A Walk To Remember
Text: Lk. 24:13-35
Introduction
1. Illustration: Easter is to our faith what water is to the ocean, what stone is to the mountain, what blood is to your body. It is the unique substance of redemptive reality. It is the first and final word in the dictionary of God. It says that Christ is the Author and Finisher of our faith. —Raymond I. Lindquist
2. I have often wondered why we get so excited about Christmas, but we pay so little attention to Easter.
a. Without Easter, Christmas is meaningless.
b. Without the cross there is no Christianity.
c. Without the Resurrection, we are to be pitied above all people.
3. What is Easter all about?
a. Easter is about hope.
b. Easter is about faith.
c. Easter is about passion.
4. Read Lk. 24:13-35
Proposition: More than any other miracle, the resurrection proves that Jesus is who he said he was - the Son of God.
Transition: First of all...
I. Easter Is About Hope (13-24)
A. But We Were Hoping
1. Try to imagine that you are one of these two disciples.
a. You have left everything you knew to follow Jesus.
b. You have alienated from family and friends.
c. You have given of your finances, talent, and time to follow Jesus.
2. You truly believed in your heart that Jesus was the one.
a. He was going to change everything.
b. He was going to bring freedom.
c. He was going to bring prosperity.
d. Most importantly, he was going to bring salvation.
3. However, you stood there and watched as Jesus, your master, your teacher, was tried, humiliated, beaten and horribly crucified.
a. The one you had trusted in was gone.
b. The one that you had put your faith in was gone.
c. The one that you had put your hope in was gone.
4. Luke tells us "Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem. And they talked together of all these things which had happened.
a. As they made their way to Emmaus they were sad, gripped by a spirit of despair over the Lord’s crucifixion.
b. Their hope that Jesus was the promised Messiah had been devastated, dashed against the rocks of death.
5. However, then something strange happened. "So it was, while they conversed and reasoned that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him."
a. The idea is that they were so absorbed in their despair and talk that Jesus was already walking along with them when they noticed Him.
b. But note: they did not know Him.
c. In this particular instance, the Lord "held" (restrained, kept) their eyes from recognizing Him as well.
d. Apparently He wanted them to more freely discuss the events with Him.
6. Then Jesus asked them "What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?"
a. The Greek word means gloomy, dejected, despondent, sullen, overcast.
b. Jesus could see sadness and despair written all over their faces.
c. They were, as we might say today, wearing their emotions on their sleeve.
7. So they told him that they had been discussing all of the things that had happened in Jerusalem the past few days, and then Jesus said "What things?"
a. Now if Cleopas was a teenager living today he probably would have said, "Well duh! Hello! Where have you been?"
b. Surely, anyone that had been anywhere near Jerusalem the past several days knew what had happened.
8. The real key to situation lies in verse 21: "But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened."
a. The key is "but we were hoping..."
b. They knew that Jesus said he would rise on the third day, and they even knew that some of the women reported that the tomb was empty.
c. The problem was that they had lost hope.
B. Hope For the Future
1. Illustration: What Does Hope Do For Mankind?
Hope shines brightest when the hour is darkest.
Hope motivates when discouragement comes.
Hope energizes when the body is tired.
Hope sweetens while bitterness bites.
Hope sings when all melodies are gone.
Hope believes when evidence is eliminated.
Hope listens for answers when no one is talking.
Hope climbs over obstacles when no one is helping.
Hope endures hardship when no on is caring.
Hope smiles confidently when no one is laughing.
Hope reaches for answers when no one is asking.
Hope presses toward victory when no one is encouraging.
Hope dares to give when no one is sharing.
Hope brings the victory when no one is winning.
- John Maxwell from Think on These Things –
2. 1 Pet. 1:3-4 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.
3. That is the one thing that the Christian has that the world doesn’t - hope.
a. Hope that Jesus is who he said he was.
b. Hope that we have been saved by grace through faith.
c. Hope for abundant life here and now.
d. Hope for a life after this one where there is no pain, sorrow, or hurt.
4. The resurrection of Jesus gives us that hope.
a. Hope for today
b. Hope for tomorrow
c. Hope that will never die
5. I don’t know about you, but I’ve got hope that has its foundation in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
a. The world can’t buy it.
b. The world can’t take it away.
c. The world can’t corrupt it.
Transition: I’ve got hope today. Hope in Jesus Christ my Lord.
II. Easter Is About Faith (25-27)
A. Slow of Heart to Believe
1. Now let’s imagine that we are Jesus in this text.
a. You’ve spent three years teaching your disciples.
b. You’ve taught them that you are here on a mission, and that mission was to go to the cross.
c. You’ve taught them that you would be handed over, crucified, but that you would rise again on the third day.
2. So far everything you told them came true, but what did they do?
a. They didn’t believe.
b. They abandoned you and scattered.
c. Even when they heard that your tomb was empty, they still didn’t believe it.
d. Makes you feel like carrying around a big rock with a bull’s eye, and the words "bang head here!"
3. So he said to them "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?"
a. Why did Jesus call these disciples foolish?
b. Even though they knew all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures, they failed to understand that Christ’s suffering was his path to glory.
c. The prophets had said that Christ would have to suffer before entering his time of glory.
4. Then Luke tells us that once again Jesus began to teach: "And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself."
a. Jesus explained to these bewildered disciples what all the Scriptures said about himself.
b. Jesus pointed out all the Scriptures and how what had happened to Jesus had fulfilled everything that had been prophesied regarding the Messiah.
5. The problem was two fold.
a. They didn’t believe him.
b. They didn’t believe the Scriptures.
B. Resurrection Faith
1. Illustration: It is told that the great preacher D.L. Moody said, “I prayed for faith and thought that some day it would come down and strike me like lightning. But faith didn’t seem to come. One day I read in Romans that “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” I had up to this time, closed my Bible and prayed for faith. Now I opened my Bible and began to study and faith has been growing ever since.”
2. The resurrection of Jesus builds up our faith.
a. My bible tells me that Jesus said he would be crucified, and he was.
b. My bible tells me that Jesus said he would rise from the dead on the third day, and he did.
c. My bible tells me that because Jesus rose from the dead, that one day I will rise from the dead, and I will.
d. My bible tells me that because Jesus rose from the dead I have victory in my life, and I do!
3. Rom. 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
4. I don’t care what the Discovery Channel says, my bible says Jesus isn’t in his grave anymore.
a. The Discovery Channel has been wrong before.
b. The Discovery Channel is going to be wrong in the future.
c. The Discovery Channel is dead wrong now.
5. However, my bible:
a. Has never been wrong in the past.
b. It’s not going to be wrong in the future.
c. It is absolutely correct now
Transition: The resurrection of Jesus increases my faith because it shows me that what the word of God says is true.
III. Easter Is About Desire (28-35)
A. Did Not Our Hearts Burn Within Us
1. As they approach the end of their journey, it appears as though Jesus is going to move on. However, "they constrained Him, saying, "Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent." And He went in to stay with them."
a. The word constrain means "to speak in such a way as to encourage a particular type of behavior or action" —Louw & Nida: NT Greek-English Lexicon
b. In other words, they begged him to stay.
c. Jesus would not have stayed with them if he had not been invited.
d. But they were impressed with all that Jesus had been telling them—probably answering many of the questions the two of them had been discussing before this man had joined them.
e. They wanted to talk further, so they invited Jesus to stay.—Life Application Concise New Testament Commentary
2. Once they were inside, they saw Jesus do something that was very common for him "Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight."
a. This was the exact time God wanted them to recognize Jesus.
b. God had kept them from understanding, and now he opened their eyes through the teaching of the word and the breaking of the bread.
c. His mission accomplished with these two disciples, Jesus disappeared.
3. However, notice the profound effect that Jesus presence had on them. They said, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?"
a. Jesus had vanished as quickly as he had come, and the two disciples were left to discuss how their hearts were stirred as Jesus had talked with them and had opened the Scriptures to them.
b. Jesus’ presence had almost imperceptibly changed their mood from despair to hearts burning with spiritual passion.
c. Their hope had been restored; their doubts dispelled.—Life Application Concise New Testament Commentary
B. Spiritual Desire
1. Illustration: "I want deliberately to encourage this mighty longing after God. The lack of it has brought us to our present low estate. The stiff and wooden quality about our religious lives is a result of our lack of holy desire. Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth. Acute desire must be present or there will be no manifestation of Christ to His people. He waits to be wanted. Too bad that with many of us He waits so long, so very long, in vain." Lewis, C.S.
2. Easter should cause spiritual passion to rise up within us.
a. Because we know that Christ gave his all for us on the cross.
b. Because we know that Christ has overcome hell, death, and the grave for us.
c. Because we know that Christ by his resurrection has given us the hope of eternal life.
3. Easter should instill in us a desire to:
a. To invite Jesus to stay with us in prayer like these disciples did.
b. To invite Jesus to open the Scriptures to us like these disciples did.
4. Easter shouldn’t just be a Sunday that we celebrate once a year, but it should be something that we celebrate everyday.
5. Easter should:
a. Give us hope
b. Strengthen our faith
c. Give us a burning desire for God
d. Phil. 3:10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection
Transition: Easter should such a profound affect on us that it is the most important day of the year.
Conclusion
1. Easter is about:
a. Hope
b. Faith
c. Desire
2. What affect does Easter have on you?
a. Does it give you hope?
b. Does it increase your faith?
c. Does it increase your spiritual desire?
