The Third Sunday of Easter
April 30, 2017
Luke 24:13-35
Easter’s “Open” Sign
Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him. He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?” They stood still, their faces downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in these days?” “What things?” he asked. “About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And the beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 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?” They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread. (NIV1984)
Dear fellow worshipers of our living Lord and Savior,
It’s late. You’re tired or hungry or sick or lost— pick the malady that suits you best. You have been driving and driving and driving trying to find what you need, but all you see are signs that say: “Closed” “Closed” “Closed.” You had begun to wonder a long time ago if you would ever find what you need. Then suddenly and quite unexpectedly you see it! The sign says: “Open”! How do you feel? Excited? Relieved? I would probably be feeling a little of both.
If you have ever been in a situation anywhere similar to the one I just described then you will have a head start on trying to understand how I would like us to look at our text for today. The familiar account of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus is a very fitting portion of Scripture to turn to when it comes to remembering how and why Easter is an important part of our life all year long.
Today then as we look at this portion of God’s holy Word let’s see how it emphasizes: Easter’s “Open” Sign. There are three things we want to see today. First we will see how Easter’s “Open” sign begins with the empty tomb of our Savior. Then we’ll see how the open empty tomb leads to an “Open” sign placed above the hearts and minds of Jesus’ disciples. Finally we’ll see how the “Open” sign above the hearts and minds of these disciples leads to an “Open” sign for their mouths.
Our text begins on a rather sad note. On the afternoon of that first Easter Sunday two of the Lord’s disciples— one named Cleopas and the other unnamed— were leaving
The “Open” sign of Easter, the “Open” sign of Jesus’ empty tomb is brought out very subtly in the opening verses of our text. Luke very simply says, “As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him.” Christ had indeed physically risen from the dead. On that very morning His empty grave proclaimed an “Open” sign the likes of which this world had never seen before! But since these disciples did not yet have a “Resurrection Faith” everything was still “Closed” to them. A life without faith in the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ is a life filled to overflowing with all kinds of questions but extremely few answers and these two men are a perfect example of what that kind of life is like. Look at the end of verse 17. Luke tells us that when Jesus asked these two men what they were tossing back and forth as they walked along the road they “stood still, their faces downcast.” These men could not even lift their eyes from the earth. Their heads hung low. Their foreheads were all wrinkled up. Their shoulders were slumped. Every word they spoke was shrouded in weariness and pain— all because they did not know the meaning of the “Open” sign of the Lord’s tomb. The tremendous depth of their sadness is then laid out for us to see in verse 21 of our text. After recounting how Jesus had been put to death by the religious leaders of Israel these disciples then confessed, “…but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.” From their perspective the door to all their hopes and all their dreams was slammed shut, nailed down tight and posted with a “Closed” sign when Jesus of Nazareth died on the cross of Calvary’s hill.
We can almost feel the pain and the disappointment that filled the hearts and minds of these disciples. In fact, some of us may have even experienced a very similar pain and disappointment on a very personal level. If ever there was a time in our life when we did not realize what the “Open” sign of Jesus’ empty tomb meant for us, if ever there was a time when we doubted the physical resurrection of Christ then we can understand the depth of the pain and the disappointment that these disciples were experiencing as they walked the road to Emmaus.
Praise God, my friends, that in His grace and in His mercy our risen Lord and Savior does not leave any of His dear disciples— including us— to wallow in that kind of pain and disappointment. By the grace of God Easter’s “Open” sign— the “Open” sign that God Himself placed above of the empty tomb— enables our hearts and our eyes to be “Open” to the truth of Holy Scripture! Luke brings this our in our text as he goes on to tell us, “He (Jesus) said to them, ‘How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?’ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.”
There are people who say that the Bible makes no sense to them. There are people who say that the Bible is too difficult and too confusing for them to understand. There are even people who say that the Bible is written in a “code language” and if you don’t have the “key” to that “code” you will never really know what the Bible really says. Here on the road to Emmaus the risen Christ Himself reveals to us that the Bible will indeed always be a “Closed” book— unless we read it from the perspective of the death and resurrection of the Lord’s Christ!
When by the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit we read the Scriptures in the light of Easter’s “Open” sign, when by the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit we read the Scriptures in the way they were intended to be read— with Christ as the focal point from beginning to end— then all of the Scriptures become an “Open” book for us! For example, as our text for today very clearly brings out, Easter opens up for us the entire Old Testament. Easter enables us to see that this Book is indeed history, as in His-Story of our salvation. Easter enables us to see with both our minds and our hearts that from the time of the Fall of mankind into sin to the time of Mary and Joseph the Lord God of Israel was putting all the pieces of the puzzle in exactly the right places so that when the “fullness of time” had come God’s Son could come into this world to live a perfect live in our place, to die an innocent death to pay the penalty for our sins and then physically rise to life again to guarantee that “It is finished!”— our salvation is complete! Easter enables us to see that from the time of Jesus’ physical resurrection from the dead to the very day that the risen Christ returns to this earth as the Judge of the living and the dead, our living Lord is guiding and directing both the history of this world as well as the future of this world for the good of us— His Church! Without that Easter perspective, without the Easter proclamation of the open empty tomb of Jesus, a person’s heart and mind will always remain “Closed” — and subsequently all the Scriptures will remain “Closed” to them as well. But with Easter’s “Open” sign shining brightly in our hearts then just like these two disciples here in our text we too can say, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
Easter’s “Open” sign must begin with the open empty grave of our living Lord and Savior. From the open empty grave of Jesus, Easter places an “Open” sign above our heart and mind which in turn places an “Open” sign above God’s holy inspired Word. The next step in that progression is for an “Open” sign to be placed on our lips. Luke brings this out in our text when he tells us, “They got up and returned at once to
These two disciples knew that they could not keep their mouths closed. These two disciples knew that they could not wait to tell the other disciples about seeing the resurrected Christ. And so without waiting until morning, without complaining that they had to retrace the seven miles back to
Easter’s “Open” sign my friends, fills us, the Lord’s disciples, with the need to open our mouths and share with the people around us the glorious news of what Jesus’ open and empty tomb means for us and for this entire world. We simply can’t keep quiet about the greatest news this world has ever experienced. No matter what it takes, no matter what it costs, no matter what lengths we need to go to we need to do everything we possibly can to share with others the glorious message: “It is true! The Lord has risen!”
There are undoubtedly going to be times when we are tired or hungry or lost and no matter how far we travel we will still see “Closed” signs at the most inopportune times. Then there will be the times when our heart will rejoice at seeing a sign that says “Open.” My prayer is that Easter’s “Open” sign will indeed be a part of each and every day of your life. Let the “Open” sign of Jesus’ empty tomb daily “open” your heart and your mind to the truths which the good Lord “opens” up to you on the pages of His holy Word so that your mouth will always be “open” to share the Good News of Easter:
He is risen! He is risen indeed!
To God be the glory!
Amen