Road to Emmaus: From Confusion to Clarity (2of4)

Bible Reading & Review

Sermon 2 of 4, not 3 Or we may live the rest of our lives and die on this road going out of Jerusalem

Thatcher said well at least you get a couple more tries.

Brings me incredible joy to know this is God’s Word and that you believe that and want to know it. Thank you.

Review Story

Last week we studied a couple who walked with and opened their heart to a stranger but recieved the Words from God.

We focused on the cause for their sadness and confusion.

We ended saying “Jesus does not provide comfort by new revelation but by explaining the Word that is available to us all to know.”

This is God's holy, inspired, and inerrant Word. May He write its eternal truth upon all our hearts.

Luke 24:13–35 (KJV)

13 And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs.

14 And they talked together of all these things which had happened.

15 And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them.

16 But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.

17 And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad?

18 And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?

19 And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people:

20 And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him.

21 But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done.

22 Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre;

23 And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive.

24 And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not.

25 Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:

26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?

27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

28 And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further.

29 But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them.

30 And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them.

31 And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight.

32 And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?

33 And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them,

34 Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon.

35 And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.

Pastoral Prayer

Rebecca Pepperdines mother / Sue

Jon Canavan’s Mother / coming in this week

Camp

Sermon Introduction

Focus of today is on on understanding this passage Luke 24:27 “27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.”

Story of High School Students playing Trivia on Sundays / Jonathan and Charlotte on April 1st / one piece of unbiblical advice and I will tell you in 20 years

Unfortunately, we all have taken unbiblical teaching and lived it out...

The misunderstanding of the Bible’s teaching on marriage would greatly influence my relationship with my wife.

My understanding of Scripture determines my understanding of Jesus.

Why an understanding of the whole Bible matters

Slide for next 2 Weeks

Next couple/few/who knows weeks

Today: My understanding of Scripture determines my understanding of Jesus.

Knowledge of All of Scripture is Needed as we Guard the Gospel Message

Nothing less than a whole Bible can make a whole Christian.

All of scripture is needed to develop a proper worldview.

Start with “what is the Bible?”

At the start of training camp in 1961, Vince Lombardi walked into the locker room of the Green Bay Packers and said to his team what would become one of the most iconic quotes in sports history… “Gentlemen, this is a football.”

Let us start today with “Ladies and Gentlemen this is the Bible”

The word Bible literally means “the Books” and it has even from before the days of Christ

As kids in our AWANA ministry have learned to say “I pledge allegiance to the Bible, God’s Holy Word, I will make it a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path and will hide its words in my heart that I might not sin against God.”

The Bible is the God’s speech written through the agency of human authors as an unified story leading to Jesus

God’s speech written

Or as we say God’s Holy Word

66 Books / 1500 years / 40 human authors. This alone would be remarkable.

But is more more than amazing. The Bible is supernatural.

It is not a good book. It is God’s Book.

You might look to see who wrote the forward of a book. (Who reads them?) or maybe reviews.

None of that matters when the in the author section it says God

Agency of human authors

66 Books / 1500 years / 40 human authors

“Thus says the Lord” occurs over four hundred times in the Old Testament, as the writers put forward in their writings that God has spoken.

2 Peter 1:21 “21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”

We call this inspiration. We call this a gift from God. That is this fallen, broken world we have something that is perfect and complete!

Unified Story

All of the Scriptures tell the story of the Gospel

Luke 24:27 “27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.”

You can knows facts about the Bible but miss the purpose of the Bible.

Pharisees missed The Scriptures testify to Jesus.

In John 5:39–40, Jesus gives the Jewish leaders of his day this fundamental lesson in Christian hermeneutics.

We could call it "the basic principles of the oracles of God," to use the language of Hebrews 5:12

It is this: that every reader of the Scriptures should keep in constant view: The Scriptures testify to Jesus.

Pharisees could not or refused to see what had been revealed.

Remember as we said last week. It was a moral/ heart issue. Not a lack of intellect. Luke 24:25 “25 Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:”

A veil is over the eyes of those who do not believe.

2 Cor 3:14 “14 But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.”

You do not have to give up your intellect to believe the Bible, you just have to give up your pride. - RC Sproul

These Disciples were in danger of missing it.

We saw disciples disappointed with God.

As with these two, we may be disappointing because we focused on part of the Word but not the whole.

We are not seeing Christ in the Scriptures.

Many people treat this book like a self-help book.

Popular kids book The Jesus Story Book: Some people think the Bible is a book of rules. Or a book of heroes. But the Bible is most of all a story. And at the center of that story there is a baby. Every story in the Bible whispers his name.

Expounded unto them

Before we get into what ALL THE SCRIPTURES means lets look at the fact that Jesus is expounding unto them.

Expounded has the idea of sticking close to the text.

We see others doing the same; Aquila and Priscilla did for Apollos Acts 18:26 “26 And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.”

It is what I am supposed to be doing right now. It is what you just saw happen in your LifeGroup.

We see this all the way back in Nehemiah 8:8 “8 So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.”

Transitional Statement: We will see that when Jesus wants to explain the message of the Gospel he shows them Himself from the ALL Scriptures. He demonstrates the opposite of unhitching Himself from the Old Testament. He points to Himself on every page.

All of Scriptures is Needed to properly see Jesus.

They were going to miss the Messiah if they did not see the big picture of Scripture.

Back to the Emmaus Road: They rightly believed that Jesus arrived as the promised Christ (Messiah) and thus ruling King, but they couldn’t comprehend a crucified Messiah.

Clearly, they did not think of Jesus’ cross as good news at this point!

Could you imagine their reaction to many of the songs we sing.

Oh the Wonderful Cross

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

The Old Rugged Cross

Jesus even rebuked them for not reading the Scriptures correctly.

If they had, they would have discerned that his death and resurrection weren’t discouraging news but good news!

That must have been an extraordinary Bible study! The response of the two disciples is telling: Luke 24:32 “32 And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?”

What explains their joyful response?

It was more than Jesus’ presence. At that moment, they didn’t realize it was Jesus speaking to them.

Instead their hearts burned because the light of Scripture had been turned on.

As they looked at the Old Testament writings, they correctly saw—for the first time—how the Scriptures fit together and how all Scripture is fulfilled in Christ.

They had lived with Jesus for several years, yet it was there, on the pages of Scripture, that they truly saw Christ for the first time.

Transitional Statement: To grasp these truths accurately—why Christ had to suffer for our sins, why his blood was necessary to reconcile us to God, and what redemption is—we need to see how they fit into the entirety of the Bible.

Jesus shows Himself in Scripture

The answer is seen in ALL of Scriptures. Luke 24:27 “27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in ALL THE SCRIPTURES the things concerning himself.”

Jesus is seen in All of Scriptures (underline these)

Books of Moses & Prophets. Luke 24:27 “27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.”

Psalms Luke 24:44 “44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.”

Jesus will give the Great Commission following this. Remember He will send them out on their mission with what we refer to as the Old Testament.

Story of being in Boudler, CO with a NT. First time I met a Jewish person.

What might Jesus have pointed to and said, “This is about me”?

“It is not just individual prophecies or passages that point to Jesus, but All Scriptures.

John 5:46 “46 For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me.”

The entirety of the Old Testament is about him — not only in its prophecies, but also in its history, its promises, its people, its law, its ceremony, its song.

See Christ from ever section of the Bible

Every section of Scriptures fits within a period of time in history and a genre. (Law, History, Poetry)

Each section of Scripture leaves the people of God with questions that are satisfied only in the coming of Christ.

Jesus fulfills the Torah as the perfect keeper of the law.

Jesus is the final and ultimate sacrifice.

Jesus stands as the true king.

Jesus is Isaiah’s suffering servant.

Example: How do we see Jesus in Chronicles?

Throne that needs to be filled.

Chronicles focuses attention on the Davidic kings (southern kingdom)

David completes the conquest of the land, and through David Israel is given rest from its enemies.

David as a man of bloodshed is not able to build the Temple. Solomon due to sin will not keep the throne.

By the end of Chronicles, there is no king on the throne in Israel, let alone one from David’s line. The promise waits to be fulfilled.

Jesus wins not by violence and military might but through shedding his own blood on the cross. He is the greatest Son of David.

Temple & Worship

The temple symbolises God’s presence with his people.

The construction and purpose of the Temple is a major portion of the Book.

The temple and worship were a disappointment for many of the original audience of Chronicles being smaller than the original.

The Temple will be destroyed.

Jesus is the presence of God in human form; one who “tabernacled” among us (John 1:14).

In him we meet God; he is the sacrifice that makes us right with God.

The temple in Chronicles was destroyed, but the temple of Jesus’s body was rebuilt after three days (John 2:19–22).

See Christ is every theme of the Scriptures

The Bible contains several themes that run through it (Sacrifice, covenants, rest and Sabbath, justice and judgment)

Bible raises many questions in which we find the answer in Jesus

Answer in the back of the book: Remember in school, how in the math Book would have the answer to the odd or eve questions at the back of the book.

See Christ in every major figure of the Bible

God revealed his Word in such a way that the historical figures of the OT often point to a greater reality in the NT revelation of Jesus Christ

We see this both positively and negatively.

David does not just point to Jesus in his victory over Goliath, but David’s sin with Bathsheba points to Jesus as the great king who never sins

Example: David before the Giant

People scared and in their tents.

Giant is mocking God.

A shepherd boy comes to the front line and says “I’m here, and I—in the power of the Lord—am the one who’s going to go out and fight your battle, O Israel.”

David is not about your overcoming your giants - but our need for Jesus to do for us what we could not do for ourselves.

Jesus is greater than..

Matthew 12:41 “41 The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.”

Matthew 12:42 “42 The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.”

John 8:58 “58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.”

See Christ in every image of the Scriptures

The OT puts forward several different images and patterns that find final fulfillment in the NT.

The bronze snake lifted in Moses’s wilderness points to the Son of Man suspended on the cross.

The temple as the dwelling place of God leads to Jesus as the final dwelling place of God.

The sacrifices give way to the final sacrifice of Christ.

Some of us have been satisfied far too long just knowing the Cliff Notes version of this book. it is time to become a serious Bible Student. Not only for the joy of seeing Jesus but so you can help others.

Let’s Give our Lives to Showing People Christ from the Scriptures

Time nor my understanding will allow me to show you all their is to learn about Christ from ALL SCRIPTURES / I think ill give my life to try.

Remember story in John 1 - Andrew goes to find his brother Simon to show him who He had found. John 1:41 “41 He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.”

Let this become the story of our lives!

The question is not, “where is Jesus in the Old Testament but where isn’t He”.

You remember the story of the old minister who heard a sermon by a young man, and when he was asked by the preacher what he thought of it he was rather slow to answer, but at last he said, “If I must tell you, I did not like it at all; there was no Christ in your sermon.” “No,” answered the young man, “because I did not see that Christ was in the text.” “Oh!” said the old minister, “but do you not know that from every little town and village and tiny hamlet in England there is a road leading to London? Whenever I get hold of a text, I say to myself, ‘There is a road from here to Jesus Christ, and I mean to keep on His track till I get to Him.'”

Let it be said of us: We preach Christ

1 Cor 1:23 “23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;”

We preach Christ from Genesis to Revelation

We preach Christ from the youngest to the oldest member

We preach Christ from the pulpit and while walking on the road with our friends.

We have seen Christ in ALL THE SCRIPTURES and we will never be the same.

Let’s Pray

Summary

As believers are praying..

Renew your commitment to spend time in the study of ALL OF THE SCRIPTURES

Jesus that we love can be found on every page of this Book. Let’s dig deeper together.

So glad you are here today. Make a decision today to walk in the Word with someone this week.

Set it in motion before you leave.

At the Next Steps Table you can get more information about how to sign up for one-on-one discipleship lessons.

With a friend you will search the Scriptures and see how they testify of Christ.

Have you seen Jesus as these two have?

When they saw Jesus for who He is from Scriptures. Their hearts burned.

Their affections and lives where given to sharing that message.

Maybe today, for the first time, you are recognizing how this is Good News.

The Bible and life is filled with stories of tension.

The stories of the Bible awaited a Hero. They awaited a King.

Your life is a story that will not be fulfilled without Jesus.

Right now, where you are at you can pray to God and acknowledge that you are a sinner, you will never save yourself, you need a Savior. You need Jesus. In confessing our sin and broken state we can receive forgiveness of sins and life everlasting.