Scripture: Luke 24:13-35
Introduction
- Easter Sunday was a very busy day for Jesus!!
- We talked about the appearances Jesus made at the tomb and later at the upper room.
- And now, almost simultaneously, we see Jesus miles away on the road to Emmaus.
- And don’t forget that between the morning where He left Mary at the tomb and now, He has ascended into heaven and now returns in His glorified body.
- Clearly, time and space have no impact on Jesus and His movements.
- He can appear and move through walls and miles effortlessly.
- He can do this because matter and energy and space and time were His creation
- Since He created it, He controls it and can manipulate it at will.
- But why show this to us just days after allowing Himself to be tortured and killed?
- I believe He is making a point. The point is this: HE CHOSE TO BE SACRIFICED.
- If He could be in all these different places on earth as well as in heaven in a matter of hours, then He had the power to easily avoid going to the cross or even be imprisoned.
- When they came to arrest Him in the garden – poof He could have been miles away.
- Or He could have waited until the next day and seen that things were going badly and popped out of sight even leaving the planet if necessary.
- Jesus has gone to a great deal of trouble and personal pain to make this point
- We have two people walking back to Emmaus discussing the events of the past days.
- Out of the blue, Jesus walks up to them and starts walking and talking with them.
- Three questions about the walk to Emmaus:
- Who were they?
- What happened?
- Why did this happen?
1. Who were they?
- I always like to do a little research and expose little nuggets of details that jump out at me.
- If you believe, as I do, that these messages are inspired by the Holy Spirit, then it makes sense that I am learning from these messages as much as you are.
- I’ve always thought that the two disciples on the Emmaus road were men.
- When I went looking for images to put on the screen, most of the ones were like this one.
- But all the Bible says is: “Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem.”
- All the Bible says is “two of them” not “two men” or “two guys.”
- But like so much of Biblical history, it was male-dominated and females had little-to-no presence.
- But look again at the screen. ~next slide~
- We don’t know for sure but, it is likely we are seeing Mr and Mrs Cleopas on their way back home to Emmaus from Jerusalem.
- Here is why this is probable: Recall the scene at the cross from John 19:25:
Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
- Of all the disciples, only four women were at the cross apart from John who was there as well.
- One of those four women was the wife of Clopas or Cleopas as we read in Luke.
- This was probably just a translation issue because the King James version of John calls him Cleophas.
- I checked the Greek root spelling and there is a minor difference so there is a question.
- I am comfortable accepting the theory that this was the couple returning home on faith.
- If one considers the story in this way it becomes all the more endearing when, as I read an article from Singapore by John and Aileena Lu titled: The Road to Emmaus – a Love Story from the Garden of Eden Restored
- What an amazing thought!! What did Adam and Eve do in the Garden of Eden BEFORE they ate from the tree of Knowledge? They WALKED with God.
- BEFORE they had knowledge, they UNDERSTOOD because they WALKED in FELLOWSHIP with
- This couple from Emmaus had KNOWLEDGE of CHRIST, but did not recognize they were in fellowship with God.
- Do you get the idea here that God is restoring the fellowship that knowledge destroyed?
- What are we facing in the world today? People know too much and don’t have faith.
- I think we have to grab this idea and break it down into our ministry to others for Christ.
2. What Happened?
- Here they are walking and talking along a seven-mile trip home which is at least 2 hours.
- I don’t know about you but my brisk walking pace is about 3 ½ miles per hour
- Note that when they got to Emmaus it was late afternoon/evening verse 29: “they urged him strongly, ‘Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.’”
- It seems an interesting coincidence when you read Genesis 3:8:
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day.
- Again, we see a couple walking with God around the same time of day.
- I found a great article by Rev. Faith Totushek, Pastor, Grace United Methodist Church, St Cloud, MN Four Ways We Meet the Resurrected Jesus: Emmaus
- The first way we meet Jesus is the Journey
Cloepas wife, Mary had been at the crucifixion of Jesus. She was with the other women who watched Jesus die. The man and the woman are walking back to Emmaus where they lived. The image of Jesus walking—God walking with his people is a common image in the Old Testament. God walked among Adam and Eve in the Garden, He walked among his people as they camped in the wilderness. The authors have captured this idea of God walking once again with his people. Now God once again is walking with his people.
- Pastor Faith goes on to write:
This image of walking signals a new beginning. A new journey with God. Mary and Cloepas represent a new Adam and a new Eve. The world is beginning anew and God’s people are walking with the resurrected Jesus in the journey home.
- The second way we meet Jesus is in the Scriptures
- From verse 27 “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.”
- Pastor Faith says:
Mary and Cleopas did not recognize Jesus but their hearts were burning within as Jesus talked about the great story of God. Jesus didn’t just offer a few Bible verses… Jesus was referring to the entire story of God and God’s people that was now being completed in himself.
- The third way we meet the Jesus is in the breaking of the bread.
Notice the words of our text and how similar they are to our communion liturgy. “He took the bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them.” Just as Jesus had taken the bread at the last supper, so he once again assumed the role of host—host at the table in Mary and Cloepas home. There he took the bread and broke it. And I love the part that comes next. Then their eyes were opened.
The book of Acts tells us how the church grew and flourished because they met together in their homes, broke bread together, shared their God stories and cared for one another. We meet the Risen Jesus in the breaking of the bread.
- The fourth and final way we meet the Jesus is in the telling of our stories
- In verse 36: “While they were still talking about this, Jesus… Jesus himself stood among them. Mary and Cloepas had run back to Jerusalem to tell everyone about how they had met the Risen Christ—walked with them back to Emmaus, ate with them. And as they told this story, Christ himself stood among them.
- Imagine running back to Jerusalem a distance the same as running from here to VCU?
- Pastor Faith concludes with:
Because Jesus is alive, we meet Jesus in the journey of our lives. Our journey through this life is not always easy and we do not always escape the pain, sadness or injustice. But Jesus is with us in the journey. We are not alone
3. Why did this happen?
- Jesus is alive and walking with us every step of the way.
- We are all on the road to Emmaus.
- We are all walking with people who really don’t know what happened in Jerusalem
- Or maybe they have heard, but don’t care because we have so much knowledge now.
- We leave in an era of INFORMATION OVERLOAD.
- The enemy has used technology to generate so much noise and confusion we can’t see God.
- And for someone like me who is probably severely ADHD or ADD or AD-something, this is especially damaging.
- Suicide is a major health crisis because people just can’t take it any more.
- Anxiety, stress, mental illness are huge and growing rapidly in our country.
- A recent shortage of the popular ADHD medicine Adderall is a leading indicator.
- According to NBC News:
The FDA first confirmed a nationwide shortage of Adderall in October, after a surge in demand for the attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder drug during the coronavirus pandemic. Although supply problems have improved since then, some pharmacies say they are still unable to keep the drug or its generic versions in stock.
- The enemy has made this world so fast-paced and complicated that humans are collapsing under the weight of attention disorders, anxiety and stress and then takes away a medication that offers hope to the struggling.
- The problem is that it’s the wrong solution – What is the solution? Jesus Christ
- I pray that you and all your friends and loved ones will meet him on your journey – on your own walk on ther road to Emmaus.