Luke 24:25
“Then He said to them, ‘O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!’”
Here, Jesus has encountered two of His disciples after His resurrection on the road to Emmaus. These two disciples were, at that moment, recounting to Jesus what had happened in those days in Jerusalem. To fully understand why Jesus reacted this way, we must look at verse 22 wherein the disciples aver that the women who went to the tomb testified that Jesus had risen, and the disciple’s reaction was that “they astonished us”. The word for “astonish” here can also be rendered “amazed” or to render insane. Jesus, therefore called these two disciples “slow of heart to believe.” This, He said, to point out several things to them. First, notice that Jesus did NOT say that they were slow of heart to believe that He had risen from the dead. One would assume that is what Jesus naturally would have been frustrated by. On the contrary, Jesus never even addresses that. Instead, He accused them of not believing in the prophesies set forth by the mouths of the prophets regarding the Messiah. Then, Jesus expounded on Moses and all of the Prophets those things concerning Himself, the Messiah. This is an astounding thought and one that boggles the natural mind. Beloved, I propose to you that we too can be “slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken.” How, exactly are we guilty of this? By choosing not to act as though God’s word is not only true but manifesting in our lives and in our world at all times. For instance, I had a horse once that was injured, I took her to a vet for diagnoses, and it came back bleak. Thus I sought a second opinion. On the day I received the second opinion, the second vet, myself, and some Christian friends were in attendance. The second vet affirmed the deadly prognosis and I rebuked him by stating that I believed God would heal here entirely. One of the Christian friends that stood by stated to me that it was his ardent opinion that “in this case, God would need help from the vet!” This is the perfect example of being slow of heart to believe. What is of extreme importance to realize is that being slow of heart to believe does not mean that you never believe! It means that it might take you all of your life and then not until you are faced with a situation that puts what you have learned to the test to prove that you have not been quick to believe what has been spoken by the prophets. What’s more, it is indispensable to understand that the remedy for slow heart belief is not ridicule or condemnation, but further, more pointed, and direct teaching!
In conclusion, if you find yourself faced with a promise of God set forth in the Word of God that you just don’t fully believe, then the answer for you is to take time and deeply and pointedly study that subject matter multifariously that you may quickly believe the word written. I leave you with this parting thought, if you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small and if you can avoid that fainting, it behooves you to do that at any expense.
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