The Way To Emmaus

On The Way To Emmaus – Luke 24: 13 - 35

Intro: The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815. General Wellington of England faced the powerful leader Napoleon and his French army. As they fought against each other in this famous battle, England waited prayerfully to hear the outcome. Finally, the message was sent to an English military ship by flag signals. The word spelled out “Wellington defeated” and then clouds prevented any other message for several hours. Everyone was discouraged. Then, the message was sent again after the sky cleared, “Wellington defeated Napoleon.” They received the full message.

I VVS. 14 – 17 Two men went for a walk one day, just to clear the air, just to rearrange their troubled minds. The events of the previous week had destroyed their dream with negativity and depression.

A The two men on the road to Emmaus burned with questions. One question burning in their hearts and minds: “What was their world coming to?” Isn’t this the same question our minds, hearts and lives today when tragedy strikes? If so, you can identify with these men.

B The GK word to describe their talking along the road is suzeteo / s???te? The word has a much deeper meaning than just “talking”. The word can be accurately translated as “to investigate jointly / to discuss together / to question together / to reason together. They were discussing the events of the previous week, trying to make sense of it all. Basically, they were struggling to arrive at an answer to the question, What is our world coming to?

C When the heavens are silent, when it appears that God is doing nothing, you may feel anger, despair, and struggle with your faith. The living Christ taught the two men on the way to Emmaus that death is not the end, that injustice does not have the last word, that might does not always make right, and that absurdity is not the final reality. The same truths apply to us today.

II VVS. 25 – 27 Jesus told them they were “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe . . .” He turned their minds to scripture and reminded them of what God had said had to happen. He basically presented them with a 2nd question: “What are you going to do about it?”

A Jesus was with them the whole time. He reminded them of what the scriptures said. He called them, fools. The GK word is anoetos / a???t?? it means lacking intelligence/ lacking the organ by which divine things are comprehended. In other words, they just weren’t getting the rest of the story.

B Young people flounder, people in mid-life wonder if they made some wrong choices, older people think it’s all in the past. We have come to believe that the mistakes of the past can never be corrected. Living in the past does nothing to change the future.

C Are you asking with you heart instead of your intellect, what your life is all about? Do you see the injustice of this world? Do you sense the hurt of humanity? Are you aware of broken families and shattered dreams? “What are you going to do with the rest of your life? If you are living, breathing and thinking, it isn’t over! Your life may just be beginning. It is your choice.

III Jesus was with them the whole time, the depression and negative talk had destroyed the dream We, like Cleopas and the other man on the road to Emmaus, we fail to see that it is not over!

A Life is about choices. We do have choices. When everything seems terrible, we the world seems to be going to hell in a basket, there are choices!

B Stop sharing what is wrong. Look at what is right. Quit focusing on what you do not have. Count what you do have! Don’t tell me how much people stink or how rotten things are. Do something to change it!

C Get up and encourage someone! There are 3 simple truths to our life in Christ Jesus:

1) you never have to walk alone.

2) you don’t have all the answers.

3) Christ Jesus will open the scriptures to us.

Concl: It has been said that we can live 40 days without food. We can live 8 days without water. We can survive 4 minutes without air. But, we can only live a few seconds without hope!

Live with hope! Hope is a felling of expectation and desire that things will change for the better, that circumstances will improve if you just keep going, and that some breakthrough is just around the corner. It is the feeling of hope that can keep you going when others have long ago thrown in the towel. The world is full of people who have overcome incredible obstacles and failures because they kept hoping despite the opposition of people who encouraged them to let things go and just accept the way things are because they are too old, too poor, too . . . whatever. This was the lesson that Cleopas and the other man learned on the way to Emmaus from Jesus. They learned that it wasn’t over. What have you learned?