Two men.  Two men walking.  Two men walking dejectedly toward Emmaus.  A third man joins them and asks what they are talking about.  That stopped them in their tracks!  They couldn’t believe that anyone wouldn’t have heard about what had taken place in Jerusalem in the past few days.  And the third man asked “What things?” (Luke 24:13-19) 

(NASB) Luke 24:19-21 “…‘The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people,
20 and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to the sentence of death, and crucified Him. 
21 ‘But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel.  Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened.” 

  These two men were devastated – Jesus had been killed.  The One whom they believed to be the Messiah, the Anointed One of God – crucified.  Cut off in the prime of life.
  God’s purpose for His Anointed One (Messiah) was accomplished in His timing.  God’s plan was for His only begotten Son to die on the cross.  And God’s preparation for you and me was through the sacrificial death of Jesus. 

It is the resurrection of Jesus that has changed everything.

  The two men did not understand the words of Jesus before His crucifixion.  And neither did the twelve disciples.  They had been told!
(NASB) Matthew 20:17-19 “As Jesus was about to go up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples aside by themselves, and on the way He said to them,
18 ‘Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death,
19 and will hand Him over to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify Him, and on the third day He will be raised up.” 

  Jesus was not surprised, but the people who followed Him were.  Have you heard people today say ‘God won’t let us (His followers) go through really bad things.’  The disciples believed that also.  They couldn’t fathom God the Father letting His Son be crucified. 
  Shouldn’t we carefully and prayerfully read God’s word?  He does not say we will have an easy time in this life.  What God does promise is that He will be with us, period.   

  Our hope is in Jesus and what He has done for us on the cross.  We have a living hope!
Consider what one of the twelve disciples later wrote:
(NASB) 1 Peter 1:3-5 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” 

We have A Living Hope through Jesus’ Resurrection ~ Rejoice!