Finding The Courage To Follow Christ

Purpose: To show how Christ brought two wayward followers back into fellowship.

Aim: I want the listener to solve his discouragement by focusing on Christ with other believers.

INTRODUCTION: We have before us a story of two followers of Christ who had gotten very discouraged. They had surrendered their lives to follow Jesus Christ, but then all of their hopes were dashed when Jesus was arrested, tortured, humiliated, and put through a slow and painful execution.

The two disciples in our text, perhaps a husband and a wife, waited in Jerusalem with the other disciples for three days. They heard the reports from two women that Jesus was now alive, but evidently they couldn’t believe those testimonies so they decided to get out of Jerusalem. See verse 11.

We can all relate to their feelings, look at verse 17. Daily living can be hard enough, but living for Jesus in a world that hates Him can really be hard.

► I. What do we Know About These two Disciples?

► Vs.13 A. They were followers of Christ "two of them"

These two must have been with the rest of the disciples when they heard the report from the women who saw Christ raised from the dead. Look back at Luke 24:9 and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. (NAU)

These two were probably very close to Jesus for a long time. It says in verse 16 that their eyes had to be, "prevented from recognizing Him." They had eaten with Christ, traveled with Christ, they had watched Christ perform many miracles (see verse 19).

► Vs.14 B. They were discouraged "talking...about all these things"

What "things" were they talking about? The crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ.

When we look at the whole story, there is no doubt that these two were real followers of Christ. They had just gotten discouraged and given up. Many times those who start out to follow Christ get sidetracked for one reason or another.

We see that they decided to run away from their circumstance even though they had just heard a report that Jesus was actually alive. They did not stick around to see if what the women had said was really true. If they had stayed with the other disciples they would have heard Peter and John’s reports that confirmed that Jesus was alive.

When a sheep gets sick, he will often separated himself from the flock and just lie down. This can be the worst possible thing for a sheep to do because wolves do not attack flocks of sheep.

They panicked. They probably feared for their lives. Instead of staying with the other believers in Jerusalem they slipped away by themselves. Isn’t it interesting that discouragement tends to drive Christians away from each other rather than closer to each other?

The other disciples were huddled behind locked doors in Jerusalem. But, these two disciples had decided to leave the small group of believers for a safer, quieter place. Emmaus was seven miles away, or a 2 to 3 hour trip. They didn’t feel like there was anything in Jerusalem worth staying for.

When following Christ gets hard there is the temptation to look for an easier place. It takes courage, on the other hand, to follow Christ.

► The highest degree of courage is seen in the person who is most fearful but refuses to capitulate to it.--J. Oswald Sanders [1]

A missionary society was deeply impressed by the courageous devotion of David Livingstone who worked single handedly for God in Africa. The society wrote to Livingstone: "Have you found a good road to where you are? If so, we want to send other men to join you." Livingstone replied, "If you have men who will come only if there is a good road, I don’t want them. I want men who will come if there is no road at all." [2]

► Vs.17 C. They were drained "stood still, looking sad"

They were emotionally and probably physically worn out.

Vs.17 LOOKING SAD literally means, "gloomy eyed." They were worn out, weary, and distressed. They were like lost helpless sheep.

► II. What led to Their Discouragement?

Vs.18-20 A. They were focused on their circumstances "things which have happened here"

They were confused about the events. They felt like the chief priests and the rulers were in charge. They had no vision of a sovereign God who was in charge of all things.

If we are not careful, we can find ourselves just "going through the motions" of serving Christ. Doing the right things, but doing them with no joy or enthusiasm. For example, sometimes we find ourselves praying, but with no expectation that God is going to answer those prayers.