And, lo, two of them were going on during that day to a village, distant sixty furlongs from Jerusalem, the name of which [is] Emmaus, and they were conversing with one another about all these things that have happened. And it came to pass in their conversing and reasoning together, that Jesus himself, having come nigh, was going on with them, and their eyes were holden so as not to know him, and he said unto them, ‘What [are] these words that ye exchange with one another, walking, and ye are sad?’ And the one, whose name was Cleopas, answering, said unto him, ‘Art thou alone such a stranger in Jerusalem, that thou hast not known the things that came to pass in it in these days?’ And he said to them, ‘What things?’ (Luke 23.13-19a, Young’s Literal Translation)
Whenever I read these passages, I find the understatement of Jesus to be so remarkable. Three days earlier he had been crucified and while on the cross he became our sin. He suffered for three days in the belly of the earth and was finally raised by God, the Father, to become our High Priest. Earlier, before he met Cleopas and his friend, Jesus was glorified by the Father and the angels in heaven for obtaining the eternal redemption of mankind.
This account in Luke is the first instance where we see Jesus after his glorification. The interesting thing is that he doesn’t appear to the two as Superman or even Tarzan. He doesn’t come to them beating his breast, howling about how he accomplished redemption and was glorified. He doesn’t hold a revival service or even tell them “everyone bring one.” He appears to them as but a stranger and asks them, “What things?”
While he eventually lost his way on doctrine, the early days of William Branham’s ministry were marked with similar understatement. Without the pomp and circumstance of gospel bands, made-for-television talking points, or celebrity entourage, Branham preached Christ and his ministry witnessed the most extraordinary manifestations of the word of knowledge and gifts of healings in modern times. One can’t help but be moved by the simple recitations of fact and declarations of healings in a reverent atmosphere by a humble, unlearned, and understated servant of the Lord (see YouTube video).
Our modern revivals are just the opposite, having all the trappings of a high school pep rally - loud gospel singers and bands, frenzied applause, preachers as cheerleaders and grandiose claims of what “God’s gonna do” while fists are pumped into the air. Unfortunately, like my own high school pep rallies, they are usually much ado about nothing (we didn’t win a single game my senior year). A recent revival, with claims of angels, miracles, and the dead being raised, appears to have turned out to be another pep rally - lots of sis-boom-bahs without much substance.
It would do us well to find revisit the understated side of Jesus again (the body should derive its personality from the head). The Lord doesn’t need a group of cheerleaders with pom-poms to usher in his presence (“cheerleader” is not one of the five-fold ministries), but quiet, faithful, and understated servants who are rather anxious to have him do the talking.
[Note: This post is not to say that there shouldn’t be any “wildfire” in revivals. In Acts 2, there was wildfire with the birth of Pentecost, but the atmosphere prior to God’s shaking of the whole place was one of continual prayer.]
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