Risen to be God with Us (Lent 4, 2025)

Jesus overheard what the two men were discussing as they walked.  Before we get the idea that the two men were shouting or Jesus was a divine eavesdropper, consider that the Risen Jesus is Immanuel and always “God with us.”  God is omnipresent.  Even on the Road to Emmaus.

“As they talked and discussed these things with each other,
Jesus himself came up and walked along with them.”
(Luke 24:15)

Who knows exactly what the men were discussing? A simple recounting of the events? Possible reasonable scenarios to explain the empty tomb?  Trying to reconcile their Scriptural understanding and expectations that the Messiah would be a military leader who would vindicate the Chosen People with the fact of Jesus’ death?

Jesus comes alongside them, and He knows it all but draws them into the truth. That’s just one of the reasons this story is one of the most remarkable resurrection appearances. It tells us much about Jesus and Scripture. 

Principle: Jesus is “God with us” even when we don’t know He’s there.

Questions for further thought:
Put yourself in their sandals.  You are a disciple. The tomb is empty.  Women come to the Eleven remaining disciples who hear the women’s stories about an empty tomb that the disciples then went and verified.  What would you be thinking about and discussing?
*
Think of other examples of miraculous things that natural/reasonable explanations cannot answer.  How do you handle them?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, when we don’t understand the circumstances around us and we’re feeling like the world is full of uncertainty, remind us that You remain the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.  As “God with us” You are anchor for our souls, and in You, our hope is secure.  Amen.

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Lent began March 5, 2025, and will continue until Resurrection Sunday, Easter (April 20, 2025). I hope you’ll join me and be prepared to have your eyes opened. I know mine have been in writing this series, “The Way it Had to Be.”

The author gratefully acknowledges Grok XI for assisting with this year’s pictures.
Technology can be amazing.

If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2025 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals continue to minister, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

“Seeing His Love with New Eyes” was the topic for 2024 and it explored looking at God’s love beyond the superficial and trite notions of love. They are archived beginning February 14, 2024.

Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.

A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God  which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014. 

Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations.  We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17. 

ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.

Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ.  It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.

Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.

Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.

Our Lent 2020 devotional series offered prayer points surrounding “Be Thou My Vision” and were aimed at helping us to see God for who He is. The full set of devotionals are archived beginning February 26, 2020.

The theme for 2021 Lent Devotionals was how to live between two worlds while waiting for Christ’s return. Into the gap between the City of Man and its fixation upon sin and the City of God with its demand for holiness, two words minister peace: But God. Praise God for His intervention! They are archived beginning February 17, 2021.

Revelation in 40 devotionals for 2022 offered 40 vignettes, scenes, concepts, and thoughts to inspire us to read the Book of Revelation as it is written and to go deeper. They are archived beginning March 2, 2022.

“Created to Display His Image” explored what it truly means to be made in God’s Image and the profound significance of that fact. They are archived beginning February 22, 2023.