering servant and King of Kings
“There’s no way He can be both!”
By prophet’s law, together all
Highest God… who serves the most
{Proved after the resurrection
In each form that he appeared
Mary’s blesser, garden dresser
Sowing servant drawing near
Then onward to Emmaus road
Serving words, for seven miles
Perplexing men, remember him
Waiter breaking… biggest smile
By the sea of Tiberias
Manifested this third look
Bread, fish and fire, servant’s desire
Heaven’s King… convincing cook
All three times without grand splendor
Suffered servant visits staff
Ben Judah’s king, messiah seen
As messiah Ben Yosef}
For it was how he held the bread
As Father held his own
Taken and blessed, then broken test
Then given as good seed sown
It’s how the Lord holds every man
For face to face reunion
Trust gentle hand, to handle man
The order of communion
Shewbread’s table always open
Come discover heaven’s bread
Emmaus road, he broke the code
Just remember… what he said
On furlough towards Emmaus
Earnest longings drawing near
Checkmated dreams, with tattered seams
Heaven’s shewbread shall appear
Famous men led to a table
In Moses’ facelift school
By bread and wine, two friends will dine
Banquet table of renewal
Heavenly Encouragement
As a final overview to the process, it is refreshing to see that prior encouragement from the Father had been ordained for Jesus. The setting is the transfiguration in Mk 9, a chapter that records the appearing of Moses and Elijah, private conversation between them and the Father saying from the cloud to Peter, James and John; “this is my beloved son… hear him.” From there Jesus reminds the disciples of his suffering many things, his slaying death and resurrection. Death was too foreign to them, so they mused who would be the greatest. Jesus would soon show them.
In time of need, it is necessary to surround yourself with quality people. God is no different when it came to the care of his only begotten son… or any sons. So Father God summoned two of his dearest friends to minister to his beloved son. They happened to be prophets… one was a famous featured attraction, the other was seen as a failure, one who came to the end of his life… and was denied the prize. It is upon the conversation of the friend of failure and the Son of God where we will finally focus. In the beginning pages we noted:
• The doers (those who see the LAW as poetry) of the LAW shall be justified/declared.
o The poets of the LAW see its beauty, not as in black and white do/don’t, but see its beauty of color, intent and spirit of the LAW. The LAW enables creativity in the liberty of God’s glory… to state it artistically, as a portrait or painting; a rendering of anointed words.
o It is the “doer” of James who remembers he used to be a hearer only, but now is a “doer” who earlier was “a son who was once cursed but now is addicted to God.” One who looks into the perfect LAW of liberty, a “doer”, who is a faithful un-forgetting remember-er of the finished work that he beholds in the mirrored LAW.
The Encouragement
From the bosom of Abraham
God calls up two old kin
A man of LAW with single flaw
And a prophetic hairy friend
Moses and Elijah
Meet Messiah on the earth
LAW and Prophet, legal docket
Glory shining Savior’s worth
Overwhelming presence staggers
Deep calls out to deepest ends
For face to face… spirits embrace
God and Moses, two old friends
Only friends called, when conversing
Jerusalem’s demising street
Spoke of decease, bloody lamb’s fleece
Son of man and Moses… meet
He was there when Son transfigured
Closest friends surround, most wise
Stood side by side… encouraged by
Man who died… short… of the prize
Moses called from plains of Moab
To view from Nebo’s height
Five score and twenty… sees land of plenty
Fruited plain, coastal delight
Splendid view, this land of promise
Pisgah’s scenery consider
Though deep and wide… access denied
Humblest man stands… un-bitter
(Buried in Moab’s valley…
Lot his father… and granddad
Incest scandal, internment handled
Now in death… no honor had)
Yet his eyes were 20/20
His natural force… resplendent
A focused friend…prophetic end
God’s sepulchered attendant
Centuries later, we see clearer
Failure… was not his master
Moses’ behavior… silhouetted savior
Friend of God was shadow caster
Son of God sees Moses’ contour
Cast from countenance… altered
Promise un-gained… unspoken shame
He encouraged Son… un-faltered
He spoke of a brazen altar
As though fashioned by his hand
Where lambs were slain, that bore God’s name
Though denied… of Promised Land
He speaks of reflective laver
That would mirror altar’s flame
And daily baths, for future paths…
Crossed within the gate… of shame
He tells him of a candlestick
A vine…and all its fingers
Where nations stand, enlightened…and
A table…where men lingered
In the presence of their savior
Taking broken, living bread
Their portioned piece, in wine…released
The power of the Godhead
Seen in each blueprinted template
Is expounded… when the real
Manifested… fully tested
Moses weighty words appeal
He shared of many witnesses
Excited… interceding
The righteous dead want life instead
Lead them captive…they’re pleading
Moses words, as incense powder
Releasing vapors…higher
One little hint…a fragrant scent
Stirred coals of censer-ed fire
Moses whispers…into God’s ear
Encouraged towards hope’s seal
Curtain removed and fullness viewed
No more shadows of the real
Face to face stood this man of law
Leading nation … manna fed
Past daily chore, to gather more
He humbly handles Heaven’s bread
To prepare him for Jerusalem
Slain lamb’s foundational place
This righteous robe… Golgotha’s pose
Son and sin, soon… face-to-face
Clarity, just when it’s needed
Son of man, with friends, remained
With Moses’ nod, the friend of God
Suffering servant… is sustained…
By the words… of one who thirsted
And smote the flinty rock
Who when provoked… he should have spoke
Flowing waters to unlock
But now he stands as one who held
The message of “once smitten”
This time… he speaks … to him who seeks
To fulfill all that “is written”
Father truly pleased… to bruise him
With Moses …all things discussed
A smiting wrath… for man’s behalf
That shall cause mankind to trust
Fellowship… that fell the farther
By smiting… shall be restored
By cloven flint… men shall repent
And thirst for these waters… poured
Friend of God… gracious reminder
Sent unto the Son… most high
By meekest man… Lamb understands
Smiting love… that draws men nigh
Flinty Christ… the rock of ages
Cleft and smitten… ill demise
Without regret… Son’s heart is set
Moses’ words now satisfy
All while disciples were sleeping
The will of God, was awake
Son of man heard, by Moses’ words
Brazen altar’s coals… were raked
Son encouraged by this servant
To pursue communion’s breach
For Moses stood, as man who would
Die before his promise… reached
Men of failure… are God’s closest
Fellowship… their only thirst
As mercy trades… bitterness fades
Who was last becomes the first
Lovedmadlydeeplymuchly…Jt
