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Biblical Wisdom

We Were Hoping

Two men on a road, explaining their disappointment to the person it was about.

By EmberKeeper Editorial 1 min read

Scripture Luke 24:17–21

A stranger joins two men walking out of Jerusalem and asks what they are discussing. Luke says they stopped walking, with sadness on their faces.

Then they explain. And in the middle of the explanation comes a sentence in the wrong tense.

“We were hoping He was the One who would redeem Israel.”

Were. Something they had carried in the present had been moved into the past, and they were speaking about it the way you speak about a plan that is over.

What is worth noticing is who they said it to. He was there. He had been walking beside them for some time already, and he did not interrupt to correct the tense. He let them finish.

Disappointment is allowed to be spoken out loud, in full, before it is answered.

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