“Walking with Jesus”
Luke 24:13-35
In our Gospel Lesson for this morning we find, on Easter day, two of Jesus’ disciples walking on their way back from Jerusalem to Emmaus.
And as they are walking, Jesus comes and walks with them.
At this point, they thought Jesus was dead, and they didn’t recognize the Resurrected Christ.
Many people, over the years, have wondered, “How couldn’t they recognize Jesus when He was walking there on the road with them.”
I don’t know for sure, but I do know it can be difficult to recognize people in unusual settings or in places where we are not expecting them.
Not long ago, I was in the hospital with a family who had a very sick father and grandfather on life-support.
Family members were allowed to visit the person in pairs in the ICU.
When the son of the man in ICU came back, his first words were, “I didn’t even recognize him.”
I had the same experience when I went in.
I would imagine many of us have experienced this sort of thing at wakes with open coffins or with family members who are terribly sick.
In any event, the last time these disciples had seen Jesus, His body was bloodied, ripped to shreds, hanging from a wooden Cross.
And that, no doubt, was the image which was seared into their memories as they walked the Road to Emmaus, faces twisted in grief.
And so, even though Jesus Himself came up and walked along with them…they did not recognize Him.
I wonder how often we walk through life not knowing or remembering that the Risen Christ is walking with us?
I know it happens to me.
And when I do forget that Jesus is with me, that is when fear, panic and loneliness threaten to take over.
It also tends to be when I slip up and fall into sin.
Perhaps I lose my temper more easily.
Maybe I hurt someone with my words or actions.
And when this happens, I tend to lose the “peace of God which transcends all understanding.”
It is so important for us, to, at all times remember that Jesus Christ walks with us always—even during times of isolation, stress, loneliness and pain.
On the road to Emmaus the disciples’ faces were downcast.
And Jesus basically asked them why they were so sad.
And they told Him the whole story about what had happened.
And they were able to tell Him a lot.
It was, after-all, a seven-mile walk.
And Jesus listened.
They were absolutely heart-broken.
They had put all their hope in Jesus being the Christ.
And now, in their minds, Jesus was dead.
What was there to live for?
A pastor friend of mine played basketball in high school.
He made all conference several times.
He was good.
He didn’t get recruited or given a scholarship, but he was a good basketball player.
He went to the major basketball playing university in his state.
This was back in the day when they all had freshman teams.
He tried out and made the team.
He played quite a bit on that freshman team, he kept working in his game over the summer, spending almost every day in the gym as he had done since he was 12.
About six weeks into his sophomore year he went to the college gym for the announced try-outs for the varsity team.
He knew most of the spots were taken by the scholarship players, he knew there were only two places for walk-ons, he knew there were a lot of people trying out.
But he thought he could make it, he had made the freshman team without a scholarship, surely the coaches had noticed his talent.
He told himself they had not offered him a scholarship because they know he had an academic award.
And 30-minutes into that try-out, an assistant coach came over, patted him on the shoulder, said, “Thank you for trying out,” and pointed him to the door.
He found himself standing outside, sitting on the steps with the other rejects; dazed and confused and disappointed and wondering to himself, “What do I do now?”
Like the two disciples on the Road to Emmaus, my friend had had his high hopes dashed and was left to wonder not only what might have been, but also where do I go from here?
And that is a question our Gospel Lesson leads us to wonder today.
Where do we turn when things fall apart?
Fall apart not only for us personally, but also for the world?
What do we do when the when the things we have trusted in, believed in, hoped in, seem to have failed us?
And so, the two disciples in our Gospel Lesson for this morning were headed to Emmaus, to do what, we don’t know and they probably didn’t either.
And Jesus was with them.
And they were telling Him their story, and Jesus was listening quietly, intently.
When you think about it, we all walk the Road to Emmaus with our faces twisted with grief” sometimes.
Perhaps you feel that way today.
Maybe this COVID-19 stuff has got you down.
Perhaps you miss your church family so much it hurts.
One day I got an email from a friend whose 23-year-old daughter was celebrating her birthday that week in prison.
He wrote about the sadness he felt for “the loss of his dreams for his daughter.
The pain of seeing her in prison.
The knowledge that she had made so many mistakes and that he and his wife could not stop them.”
My friend was walking the Road to Emmaus.
Recently, I received an email from someone who told me about being laid off from his job due to the coronavirus and his feelings of discouragement and disappointment.
This was his Road to Emmaus.
“We had hoped he was the one who would redeem Israel…”
They were grieving and they were angry.
But Jesus was with them all along the way.
Have you ever been angry with God?
You know, I think it’s alright to be angry and it’s alright to be honest with God about how we feel.
God is big enough to understand.
Recently, Clair, Mary Ellen and myself were playing a game of basketball in our driveway.
And something didn’t go Owen’s way, and he got mad.
“It’s not fair,” he yelled.
Then, he proceeded to go around the corner of the house and sob loudly.
He was frustrated, was all.
And he not only was frustrated because the ball had been stolen from him.
He was frustrated because he still doesn’t completely understand the game.
And I remember what that was like.
I remember those feelings when I was 4 or 5.
So, I called him over and said to him that we aren’t mad at him.
And that I understand what he’s feeling.
Then, I told him a story about a similar thing that had happened to me, when I had been playing a game of Monopoly when I was his age.
I could understand something, like why I had to pay for landing on a property or why I couldn’t just load up with hotels whenever I pleased.
And I told him how I got mad at my family and stomped off frustrated and angry.
This calmed Owen down.
And I think he appreciated the fact that I could understand where he was coming from.
It’s alright to be angry and frustrated with God.
We don’t understand everything, not even close.
And God knows that.
And God loves us and wants to listen to us, console us and let Him know we can confide in Him.
If you are ever angry with God; talk to Jesus about it.
Tell Him how you feel.
I do and I have.
Let it out and you will find peace; for God is the Great Comforter.
So, these two disciples, their faces twisted with grief, disillusion and perhaps anger were joined on the road by Jesus.
And notice that Jesus came to them, not the other way around.
That is the way it always is with God.
He is the Good Shepherd Who searches for the lost sheep.
He is the One Who cares for us more than we can imagine.
He is the one who travels with us on the Road to Emmaus.
When the disciples got to where they were headed, they invited Jesus in to stay with them.
And during the meal, their eyes were opened and they recognized Jesus.
Then they said to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while talked to us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?
This kind of thing still happens today.
Wherever you may be, wherever you may be doing, Jesus comes and walks beside us.
He opens the Scripture to us.
And if we invite Him into our hearts, we recognize Him for Who He really is—the Resurrected Lord of the Universe.
And we experience new life as we are born again!
I want to go back to where the disciples ask one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
Have you ever experienced your heart burning within you as Jesus has opened the Scriptures to you…
…as you have experienced new insights about God and about life when reading God’s Word and then, even applying it to your life?
I must say, when I read this passage, I am reminded by how much I love the Scriptures.
And I need to be reminded.
They are a part of me.
I am in love with the Word of God, but sometime, I think I forget this.
It has changed my life and continues to do so.
Everything I do revolves around it.
Where would I be without God’s Word?
I remember the first time I really, really read the Bible.
I was a teenager, and I couldn’t put it down.
God was opening the Scriptures to me.
I was seeing life in new ways, ways I never had before.
There was a guy on the radio back then called, “The Bible Answer Man.”
People would call in with questions about the Bible and he would answer.
I used to dial into that program everyday.
I was engrossed.
It was my favorite program; my favorite subject.
And you know what?
The Bible still is my favorite subject.
And it’s my favorite subject because it reveals God.
It reveals Jesus.
It holds the key to salvation and love.
How much time do we spend reading God’s Word?
Do we have a personal devotion time?
I think this time of isolation, of sheltering in place, is a perfect opportunity to shut off the 24 hours news cycle and pick up the Bible.
One of the great ways to read the Bible is to journal as you read.
Read, for example, a book like Romans.
And allow Jesus to speak to you through the Scripture.
And when the Jesus speaks to you through Scripture, write down what He is saying.
This can be so exciting.
And it changes our lives.
It transforms us and the way we look at our situation, the world, and the needs of others.
We are told, in Luke Chapter 24, that as Jesus “took the bread,” as He did what He had done so many times before, they “recognized him.”
And after this experience with Jesus with Jesus, the two disciples went running back to Jerusalem…
…back to the other disciples proclaiming: “It is true! The Lord is risen…”
Their encounter with Jesus—their recognition of Him changed their sadness into joy.
Have you experienced this kind of joy?
If nothing else comes out of this Coronavirus Pandemic—if we all grow in our relationship with God through Jesus Christ…
…if we all open our Bibles and speak and listen to Christ—and feel our hearts burning within us as Jesus opens the Scriptures to us—then that is the most important thing that can happen.
It is true! The Lord has risen…
…and He walks this life with us, every step of the way.
Praise God.
Amen.
