Introduction

Hello Church! Today we’re going to look at a story from the Gospel of Luke which took place the same day as Jesus’ resurrection. In fact, the resurrected Christ appears to two disciples walking towards a town called Emmaus. We’re going to discover that our God is a cruciform God, which means the best way to know and understand what he’s like is to look at what he did on the cross through Jesus. This is mind-blowing good news! I pray today blows our minds and sets our hearts on fire. That would be great, wouldn’t it?

Average, Ordinary Believers are Jesus’ Priority

This story takes place on Easter Sunday, the day of resurrection. Here we have two disciples of Jesus, Cleopas and one other (who we will call “Anonymous” because their name and identity is not given), walking away from Jerusalem towards their home located in a small town called Emmaus. They’re discussing Jesus and everything that has just happened. These two were followers of Jesus but not part of the twelve disciples.

It’s interesting that Luke doesn’t give us Anonymous’ name. Today we’re going to assume that it was an intentional omission by Luke in order to show that anyone, anywhere —every average Joe and Jane— can be a follower of Jesus. That means you and me!

For today’s message only, we’re going to think of the twelve disciples (Peter, James, John, etc.) as the “All Star Team.” They were the ones closest to Jesus and were his inner circle. But Jesus had many more disciples beyond the twelve, like Cleopas and “Anonymous,” in this story. Cleopas and Anonymous were part of a larger group that followed Jesus but they weren’t part of the twelve.

Cleopas and Anonymous (i.e. you or me) were walking along towards Emmaus. As they’re walking a third person joins them. This third person is Jesus but they do not recognize him.

They’re not the only ones that day who encountered the Risen Christ but were unaware of who they were talking to. John’s gospel tells us that very same morning, Mary Magdalene, also did not recognize Jesus when she encountered him in the garden area outside the empty tomb. She thought he was a gardener (see John 20).

Jesus walks up alongside them and engages them in conversation: “He asked them, ‘What are you discussing together as you walk along?” (24:17). The Greek word for “discussing” here is antiballete, which means to throw back and forth; it’s where we get our English word antiballistic which implies to throw around in a violent manner.

This word is important because it gives us an idea of the tone of the conversation between Cleopas and Anonymous. They were not having a pleasant stroll through the countryside enjoying a polite, quiet conversation. Their words were heated! Their conversation was emotional! It was definitely an intense exchange of fiery ideas.

They were trying to understand what just happened to Jesus. Jesus was their rabbi, their teacher, and — they had hoped— their Messiah. But their hopes came to a crashing end with his crucifixion just several days earlier. Crucifixion was a method of death reserved for slaves and criminals. It was a humiliating and brutal way to die.

“They stood still, their faces downcast” (24:17). Upon Jesus’ question, they stopped arguing and stood still. The Greek word here for “downcast” is skythrōpoi which means gloomy or mournful.

It’s interesting (and intentional!) that Luke uses this word, skythrōpoi, because it’s not a common word in scripture. It’s barely used in the Septuagint, which is the Greek version of the Old Testament (with which Luke’s audience would’ve been familiar). That said, skythrōpoi is found in one special place in the Old Testament, in Genesis 40:6-8.

Do you remember the story of Joseph in Genesis 40? This is the story where Joseph is imprisoned alongside two Egyptian officials — the king’s cupbearer and personal chef. The cupbearer and chef somehow offended the king and were thrown into prison with Joseph. After some time passed, both the chef and cupbearer had a very vivid and disturbing dream — on the exact same night. The problem was neither one understood the meaning of their dream, and as a result both men were downcast.

The scripture says, “When Joseph came to them the next morning, he saw that they were dejected. So he asked Pharaoh’s officials…’Why do you look so sad today?’ (Genesis 40:6-7).

The phrase “so sad” is that word, skythrōpoi, again!

‘We both had dreams,’ they answered, ‘but there is no one to interpret them.’ Then Joseph said to them, ‘Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams’ (Genesis 40:6-8).

So Luke’s use of the word skythrōpoi in his story is a very intentional reference to the story of Joseph in Genesis. In the Genesis story, two people are having trouble interpreting their dreams and need the help of the third person, Joseph. And in Luke’s story, we have two people, Cleopas and Anonymous, also having trouble interpreting recent events and needing the help of another third person, Jesus.

Jesus shows up in our story and, like Joseph did in Genesis, is going to explain to them what’s happening.

Let’s stop and make a couple quick observations:

First, these two disciples are interacting with the Risen Christ and yet they don’t recognize him ... View this full sermon with PRO Premium

Resurrection life is for everyone, not just the superstars!