1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,520 Oh Lord God, we do bow before You, we do recognize your glory 2 00:00:03,520 --> 00:00:06,280 and Your majesty and it is a joy for us to be here. 3 00:00:06,560 --> 00:00:09,760 Remind us again of your blessings as we praise you this 4 00:00:09,760 --> 00:00:12,240 day. We ask in your sons name, Amen. 5 00:00:12,520 --> 00:00:14,800 Please be seated and if you would, grab your Bibles and turn 6 00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:18,120 to Luke chapter 24. Luke chapter 24. 7 00:00:18,120 --> 00:00:21,560 Before we get started today, I want to make a comment just to 8 00:00:21,560 --> 00:00:25,440 express how encouraged I was over this past week in the 9 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:30,400 aftermath of the storm at how I saw many opportunities and many 10 00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:33,920 people taking the opportunity to express themselves as part of 11 00:00:33,920 --> 00:00:37,520 the community of God. It was wonderful to experience 12 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:39,000 that. Now I realize that we could do 13 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:40,960 better. There are perhaps people here 14 00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:45,080 that did not feel touched necessarily by God's people 15 00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:47,880 during that time during the struggles that followed the 16 00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:51,120 storm that blew through here. But I know that so many people 17 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:54,520 have, and it's been a great blessing to be a part of a 18 00:00:54,520 --> 00:00:57,720 community that has sought to draw one another together. 19 00:00:57,720 --> 00:00:59,240 There is something unique about the church. 20 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:01,040 We're going to look at this in times to come. 21 00:01:01,480 --> 00:01:03,320 The church is a community of grace. 22 00:01:03,960 --> 00:01:05,920 Now, there's lots of communities in this world. 23 00:01:05,920 --> 00:01:09,680 There's lots of neighborhoods. There's lots of reasons why 24 00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:14,240 people are stuck together, but only the church is a community 25 00:01:14,240 --> 00:01:16,200 of grace. Other places can be communities 26 00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:18,880 of kindness and of gentleness, etcetera, etcetera. 27 00:01:19,240 --> 00:01:21,320 But grace is that gift that comes from the Lord. 28 00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:25,600 Grace is that which is connected to the God Himself and only this 29 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:28,880 body can be the community of grace. 30 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:32,960 And it's been a joy for me over the past week to see that 31 00:01:32,960 --> 00:01:36,840 community of grace fulfilling its calling to be gracious 32 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:38,800 towards one another. I hope that you experienced 33 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:39,840 that. I hope that you had people 34 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:43,720 praying for you or that you were able to offer that assistance to 35 00:01:43,720 --> 00:01:45,520 help other people during this time. 36 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:48,680 It's been a joy again to be a part of this community and see 37 00:01:48,680 --> 00:01:49,920 that. I've been very grateful for 38 00:01:49,920 --> 00:01:52,120 that. We are moving into a series now 39 00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:54,720 on the post resurrection appearances of Jesus Christ. 40 00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:58,720 Now the reason why we do that is that we have spent lots of time 41 00:01:58,720 --> 00:02:01,440 and we appropriately spend lots of time talking about the life 42 00:02:01,440 --> 00:02:04,480 and the teachings of Jesus. How can we possibly be a 43 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:08,520 community of of God and not speak about the teachings in the 44 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:11,680 life of Jesus? And we, very appropriately, as 45 00:02:11,680 --> 00:02:14,800 the Scriptures itself do, focus a lot of our attention upon the 46 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:18,560 cross of Jesus Christ, upon his sacrifice and death there, as we 47 00:02:18,560 --> 00:02:20,880 should. And of course, the story is not 48 00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:23,040 complete until we talk about the resurrection. 49 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:25,280 And so we focus upon the resurrection. 50 00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:29,000 That's not the end of the story, the story continues. 51 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:33,400 Jesus appearing over a period of 40 days to his disciples and 52 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:37,000 communicating some incredibly important things, basically 53 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:41,920 taking the lessons of his life, his death and his resurrection 54 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:46,240 and applying them into their lives in a really powerful and 55 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:49,200 meaningful way. What we're going to be doing is 56 00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:51,320 we're going to over the next couple weeks, we're looking 57 00:02:51,320 --> 00:02:55,120 specifically at those resurrect post resurrection appearances. 58 00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:58,680 How did Christ appear to his disciples following the 59 00:02:58,680 --> 00:03:01,080 resurrection? What did he communicate and how 60 00:03:01,080 --> 00:03:03,360 does that shape and guide our faith? 61 00:03:03,680 --> 00:03:07,040 Today's text out of Luke chapter 24 is perhaps one of the most 62 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:09,560 prominent or popular of those passages. 63 00:03:09,880 --> 00:03:13,760 The how Jesus appears to the disciples on the road to Emmaus. 64 00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:16,040 We're going to look through that today and we're going to 65 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:18,640 basically be answering the question that I think is posed 66 00:03:18,640 --> 00:03:21,760 by the by the text a numerous different times. 67 00:03:22,120 --> 00:03:24,680 And we're going to try to answer that question that I think is 68 00:03:24,680 --> 00:03:27,120 also relevant to every person in this room. 69 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:31,000 And that's the question of how, how do we recognize Jesus? 70 00:03:31,160 --> 00:03:34,360 How do we see Jesus as he truly is? 71 00:03:34,640 --> 00:03:39,240 Not as we want to imagine him not, not as it's easy to 72 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:43,840 envision, not in the manner in which we imagine Jesus 73 00:03:44,360 --> 00:03:48,480 comforting us or or the the nature of Jesus in our minds, 74 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:52,560 But rather, how do we see Jesus as he truly is? 75 00:03:52,720 --> 00:03:54,880 How do we recognize him as he appears? 76 00:03:55,120 --> 00:03:57,160 Now, if you've been a part of this fellowship for some time, 77 00:03:57,160 --> 00:04:00,760 you hear us talk about things like loving Jesus, being 78 00:04:00,760 --> 00:04:06,440 intimate with Jesus, walking with Jesus, drawing near to 79 00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:10,240 Jesus. Now obviously these words are 80 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:14,000 metaphorical in some cases, or the imagery trying to capture is 81 00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:16,839 somewhat metaphorical, but it's also real. 82 00:04:17,560 --> 00:04:21,680 No less real for being metaphorical, but what does it 83 00:04:21,680 --> 00:04:23,800 mean? How do we do those kind of 84 00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:25,560 things? I remember very much so. 85 00:04:25,560 --> 00:04:29,680 This was even before I was a Christian being very jealous for 86 00:04:29,680 --> 00:04:33,960 the people who lived during Jesus's time, like why did they 87 00:04:33,960 --> 00:04:37,360 get the chance to see him really and be able to tangibly touch 88 00:04:37,360 --> 00:04:38,480 him and all those kind of things. 89 00:04:38,720 --> 00:04:41,840 And I thought about following him around and the disciples 90 00:04:41,840 --> 00:04:44,720 that would hear him speak and those kind of things and and was 91 00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:49,920 jealous of them without realizing that they Jesus that 92 00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:55,440 they were experiencing pre resurrection is not the Jesus 93 00:04:55,440 --> 00:04:58,720 that we experienced today post resurrection. 94 00:04:59,160 --> 00:05:04,520 We experienced the Lord post resurrection and a great passage 95 00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:07,160 to see how this is played out and to challenge our own 96 00:05:07,160 --> 00:05:10,480 understanding, to challenge our own abilities to be able to 97 00:05:10,480 --> 00:05:13,760 answer that question. Do we recognize Jesus as He 98 00:05:13,760 --> 00:05:16,680 really is? Do I see him as I really is, as 99 00:05:16,680 --> 00:05:20,440 he really is? Or do we just worship an idea in 100 00:05:20,440 --> 00:05:23,720 our own minds? We want to see the Lord as He 101 00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:26,480 truly is. How can we do so? 102 00:05:27,680 --> 00:05:31,240 The text begins in Luke chapter 24, verses 13 through 35. 103 00:05:31,480 --> 00:05:34,720 There are 32 and we're going to look, work our way through this 104 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:39,160 text here together. Hear the word of the Lord for us 105 00:05:39,160 --> 00:05:42,920 this morning in Luke chapter 24 that very day. 106 00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:45,920 Now this is Sunday morning here. This is Sunday afternoon, I 107 00:05:45,920 --> 00:05:48,440 guess. And so that very day here, this 108 00:05:48,440 --> 00:05:50,760 references, if you have your Bibles, you can see the 109 00:05:50,760 --> 00:05:53,200 immediate story before this details of resurrection. 110 00:05:53,400 --> 00:05:56,880 The Sunday morning of seeing the tomb is empty. 111 00:05:57,000 --> 00:06:00,440 So that very day we're shifted now a couple of hours into the 112 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:04,000 early afternoon that very day, two of them, the two of them 113 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:07,520 being the disciple, 2 disciples. They're not named here. 114 00:06:07,520 --> 00:06:10,160 A little bit later on when you realize the name of one of them 115 00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:14,600 is Cleopas, the other disciple is not never named, which is LED 116 00:06:14,600 --> 00:06:17,960 rise given rise to the speculation that perhaps this is 117 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:21,720 Cleopas's wife that is with him. I'm somewhat sympathetic to that 118 00:06:22,280 --> 00:06:25,520 perspective or speculation. But in any case, you've got 2 119 00:06:25,520 --> 00:06:28,960 disciples and they're so identified earlier in the text 120 00:06:29,240 --> 00:06:32,640 as followers of Jesus Christ. So we have to think of them as 121 00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:36,640 those two people who have walked with Jesus Christ, who have 122 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:41,040 heard him speaking, have witnessed the sacrifice and the 123 00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:44,200 death upon the cross. Two of them, we're going to a 124 00:06:44,200 --> 00:06:47,520 village named Emmaus, about 7 miles from Jerusalem. 125 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:49,960 There's a number of different villages that kind of fit this 126 00:06:49,960 --> 00:06:52,000 bill. They're not sure exactly which 127 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:54,920 one Jesus would have been or the text here is referencing. 128 00:06:55,080 --> 00:06:58,120 But so the picture is you got 2 disciples. 129 00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:01,040 This is Sunday morning. So during the Sabbath they were 130 00:07:01,040 --> 00:07:03,080 not able or they were not moving around. 131 00:07:03,280 --> 00:07:06,800 But now these two disciples have some business or something that 132 00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:08,920 they have to get to a nearby community for. 133 00:07:09,120 --> 00:07:10,640 And so they're on the road to Emmaus. 134 00:07:11,920 --> 00:07:15,200 If they're moving fast, they're looking at about a two hour 135 00:07:15,440 --> 00:07:17,720 walk. If you're not moving fast, they 136 00:07:17,720 --> 00:07:21,200 could drag out to 3 or 4 hours, something along those lines, 137 00:07:21,520 --> 00:07:24,800 kind of a trip. So they're on the way to Emmaus, 138 00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:27,480 about 7 miles from Jerusalem, verse 14. 139 00:07:27,480 --> 00:07:30,520 And they were talking with each other about all these things 140 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:32,880 that had happened. While they were talking and 141 00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:36,720 discussing them, Jesus himself drew near and went with them, 142 00:07:37,080 --> 00:07:39,440 but their eyes were kept from recognizing Him. 143 00:07:40,320 --> 00:07:42,400 All right, so picture this for a second. 144 00:07:42,480 --> 00:07:46,120 You've got 2 disciples that are very focused on what just took 145 00:07:46,120 --> 00:07:48,200 place. That's the attention that is 146 00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:50,480 upon them. They are obsessed with what has 147 00:07:50,480 --> 00:07:53,200 just taken place. Their Lord and Savior remember 148 00:07:53,200 --> 00:07:57,160 all the anticipation that they built up about Jesus and they 149 00:07:57,160 --> 00:08:01,280 were expectant to follow Him all the way to His throne. 150 00:08:01,560 --> 00:08:05,480 And so along the way, they are walking along with Jesus, or 151 00:08:05,480 --> 00:08:08,720 they're walking along and Jesus comes and walks along beside 152 00:08:08,720 --> 00:08:10,840 them. And the text here says that they 153 00:08:10,840 --> 00:08:15,080 were kept from recognizing him. They were kept from recognizing 154 00:08:15,080 --> 00:08:18,400 him. Now, what kept them or who kept 155 00:08:18,400 --> 00:08:22,480 them from recognizing him? Now immediately some options 156 00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:25,440 bubble into your mind. The first option being, of 157 00:08:25,440 --> 00:08:29,200 course, the Satan kept them from recognizing him, as we know that 158 00:08:29,200 --> 00:08:33,200 it was part of Satan's understanding of his function 159 00:08:33,200 --> 00:08:36,640 and role in this world is to keep us, to prevent us from 160 00:08:36,640 --> 00:08:38,880 coming to know the Lord and coming to see the Lord. 161 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:41,919 And so very clearly, it's possible that Satan is the one 162 00:08:41,919 --> 00:08:45,080 that kept the disciples here from recognizing the Lord. 163 00:08:45,520 --> 00:08:48,480 That's possible theoretically, etcetera. 164 00:08:48,480 --> 00:08:51,480 But the text doesn't lead necessarily to understand that. 165 00:08:51,680 --> 00:08:54,160 Most of the time when it's phrased along this line, this is 166 00:08:54,160 --> 00:08:57,280 a passive voice. When it's phrased like this, 167 00:08:57,520 --> 00:09:00,360 it's usually not Satan. And when Satan is active in the 168 00:09:00,360 --> 00:09:03,600 scriptures, it you always identifies him as the source of 169 00:09:03,600 --> 00:09:05,680 action. So if not Satan, what's the 170 00:09:05,680 --> 00:09:10,000 other alternative? Well, God himself kept the 171 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:13,920 disciples from recognizing Jesus for God's purposes, for the 172 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:16,920 revelatory nature of what takes place later in the text. 173 00:09:16,920 --> 00:09:19,560 If you know, with the storyline where we're headed, you can kind 174 00:09:19,560 --> 00:09:22,640 of anticipate this. Perhaps it was God himself that 175 00:09:22,640 --> 00:09:24,920 kept the disciples from recognizing him. 176 00:09:24,920 --> 00:09:27,640 That's possible. I think it's also possible that 177 00:09:27,640 --> 00:09:31,240 it's simply their own sin. All of us know what it's like to 178 00:09:31,240 --> 00:09:35,760 be so jaded and so distorted in our vision and our hearts that 179 00:09:35,760 --> 00:09:37,840 we can't see things correctly. Now. 180 00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:40,600 It's hard to imagine that they are walking alongside their Lord 181 00:09:40,600 --> 00:09:44,160 after walking with Him for three years or more and seeing Him 182 00:09:44,160 --> 00:09:46,720 crucified, etcetera, that they can't recognize Him. 183 00:09:47,320 --> 00:09:49,880 But that's the power of our unbelief. 184 00:09:50,160 --> 00:09:53,800 That's the power of sin in our lives to actually do something 185 00:09:53,800 --> 00:09:56,360 along those lines. So I think one of the latter 2 186 00:09:56,720 --> 00:10:00,120 illustrations, either God himself, which I suspect is 187 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:02,920 probably more the way to understand it, or their own sin 188 00:10:03,120 --> 00:10:05,440 has prevented them from recognizing Him. 189 00:10:06,160 --> 00:10:09,760 Verse 17. And Jesus said to them, what is 190 00:10:09,760 --> 00:10:12,280 this conversation that you were holding with each other as you 191 00:10:12,280 --> 00:10:15,000 walk? And they stood still looking 192 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:18,040 sad. Then one of them named Cleopas 193 00:10:18,480 --> 00:10:21,800 answered him and said, are you the only visitor to Jerusalem 194 00:10:21,800 --> 00:10:24,000 who does not know the things that have happened here these 195 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:26,840 days? It's interesting that Cleopas, 196 00:10:27,320 --> 00:10:30,240 the irony here of this is that Cleopas is the one whose eyes 197 00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:32,720 are blind and yet he's accusing Jesus. 198 00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:35,000 He says, do you not know what's going on here? 199 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:36,320 Can't you tell what's happening here? 200 00:10:36,560 --> 00:10:38,640 And so notice what's happening. You got a picture this. 201 00:10:38,880 --> 00:10:42,000 So the two disciples are talking about with each other. 202 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:44,320 They're concerned about everything that is taking place. 203 00:10:44,560 --> 00:10:48,680 This third guy kind of joins them, and after a few steps, the 204 00:10:48,680 --> 00:10:50,000 third guy kind of says, hey, what? 205 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:53,320 What are you guys talking about? And the two disciples, notice 206 00:10:53,320 --> 00:10:57,200 what it says here in verse 17. Verse. 207 00:10:57,920 --> 00:10:59,520 Is that something? Yeah, the end of verse 17. 208 00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:02,560 And they stood still looking sad. 209 00:11:03,120 --> 00:11:07,400 Their eyes were downcast is the way that it's articulated. 210 00:11:07,600 --> 00:11:10,920 Their eyes are downcast. Once again, this imagery of what 211 00:11:10,920 --> 00:11:12,680 their eyes, what your eyes are seeing. 212 00:11:12,840 --> 00:11:15,160 Their eyes are downcast. They can't even look at the 213 00:11:15,160 --> 00:11:18,240 third person, but they stand still when they do this. 214 00:11:18,400 --> 00:11:21,600 And then Cleopas then says, are you the only guy that doesn't 215 00:11:21,600 --> 00:11:23,640 know what's going on? Are you really this blind to 216 00:11:23,640 --> 00:11:24,800 you? Can you not tell what's 217 00:11:24,800 --> 00:11:28,760 happening here? And then Cleopas, Jesus says to 218 00:11:28,760 --> 00:11:34,120 them in verse 19 what things and they said to him concerning 219 00:11:34,280 --> 00:11:36,880 Jesus of Nazareth. Now, I want you to listen to 220 00:11:36,880 --> 00:11:38,760 this. This is the gospel according to 221 00:11:38,760 --> 00:11:41,480 Cleopas. And the gospel according to 222 00:11:41,480 --> 00:11:45,760 Cleopas is a great gospel. It's a gospel message that my 223 00:11:45,760 --> 00:11:48,520 guests will resonate with many people in this room. 224 00:11:49,200 --> 00:11:52,440 It's a gospel message that I think a lot of people outside 225 00:11:52,440 --> 00:11:57,000 this room throughout our world would recognize as the gospel, 226 00:11:57,880 --> 00:12:01,160 the good news of Cleopas. What's the good news of Cleopas? 227 00:12:01,160 --> 00:12:05,840 Listen carefully to it, but remember this, his eyes are 228 00:12:05,840 --> 00:12:10,720 downcast, he's sad. He's got this gospel message 229 00:12:10,720 --> 00:12:14,440 that he's about to proclaim and yet he's sad. 230 00:12:15,680 --> 00:12:18,720 Gospel message according to Cleopas from verse 19 and 231 00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:22,360 following concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a 232 00:12:22,360 --> 00:12:25,520 prophet, mighty and deed and word before God and all the 233 00:12:25,520 --> 00:12:28,640 people, and how our chief priests and rollers delivered 234 00:12:28,640 --> 00:12:31,160 him up to be condemned to death and crucified him. 235 00:12:31,720 --> 00:12:34,640 But we had hoped that he was the one who would redeem Israel. 236 00:12:34,920 --> 00:12:37,320 Yes. And besides all this, it is now 237 00:12:37,320 --> 00:12:39,280 the third day since these things happened. 238 00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:43,480 Moreover, some of the women of our of our company amazed us. 239 00:12:44,000 --> 00:12:46,560 They were at the tomb early in the morning and when they did 240 00:12:46,560 --> 00:12:49,440 not find his body, they came back saying that they had even 241 00:12:49,440 --> 00:12:52,920 seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. 242 00:12:53,520 --> 00:12:56,760 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it, 243 00:12:56,760 --> 00:13:01,600 just as a woman said had said, but him they did not see. 244 00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:05,320 Do you hear the gospel there? Do you hear the good news? 245 00:13:05,920 --> 00:13:11,960 Maybe not. What do you hear verse 19 246 00:13:11,960 --> 00:13:16,400 concerning Jesus of Nazareth? The focus of Cleopas's gospel is 247 00:13:16,400 --> 00:13:18,880 upon Jesus of Nazareth. What focus? 248 00:13:19,040 --> 00:13:21,080 The focus that he was a prophet. Indeed. 249 00:13:21,080 --> 00:13:24,200 He came from God. He is mighty indeed. 250 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:27,040 Mighty indeed is code in biblical language for the 251 00:13:27,040 --> 00:13:30,000 miracles and for the life in which he lived. 252 00:13:30,160 --> 00:13:31,520 He lived this great miracle life. 253 00:13:31,640 --> 00:13:34,800 He was mighty and word of God before the Lord. 254 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:36,880 He was mighty before all the people. 255 00:13:36,880 --> 00:13:40,120 In other words, this is the man that is well respected. 256 00:13:40,120 --> 00:13:43,560 He is in awe there. There's great reason to respect 257 00:13:43,560 --> 00:13:46,760 him and to look up to him, to appreciate his teachings, to 258 00:13:46,760 --> 00:13:50,760 appreciate his lifestyle, even to appreciate his his miracles 259 00:13:50,760 --> 00:13:52,720 that he took place, to acknowledge these kind of 260 00:13:52,720 --> 00:13:55,080 things, to realize that this was a man of God. 261 00:13:55,400 --> 00:13:58,120 This is Cleopus's gospel. Not only that, but he also 262 00:13:58,120 --> 00:14:01,440 recognized, recognizes the oppression that took that Jesus 263 00:14:01,440 --> 00:14:04,840 suffered through the opposition that he had and the fact that he 264 00:14:04,840 --> 00:14:08,440 was speaking to power and how power came and crashed down upon 265 00:14:08,440 --> 00:14:10,600 him, even leading to his own death. 266 00:14:10,920 --> 00:14:13,680 Plus they recognize that his body is missing. 267 00:14:13,960 --> 00:14:16,720 Clipa says, look, the women went to the term tomb. 268 00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:19,160 They couldn't find his body. It was missing. 269 00:14:19,320 --> 00:14:21,240 The tomb is not filled right now. 270 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:24,160 There's this, there's this gap that we don't know what took 271 00:14:24,160 --> 00:14:27,520 place to Jesus and this gospel message talking about this 272 00:14:27,520 --> 00:14:32,840 wonderful teaching, this wonderful, glorious, amazing man 273 00:14:33,040 --> 00:14:36,160 that did all these glorious and wonderful things, this honorable 274 00:14:36,160 --> 00:14:40,480 person that everybody would respect, nevertheless leaves 275 00:14:40,480 --> 00:14:46,280 Cleopas and his partner downcast and crushed. 276 00:14:47,240 --> 00:14:50,760 That's not good news at all. What are they missing? 277 00:14:51,960 --> 00:14:54,760 Clearly I've set it up hopefully enough that you know the answer 278 00:14:54,760 --> 00:14:59,960 to that question. Clearly, there's no faith in the 279 00:14:59,960 --> 00:15:02,840 resurrection. There's no faith in the 280 00:15:02,840 --> 00:15:06,760 resurrection. Cleopas understands that this is 281 00:15:06,760 --> 00:15:09,440 a good man, understands that this is a good teacher, 282 00:15:09,560 --> 00:15:13,040 understand that this is somebody special from God and understands 283 00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:15,920 all the marvelous things, even the suffering that he went 284 00:15:15,920 --> 00:15:17,880 through, the sacrifice of his own life. 285 00:15:17,880 --> 00:15:20,520 He understands all of those. But separated from the 286 00:15:20,520 --> 00:15:24,600 resurrection, you get a gospel that is no gospel at all. 287 00:15:24,800 --> 00:15:29,680 It is not good news. It leaves you downcast. 288 00:15:29,840 --> 00:15:32,280 Why? Because it leaves you in your 289 00:15:32,280 --> 00:15:35,680 sin. What the resurrection is is that 290 00:15:35,680 --> 00:15:40,440 vindication of the sacrifice of our Lord, that God has accepted 291 00:15:40,640 --> 00:15:45,320 from Christ the punishment for our sins so that we are not to 292 00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:49,360 be held accountable for our sin. But rather than that, guilt has 293 00:15:49,360 --> 00:15:50,840 been transferred onto Jesus Christ. 294 00:15:51,040 --> 00:15:53,480 Apart from the resurrection, there's no assurance of that. 295 00:15:53,640 --> 00:15:56,680 There's no comfort of that. There's no nothing for us. 296 00:15:57,000 --> 00:16:00,840 And so you have a world out here and we have many people in here 297 00:16:00,960 --> 00:16:04,800 that are comfortable thinking of Jesus as a good teacher, as a 298 00:16:04,800 --> 00:16:08,120 wonderful life that I want to emulate, as a model that I want 299 00:16:08,120 --> 00:16:09,920 to follow. They're they're happy with all 300 00:16:09,920 --> 00:16:12,280 of that. But the resurrection is just one 301 00:16:12,280 --> 00:16:15,200 miracle too far because we've never seen such a thing. 302 00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:20,240 And consequently we have a gospel that in the end is no 303 00:16:20,240 --> 00:16:23,640 gospel at all. Separate the gospel from Jesus 304 00:16:23,640 --> 00:16:27,800 Christ and Cleopas's gospel is simply not good news. 305 00:16:29,200 --> 00:16:32,480 Mark continues, then says this. Then Jesus says to them in verse 306 00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:36,680 25, O foolish ones and slow of heart, to believe all that the 307 00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:39,880 prophets have spoken. Was it not necessary that the 308 00:16:39,880 --> 00:16:42,800 Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory? 309 00:16:43,440 --> 00:16:47,240 And beginning with Moses and all of the prophets, he interpreted 310 00:16:47,240 --> 00:16:51,600 to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself, 311 00:16:53,280 --> 00:16:55,680 Jesus says to the disciples. So they're walking along. 312 00:16:56,080 --> 00:16:58,760 This third guy suddenly says, You foolish ones. 313 00:16:59,680 --> 00:17:03,440 Now there's some question in scholars minds about how harsh 314 00:17:03,440 --> 00:17:07,839 of a rebuke this is. Is this a you foolish ones? 315 00:17:08,079 --> 00:17:11,839 If I call you foolish, the chances are I'm rebuking you 316 00:17:11,839 --> 00:17:14,839 pretty strongly. OK, Even if I like you, I 317 00:17:14,839 --> 00:17:18,319 probably am not going to call you a fool unless I really mean 318 00:17:18,319 --> 00:17:23,040 it that way. And indeed, in Jesus time, to be 319 00:17:23,040 --> 00:17:26,240 a fool was not to be intellectually deficient. 320 00:17:26,240 --> 00:17:32,040 It was not to be immature. To be a fool was to be was to 321 00:17:32,080 --> 00:17:37,120 embrace unbelief. To embrace unbelief, that's what 322 00:17:37,120 --> 00:17:40,320 it means to be a fool. And that's exactly what Jesus is 323 00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:42,640 accusing these two disciples of doing. 324 00:17:42,880 --> 00:17:45,240 They're embracing unbelief. You can see it laid out very 325 00:17:45,240 --> 00:17:48,520 clearly in the very next or in the end of that verse. 326 00:17:49,120 --> 00:17:53,040 Oh, foolish ones, slow of heart. Look at verse 25. 327 00:17:53,440 --> 00:17:57,480 Slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. 328 00:17:57,720 --> 00:18:02,520 Slow of heart to believe what? Not to believe in the 329 00:18:02,520 --> 00:18:05,520 resurrection. That's not what he accuses of 330 00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:07,800 them. He doesn't accuse them of being 331 00:18:07,800 --> 00:18:10,240 slow of heart to believe the words of Jesus. 332 00:18:11,120 --> 00:18:14,360 What does he say? Slow of heart to believe the 333 00:18:14,360 --> 00:18:19,960 Word of God Scripture. That's what Jesus is frustrated 334 00:18:19,960 --> 00:18:25,520 with their foolishness for disregarding the scriptures, not 335 00:18:25,520 --> 00:18:30,760 for being overcome by the nature of the resurrection or anything 336 00:18:30,760 --> 00:18:34,160 like that, but simply by virtue of the fact that they did not 337 00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:36,600 understand the scriptures. What did they not understand 338 00:18:36,600 --> 00:18:40,000 about the scriptures? How do we now who here says that 339 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:41,480 we can understand the scriptures? 340 00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:44,200 I mean, the Scriptures are tough. 341 00:18:44,920 --> 00:18:48,800 Well, listen to how Jesus describes it, verse 26. 342 00:18:49,240 --> 00:18:52,840 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these 343 00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:59,640 things and enter into his glory? That's Jesus's shorthand for the 344 00:18:59,640 --> 00:19:03,760 Scripture. All the Old Testament, all the 345 00:19:03,760 --> 00:19:07,080 New Testament is summarized in that statement. 346 00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:12,440 It's necessary for Christ to suffer and to enter into His 347 00:19:12,440 --> 00:19:15,760 glory. And if you read the Scriptures 348 00:19:16,040 --> 00:19:19,760 and understand the Scriptures that way, then you've ceased to 349 00:19:19,760 --> 00:19:23,640 be foolish. You are a man or woman of 350 00:19:23,640 --> 00:19:26,000 belief. That's what Jesus is 351 00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:29,280 articulating here. And then beginning with Moses 352 00:19:29,280 --> 00:19:33,680 and all of the prophets, Jesus interpreted to them all the 353 00:19:33,680 --> 00:19:36,720 scriptures, the things concerning himself. 354 00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:40,360 Can you imagine this Bible study? 355 00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:45,040 This is a great Kelly mocks me occasionally because when I get 356 00:19:45,040 --> 00:19:48,400 home from driving around, I listen to lectures or books or 357 00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:51,280 something like that in my car. And so I sit in the garage for, 358 00:19:51,520 --> 00:19:54,680 you know, short periods of time and listen to the end of a 359 00:19:54,680 --> 00:19:56,760 lecture. I just sit in the car and listen 360 00:19:56,760 --> 00:19:58,840 to the lecture go. I never want I don't want it to 361 00:19:58,840 --> 00:20:00,920 end. This Bible study. 362 00:20:01,120 --> 00:20:04,040 Can you imagine? Looking through all of the 363 00:20:04,040 --> 00:20:06,960 scriptures and seeing how it all concerns himself. 364 00:20:07,240 --> 00:20:11,440 The heel that stomped on Satan's head, that was Jesus's. 365 00:20:11,720 --> 00:20:15,000 The lamb that is caught in the thicket, that is Jesus. 366 00:20:15,160 --> 00:20:18,760 The ark that save Noah and the family, that is Jesus. 367 00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:22,480 The priests who offer the sacrifices, that is Jesus. 368 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:25,920 The great high priest that stands and offers himself, that 369 00:20:25,920 --> 00:20:28,960 is Jesus. The prophet that is coming, that 370 00:20:28,960 --> 00:20:32,080 is Jesus. The suffering servant in Isaiah, 371 00:20:32,400 --> 00:20:36,120 that is Jesus. The wisdom of God, that is 372 00:20:36,160 --> 00:20:38,840 Jesus. The kings who roll over 373 00:20:38,840 --> 00:20:41,880 Jerusalem, that is Jesus. The sacrifice of their own life, 374 00:20:41,880 --> 00:20:45,440 or the offer of sacrifice from Moses and of David and of 375 00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:49,160 Deborah and the other leaders of Israel, that is the conquering 376 00:20:49,160 --> 00:20:53,560 of Jerusalem and the conquering of Canaan land as a whole, that 377 00:20:53,560 --> 00:20:57,200 is Jesus. The whole Scriptures all point 378 00:20:57,200 --> 00:21:01,120 to one thing, Jesus Christ. And what about him that he would 379 00:21:01,120 --> 00:21:04,560 suffer and that he would be raised into glory. 380 00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:07,840 This is the scriptures. Can you imagine this Bible study 381 00:21:08,040 --> 00:21:12,000 that that the that these two disciples are getting along 382 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:16,600 their way in verse 18, Sorry, verse 28, verse 28. 383 00:21:16,600 --> 00:21:18,920 And so they drew near to the village where they were going. 384 00:21:18,920 --> 00:21:22,280 And again, I can just imagine them really we're getting close 385 00:21:22,280 --> 00:21:23,840 and this Bible study is so great. 386 00:21:23,840 --> 00:21:26,560 Let's walk a little slower here, you know, as a because they 387 00:21:26,560 --> 00:21:28,960 don't want it to end. They never want it to end here. 388 00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:31,440 They're getting the greatest insight in which they can possum 389 00:21:31,720 --> 00:21:35,000 when they drew near to the Jesus acted as if he was going 390 00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:37,200 further. Jesus acted like he was going to 391 00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:38,880 continue on. Now why is that? 392 00:21:39,680 --> 00:21:42,320 Nobody's really quite sure why Jesus did this. 393 00:21:42,320 --> 00:21:45,800 I tend to think it was so that he could provide the disciples 394 00:21:45,800 --> 00:21:49,640 with an opportunity to act in faith, step out and do something 395 00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:52,160 in faith because of all this and what you've been hearing. 396 00:21:52,480 --> 00:21:55,680 They urged him strongly. The words are that, you know, 397 00:21:55,680 --> 00:21:58,080 they laid hands on him almost just short of that. 398 00:21:58,080 --> 00:22:00,800 You know, they urged him strongly, urged him strongly, 399 00:22:02,520 --> 00:22:05,560 saying stay with us, for it is towards the evening and the day 400 00:22:05,560 --> 00:22:08,560 is now spent. So Jesus went in to stay with 401 00:22:08,560 --> 00:22:11,080 them. So Jesus, you know that they 402 00:22:11,280 --> 00:22:13,960 like, please don't stop talking. Come in with us, sit with us. 403 00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:16,840 You don't want to continue on in your wherever you're going, stay 404 00:22:16,840 --> 00:22:18,520 here with us. So they stay there with us. 405 00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:23,120 Verse 30, when Jesus was at the table with them. 406 00:22:23,720 --> 00:22:29,200 Jesus is the guest. It is highly rude for the guest. 407 00:22:29,400 --> 00:22:31,320 OK, here's the thing. I'm a preacher. 408 00:22:32,120 --> 00:22:34,200 And so at every meal, guess who prays? 409 00:22:34,880 --> 00:22:37,440 You know, I, I, I pray. But you know what? 410 00:22:37,800 --> 00:22:40,400 When I go to your house, when you invite me to your house, go 411 00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:42,720 ahead and do that someday and provide a meal for me. 412 00:22:42,720 --> 00:22:45,920 Go ahead and do that someday. And I am not going to say, hey, 413 00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:47,200 I'm going to go ahead and pray. Now. 414 00:22:47,600 --> 00:22:49,520 I'm never going to do that. You know what I'm going to wait 415 00:22:49,520 --> 00:22:51,040 for? I'm going to wait for you to 416 00:22:51,040 --> 00:22:53,040 pray, which means we're going to wait a long time. 417 00:22:53,200 --> 00:22:55,640 Or rather, what I'm going to wait for is for you to say to 418 00:22:55,640 --> 00:22:58,320 me, Henry, would you pray? OK, Because why? 419 00:22:58,320 --> 00:23:01,800 Because I'm your guest, and as the guest, I'm waiting for you 420 00:23:01,800 --> 00:23:05,000 to take the initiative. And if you ask me to pray, I'll 421 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:06,760 do that. But I'm just as happy because 422 00:23:06,800 --> 00:23:09,040 I'm the guest. I'm not the host here. 423 00:23:09,040 --> 00:23:13,200 What does Jesus do in verse 30? When he came to the table with 424 00:23:13,200 --> 00:23:17,840 them, Jesus took the bread. Jesus broke it, blessed it and 425 00:23:17,840 --> 00:23:19,440 broke it, and he gave it to them. 426 00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:23,840 And everybody's mind is ringing, of course, because this is 427 00:23:23,840 --> 00:23:28,320 exactly what Cleopas and his partner experienced at the Last 428 00:23:28,320 --> 00:23:31,320 Supper. Jesus is modeling the very Last 429 00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:33,600 Supper for us. Now, what I want you to do is to 430 00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:35,720 take an imaginary loaf of bread in your hands. 431 00:23:35,920 --> 00:23:37,640 And I can see if you're doing this or not. 432 00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:40,000 So take imaginary loaf of bread in your hands. 433 00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:41,560 Thank you. OK, now break it. 434 00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:42,880 Some of you still aren't doing it. 435 00:23:42,960 --> 00:23:45,120 Break it and give it to the person next to you. 436 00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:46,520 Give it to the person next to you. 437 00:23:46,520 --> 00:23:48,240 Look at the person next to you. What? 438 00:23:48,240 --> 00:23:50,520 What do you see when you look at the person next to you? 439 00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:54,760 OK, stop playing now. OK, just look at me. 440 00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:57,000 All right. Now if I break the bread and I 441 00:23:57,000 --> 00:23:58,920 give it to you, what are you looking at? 442 00:23:59,560 --> 00:24:01,120 What do you see when you take the bread? 443 00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:06,720 You see the hands, you see the wrists, What do you see? 444 00:24:07,360 --> 00:24:11,160 You see the crucified body of Jesus Christ. 445 00:24:11,800 --> 00:24:15,040 What did the disciples see when Jesus broke the bread and he 446 00:24:15,040 --> 00:24:18,880 gave it to them? They see the crucified Lord 447 00:24:19,120 --> 00:24:23,120 standing before them. And So what are we told? 448 00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:28,240 Verse 31? Then their eyes were opened and 449 00:24:28,240 --> 00:24:32,280 they recognized Him. Their eyes were opened and they 450 00:24:32,280 --> 00:24:35,480 recognized Him, and then he vanished from their sight. 451 00:24:36,120 --> 00:24:41,120 And they said to each other, Did not our hearts burn within us? 452 00:24:41,440 --> 00:24:43,320 While he talked to us on the road? 453 00:24:43,560 --> 00:24:47,840 While he opened to us the Scriptures, did our hearts not 454 00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:53,840 burn within us? How do you see Jesus as He truly 455 00:24:53,840 --> 00:24:56,920 is? How do you recognize Him for who 456 00:24:56,920 --> 00:24:59,240 He really is? Not your figment of your own 457 00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:02,800 imagination, not your wish fulfillment, but for Jesus as He 458 00:25:02,800 --> 00:25:05,680 truly is. There are two things that the 459 00:25:05,680 --> 00:25:08,760 Lord has granted to us that are played out right here that need 460 00:25:08,760 --> 00:25:12,600 to dominate your life. The Word and sacrament. 461 00:25:13,560 --> 00:25:17,520 The Word and sacrament. While they're walking along the 462 00:25:17,520 --> 00:25:20,680 road, Jesus is portraying the Word, showing how everything 463 00:25:20,680 --> 00:25:23,120 points to Him, and they are swept up in it. 464 00:25:23,120 --> 00:25:24,800 Their hearts are burning. How? 465 00:25:24,800 --> 00:25:26,080 Have you ever been in a Bible study? 466 00:25:26,080 --> 00:25:28,600 Have you ever listened to somebody else's sermons and felt 467 00:25:28,600 --> 00:25:32,240 that burning in your heart about what's going on here? 468 00:25:32,480 --> 00:25:35,880 That's what happens when you open yourself to the Word now, 469 00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:41,240 not to memorize facts or to but to see Christ crucified and to 470 00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:43,800 see him glorified. That's the point of Scripture. 471 00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:47,360 That's what he says about it, that it all focuses upon Him to 472 00:25:47,360 --> 00:25:52,320 see his glory and his suffering. That's the text. 473 00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:55,360 That's the point of the text. The Word burns within us. 474 00:25:55,400 --> 00:25:57,000 And the sacrament. What is the sacrament? 475 00:25:57,000 --> 00:25:59,080 OK, the word supper. We're about to experience it 476 00:25:59,080 --> 00:26:04,000 here in a few seconds, but it is a physical, tangible way of 477 00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:09,360 experiencing the grace of God. A physical, tangible way of 478 00:26:09,360 --> 00:26:14,600 experiencing the grace of God. In other words, it is not just 479 00:26:14,600 --> 00:26:18,280 the Word of God. It is the Word of God and the 480 00:26:18,280 --> 00:26:23,000 love of God that come together in your life to come together in 481 00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:27,200 your witness to everybody else that come together as we express 482 00:26:27,200 --> 00:26:29,240 the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. 483 00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:32,520 It is the Scriptures. It is God's love and it is not 484 00:26:32,520 --> 00:26:35,400 sufficient to give one without the other. 485 00:26:35,480 --> 00:26:38,880 It is not sufficient to give one without the other. 486 00:26:39,280 --> 00:26:42,480 There are some of you that are desperately trying to win your 487 00:26:42,920 --> 00:26:47,280 family members or your neighbors to Christ by loving them. 488 00:26:47,840 --> 00:26:50,680 Please. You can't do it without that, 489 00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:53,800 but you can't do it without the word of God. 490 00:26:54,280 --> 00:26:55,840 There's a great story of a missionary. 491 00:26:55,880 --> 00:26:57,960 Do I have time for this? No, but I'm going to anyway. 492 00:26:59,280 --> 00:27:01,920 There's a great story of a missionary who worked in a tribe 493 00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:04,680 that was that. That was vegans. 494 00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:07,640 They were all vegans. What's the word vegetarian? 495 00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:09,440 Thank you. They were all vegetarians. 496 00:27:09,720 --> 00:27:11,960 And he says, I am not going to share. 497 00:27:11,960 --> 00:27:14,640 I am not going to verbalize the gospel until somebody asked me 498 00:27:14,640 --> 00:27:15,960 about it. I'm going to love these people 499 00:27:16,200 --> 00:27:17,960 into the Lord. I'm going to love them so much 500 00:27:17,960 --> 00:27:20,200 that they're all going to come to me and say, why do you love 501 00:27:20,200 --> 00:27:21,600 us so much? And I'm going to be able to 502 00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:22,880 share the Jesus Christ with them. 503 00:27:23,080 --> 00:27:25,960 Seven years later, nobody has ever come to him. 504 00:27:25,960 --> 00:27:28,080 Finally somebody comes to him and says, I've really got a 505 00:27:28,080 --> 00:27:29,600 question for you about your life. 506 00:27:29,920 --> 00:27:32,640 And he thinks to himself, finally, years of loving these 507 00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:34,680 people, I'm going to be able to share the gospel message. 508 00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:36,120 And they say to him, are you a vegan? 509 00:27:36,840 --> 00:27:40,240 You vegetarian? Because they've misunderstood 510 00:27:40,560 --> 00:27:43,280 the love that they've poured out because it has not been tied to 511 00:27:43,280 --> 00:27:47,000 the scriptures. But you just can't give them the 512 00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:50,360 Scriptures. The scriptures need the tangible 513 00:27:50,360 --> 00:27:53,160 expression of the Word of God. Their hearts were burning within 514 00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:55,200 them and they still didn't recognize them. 515 00:27:55,760 --> 00:27:59,880 Their hearts were burning within them until they see the nail 516 00:27:59,880 --> 00:28:05,160 hands, the nail holes in the hands, until they see the love 517 00:28:05,160 --> 00:28:08,560 of God that is tangibly expressed to them. 518 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:13,240 This is what God does for everyone of you every day. 519 00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:16,240 He expresses. He gives you that opportunity to 520 00:28:16,480 --> 00:28:18,640 have your heartburn within you because you're reading the 521 00:28:18,640 --> 00:28:21,840 scriptures well and He has placed you within a community 522 00:28:21,960 --> 00:28:25,480 and He's placed you in a world where you have the opportunities 523 00:28:25,480 --> 00:28:30,440 to demonstrate and to receive the love of God so you see Him 524 00:28:30,440 --> 00:28:39,840 so that your eyes may be opened. Lord, may our eyes be opened. 525 00:28:40,720 --> 00:28:46,520 May we see you as you truly are. May our hearts burn within us 526 00:28:46,840 --> 00:28:48,720 when we are exposed to the Scriptures. 527 00:28:49,200 --> 00:28:52,480 May we experience your presence at the sacrament. 528 00:28:53,080 --> 00:28:57,840 May we be taken by the love that you demonstrate for us each and 529 00:28:57,840 --> 00:29:00,280 every day. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, 530 00:29:00,280 --> 00:29:01,960 we pray. Amen.