The Puzzle

When I get toys out for the children who come to my home, I see the boxes.
They are on the top shelf of the toy closet.
They were enjoyed by my children.
They have remained in their original boxes for many years.

Children have to be a certain age before they can open those boxes.
A prerequisite is that they have to know how to read.
They also have to be a certain age to understand the story they are reading.
They have to be old enough to think critically.

I am not a jigsaw puzzle kind of person.
I do not enjoy doing puzzles.
I know that some people love them.
I find them tedious.

I always had puzzles on hand for my children when they were small.
They used to enjoy the wooden puzzles that fit their little hands.
Soon, they moved on to larger puzzles with more pieces.
We had quite a few of those, which they mastered in time.

Some of my children enjoyed the more difficult puzzles with many pieces.
The others were like me and moved on to other things.
I still have a bin on the shelf where many of the smaller puzzles are kept.
The top shelf of the toy closet have boxes with very difficult puzzles.

The premise of these puzzles is quite ingenious.
My children first had to read the book that came with the puzzle.
The story was a mystery that needed to be solved.
The solution of the mystery was discovered when the large puzzle was completed.

I can still see the puzzle pieces all over the large table in the basement.
No one was allowed to touch anything once they got started.
It took days to put the puzzle together.
I remember when two of them worked on a puzzle together.

Nothing on the box gave the puzzle away.
You had no clues as to how the puzzle would look when completed.
I would hear them as I was cooking in the kitchen.
I always knew when they solved the puzzle, which meant they solved the mystery.

Sometimes their guesses were correct.
Other times, the solution surprised them.
They had to read, and think, and then finish the puzzle to get the answer.
The solution was not apparent until the big picture was seen.

Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; ¹⁶ but they were kept from recognizing him. He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?” They stood still, their faces downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”  “What things?” he asked. “About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive.  Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.” He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken!  Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread. (Luke 24:13-35)

The two men on the road to Emmaus had only pieces of the puzzle.
They knew about Jesus.
Their knowledge was incomplete.
The risen Lord Jesus was walking along with them but they did not recognize Him.

They spoke honestly about their sorrow.
We had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.
Their hope was in the past.
Jesus died on the cross; to them everything they hoped for was gone.

Jesus did not rebuke the two men.
Instead, Jesus talked to them.
He began with Moses and all the Prophets.
He explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

The two men urged Jesus to stay with them.
Jesus took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to them.
The eyes of the men were opened.
They knew Who it was that was at the table with them.

Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?

Did your heart burn when God’s Word was opened to you?
Have you recognized Jesus as the Son of God?
Have you pondered all Jesus did for you on the cross?
Have you come to Jesus in faith, knowing that you can approach the Father only through Him?

Pieces of the puzzle are a beginning.
The entire picture is not seen until the last piece is put in place.
We may know bits and pieces of God’s Word but we must know the whole Story.
All the pieces in God’s Word complete the Story.

Read God’s Word for yourself.
Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you.
Assemble all the pieces so that you know God’s Story.
The answer to the puzzle is Jesus.