Sermon 03 December 2000
Luke 24:13-35
Do You Recognize the Messiah?
The story of Jesus appearing to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus is one of my favorites because it confuses me and it encourages me. It confuses me because Cleopas and his buddy were kept from recognizing Jesus. Why? In several of the post-resurrection appearances in the Gospels Jesus’ disciples do not recognize Him. At first glance I cannot understand why people who had spent so much time with Jesus and who had given up everything to follow Him would not recognize Him. They most certainly heard Him teach, they saw Him work miracles, and they probably heard Him at least once tell them that as the Messiah He would suffer, die, and on the third day would rise again. Somehow in the midst of their turmoil they missed this key truth and did not recognize Jesus as He walked along the road with them. They were busy with their own agenda and they didn’t get it. Why?
Upon further reflection I realize that hindsight is 20/20 vision and we are blessed with this written account of the whole story—the Bible. We can skip to the end of the story and see that the good guys win in the end. These two were living through this terribly confusing time and were very upset and just wanted to get home.
When I really think about it. When I try and put myself in their situation, I have to admit I probably would have done the same thing. We have all gotten so busy and upset that we forget people or things. Have you ever been hurrying through town one day trying to get 800 things done before lunch only to find out the next day that you passed by a good friend without acknowledging their existence even though they said hello and waved to you? Or have you ever been running late for an appointment? You know, one of those mornings where everything goes wrong: the alarm clock did not go off, there was no hot water, you dropped your toothbrush in the trash can…the harder you try to make up for lost time the more you mess things up and now you are finally ready to leave and you can’t find your keys. You look “everywhere,” twice and you can’t find them. That’s when you let out a big sigh and just give up. Then you find they were in your pocket the whole time!
When life gets too hectic, too sad, too confusing, too much to handle, what to we do? Where do we go to sort things out? Where do we go for comfort and peace? The lesson we can learn from the disciples on the road to Emmaus is when life gets you down we should go to God’s Word and we should seek the fellowship and counsel of other believers.
After Jesus was crucified his disciples were feeling anxious, dazed, and confused. Three days later, still filled with anxiety, confusion, and despair Cleopas and his buddy start walking the seven miles back to their hometown, Emmaus. They were preoccupied. This man, Jesus, who they thought was the Messiah, was executed a few days ago and now his body is missing! Why did they head home? If they were so dejected, so depressed wouldn’t it have been better for them to stay with the community of faith in Jerusalem? Shouldn’t all the disciples have stayed together, praying, searching the Scriptures, seeking guidance, comforting each other? Or, maybe searching for Jesus’ body? But no, these guys just headed home depressed and dejected.
Do we do that sometimes? Do we get so busy, or sad, or depressed, or grieving, or ill, or scared, or confused that all we can think to do is to go home and curl up in a little ball and wish it would go away? Or, maybe, you are one of those who, when life gets tough you just fill it with more business so you don’t have time to be sad or scarred or mad. Well, hang on and see the truth taught in this story and how encouraging it is.
The disciples should have known there would be an empty tomb. I can forgive their initial shock at the crucifixion, but on the third day when the “Marys” came back reporting that the tomb was empty and angels had told them Jesus had risen, it should have been a time of great rejoicing. But, no... Cleopas and his buddy tucked their tails and walked home talking about everything that happened that weekend, sad, scared, and confused.
All of a sudden here comes some guy they don’t know. (I figure they weren’t walking too fast because they were so sad.) And He says, “Hey guys, why are you so glum? What are y’all talking about that has you so concerned?” So they tell him the whole story about this great teacher and prophet, Jesus, and how they thought He was the Messiah, the new King of Israel descended from David who had come to save the world. But now He’s dead and His body is missing. This is so sad.
But then again, here they are sad and depressed. Two of them walking along talking about Jesus and all the events that had occurred the previous week and we see an example of Matthew 18:20: “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” KJV
Jesus came alongside them ready to help them out—to fill in the gaps in their understanding. The reason they did not recognize Jesus was because they had wrong expectations. They had human expectations for a divine plan. They had experienced a common form of hearing loss during their time with Jesus called selective hearing loss. I can imagine them sitting in the synagogue or outside somewhere when Jesus is teaching. When Jesus talked about the Messiah, the king descended from David who would come and end all tyranny their ears perked up. They were on the edge of their seats, hanging on every word. But, when he spoke of the suffering servant in Isaiah or the One who would be pierced in Zechariah their brains went on sabbatical, they did not pay attention because these things did not fit in with their idea of the Messiah superman.
So Jesus comes alongside them to rebuke them and to give them a little re-training. Jesus called them foolish people because they had clear evidence and ample teaching on the resurrection and they ignored it. The women went to the tomb early in the morning to finish embalming Jesus’ body and found the tomb empty and met with angelic messengers who told them Jesus had risen. And they came back to Jerusalem and told the eleven and the other disciples what they had seen and heard, but no one believed them.
Cleopas and his buddy were so depressed they decided to go home. They just wanted to go home. Three times in Luke it is written that Jesus told His disciples, “Look, I am going to suffer, I am going to die, but fear not because on the third day I WILL RISE AGAIN! But they didn’t listen. These are people who had been living as Jesus’ disciples, sitting at Jesus’ feet and they didn’t get it. So what does Jesus do? He gives them a crash course on Old Testament Messianic Prophecies. He started with Moses and worked all the way through the prophets quoting Scriptures to them about Himself.
Beginning with the promised offspring in Genesis 3:15 and going through the suffering servant in Isaiah 53, the pierced one in Zechariah 12:10, and the messenger of the covenant in Malachi 3:1, Jesus reintroduced these disciples to the Old Testament. He showed them and us that He, Christ, is the thread woven through all the Scriptures, the theme that binds them all together. Wow! What I wouldn’t give to go that Bible study!
But the Revelation isn’t complete until they reach Emmaus. Jesus acts as if He is going to go on, but the disciples, being good Jews, have to be hospitable. So they convince Jesus to stay because it’s late and the roads aren’t safe to walk at night, especially alone. Their hospitality is rewarded. They sit down for what they thought was a common meal, but that common meal had a revelatory function. Jesus took bread, He blessed it and He broke it. God opened their eyes. At that moment everything clicked. They had an “Aha” moment. “Aha, I see it now,” and Jesus vanished.
Jesus vanished because he accomplished His mission to fill in the gaps in their understanding of who the Messiah is. The Messiah is one who had to suffer and die. He was the ultimate sacrifice. Never again do God’s people have to come once a year to the Temple to give an atoning, sin cleansing sacrifice because our High Priest is our Passover Lamb, God himself in the Son making a final perfect atonement once and for all. The curtain separating everyone from the presence of God was torn from top to bottom. We have access free access to God 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365+ days a year. We have access to God because of what Jesus did on the cross.
At that moment sitting around the table, Cleopas and his buddy realized what it meant, and they were so excited they got up and grabbed a few things and they were out the door on their way to share this new revelation, this new understanding of who the Messiah is and what he has done for the world. They didn’t care it was dark. This news could not wait until morning. I think they probably set a new world record for the seven-mile sprint getting back to tell the good news. But when they got back they found out that Peter had already spilled the beans, everybody was on board (except Thomas, maybe) and then Jesus Himself shows up.
Do you recognize the Messiah? I think in this place it is pretty safe to assume that everyone here recognizes the Messiah. But I am also confident in saying I bet you don’t recognize Him as much as you should because I know I don’t. Sometimes I get a little busy and I forget that Jesus Christ is the key to fully understanding God’s divine plan.
So what do we do when life gets rough? Instead of getting caught up in “Oh I have too much to do, it’s the holidays. I’ve got shopping to do, but I don’t have enough money. There’s ballgames to go to, and yet another fair. I have go to get some work done. I need to spend some time with my family, but all I want to do is find a place to watch a Dallas game. What we should do and what this passage teaches us to do when life get rough is to go to the Scriptures. We will find authoritative truth for our lives in God’s Holy Word. “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right. 17 It is God’s way of preparing us in every way, fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do”(NLT 2 Timothy 3:16).
However, sometimes, like when I was preparing for this sermon, the Scriptures aren’t so easy to understand—you just don’t get it completely. You walk away scratching your head and that’s the second lesson this passage teaches us today. Not only do we need to go to God’s Word for answers when life gets rough, but we need to seek counsel and fellowship with other believers. Believers who know the Bible, and who we trust to have wisdom to help us to apply God’s Word to our lives and the writer of Hebrews puts it this way in Hebrews 10:24-25 “Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds. 25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near” (NLT)
I talk to people about the Good News and about going to church all the time. The subject comes up a lot in part because most people around here know what I do for a living. Most people in Sardinia know that whoever lives in that nice little brick house on Graham Street is the Methodist Minister. People tell me all the time “Well, I don’t need to go to church. I live a good life. I don’t hurt anybody. I read my Bible.” Sometimes I don’t even ask for this information. Well, you do need to meet with other Christians for fellowship and mutual encouragement. It’s right there in Hebrews, “Let us not neglect meeting together.” We are to help each other out. Even when I have absolutely wanted to just stay home, I have never come away from meeting with other believers without feeling better in some way. We must gather together. Iron sharpens iron. Sometimes you may have just the insight I need, and then next time, when you are down, I may have just the right word for you. The two disciples on the road to Emmaus needed to hear the Word and to fellowship with Jesus in order to receive peace, insight and encouragement. We must not neglect meeting together because if we do we may not receive the full revelation of God’s will for us in our circumstances. Matthew 18:20 tells us we meet Jesus when we gather together in His name.
In one of the episodes of M*A*S*H, the sophisticated shell, inside which Major Winchester protects himself from the horror of the suffering and death with which he constantly deals, breaks; and he is left defenseless. He goes into a type of depression in which he struggles to find some answers to life’s most perplexing problem —death. Finally, in utter desperation, he leaves the base hospital and goes up to the battalion aid station where the wounded are first taken. Colonel Potter discovers where he is and calls him, ordering him to return to the M*A*S*H. A medical corpsman interrupts the conversation and calls the surgeon over to a man who is dying. Winchester confirms the impending death with a glance. The soldier says, “I can’t see anything. Hold my hand.” The major replies, “I am.” “I’m dying,” the soldier moans, and this causes the surgeon’s unarticulated questions to surface: “Can you see anything? Can you feel anything? I have to know.” But the dying soldier doesn’t answer. Instead, he says, “I smell bread.”
You cannot miss the significance of the symbol. Bread is the symbol for Christ. It is a symbol for going home.
What a poignant example of what this passage is all about. Jesus Christ is the Bread of Life. When we come to our common table. When we have this bread and Juice. We meet the Lord Jesus. Imagine that as you were getting ready to come here this morning, doing all you have to do to get here and a stranger came up and joined you on the way, and said, “Hi, why are you so worried?” Now, we have been with Him for almost an hour, He has shared some things with us from the Bible, and He’s about to leave so we say, “Wait! Now is not a good time to be traveling alone, stay with us a while, and He does. We all come to the table and He blesses the bread and breaks it and finally we recognize Jesus Christ, our Savior. He has been with us all along, even when times are really tough. Jesus wants us to have those “Aha” moments; Jesus wants us to go to Him in his Word and in His people in all our circumstances. He is waiting to meet us now, at His table. AMEN.
Do You Recognize the Messiah?
Introduction:
· One of my favorite stories
· Why didn’t Cleopas and his buddy recognize?
· Keys and busy-ness
· The need to seek solace in the Word of God and in fellowship with other believers.
I. Walking Home
A. Why did they head home?
1. empty tomb
2. 3rd day
3. We all have ways of dealing with hard times, but are we going to the best place for
comfort?
B. They should have stayed in Jerusalem.
C. Jesus walks with them.
1. Why so glum?
2. They relate the story.
3. Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three gather together because they are mine, I
am there among them."
4. Expectations and hearing loss
II. Rebuke and Retraining
A. Foolish people
1. Clear evidence of the resurrection ignored
2. three forewarnings ignored
3. Living as disciples and not understanding
B. Short course on the OT Messianic Promise: Beginning with the promised offspring in Genesis 3:15 and going through the suffering servant in Isaiah 53, the pierced one in Zechariah 12:10, and the messenger of the covenant in Malachi 3:1, Jesus reintroduced these disciples to the Old Testament. He showed them and us that He, Christ, is the thread woven through all the Scriptures, the theme that binds them all together.
III. Revelation
A. Hospitality rewarded. Common meal with revelatory function
B. Aha!
1. Jesus vanished—mission accomplished
2. Sprint to Jerusalem
Conclusion/Invitation:
· Do you recognize the Messiah? Maybe not as much as you should!
What do you do when life gets too rough? Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right. 17 It is God’s way of preparing us in every way, fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do.) Counsel (Hebrews 10:24 Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds. 25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near.)
· M*A*S*H* -- Jesus is the Bread of Life.
· Invitation. Plain old grape juice and bread: Come and meet Jesus at the table
