Text: Luke 24: 25-35
Read through the news. A young man in Minnesota arrested for planning to murder his mom and dad and put a bomb in his school. A coach arrested for taking terrible advantage of many young people. The people of Syria suffering and dying in a brutal civil war that goes on and on. Monstrous tornadoes sweep through towns in the South and Midwest leaving a swath of destruction and death. Heart wrenching stories. The news is full of them.
But every now and then we come across that heart warming story. The hiker rescued after being stranded on a mountain trail. The mother who decides against abortion and chooses life, the life that God gives.
Today we have just such a story from long ago. A story carefully researched by the gospel writer Luke about a very special incident on Easter Sunday.
The Heart Warming Story from Emmaus
I. The Risen Lord overcomes grief and confusion
II. The Risen Christ lifts hearts, feet and voices
It was sometime Easter afternoon. A disciple named Cleopas and another were walking the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus. We do not know the site of Emmaus today. We just know it was about a 7 mile walk for them, a few hours distant.
If there were others on the road that day, they would have scarcely noticed them. We’ve all been there. A great joy or sorrow grabs hold of our hearts and minds. Well that’s where these men were on the road to Emmaus. Preoccupied with the crushing events of the past few days.
The risen Lord approached them. He doesn’t allow them to recognize him. They see just another Jewish traveler. He asks them what they are discussing. And now this verse that says it all. They stood still, their faces downcast. (17b)
They ask this stranger in so many words. ‘Where have you been? Jesus draws them out. They tell him what is weighing on their hearts. This one so powerful in word and deed one was violently put to death on a cross. We hoped he was the One. We hoped he was the Messiah.
But now they did not know what to think. And even more confusing, the women who came with a report of an empty tomb and a vision of angels who said he was alive. What does it all mean? It didn’t dawn on them that Jesus had done just what he said he would. Rise to life.
I see myself in these disciples. Do you? All too often we walk through life like these men on the road who should have known better. Think about it. God has spoken plainly to us in his Word. But all too often we let this life turn us away from God’s promises. He invites us in his word. Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. Put your worries on me. I care for you. But instead of listening to God’s Word, instead of trusting it, too often we let ourselves walk on like these men in sadness and confusion.
Jesus saw it in these men. I can almost picture him shaking his head in dismay as he spoke these words. “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?” It was like he was saying. You still don’t understand. I would have expected better of you.
But Jesus had not come to say ‘shame on you’ and then leave. For what does he now do? He sweeps away their confusion. He overcomes their sorrow. How? As they walk along he connects the dots that had made no sense to them. His ugly Betrayal, arrest, his brutal death. He connects those dots with one Old Testament prophecy after another. What they had witnessed, was not a tragedy. Yes, the Christ had to suffer. It was all part of God’s plan. And just like a stage play where the spotlights sometimes come together on one person, Jesus explained how those prophecies came together in Him.
There are times in our lives when we walk down life’s road like these Emmaus disciples. We too have been and will be sad and confused. But then we are reminded of something so important. Like these disciples, we are not alone as we walk this road. And yes. We have each other. But we have so much more than one another. We have the one who promised: I am with you always. We have our living Savior who loved you and me more than his own life.
And as we walk with Him, as we listen to his Word, our Risen Lord overcomes that grief and confusion. Maybe not in a moment, not all at once, but over time. Over time his Word takes hold. Over time his Spirit comforts us in our grief. Over time this heart warming story becomes our own.
But let’s get back to the story. For here in these men we see something more. We see that the Risen Christ lifts not just hearts. He lifts hearts, feet and voices.
The three were almost there at Emmaus. Jesus pretended to walk on. But the disciples insisted that this special traveler whoever he was, join them.
It was here that their joy would be made complete. As they sat down to eat, their guest took the bread. He gave thanks. And since the bread wasn’t sliced, he broke it and gave them each a piece. Then suddenly, Jesus lowered the veil. He allowed them to see. It was he. It was their Lord…and ours. And just as suddenly he disappeared from their sight.
When they caught their breath, they thought right back to their time with him on the road. 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?”
While driving through Texas last week, we spotted a sign for a little Revival church. You don’t see that much today. But it reminded me of a time in our land when revival preachers would set up tents and people would come out to hear them. The preachers would enflame the emotions of their hearers. And the people would weep and wale and do whatever the preacher called on them to do.
But no fiery speaker stirred the hearts of these men that day. Rather our Risen Savior walked them through the Old testament. He carefully explained how it all came together in him, his suffering, his death and his resurrection. And their hearts were lifted up. Their hearts burned within them as this stranger brought it all together.
The Easter gospel still does the same today. Some of you know Pastor Jim Radloff. He is part of a group that does mission work in China. In fact, Jim just left for there for 7 weeks.
Pastor Jim spoke to us last Sunday at a church near Austin. The gospel of our risen Savior is changing many hearts in China. And what a joy to see! In the children and the old people. In the poor and those with so much yet sensing a personal emptiness of life without God. Hearts stirred from unbelief to faith in their risen Savior. Hearts that burn with the warm glow of peace in him who conquered death and gives us the victory. And they and we didn’t have to walk that road to Emmaus to experience it.
Think about that. How your Savior has come to you in his Word. How he comes to us in his Supper. Think of how that guilt melted away as he gave you his true body and blood for your forgiveness. Think about how your risen Savior greets you now as he did his troubled disciples. How his words, peace be with you, warmed your heart with the assurance that no matter how life looks, how it feels, all is well. Peace be with you he says and gives. Think about those times. Can’t we say the same as these men? Oh, how our hearts burned within us. But not just our hearts. Our risen Savior does more than lift hearts. Look here, He lifted their hearts, feet and voices.
It was night time. They could have waited till morning. But this was too important to wait. So they got on their feet. And they hurried back to Jerusalem. And once there they found the eleven apostles and the others disciples and told them. They told them this heart warming story that we get to hear all these years later.
Soon the men and women in that room would head out into the world. The risen Lord would lift their hearts, feet and voices to go and tell a dying world. And they did. And not just those few. Many more. Again and again. The Risen Christ lifted hearts feet and voices until that good news of forgiveness and life came to you.
Now what? The devil would love us to keep these feet still. He would love us to keep our religion to ourselves. But he will not succeed. His people cannot be still or silent. For we know the old, old story of Jesus and his love. We know the heart warming story of our risen victorious Savior. And we know why he has left us here. To tell. To share the good news. Christ is risen. In him is forgiveness and life. Amen.