<p>24:21 <i>But we had hoped that it was he who should redeem Israel. Moreover besides all this, it is now the third day since these things came to pass</i>- When the night seems darkest, dawn often breaks. And so it was again here; the passing of three days meant they assumed that His body had now decomposed. When in fact the passing of those three days meant that now was the time to expect His predicted resurrection.</p><p>The two on the way to Emmaus commented that they thought Christ would have &ldquo;redeemed&rdquo; Israel (Lk. 24:21). A.D. Norris makes a powerful case for one of those two being Peter (<i>Peter: Fisher Of Men</i> p.109). The only other time the Greek word is used is (again?) by Peter in 1 Pet. 1:18,19, where he reassures his weary sheep that &ldquo;Ye were redeemed by the precious blood of Christ&rdquo;- as if to say &lsquo;it&rsquo;s really all wonderfully true I too doubted it, as you know. But I know now that it is true; even I was redeemed, from the shame of those denials, and so much else. Believe it with me&rsquo;. After all the Lord had taught about salvation, the eloquent and yet simple explanation of salvation in the Kingdom through His death, Peter and the others thought that His cross (&ldquo;precious blood&rdquo;) hadn&rsquo;t brought redemption. How weak their understanding was, how slow they were. And Peter again is gently prodding from his own example and pattern of growth: &lsquo;Can&rsquo;t you see the reality of it all? Or are you still as inexplicably slow to see it all as I was?&rsquo;. &nbsp;</p><p>The disciples on the road to Emmaus were like Nicodemus. They made a great commitment to tell a stranger that they had believed in Jesus of Nazareth and His words about resurrection (Lk. 24:19-21). Remember how at that very time, the disciples locked themselves indoors for fear of the Jews. They said what they did and took the &lsquo;chance&rsquo; they did, without believing Jesus would rise. They were motivated by the cross to simply stand up and be counted, with no hope of future reward.</p><p>The Jewish public looked for Jesus to release them from Roman bondage; but He patiently and repeatedly explained that His Kingdom was not of this world, rather would it come in a political sense at His second coming; and the essence of the Kingdom and liberation He preached was spiritual and internal, rather than physical and external. Yet the disciples didn't get it- they thought Jesus would've redeemed Israel there and then (Lk. 24:21). Their total lack of attention to the Lord's words is brought out by their lament that now was &quot;the third day&quot; after His death- when this ought to have been the very day they were looking for His resurrection</p>