“That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking, and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him” (Luke 24:13-16).
What could possibly have happened to cause me to have selective amnesia? How could I have forgotten what should have been an unforgettable experience? It was the most important scene, a climactic event in my life comparable to nothing else, but for some strange reason, it ended up on the director's cutting room floor. My memory couldn't have naturally faded so quickly as to erase it completely. I clearly remember seeing the person standing in the light and instantly recognized who He was. Now I drew a blank. Why had this particular part of the scene been completely, instantaneously, and irrevocably wiped from my mind? It was a mystery that needed to be solved.
The recording of the event seemed as if it had been paused, a section cut out, and the before and after spliced back together. There was a noticeable gap in the tape—a skip in time of complete forgetfulness. How could I not know who it was that I saw? I unmistakably and vividly remember saying to him, "Oh, it's you!" How could I instantly recognize him one minute and have completely forgotten him the next? What was going on? Why did this happen? At the time, I was completely bewildered. What I eventually discovered was eye-opening, you'll see!
The missing event I'm referring to occurred during my near-death experience (NDE) that is fully chronicled in the November 2, 2019, blog post titled, Beyond Believing. It was at the beginning of my experience when I was first awakened by a gripping pain in my chest and my whole body trembling. I thought I was having a heart attack. I then heard an annoying and very sharp piercing noise that was followed by three bursts of wind that sounded like blowing breaths. In an instant, my pain was gone, and so too was the noise. There was now only a very still and quiet silence. I then noticed a brilliant light coming through the wall beside my bed. In the light, I saw the figure of a person who I immediately recognized, and I said, "Oh, it's you!" Then, without words being spoken, He said, "Look and remember."
What happened next became unforgettable, like having a photographic memory. It's similar to the continuous series of images permanently archived onto each frame of a movie film, never to be forgotten. There's not a frame missing nor a blurry image. It's crystal clear and deeply etched in my mind. I can replay it over and over as if it just happened. More than a movie, it also includes the actual feeling of being in the moment. I can remarkably relive it in my mind just as fresh, new, and vivid as when it first happened. That was thirty years ago. It's that unforgettable!
Why, then, is there a missing gap in my memory when everything else can clearly be seen? Why were my eyes kept from remembering what I saw and who I recognized? The answer to both questions can be found on the road to Emmaus. This is the same road depicted in the painting above, where two disciples are walking with Jesus. You'll be surprised how both stories are connected and how what happened to me and the lesson I learned so closely matches the original. But first, we need to take a walk down the road to Emmaus and discover what happened.
It was the third day after Jesus had been crucified, and He had risen from the dead. That same day, two disciples were going “to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. And they were conversing with each other about all these things which had taken place. And it came about that while they were conversing and discussing, Jesus Himself approached, and began traveling with them. But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him. And He said to them, ‘What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?’ And they stood still, looking sad. And one of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to Him, ‘Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days?’ And He said to them, ‘What things?’ And they said to Him, ‘The things about Jesus the Nazarene’” (Luke 24:13-19).
The two disciples, whose eyes were still prevented from recognizing Him, then proceed to tell Jesus about Jesus. They said that He was “a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him up to the sentence of death, and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel" (Luke 24:19-21). Then they told Jesus the surprising news about the women finding the empty tomb and having seen a vision of angels who said He was alive. They also mentioned that others they knew had also gone to the tomb and confirmed the women's story, but no one had seen Him. “And He (Jesus) said to them, ‘O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?’ And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures” (Luke 24:25-27).
When the journey to Emmaus was over and they approached the village, Jesus acted as if He would be traveling further. But the two disciples urged Him to stay with them since it was near evening and the day was almost over. He accepted their invitation. While having a meal together, Jesus took and blessed the bread, broke it apart, and gave it to them. “And their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight. And they said to one another, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?’” (Luke 24:31-32).
In this road to Emmaus story is a lesson that took me almost seven years longer to learn than the time it took two disciples to walk seven miles with Jesus. It turns out that a two-and-a-half-hour walk with Him would have saved me a lot of time. Now, here is my story as compared to the original. The only difference in the beginning was how the disciples' eyes were prevented from recognizing Jesus, while my eyes were kept from identifying who it was that I had seen and recognized? You'll soon see how the reason for this is identical.
On December 8, 1990, immediately following my NDE, I had a mental image of what you see in this picture. These are the symbols I observed after being told to, "Look and remember." Many years later, hidden within their symbolic meaning, I would discover something remarkable. A message from the past so powerful that it had turned the ancient world upside down. But long before my incredible discovery, I first had an invaluable lesson to learn.
The lesson began when I attempted to discern the meaning of the symbols and made a major error in judgement. It's like the famous proverb that we all know is true. "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing." This is similar to Proverbs 14:15, which states: "The inexperienced one believes anything, but the sensible one watches his steps." Because of my then-limited Bible knowledge, I was misled into thinking that I knew enough of the Scriptures to make an informed decision. This led me to make a mistake. Look again at the symbols and count the ones that you know can be found in the Bible.
From what I could see, there was no reason at all to seemingly waste my time studying the Bible in search of symbols I believed weren't there. To even attempt to uncover the mystery of their meaning, I decided the answers I sought had to be hidden elsewhere. But where? I had no idea where to begin. Instead of chasing down blind alleys hunting for clues, I was greatly distracted as I experienced firsthand how the digital clock marriage prophecy miraculously come true. This part of the story is detailed in the Mission Impossible and Mission More Impossible posts. I then settled into married life and was busy working. I decided to leave the remaining mystery to God, believing He would eventually reveal its secrets.
What followed next was my daughter's October 31, 1993, Halloween birthday. It seemed like pieces of the puzzle were simply falling into place, although I still had no idea where all this was leading. If you've read my last post titled Walking in Darkness, then you know that the matching Halloween black cat symbol is not a coincidence. Hidden deep within the meaning of the symbols was more than I ever could have imagined. I had only scratched the surface. I then questioned whether I should strictly be an observer and eyewitness only. I began having a nagging feeling I should be doing more.
Then Embraced by the Light by Betty J. Eadie was published. It was promoted as "The Most Profound and Complete Near-Death Experience Ever" and eventually became a New York Times #1 bestseller. I read it soon after its release, and it had me believing that I'd finally discovered the reason for the missing gap in my NDE. It explained how I recognized the person I had seen in the light and also how it was possible to have no recall of who it was. There was just one problem with what I learned: it wasn't true!
In Betty Eadie's NDE, she claims that when she died, three men suddenly appeared at her side. They proceeded to tell her they had been with her for "eternities." She then states: "I began to see images in my mind of a time long ago, of an existence before my life on earth, of my relationship with these men 'before.' As these scenes unfolded in my mind I knew that we had indeed known each other for 'eternities.' I became excited. The fact of a pre-earth life crystallized in my mind, and I saw that death was actually a 'rebirth' into a greater life of understanding and knowledge that stretched forward and backward through time."
If what she was saying was true, then it easily explained how I could have immediately recognized the person I saw in the light when I said, "Oh, it's you!" But had I, in fact, actually recognized someone I had known from "eternities" past, or was there another explanation? Also, what could possibly explain my immediately forgetting who I'd seen? Betty Eadie had an answer for that question too. She states, "Things were coming back to me from long before my life on earth, things that had been purposely blocked from me by a 'veil' of forgetfulness at my birth." Was my own blocked memory a similar "veil" of forgetfulness as she describes? What was I to think? At the time, I had no other alternative explanations to choose from.
I then providentially discovered the companion book, Embraced By The Light and the Bible - Betty Eadie and Near-Death Experiences in the Light of Scripture. It claimed to have "The Truth Behind An American Bestseller!" Thanks to the author, Richard Abanes, I finally had a biblical perspective with a lesson in discernment that dealt with NDEs. It gave me a whole new point of view for my experience that eventually led me to discover this truth. "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16-17). In other words, I needed to read and study my Bible.
When I finally turned my attention to studying Scripture, it was as if I too had walked down the road to Emmaus. I could personally relate to the experience of the two disciples being prevented from recognizing Jesus. In my NDE, I had been prevented from remembering who I recognized. Within the road to Emmaus story, I finally discovered the true reason why this occurred. The answer is included not only in what Jesus said, but more importantly in what He taught. He said, "O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory? And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures" (Luke 24:25-27).
What the walk to Emmaus included was an in-depth Old Testament Bible lesson for the express purpose of first opening the disciples' eyes to seeing Jesus in Scripture. Once they could see Him there, they were prepared to recognize Him in person for who He truly was: Jesus, the Messiah! In my case, once I finally identified my NDE visitor in Scripture, I too was prepared to recognize who it was that had surprised me when I said, "Oh, it's you!" It now made perfect sense. It was none other than the Holy Spirit!
How can I know this for sure? How can I know it was really Him? Most importantly, how can you believe it was Him? Discovering His true identity first begins with Scripture and using the clues I had. It was during my NDE that I heard three bursts of wind that sounded like blowing breaths. This included two very important clues. The first clue is tied to an important scene in John 20:21-22, which says, "Jesus therefore said to them again, 'Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.' And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit.'" The description of when he breathed on them was identical to my experience of hearing bursts of wind that sounded like blowing breaths.
The second clue from Scripture occurred fifty days after Jesus walked to Emmaus with the two disciples and ten days after He ascended to heaven. "And when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent, rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting...And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:1-4). Here again, there was a rushing wind filling the whole house, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit. I too had heard bursts of wind similar to a rushing wind that sounded like blowing breaths. I later learned that the word "spirit" in both Hebrew and Greek means "breath" or "wind."
In John 14:17, it says this about Him: "The Spirit of truth. The world cannot receive Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you do know Him, for He abides with you and will be in you." That's how I first knew Him and recognized Him. But how can you believe and be assured that it was the Holy Spirit I saw? How can you believe that He left me with a message for all of us in symbolic form? I'll answer that by first quoting Charles Spurgeon, who was an English Baptist preacher during the 19th Century.
"The canon of revelation is closed. There is no more to be added. God does not give a new revelation, but He fixes and freshens the old one. When it had been forgotten, and laid in the dusty chamber of our memory, He fetches it out and cleans the picture but does not paint a new one. There are no new doctrines, but the old ones are often revived."
"It is not by any new revelation that the Spirit comforts. He does so by telling us old things over again. He brings a fresh lamp to manifest the treasures hidden in Scripture. He unlocks the strong chests where the truth had long been, and He points to secret chambers filled with untold riches. However, He mints no new coins, for enough is done."
Now, take a final look at the picture of what I observed after being told by the Holy Spirit to "look and remember." This strangely odd collection of symbols can miraculously be translated into the gospel. It's a restoration of the old with the revelation of Christ made new. How the Holy Spirit accomplishes this will not only prove His identity and authorship but also deliver an authentic and exciting end-times invitation that you won't want to overlook. You'll see!
Posted on Sunday May 31, 2020 - Pentecost
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