Luke 24:13-35 The Peace of His Presence
Jesus is alive and well. But this truth does not sink in well when we are depressed.
Here we read of 2 disciples - v. 17 their faces downcast... naturally, after see their Master tortured and died on the cross, and now they heard news that his body was missing.
- He may be walking with them, but they don’t feel Him
- He may be speaking to them, but they do not recognise His voice
- The Scriptures may have been plain, but they do not understand
- They have eyes, but "were kept from recognizing Him" (v.16) ...until they were opened in v.31
Do you have similar experience? Moments when you feel the world have crumbled down upon on, and He was no longer there?
Let us walk through this story, step by step. At the end of the journey, we want to be able to say with them, that "our hearts burning within us while He talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us..." (v.32)
Let’s put ourselves in their shoes as they set out on this 11 km walk from Jerusalem to Emmaus.
It starts off with a HEART-BREAKING EXPERIENCE
They were DOWNCAST. Have you ever noticed that some of the saddest words in our language begin with the letter D? Disappointment, doubt, depression, disillusionment, defeat, despair and death.
These words can be used to sum up the feelings of these 2 disciples.
The Master they had respected, loved and followed had been tortured and put to death - a cruel death on the cross. It was the most degrading capital punishment.
Their hopes were dashed; the dream was over! Now the band of Jesus’ followers was leader-less and was falling apart, with two of them already on their way home.
The reports that Christ’s tomb was empty did nothing to alter their thinking; it only confused them. Their entire world had come apart. The two despondent disciples summed up the situation very neatly (v.21) "we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel."
In order words, they’ve LOST their HOPE. They have erected a wall around them - and this wall is call hopelessness - and they are trapped within these walls - in misery.
Someone said, "Human hope is a fragile thing, and when it withers it’s difficult to revive. Hopelessness as a disease of the human spirit is desperately hard to cure. When you see someone you love and care for overtaken by illness, which goes on and on, despair sets in. It almost becomes impossible to hope for recovery, to be even afraid to hope because of not being able to cope with another letdown."
Cleopas said to the stranger (Jesus), "Do not know the things that have happened there in these days?" (v.18) All that has happened in Jerusalem caused this! This hopelessness, this despair, this sadness in our hearts - they are the result of all these that has happened.
Jesus looks at the same events and said (v.26), "Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter His glory?" It is all part of God’s plan! Don’t you know that all these have to happen in such a way, so that Israel can be redeemed? In fact, it did not bring doom and gloom, but victory and hope for all mankind!
1. SEE THINGS THE WAY GOD SEES THEM
The journey starts of with BROKEN HEARTS... but it’s only the beginning.
As they were making their sad journey home, Jesus came alongside. It was going to be a life-changing walk for them! Somehow, the Bible says, they were unable to recognize Him.
But it doesn’t matter. It does not matter whether you ’feel’ that He is with you or not, the fact is HE IS! It does not matter also you can ’see’ Him or not, the fact is HE’S THERE.
Visual appearances of Jesus ceased at his Ascension. Jesus said to the doubting Thomas (John 20:29), "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
And because He walks with them, they experienced companionship and they were able to hear His voice. He opened the Scriptures to them and they were able to understand.
It’s amazing how the Lord comes alongside you when you need comfort and strength. He starts off by asking them, "What are you discussing together as you walk along?"
He could well have ticked them off, to say the least, for their lack of faith in him, for their lack of understanding even after such a long time with him. But no, Jesus did not rebuke them, even at this point of time... but rather, took time to explain.
As someone put it in moving words, "In his infinite courtesy, Jesus remembered the frailty of over-strained nerves and bewildered minds and came, not too suddenly or overwhelming upon them, but with gracious signs and tokens, and messages from one to the other."
Can you see His compassion, His kindness?
Now the disciples walk on with comforted hearts - MENDED HEARTS. Why? They were beginning to understand the Scriptures - Jesus "explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself." (v.27)
2. GET BACK TO THE SCRIPTURES
The two disciples were correct in their theology as far as it went. They said that this Jesus "was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people" (v.20).
We’ve all heard exciting testimonies of what Jesus has done in the past, but what about NOW. We may know all about Jesus - what happened to him, who he is, what he has done... But do we KNOW HIM when He walks beside us, when He speaks to us...
Life has many distractions. For these disciples, it was depressing events that had happened, that had pulled them away. For us, it may be hard work, stressful work, tiredness, ill health, and strained relationships. These grind us down, and we tried to carry on with life mechanically. We struggle to lift up our eyes or to offer a smile.
We become unaware of the glory and strength of His presence with us. This story gives us hope. Nothing is lost. In fact, everything is great and it’s working according to God’s plan!
Jesus is still there. He’s the unseen "stranger", walking with us, listening to us and, if we are willing to hear His voice and look at the Scriptures, He is going to reveal Himself to us in a fresh new way.
So Jesus DIRECTED THEM BACK TO THE SCRIPTURES...
24:27 "And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself."
It must be the greatest OT exposition in history - direct from His mouth - the Lord spoke to a congregation of two! The OT points to Christ! The Scriptures give us hope. Jesus says, "It is written: `Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’" (Matt 4:4)
The disciples began to make sense of the Cross and to see things in a new light. The cross was a sad even in the eyes of man but it was the creative act of God - Paul would later write, "God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not counting men’s sins against them" (2 Cor 5:19). The Cross of shame and suffering had become the Cross of Redemption for all who would come to Jesus in repentance and faith.
Through the Scriptures, Jesus helped them to see things the way God sees it.
Get back to the Scriptures - re-start your regular QT with God. Read through JOHN. The Scriptures will help us see things the way God see them. It will help us see hope in a hopeless situation; see light in darkness.
Their two-hour journey from Jerusalem to Emmaus must have felt like a short time, with the companionship and the comfort they’re getting from Jesus.
Luke informs us in 24:28-29 that, "28As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther. 29But they urged him strongly, "Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over." So he went in to stay with them.
(1) Jesus is a gentleman; he won’t invade our area of privacy. He won’t force himself if he’s not really wanted. He waits for the invitation.
(2) It doesn’t take much to get Him to stay. All we have to do is invite him. DID YOU INVITE HIM? Invite him into your life, into your situation, into your family, your office. He will be happy to join you.
There’s a famous picture painted of this scene, of Jesus knocking at a door, but there’s no handle to it. I expect there is a handle, but it’s on the inside!
Rev 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.
And then a basic meal was quickly got ready. Verse 30 says, "He took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them." Sound familiar? The same act was done at the last supper - about 4 days ago - but now with nail-pierced hands. Somehow at this point of time, their eyes were opened and they recognized Him!
AND THEN HE DISAPPEARED!
He has done what He needs to. Jesus remained on earth for 40 days after His resurrection for ONE PURPOSE - to reassure His followers and to strengthen them, so that FROM NOW ON they will be able to manage WITHOUT His bodily presence. He is with us through His Spirit.
I can imagine Cleopas and his friend standing still, probably in shock, and then asking, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?" (v.32). Their world had come together again.
BROKEN Hearts - MENDED Hearts - BURNING Hearts!
They were so revived, that the Bible says, "They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem." (v.33). It looks as if they did not stay overnight but got back on the journey to Jerusalem.
3. HIS PRESENCE IS ALL WE NEED
That heart-burning experience is something that we all need.
We need to know that He is there and that His plan is still doing fine. Nothing has been demolished, the Cross did not destroy God’s plan. And Jesus is still alive!
That’s all it takes to cause the disciples to TURN AROUND.
We need to turn around - from our depressions and despairs.
Where are we today, in this journey? Are we still heart-broken because the Lord is not around; we’ve misinterpreted or misunderstood the events that have happened?
Or are we on a heart-mending time with the Lord. Seeking to hear His voice again and understand His Word? Continue to do that until our hearts burn with a growing passion for His cause.
Christ is risen from the dead! Christ is your Saviour! Christ is the hope of the world!
The 2 disciples lost no time in retracing their steps to Jerusalem to share the Good News.
Let us do the same today.
