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13Now
that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven
miles from Jerusalem. 14They were talking with each other about everything
that had happened.
Life
does not always work out the way we would like it to. Here on the road to
Emmaus are two engulfed by disappointment. The events of the Passion are the
topic of conversation. Like a DVD set on constant replay, they relive their
hopes and aspirations and how things had gone wrong.
15As
they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came
up and walked along with them; 16but they were kept from recognizing him.
The
discussion seems intense, for three different words are used to describe it:
“conversed” (homiloun, v. 14), “reasoned” (suzetein,
v. 15), which suggests strong debate, and “conversation” (antiballete,
v. 17), which has the idea of throwing words back and forth like a ball. In
their bewilderment they were tossing ideas back and forth about what they
had learned, heard, and understood—and what it all meant in the light
of the latest development, Jesus’ death.
What
kept them from recognizing Him? Could it be they were too engrossed in their
disappointment to see beyond themselves?
17He
asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”
They
stood still, their faces downcast.
The
abrupt question brought them to a standstill. We may well imagine that they
considered His interruption very unwelcome. But His kindly manner won their
confidence and they told Him everything.
27And
beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them what was said
in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
The
Scriptures show that Jesus should enter into His glory through suffering.
The books of Moses foretold Christ largely in types, such as the Passover,
the rock in the wilderness, Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac, the Day of
Atonement, etc., but the prophets show him forth in clear-cut predictions
and descriptions. Jesus evidently applied both these divisions of Scripture
to himself.
30When
he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began
to give it to them. 31Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him,
and he disappeared from their sight. 32They asked each other, “Were
not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened
the Scriptures to us?”
While
He was breaking the bread to supply their bodies, He opened their eyes to
reveal that it was He who had just been feeding their hungry hearts with the
truth and consolation of the divine word.
This
is a story worth repeating again and again because it is at the very heart
of the gospel. It highlights the living hope found only in the Resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ. On that first Easter day that living hope was far
from being established in the experience of the two people on the seven-mile
walk from Jerusalem to Emmaus.
The
Master they had revered, loved, and followed had been horribly put to death,
a cruel death of the most degrading kind. Death by crucifixion was the most
shameful of deaths; the victim was made a public spectacle, exposed to the
jeers of all who passed by. Only one week before, the disciples’ hopes
had risen to fever pitch when the excited crowds had hailed their Master as
the longed-for deliverer from the tyranny of Roman occupation, but now He
lay dead in a sealed tomb! Their hopes were dashed; the dream was over! The
band of Jesus’ followers was leaderless and 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, “We had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem
Israel” (v. 21).
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 becomes almost impossible to hope for recovery,
because of not being able to cope with another letdown.
As
they journeyed they were moving away from the other believers in Jerusalem.
When we Christians allow ourselves to become preoccupied with our dashed hopes
and frustrated plans, we often withdraw from the strength found in the fellowship
of other believers.
(For
the full manuscript of this sermon go to www.preachersmagazine.org and click
on “Sermons”)
On
the pilgrimage of life we all have to walk along different roads of experience.
There are days when the road is Marvelous. Wonderful things happen. Thank
God for those interludes. There are days when the road is Monotonous. We just
have to get up and get on with the daily routine of life. There are days when
the road is Mysterious. We cannot work out what is happening. The Emmaus Road
falls into this category. It is a road each of us walks along at some point
in our lives. It is the Road of Disappointment, dashed hopes, shattered dreams,
the broken heart.
In
verse 15 a ray of light enters the picture: Jesus draws near. The important
point of this verse is that when a Christian feels alone on the road of despair
they never are. Did He not say to His followers, “Never will I leave
you, never will I forsake you”? Did He not tell the parable of the lost
sheep and how the shepherd left 99 together to seek the one on its own? Here
He put the parable into practice. Here He seeks two in danger of being lost.
He was determined that darkness would not overtake them. Are you on the road
called Disappointment? Is the word that dominates your mind, “Why?”
Know this: Jesus is closer to you than you can ever imagine. He died forsaken
so that you never would be.
Starting
with Moses, Jesus showed them the golden thread of grace that runs through
the whole of Scripture. Alongside it, He showed them the scarlet thread of
redemption. He showed them how the two were inseparably intertwined. There
is no better guide on the Road of Disappointment than the Word of God. When
faced with the ‘Whys’ of life we have to ask deep questions. What
happens now? Where do I go? To whom can I turn? Jesus pointed them to the
Scriptures. He showed them there is a higher purpose, that God is still in
control and He knows exactly what is going on.
With
Jesus, life’s most common moments can become sacred and special. The
miraculous is often found in the ordinary. A meal is served and, “They
knew him in the breaking of the bread.”
That
look was all they needed to have their perspective changed. With hindsight
they had the realization that Jesus had been with them as they walked on the
road. Sometimes we can get a new perspective in the routine of life. It has
been my experience that the miraculous has been found in the ordinary.
Are you on the Road of Disappointment? Is the “why” word on your lips? Jesus is nearer to you than you think. He wants you to know that grace and redemption are still at work. He wants to reveal himself to you so you can get a new perspective.