Luke 24:13-35

¹³ Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles^] from Jerusalem. ¹⁴ They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. ¹⁵ As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; ¹⁶ but they were kept from recognizing him.¹⁷ He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”They stood still, their faces downcast. ¹⁸ One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”¹⁹ “What things?” he asked.“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. ²⁰ The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; ²¹ but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. ²² In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning ²³ but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. ²⁴ Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”²⁵ He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶ Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” ²⁷ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.²⁸ As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. ²⁹ But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.³⁰ When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. ³¹ Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. ³² They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”³³ They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together ³⁴ and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” ³⁵ Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.

Not only was this a heart-breaking and heart examining experience but third it was a:

3. Heart Believing Experience.

These two disciples got so captivated by Christ that before they know it they are at the end of their journey. When was the last time you got so caught up in the Word of God that you lost track of time? Most of us get more caught up in social media than we do scripture, instead of being consumed by Christ we are consumed by our cares. Why are so few of us mesmerized by the message because we have lost the mystery and the majesty. Instead we get caught up counting the minuets and tugging through the miles instead of treasuring them. But you notice that just because they are at the end of their journey doesn’t mean that their journey with Jesus has to end. It’s here that they come to the cross roads of conviction, am I content with Christ just being my companion for a few miles or am I going to let Him come in and commune? Jesus is a gentleman; He won’t force Himself on you if He’s not really wanted. But these men want to commune with Christ and so they beg Him to stay for supper. What are you begging God for, is it just to fix your problems or fill your life with His presence? This reminds us of Revelation 3:20 “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.”Many of us are missing the Messiah because we are opening up the door to everything else. Once you have truly experienced the joy of communion with Christ you cannot but covet more of His company. You will beg Him not only to walk with you all day, but to abide with you at night. It doesn’t take much to get Jesus to stay. But this is not just inviting Christ in to commune its inviting Him to take control. It’s here that the guest becomes the host as Jesus “took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them.”Whose house was it theirs, who takes charge and breaks the bread, Jesus. When we invite Him in and give Him control we go from broken hearts to breaking bread. This is when we see the nail pierced hands and the hurt He had to endure so we could be secure. It’s in His hands that we find hope. Jesus hands them more than just bread, he hands them hope and belief. How do you find hope when you’re hurting, look to Him focus on His hands. Jesus has already gone through what you are going through, He doesn’t just sympathize with us, He empathizes.  What’s the difference? Sympathy is feeling compassion or pity for the hardships that others are going through, where empathy is putting yourself in their shoes. These men didn’t need sympathy they needed the Savior. We have a choice we can focus on our broken heart or on the broken bread. Jesus calls us to come to the communion table, to remember and rejoice but then to run out and share the Good News. It’s here that they go from believing hearts to burning hearts as we see lastly that it was a:

4. Heart Burning Experience.

Brokenness causes heart burn, but belief creates a burning heart. What is driving your life, brokenness or belief, heartache or hope? These disciples couldn’t wait to share the Good News, but remember it is now evening, and it would have been dangerous to travel on the roads at night, but they didn’t care because they couldn’t contain themselves. Disciples don’t focus on the danger they focus on the duty. What about you are you driven by danger or duty? They are no longer driven by their circumstances now they are driven by Christ. An authentic encounter with Christ always leads to change. Not only a change in doctrine but a change in direction. It wasn’t just about seeing Jesus it was about sharing Jesus. As they headed home they had started their walk with broken hearts but then they end up traveling the same road but this time believing. The change was not the result of a different road it was the result of the Redeemer. Many of us are looking for change through a different location, but it’s not a change of location that you need it’s the Lord. You don’t need a geographical change you need God. Only He can take you from living in fear to being on fire. Sometimes the journey seems long but in reality, it was only 7 miles to smiles. No matter where you are today you’re not that far away from God. maybe you have lost your fire for the Father and you are trying to figure out how to get it back, remember their fire came from being fed. What fills your life will be what fuels your life. Filling your life with worry leads to worn out, but filling your life with the Word leads to a life of witnessing. As followers of Christ we have the privilege of shining the light of God into a dead and dying world. We were not called to be broken bulbs but beacons of hope? What about you are you going to live in fear or are you going to live on fire for the Father?

Luke 24:13-35

¹³ Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles^[a] from Jerusalem. ¹⁴ They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. ¹⁵ As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; ¹⁶ but they were kept from recognizing him.¹⁷ He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”They stood still, their faces downcast. ¹⁸ One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”¹⁹ “What things?” he asked.“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. ²⁰ The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; ²¹ but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. ²² In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning ²³ but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. ²⁴ Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”²⁵ He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶ Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” ²⁷ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.²⁸ As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. ²⁹ But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.³⁰ When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. ³¹ Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. ³² They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”³³ They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together ³⁴ and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” ³⁵ Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.

As we continue to journey with Jesus and His two despondent disciples we see how Jesus ministers to them in the midst of their misery. If I had been Jesus I would have let them have it, but do you see the compassion of Christ who, calmly keeps the conversation going by asking a second question in verse 19: “What things?”The two then summarize what they know about Jesus and notice how quickly and naturally they’re ready to talk about Jesus to a complete stranger. They are willing to talk about Jesus they are just unwilling to believe in Jesus. How like us, we talk about Him, but do we really trust Him? And while they get a lot of the details right, their understanding is limited by their own perspective. They speak in the past tense, “Jesus was a prophet”, and because they think that it is over they believe that there is nothing that Jesus can do in the present. They are disappointed: “but we had hoped.”And because their hope has disappeared, their hearts are broken. We haven’t changed much, have we? We want a Savior who will make life a bed of roses, who will take away all our problems and worries. They had heard the amazing witness of the women, about what the angels had said in Luke 24:6, “Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? ⁶ He isn’t here!He is risen from the dead!”Yet they chose to live in the worry and the wondering instead of the wonder. They heard about the empty tomb, but they didn’t stick around to investigate. Instead of believing they were blind because they walked by feelings and not by faith. Their problem wasn’t with their heads; it was with their hearts. They missed the Messiah because they missed the message of the prophets and what they had said about the suffering servant. They missed the resurrection because they were focused on a Redeemer who would reign. They saw the crown but not the cross. They got His second coming confused with His first. The scriptures make it clear that He had to suffer before He could enter His glory, that suffering always comes before the celebration. The disciples missed out because they left the Scriptures out. As believers our belief should be based on the Bible, and because of that it’s time to start standing on scripture and stop living according to our situation. Are you going to live in the worry or lean on the Word? Jesus listens to their worry but He doesn’t leave them there, He confronts their worry with the Word. Jesus gives them a Bible lesson because it’s the Bible that bolsters our belief. He starts with the first five books of the Bible and concludes with what the prophets said about Him. Jesus didn’t just share scripture He showed them the Savior in the scripture. Many of us read scripture but do we study scripture to see the Savior? When it comes to God’s Word are you skimming the surface or diving in deep? The Greek verb used here for “explain” is where we get the word “hermeneutics,” or Bible interpretation. If Jesus took time to explain and exegete Scripture, then so should we. Mile after mile he showed and shared the message. It’s here that we discover that the Journey is really all about Jesus, it’s about the Savior not our situation. No matter what our circumstance we need to keep coming back to Christ. Many of us have lost our joy because we have gotten caught up in the journey instead of Jesus. Christ purifies their polluted perspective with the Word, God’s Word doesn’t just correct faulty thinking it changes fearful living. Notice that Jesus took time to teach two, don’t underestimate the power of a small group. Do you have a tainted Theology, are you like these men trapped in the tragedy, then turn to the truth of God’s Word. Don’t just get into the Word let the Word get into you.