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.

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.

Not only was it a heart-breaking experience but second it was a:

2. Heart Examining Experience.

It’s here in the bitter brokenness of life, that Jesus shows up to walk with us through the worry and the wounds. When Jesus showed up to provided solace to these stricken saints, we see the truth of Matthew 18:20 illustrated: “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them” Sadly they did not recognize Jesus, and often neither do we, because we become so focused on our misery that we miss the Messiah. Are you missing His presence because you are giving priority to your problems? I often wonder how many miles we have journeyed with Jesus unaware of His presence. As believers in Jesus Christ we never walk alone.  Jesus doesn’t just walk with them, He also talks to them, asking two questions to get them to open up. So, they pour out their sad story to a seeming stranger because he is willing to listen. Do you realize we have a Lord who longs to listen, yet many of us never talk to Him. It’s here that we see the compassion of Christ as He listens to their sad story. He could have started by chastising them for their feeble faith. But Jesus doesn’t start with a lesson He starts with listening. It’s here that the Lord provides a lesson on how to deal with people as they go through difficult and dark times, how to help those who have lost hope. They need companionship not criticism; they need a listening ear not a lecture. The Lord love them by listening, and so should we, there will be time later to point them to the way of hope, to the One in whom hope is to be found, but first things first. So often in my parenting I have made the mistake of advising instead of asking. Of pointing out the problem without ever listening to the person. So as Jesus askes His first question, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”it stops them in their tracks. Scripture says that they stopped short, with sadness written across their faces. As their feet falter, their faces fall. They’re sad because they are caught up in the circumstances of the cross instead of the reality of the resurrection. They are focused on the crucifixion and not the cure. In their minds, Jesus was gone, and all their hopes with Him. Why were they depressed because they were living like the Deity was dead. Do you realize that anxiety is really atheism in action? What are we advertising when we live in anxiety, it’s not the Almighty. What about you are you advertising your fears or your Heavenly Father? They are so caught up in their circumstances that Cleopas is almost critical of Christ, he can’t believe that their walking partner does not know about what had been going on in Jerusalem: “You must be the only person in Jerusalem who hasn’t heard about all the things that have happened there the last few days.”They accuse Christ of being clueless. How like us when we go through turbulent times, feeling like God has no clue about our crisis. It’s almost laughable, as we accuse Jesus of not only not knowing what we are going through but not getting it. Yet wasn’t Jesus the one who went through the suffering? He not only gets it He is the One who got it, so we wouldn’t have to. We need a proper perspective on pain, the disciples were spectators to the suffering, Jesus was the participant in the pain. When we focus on the junk it’s easy to miss Jesus. What are you focused on today? Are you focused on the problems or His on His presence?