telling the story ~ the triumph of Israel's God
Composition version: yes.
lyrics
a stranger on the road
a face we didn't know
"why are you crying"
are you the only one
who doesn't know what's done
a messiah dying
why can't you see
so it must be
from days long ago
it's all been foretold
the prophets have spoken
their words are not broken
and the words that he spoke
and the bread that he broke
a history of Israel's blood
daylight dawned in my eyes
standing there undisguised
the triumph of Israel's God
is this you, my messiah
the one I loved, the one I knew
didn't they crucify you
yet here you stand created new
the triumph of Israel's God
the triumph of Israel's God
...has come at last
narrative
Three days after Jesus dies.
Two people on a road, probably a man and his wife.
Confused, disheartened, broken, discouraged.
Their hope has died. It's like the end of the world. The one they were certain was the Messiah - the one who was going to be the great promised deliverer - has died and apparently accomplished nothing.
But then, as they walk, someone approaches. He asks why they look so downcast. "Are you the only person in the neighbourhood who doesn't know what's happened?" they ask. "The one we thought would deliver Israel has been executed!"
The newcomer, however, turns the tables and takes the pair on a walk through biblical history. This whole event was not a mistake at all. The Messiah had to suffer, and then "enter into His glory."
Glory. There is that word again. To be brought to a new condition, especially a new condition of authority, clothed with "weight" (the Hebrew word for "glory,"kabod, can also be translated "weight"). The weight, the glory, that Adam and Eve were destined for, but had become derailed from so long before.
So the "stranger" unpacks a whole history, recounting the blood that has been shed in Israel's history for the purpose of showing that this blood had to be shed.
And they arrive at their destination, a little town called Emmaus. Although he implies he is going further, the two mourners invite the stranger in to share a meal.
And as He sits there, He takes a piece of bread, breaks it and blesses it in His familiar manner, and they know the stunning truth: the Messiah lives.
This is the triumph of Israel's God. It is the great triumph that overcomes death. If Jesus' death was the execution of flesh and the death of the old creation, then when God by His Spirit raises Jesus into a new life that cannot be destroyed, that resurrection is the birth of a whole new creation.