In the summer of 1969, then-President Richard Nixon engaged in hyperbole to express his excitement over America’s landing on the moon. When the Apollo 11 astronauts returned to earth following the first-ever moon landing, Nixon called their mission "the greatest week in the history of the world since the Creation, because as a result of what happened in this week, the world is bigger, infinitely." (Today in the Word, July 5, 1998)
He was then reminded (by Billy Graham) that there was a day in between that was actually more important than someone walking on the Moon - that day is Easter - the day that provides our salvation and our life to come.
What we celebrate today is that our world is indeed bigger… infinitely bigger… and better… infinitely better.
For the resurrection of Christ declares who Jesus is … and confirms all that he makes known of our world and our lives.
The challenge for many of us is that we live between two realities… one that’s defined by the temporal and tragic condition of life… and one that’s declared by the risen Christ. Easter has the power to break through and transform the very reality out of which we live… not just a morning of religious excitement but of celebrating a reality that can transform us in a deep and ongoing way.
How do we discover that reality in the midst of a world so enveloped in the temporal reality of suffering?
On this Eater morning, the Lord has a word for us from perhaps the most interesting encounters with His risen presence. As we walk through this encounter, I believe we can hear the Lord’s heart for us.
Luke 24:13-35
[13] Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. [14] They were talking with each other about everything that had happened.
One of the marvelous things about this event, is that it does not involve one of the twelve primary disciples. We know little about these two… one is referred to as Cleopas (Claopus) and the other remains un-named. They are simply a part of the larger public circle which had followed Jesus. Why would Jesus come to these two on the very first day of his resurrection?
> Because he has no favorites… he cares for each and every one of us… and comes to all who will welcome Him.
These were souls who longed for life to be different. The common quality of all who discovered Christ was that they understood and truly desired for this world to be different… they weren’t so connected and committed to the status quo so as to resist the radical calling of Christ. We do well to open up that sense within our own souls.
… talking with each other about everything that had happened.
So much had happened… beginning with first hearing the news that one who could be the Messiah was on the scene…the promised hope of a savior from God. Then meeting him… the words he spoke… the Kingdom of God He proclaimed … the power of signs and wonders he demonstrated… the love he showed. Now at the climatic point when he went to Jerusalem during the Passover… he is suddenly seized…. Beaten… condemned by sway of the religious leaders… and crucified. He’s dead. The tomb is sealed… and with it all their hopes….all their vision of God at work in the world.
> No wonder when asked about what they were talking about… we’re told, “They stood still, their faces downcast.” “Downcast” describes so well what happens when disappointment causes us to look down in such a way that it’s hard to see much else.
Where were they going ? Emmaus… a seven mile walk from Jerusalem.
They are leaving behind the bitter memories of Jerusalem and are walking to the Village of Emmaus. As Frederick Buechner describes,"Emmaus was not so much a place--as a state of mind. They could have gone any place--just so long as it was far enough removed from the despair and disillusionment that paralyzed them from making a positive move."
Emmaus is the temporary hiding place, the momentary distraction, the running away. Sometimes it’s the walk we take into cynicism when we discover that the noblest ideas can be twisted and destroyed by deluded, selfish people.
Wherever it may take us… it’s ultimately the wrong direction… away from God.
What they didn’t know was that Christ was right there with them….
[15] As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; [16] but they were kept from recognizing him.
We’re not told how they were kept from recognizing him… perhaps it involved the differences of his resurrected body… but clearly in this case God intended that they would not initially recognize him.
> It becomes clear that Jesus has no intention of being cruel in this process of being kept unrecognizable. Far from it. He obviously has come to them because he cares…they are walking away hopeless. But he has a critical lesson to teach that they will never forget. They need a reality check… a change in the way they recognize the work of God around them.
[17] He asked them, "What are you discussing together as you walk along?" They stood still, their faces downcast. [18] One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, "Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in these days?"
[19] "What things?" he asked.
It almost reads like a great sitcom gag… as Jesus asks, “Hey guys, what’s going on…. They respond… “Where have you been buddy?” And lets them tell him all about who he is and what he did and how he dies.
He comes as the stranger we feel comfortable opening up to. Isn’t it odd how we can so often find ourselves unburdening ourselves to a complete stranger?
The first step Christ takes to transform their reality, is that….
1. He prompts their longings… gets them to share their desires and with it, their distorted expectations.
"About Jesus of Nazareth," they replied. "He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. [20] The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; [21] but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place.
…But then they add
[22] In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning [23] but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. [24] Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see."
What more evidence could they want? Witnesses (including Apostles) had seen the tomb empty. Angels had announced that Jesus was alive. Witnesses had seen Him alive and heard Him speak.
We may consider these guys to be pretty stupid… because of course we know more than what they did. Yet how easily any of us can end up walking away in the wrong direction when our misguided expectations aren’t met… when we haven’t sorted out God’s plan from our presumptions.
Jesus’ response…
[25] He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! [26] Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" [27] And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
Suddenly the stranger walking with them confronts their perspective and the posture of their hearts. Christ’s response may appear strong… but such a challenge is needed to waken their hearts to recognize that the promises of God were at hand…. that God was at work.
2. Points them to the promises of God.
For thousands of years God’s hand in human history had pointed toward the events they had just experienced…. Prophecies…
There are over 300 references to the coming of the Messiah in the Old Testament…written over a period of 2,000 years.
God wrote an address in human history. Using the science of probability, it has been calculated that the chances of just 48 of these prophesies being fulfilled in any one person to be one in ten to the 157th power (that’s one followed by 157 zeros.)
Many of these referred to the sacrifice and suffering of the Messiah who was to come.
Jesus is revealing the power that is held in the Word of God… not simply as a book, but as living promises… proclamations by God.
His most critical responses began with those key words… “It is written…”
Christ is not merely confronting their head knowledge in all this… he’s confronting their hearts… because the truth is we don’t merely interpret reality by reason… but through the disposition of our hearts. > Reasoning involves the subjective disposition of our hearts. We all know how different it is to reason with someone when they’re angry or hurt or deeply discouraged. The suffering and sacrifice of Christ had been a paro f the very promises of God…. there was no “reason” to now doubt the promises and work of God… but their hearts hadn’t wanted to hear that.
> So the risen Christ points them back to the promises of God…. in order to separate them from their own presuppositions that had led to disappointment and losing heart.
Allmand gave good advice when he wrote, “Doubt your doubts before you doubt your beliefs.”
Now this stranger is no longer just a stranger…has become a voice of insight… We read on…
[28] As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther. [29] But 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.
3. Partakes of their invitation to stay with them… to fellowship.
To whom does Jesus come and eat with… stay with ?? > Those who invite him in. The stranger pressed on, as if he were traveling further that night. But Cleopas and his friend stopped him, inviting him to stay and eat with them.
God will not force his way into your life. He may break into our circumstances…may come knocking on the door of our lives… but He only enters and stays if we welcome Him.
And as a result…
[30] When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. [31] Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. [32] They asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?"
We aren’t told what caused them to recognize him… perhaps they had eaten with Jesus before and there was an unmistakable way in which he broke the bread… perhaps in lifting his hands to eat they saw the scars from his crucifixion… or perhaps the Lord simply chose this moment. What we do know is that Christ is known in the midst of fellowship with him.
As they realize it’s Christ… he disappears… but knowing Jesus is alive is all the disciples need to understand.
They were transformed by the reality Jesus made known …even as He began to open up God’s Word… it began to set their hearts on fire again. Their hearts were ignited again by the reality Jesus made known. The disciples saw their road of despair begin to turn into a highway of living hope as they said to one another, "Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?"
What is this transforming reality?
1. The power of sin and shame has been defeated.
Jesus had come preaching “Good News” to the poor… announcing that the Kingdom of God – the reign of God – was available to the those whom the world had condemned under the curse of sin and shame.
Luke 4:18-19
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
[19] to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor."
With every leper he touched… every diseased individual he healed… every moral failure he welcomed… hope lit up in the common man.
We can all feel it… that we’re not what we should be or could be.
Perhaps you can appreciate the prayer of one individual who said…
Dear Lord,
So far today, God, I’ve done all right. I haven’t gossiped, haven’t lost my temper, haven’t been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, or overindulgent. I’m really glad about that.
But in a few minutes, God, I’m going to get out of bed, and from then on I’m probably going to need a lot more help. Thank you.
Amen
It was good news to these who were looked down upon because they had no pretense to protect.
Now the understood that the Christ’s death was part of what gave them freedom…. That His suffering and sacrifice on the cross was necessary.
“You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ. He forgave all our sins. He canceled the record that contained the charges against us. He took it and destroyed it by nailing it to Christ’s cross.” Col. 2:13-14 [NLT]
Greg Laurie writes: "I once read about a man whose name had been mistaken printed in the obituary column of his local newspaper. Can you imagine waking up one morning and reading that you were no longer among the living? To be sure, it would be a little disconcerting. This man did what any of us would do in the same situation: He went down to the newspaper office and demanded to see the editor.
"`This is terrible,’ he told the newspaper boss. `Because of your error, I am going to face embarrassment. And I will probably lose business. How could you do this to me?’
"`Sir, I’m sorry,’ said the editor. `It was a mistake. It was certainly not intentional.’ But the man would not be consoled. He continued to rant and rave about the injustice of it all. `Look, cheer up, buddy,’ the editor finally said. `Tomorrow I’ll put your name in the birth column, and you can have a fresh start in life.’
"All of us have done things we regret. Wouldn’t it be great if starting over were that easy? The Bible teaches that we CAN start over: We CAN have our slates wiped clean."
(Life. Any Questions? by Greg Laurie, Word Publishing, 1995, Pages 149-150)
The power of sin and shame is defeated.
As friends of Christ… they were friends of God… we can be friends with God. That’s a part of the transforming reality of the risen Christ.
2. The power of evil in our world has been defeated.
They had seen how the powers of this fallen world can oppress … a Roman government set on ruling the world by force… religious leaders set on ruling by fear. Together they had killed the Messiah.
As they met the risen Christ… they would never look at such powers the same again… and neither should we.
As we live in a world that seems to be ruled by force and fear… and we wonder if perhaps even God could be silenced… we can remember what Jesus said when they tried to silence the people’s praise of Him,
"I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out." Luke 19:40
The resurrection of Christ declares that the powers of this world will not silence God…He will be working… worshipped…with us.
That is why the word from heaven is “fear not” (365x)… and notes that he is with us.
“Peace is not the absence of trouble. Peace is the presence of God.”
Like the disciple on their road… we can be transformed by the reality that the power of evil in our world has been defeated.
3. The power of death has been defeated.
The transforming reality of the risen Christ… is the revelation that death has indeed been conquered.
1 Cor 15 - Paul is speaking at length about the resurrection of Christ, and refers to death as
“the last enemy to be destroyed” (v. 26).
> “Enemy” = not a part of God’s original plan and desire for us.
We were never meant to know death.
Last week I was on a caterpillar expedition with my four-year-old son Travis during which at one point he reminded me, “We can’t keep butterflies… they were meant to fly.”
> Easter proclaims the reality that your very life was meant to fly.
Jesus said …"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die." - John 11:25-26
Shouldn’t surprise us that all who receive Christ, receive the Spirit of God… just as the Spirit was breathed into the dust at creation to form a living being.
How do we receive the reality of the risen Christ?
Philip. 3:10
I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, [NIV]
> We give God our lives… die to ourselves as Christ did.. and receive the life of Christ which lives for God.
This is the kind of news that one can’t wait to tell….
[33] They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together [34] and saying, "It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon." [35] Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.
Good news travels fast, and news of the verification of the resurrection was no exception. Jesus has, in effect, been everywhere. The two returning disciples are greeted with a report like their own: “The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon!”
We can imagine the flood of emotion in the room as these stories of Jesus’ appearances flowed in. It must have been like a newsroom full of reporters collecting facts on a breaking story.
The room was probably abuzz.
Despite his “physical” absence, he has actually been with all of them all along .To say Jesus is risen is to say that he is with us.
God is still a God who encounters us along the road. Along this road God walks with us whether we are aware of God’s presence or not. The question is whether we’ll let Him join us and transform our reality.
