Jesus Enlightens Some Dim-sighted Disciples
Sermon #2 in After-Easter Series: Close Encounters with the Risen Lord
Chuck Sligh
April 15, 2018
NOTE: A PowerPoint presentation is available for this sermon by request at chucksligh@hotmail.com.
TEXT: Please turn in your Bibles to John 20 and Luke 24.
INTRODUCTION
Today we’re continuing our series titled Close Encounters with the Risen Lord, which examines some of the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus. Last week we examined Peter’s close encounter with the Risen Lord where we saw how Jesus forgave Peter for his denial of Jesus and restored him to the Lord’s service again. Today we’ll look at three separate close encounters with the risen Lord, because there is a common thread that goes through each of them.
Illus. – To introduce that thread, I want to tell you a story about when I was raising missionary support in churches. Susan wasn’t able to go with me on one trip because our second son was sick, so I took our oldest, Chris, with me because he always liked to travel alone with Daddy.
I presented our missionary plans to the church in the adult Sunday School class and preached in the morning service, and afterwards, Chris, who was about 8 years-old at the time, came back from Children’s Church. In the back of the church at my missionary table, I was met by a number of people interested in our mission work, so Chris, knowing how long this could take, without telling me, went to a nearby pew and fell sound asleep.
Afterwards, I met the pastor at a prearranged restaurant and when I saw his party, I sat down, and the pastor asked, “Where’s your son, Chris?”
Suddenly, I freaked out! — I had no IDEA where he was because I had seen him come into the sanctuary, but not seen where he laid down. He called around to some people in the church, and no one had seen him. So I asked the pastor for the church keys and frantically raced back to the church and eventually found him…still sweetly cutting z’s in La-la Land.
What had caused this?—I had gotten so distracted in answering people’s questions about missions that I missed a more important duty—to know where my son was. Well, you can judge me if you want, but if you have kids, I bet you’ve done something similar at one time or the other!
Yes, I was distracted from something that was very important, but we all face the temptation daily to turn our attention from what should matter the most to us. Today, I want us to see three instances in which people were distracted so that they failed to see the most important Person in their lives when he was standing right before their eyes. Let’s look at these stories and see how distractions can keep us from seeing Jesus.
I. THE FIRST INSTANCE WAS MARY MAGDELENE IN JOHN 20:11-18.
Earlier in John 20, Luke tells us that Mary had been to the tomb already once that morning with some other women. They rushed back to tell the disciples that the tomb was empty and that two angels had told them that Jesus was alive! Peter and John raced to the tomb and Mary Magdalene too returned, but was not able to keep up with Peter and John. Once they had seen that the body was gone, Peter and John, but quickly left.
That’s where we pick up the story in John 20:11-18– “But Mary stood without [outside] at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre, 12 And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. 13 And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. 14 And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence [taken Him away], tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. 16 Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master
After talking with these two angels, Mary turns around and is confronted by Jesus…but she doesn’t recognize Him yet. She assumes it’s the gardener. Jesus asks her why she’s crying and she replies, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will get him.” But then Jesus speaks her name, “Mary,” and suddenly she realizes that it IS Jesus—alive and very well—and all her disappointments and loss turned to joy again.
My question for us today is, Why didn’t Mary recognize Jesus right away? The answer is found in the text. Here we see that Mary was so lost in her own sorrows and heartache that she couldn’t really see that it was Jesus.
When we’re experiencing trouble and pain and grief and sadness, it’s so hard to see Jesus and His working in our lives. And yet He’s there all along, if we can get our eyes off of our circumstances and look for Jesus in the midst of our storm. And when we do, our sadness can turn to joy and our turmoil to peace, like it did with Mary.
II. THE SECOND INCIDENT WAS THE APPEARANCE OF JESUS TO THE DISCIPLES ON THE ROAD TO EMMAUS.
I want you to keep a bookmark in John because we’ll come back to John 21 a little later, but please turn in your Bibles now to Luke 24. We won’t have time to read the whole story in Luke 24:13-32 about this close encounter with the risen Lord because it’s very long, so let me summarize it for you and we’ll look at some specific verses.
Luke tells us that two of Jesus’s disciples were walking along discussing the events of the previous days when Jesus drew up alongside them, but they didn’t know at first that it was Jesus. Jesus asked, if I can put it in modern brogue, “What are you guys talking about?”
Looking sad, one, named Cleopas, answered, “Are you a visitor to Jerusalem and not know what’s been going on?” Jesus asked them, “What things?” They said, “About Jesus of Nazareth who was a mighty prophet” and then they related to Him about how they had hoped that Jesus was the Messiah who would save Israel, but that the Jewish rulers had had Jesus crucified.
Then they told Him of the extraordinary news that some women had reported just that morning that they had gone to His tomb and that the body of Jesus was gone and that they had had a vision of angels who told them that Jesus was alive and that others had gone to the tomb as well and claimed that the things the women had said were true.
At that point, Jesus says, “You foolish people! You find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures. Wasn’t it clearly predicted that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering His glory?” And then He took them through the Scriptures, explaining all that it taught about Himself.
When they drew near to Emmaus, they were so engrossed in what Jesus was saying, they urged him to go with them to Emmaus, instead of continuing on His journey. There they had a meal with Him, and when he broken bread before them, look what we read in verse 31 – “And their eyes were opened, and they knew [recognized] him; and he vanished out of their sight.”
And I love verse 32!—“And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?”
Now again, I want to ask you, Why did they not recognize Jesus? Obviously, they knew what He looked like because verse 31 tells us that they suddenly recognized Him, and just to make sure they knew it was the same Jesus—the One who had done so many miracles, the One who claimed He was God—He confirmed it beyond doubt by doing a spectacular vanishing act! So why had they not recognized Him before?
Well, verse 16 says, “But their eyes were holden [or “kept” or “prevented”] that they should not know him.” The question is, who or what kept them from recognizing Jesus? One stream of thought is that Jesus Himself kept them from recognizing Him until He was ready to reveal himself to Him. But the text does not clearly say or imply that it was Jesus who dimmed their recognition. It just says that they were prevented them from recognizing Him.
What else might have kept them from not realizing that they were experiencing a close encounter with the risen Lord?
1. Well, first of all, they were caught up in the things going on – Jesus’ death and missing body and the reports that He had resurrected.
They were caught up in the news of the day—just like you and me obsessing about political news on the Internet and on TV. Don’t get me wrong—being an informed citizen is important, and what’s going on in the world is important to know, just as the details of what had happened to Jesus were vitally important…but we can get so engrossed in these things that we lose sight of Jesus!
2. But they were also prevented from seeing Jesus because they had lost hope!
In verse 17, when Jesus asked what they were talking about, the original Greek says that they “stood still, looking sad.” In other words, Jesus’s question suddenly brought up again all the disappointment of the preceding days’ events, and it made them suddenly stop and grieve. When they describe to Jesus what had been going on, you see that their words are dripping with sorrow and disappointment. When Jesus asked them “What things” they were referring to, they said in verses 19-20, “And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.”
“WE HAD HOPED!”—“WE HAD HOPED!” These disciples were lost in hopelessness and because of it could not see the end of the tunnel of their hopelessness to see Jesus.
III. THE LAST CLOSE ENCOUNTER WITH THE RISEN LORD WE’LL LOOK AT TODAY IS THE DISCIPLES FISHING ON THE SEA OF GALILEE.
John 21 tells us about this story, so turn back there with me now. The disciples are back in Galilee, some 70 miles north of Jerusalem. As I stated last week, this was where Jesus had found many of them to begin with. But now they are defeated and ashamed at the way they had abandoned Jesus, and that was especially true of Peter, so they decided to quit serving God and go back to their old occupation of fishing. There were seven of them—Simon Peter, Nathaniel, Thomas, the brothers James and John, and two more unmentioned disciples. They had been out on the Sea of Galillee all night and hadn’t caught a thing.
Let’s pick up the story in John 21:4-14 – “But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. 5 Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any [fish]? They answered him, No. 6 And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes. 7 Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher’s coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea. 8 And the other disciples came in a little ship; (for they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits,) dragging the net with fishes. 9 As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread. 10 Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught. 11 Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken. 12 Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord. 13 Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise. 14 This is now the third time that Jesus shewed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead.”
They had fished all night and had caught nothing. Then Jesus appeared on shore and shouted out to them, but they didn’t recognize Him. Again, I ask, Why didn’t they recognize Jesus?
Well, first, there was the distance factor. They’re out on a boat, and a stranger from shore was calling out to them. You would have thought that Jesus referring to them as “Children” would have been a dead giveaway, right?—But they didn’t recognize Jesus. It just didn’t occur to them that this guy shouting from the shore calling them children and telling them where to find fish might just be the Lord whom they already knew had risen from the dead. If we get too distant from Jesus, it hard to recognize Him, can’t it?
Second, these guys were fishing, and believe me, commercial fishing is a dangerous, hard business that requires your full attention. They were doing what they usually did well, so they were probably caught up in it. We can get so engrossed in our jobs that we lose sight of Jesus, can’t we?
Finally, since they were not successful that night and on into the morning, they were probably not in the best of moods. They likely would not have been too interested in listening to idle conversation or unsolicited advice from shore. Jesus calls out to them, “Have you caught any fish?”—and they say, “No.” It doesn’t say it in the text, but I can imagine Peter saying to John, “I don’t know who that is, but I wish that guy would just mind his own business. We’ve got work to do!” When we get angry or in a bad mood, we often miss seeing the Lord in our lives.
Regardless of the reasons they didn’t recognize Jesus, He shouts out to them, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you’ll find some fish.” You know, just because we don’t see or seek Jesus doesn’t mean that He does not see and seek us! Often, when we’re out of sorts with the Lord, He’s still whispering advice and counsel…and we’d reap great rewards if we would just see and listen to Him!
So, Jesus tells them what to do and they’re thinking, Well, nothing’s worked so far, so why not? So they threw the net on the right side, and just as the stranger from the shore had said, they got a huge catch of fish, almost more than their nets could bear. It was only then that they finally realized that the stranger on the shore was Jesus.
CONCLUSION
Now as we have looked at these three stories, do you see a pattern? Three times people did not recognize when the Risen Savior was speaking to them. Having been so intimately involved with Jesus to some degree or other, why did they not see Jesus?—THEY DIDN’T SEE HIM BECAUSE WERE DISTRACTED. They were distracted by life’s cares, by sorrow, by suffering, by the news of the day, by hopelessness, by work, by busyness and by moods—but always distracted.
What can we learn from this?—This teaches us that we’re all too often distracted from seeing Jesus move in our lives, from hearing his voice as He gently guides us through life’s hurdles, from sensing His presence as we go perform our day-to-day activities? Distractions are all around us, and as they present a regular challenge for us to recognize Jesus as He tries to break into our hearts and give us the peace and joy we need to face the problems and challenges life throws our way. It’s not that these things aren’t important or don’t require our attention, but Satan will use anything—especially worthwhile things—to distract you from really seeking Jesus.
Rather than letting distractions keep you from seeking Jesus, they ought to cause you to retreat to Him, to seek Him out, to get His direction and guidance, and in the process, find His rest and comfort and peace—even joy—in the midst of even the worst of circumstances.
Think about it: In each case, all these disciples who were distracted by fear, sorrow, irritation, hopelessness had their needs met when their eyes were opened and they saw the risen Lord—Mary found peace and joy; the disciples on the road to Emmaus found renewed hope and a reigniting of their burning to serve Messiah; the disciples on the Sea of Galilee found restored fellowship with Jesus; Peter found forgiveness and a new commission to serve.
When we’re going through the rough times of life, we can’t just turn them off and escape and drop everything and make them go away. No, but we can—we MUST—seek the Lord in His Word and in prayer. James 4:8 tells us, “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.”
And even when you’re NOT in the midst out of a storm or when you’re not so busy and even when you’re not in grief or pain, every day you should chisel out a few minutes for a quiet time with the Lord in prayer and the Word. You see, that’s the key: making the time to seek the Lord, not just hoping you’ll find it. Distractions are real and present problems, and they will dim your sight to see the Lord and allow Him to break through and meet your innermost needs.
Remember my story of losing my son? My distractions caused me to lose sight of one of the most important people in my life. Don’t let distractions keep you from losing sight of the MOST important Person of all! In the midst of struggle and busyness, carve out time to seek the Lord.
And keep focused on Him every day.
