Easter!
What a message!
Jesus died for our sins and rose again!
Because of this we can now have forgiveness, victory and new life.
Who needs forgiveness but the guilty?
Who needs victory except the defeated?
Who needs new life but those with broken lives?
This is good news!
But does it sound good to you?
Or does it all sound too good to be true?
It’s Easter day. Cleopas has left the building.
Or rather, two disciples are walking away from Jerusalem.
They are not famous disciples. They are just 2 ordinary followers of Jesus. One is called Cleopas.
And they have long sad faces and are talking about the events of the past few days... At one time these 2 had made a decision to follow Christ, and had followed him for some time. But today they were walking away.
Have you ever walked away ‘from Jerusalem’?
What I mean is, Have you ever walked away from the Christian hope you once had? The intimacy you once had with God? The excitement you once felt at following Jesus?
Maybe something disappointed you about God, or church?
Could be somebody disappointed you?
Perhaps you even disappointed yourself?
And you have walked away?
How would you know if you had walked away?
Well, it’s Easter Day and they’re walking away. And Jesus comes alongside and walks with them. It says in verse 16 they were kept from recognising him. He asks them what they’re talking about. They mention the things that have been happening. Jesus plays ignorant, What things? Wow, they think! Who is this guy? He must be from a long way away, ‘cause only a visitor wouldn’t know the amazing things that just took place in Jerusalem.
Point number 1: Sometimes it seems that Christ is very far away, when actually, he’s very close...
As the famous old poem ‘Footprints’ in the Sand puts it... ‘One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord. Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky. In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand. Sometimes there were two sets of footprints, other times there was one only. This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life, when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat, I could see only one set of footprints, so I said to the Lord, “You promised me Lord, that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life there has only been one set of footprints in the sand. Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?” The Lord replied, “The years when you have seen only one set of footprints, my child, is when I carried you.”’
On life’s journey we sometimes feel alone, but Jesus has never left us. His promise is “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
Point number 2: Disappointment is often the thing that causes us to ‘walk away from Jerusalem’.
As they walk along the road together, Jesus lets them pour out their hearts. They tell him about Jesus, a powerful prophet. He’d been crucified, killed by the religious and civic leaders. And they had hoped he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. They had hoped he was the promised Messiah who would change everything. But he was dead, and in the morning some of the women disciples had said they’d seen a vision of angels who said he was alive. Hopes of salvation, rumours of resurrection. It was all too good to be true. Everybody knew that Jesus was dead.
Disappointment. See it in those words, v21, “We had hoped”... What had you hoped? And what happens when God lets you down? When God does something you weren’t expecting? Or doesn’t do something you wanted him to? Doesn’t give us that job, that promotion, that partner, that healing... Or when life just feels too unfair. Some of us, like these two, walk away from Jerusalem.
Some of us do it obviously. We stop going to church regularly or at all. We may even stop believing in God.
But some of us are like that little boy who kept walking around the classroom. The teacher finally manages to get him to sit down in his chair. And he scowls up at her and says, “I may be sitting down on the outside but I’m standing up on the inside!” Some of us – although outwardly we still come to church, inwardly we have walked away from Jerusalem. And I know that can happen, ‘cause a number of years ago it happened to me. I still sang the songs and carried my Bible around. But inside I was 7 miles up the Emmaus Road until Jesus came and changed things...
Point number 3: God’s Word, understood and believed, heals the pain of disappointment.
At this point in our lives nice poems about footprints and being carried, don’t always work. What we need is some serious heart surgery... And for heart surgery God often chooses to use the sharp edge of his Word. See, it’s only as we understand God’s Word, that we understand God’s ways. That’s why daily Bible reading and home group membership is so crucial. We need to be soaked in God’s Word so we can understand God’s ways. And as we understand God’s ways that is an antidote to disappointment, because we come to deeply understand the wise and loving heart of God.
Jesus has been very gentle so far. But sometimes his love is confrontational. As it becomes in on this journey to Emmaus. Jesus has got some work to do on two broken hearts. No pain, no gain, as they say.
[Read] v25... Foolish and slow of heart to believe. You know you’ve walked away from Jerusalem when you’ve lost your hunger to read, believe and act on God’s Word. You know you’ve walked away from Jerusalem when you don’t pray as if your life depended on it.
[Read] v27... They needed to know that the OT scriptures speak of Jesus. They point to him, pre-figure him, promise him, predict him, prophesy him and prepare us for him. And together, they make the point that suffering comes before glory, v26. We don’t know where Jesus took them in that amazing Bible study, but I’m sure he mentioned...
Genesis 3:15, the serpent “will crush your head and you will strike his heal”
Numbers 21:9, “Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived.”
Deuteronomy 18:15, “The LORD your God will raise up a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.”
Isaiah 7:14, “The Virgin will be with child and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”
Isaiah 9:6, “he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God...”
Isaiah 53, “... the LORD makes his life a guilt offering.... After the suffering of his soul he will see the light of life”.
According to Jesus, the Bible is about him (cf. v46). That he, the Messiah, had to suffer and die for the sins of the world.
That suffering is first, glory later.
That Good Friday comes before Easter Sunday.
And it’s essential they get this, because the same principle is at work in the Christian life. See, the victorious Christian life is not a suffering-free life.
The Christian hope is for glory after suffering and grace in suffering.
Life after death, Resurrection after crucifixion.
Even for us the sequence is endure the cross, enjoy the glory.
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus the author and perfector of our faith who for the joy set before him endured the cross! (Hebrews 12:2).
The present joy is not an easy life, but Christ in us, the hope of glory!
As Tony Compolo says, “It’s Friday, but Sunday’s comin’”!!!
Do we understand this? Because if we don’t, when disappointments come – and they will! – we’ll be on the first road out of Jerusalem wondering why God isn’t “blessing” us!
Well, suddenly they’ve arrived, v28, “Jesus acted as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” Jesus goes in with them and they share a meal together. Jesus takes the bread and gives thanks. Something in the way he takes the bread, the way he gives thanks, something about his hands is strangely familiar... and with an almighty flash of realization, “their eyes were opened and they recognized him.” JESUS!!! He’s alive!!!
And then he’s gone!
It probably took about 3 hours for them to walk to Emmaus. But I’m guessing it took about half an hour to run back to Jerusalem! They went back and shared all that had happened.
Point number 4: When Jesus is at work in you, you want to be with others who love him.
So, looking back we see that:
Jesus has come alongside two disappointed believers.
They didn’t even recognise him!
He’s healed their wounded hearts by re-orientating them to God’s Word and God’s ways.
But only as they invite him in, does he reveal himself to them as alive.
Jesus never forces his way into anyone’s life.
Final point.5: To know the risen Jesus we need to invite him in.
That’s what Jesus says in Revelation 3:20, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” Eating with someone is a sign of deep friendship, not casual acquaintance. Do you eat with Jesus?
You see, Jesus won’t drift into your life.
He won’t come in by accident.
He won’t come in if you read the Bible or try to be good enough.
He won’t force his way in.
You can even let him walk away if you like.
But he would love it if you opened the door of your life to him.
It may be that you opened the door of your life to him many years ago but you got disappointed. Been on your way out of Jerusalem for a long time now. Maybe you’ve never told anyone.
It may be that you’ve never opened the door of your life to him.
If Jesus has been speaking to you tonight, you’ll know it. Your heart will be burning within you, just like theirs’ were. Tonight God is inviting you to take your first steps back down the Jerusalem Road. Will you?
Note: Some ideas in this sermon were inspired by Pastor Jim Zippay’s excellent message, ‘Ready to Return’, preached on 23rd March 2008, at Heritage Christian Church, Ohio, USA.
