Stay a Little Bit Longer
Notes
Transcript
Stay a Little Bit Longer
Luke 24:28–35
Introduction
This is Easter Eve
This is Luke’s first account of Jesus's post-resurrection appearance.
It is a day when Jesus confronts two of His followers: ignorant, in the darkness, filled with doubt, confused, and distressed.
What a day it had already been for these two disciples.
It had started with grief for a crucified man and strange reports about his empty tomb.
As the two friends left Jerusalem and headed for home, they were heavy with sorrow and struggling to understand what had happened to Jesus,
the man they thought would be their Messiah.
Then Jesus himself overtook them on the road. However, their eyes were kept from recognizing him (Luke 24:16).
The mysterious traveler engaged with them and challenged them to make room in their theology for a crucified Messiah rising from the grave. He did this by giving them a comprehensive survey of the Old Testament.
“And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27).
It was the most dynamic, life-changing Bible teaching the two disciples had ever heard.
When they talked about it later, they said they felt their hearts were burning as they heard this man preach the gospel.
What the man had to say was so compelling that the disciples could not get enough of it. as it washed over them they could not get enough of it
The Response to Understanding
Cleopas and his companion stunned and overwhelmed. Their hearts were ignited by the Scripture explained (v. 32), since
Jesus still had not revealed Himself to them.
“Understanding the meaning of the Bible fulfills the true believer’s deepest longing, because it anchors faith in reality, producing profound joy.”
John MacArthur
To know the true interpretation of Scripture is to know God and realize how His plan is unfolding and how His sovereign purpose is being accomplished.[1]
He did so for the same reason He had questioned them, to elicit a response that would demonstrate the effect of the Scriptures on their hearts. And it did.
They wanted more instruction and did not want the thrilling teaching to end.
“Stay With Us”
Luke 24:28–29 (ESV)
28 So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, 29 but
they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them.
“Stay with us, for it is getting toward evening, and the day is now nearly over.”
This situation is familiar in everyday life.
A visitor is getting ready to go, but someone says, “Please don’t go yet; stay a little bit longer.” “No,” the visitor says, “I really must be going.” Back and forth it goes,
but sometimes it is possible to persuade the person to stay, which is what happened in this instance.
They pointed out that it was getting late, and that soon it would be unsafe to travel. So they urged the man to stay with them at least for the night.
They insisted that he come home with them, and they would not take “no” for an answer.
They would not let him go until he blessed them with his presence. (cf. Gen. 32:26). [2]
Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
What they wanted was more understanding of God’s revelation.
To their great joy, Jesus obliged and went in to stay with them.
Jesus had other places to go and other people to see. Soon, he would return to his Father, but he was pressing on with his saving work in the meantime.
Yet the disciples wanted him to stay, even if they were not entirely sure why. They pointed out that it was getting late, and that soon it would be unsafe to travel.
The most important hospitality of all
is to open the home of your heart and ask Jesus to come in.
If Jesus happened to overtake you on the road, would you invite him to stay?
Are you drawn to him the way these disciples were drawn to him?
Feel his joy. Listen to his teaching. Experience more of his life-giving life.
If there is ever someone you should invite to stay a little longer, it is Jesus.
Every day we are presented with the decision to stay with Jesus and to ask him to stay with us?
Do you linger with him longer in prayer, listening to more of what he wants to say to you in his Word?
Or are we always rushing off to do the next thing?
“If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,” he said, “I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” (Rev. 3:20).
Jesus wants to have a deeper relationship with us—the kind of relationship we have when we sit so close to someone at the table that our hands are touching.
He is always willing to say more to us from his Word.
He never shuts the Bible and says, “That’s enough for today; I don’t have anything more to teach you.”
He is always willing to hear more from us in prayer.
Jesus never leaves a Bible study before prayer time,
and he never walks out of the closet before we are finished praying.
Through the ministry of the Word and prayer, we have the same extraordinary privilege the first disciples had: the privilege to be with Jesus.
Jesus will stay with us for as long as we are willing to be with him. Will you invite Jesus into your life this morning or evening, this week, and forever?
Unlike the Emmaus disciples, we do know who Jesus is.
Therefore, we should feel even more urgency about the time that we spend with Jesus,
wanting to hear more of what he says about his cross and the empty tomb and yearning to know him better than we know him now.
Even though we cannot enjoy the physical presence of Jesus the way that those disciples did, we can experience his presence by the power of the Holy Spirit. [4]
The Breaking of the Bread
Luke 24:30–31 (ESV)
30 When he was at table with them,
he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them.
31 And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight.
At first, the Emmaus disciples did not realize that the man they invited to dinner was Jesus.
This is characteristic of resurrection stories.
Jesus was traveling incognito. People saw him, but they did not recognize him. In this case, the disciples were actually prevented from recognizing Jesus (Luke 24:16), we assume by God himself.
It was the host’s place to break the bread and initiate the meal, not the guest’s.
The two men were so caught up in Christ’s teaching that they forgot all about eating.
As the Emmaus disciples heard Jesus teach, they recognized his superior wisdom and perfect godliness. Thus it was natural for them to defer to him by giving him the honor of breaking their bread.
Right in their own home, they acknowledged Jesus as the one who should be at the head of their table.
As Jesus performed this act of kindness, their eyes were suddenly opened, and they recognized Him.
No one recognized the resurrected Jesus unless He revealed Himself to them.
Perhaps the familiar way He broke the bread and the familiar words He used to bless the meal were the means Jesus used to open their eyes. Having revealed Himself to them,
[5]
Jesus Meals
Luke wants us to notice that this recognition coincided with the breaking of bread.
In Luke 9. Jesus had been teaching all day, and people were hungry.
The disciples thought he should send them away to get something to eat.
Instead, Jesus took what was on hand:
“And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing over them.”
Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd” (Luke 9:16).
Luke uses almost identical words to describe what Jesus did at Emmaus, without the miraculous multiplication.
Jesus took the bread; then he blessed it, broke it, and gave it to his disciples. n[6]
At the feeding of the five thousand,
Jesus promised his disciples that he would
offer his body as bread for the life of the world (John 6:51).
At the Last Supper, he gave them bread to remember the body he was preparing to offer for their salvation (Luke 22:19).
Luke 22:19 (ESV)
And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
Then the next day he gave his body, offering it for crucifixion—the sacrifice that would pay for their sins.
When the Emmaus disciples saw the very same Jesus break bread, they knew it was him.
They also knew this: Jesus was no longer dead, but alive.
The friend at their table had been walking and talking with them.
He was blessing them with his presence—his living, physical presence.
This convinced them of the reality of the resurrection.
What the women said about the empty tomb had to be true, because they had seen Jesus with their very own eyes. He was risen indeed!
Suddenly, their eyes are opened. They see that it is Jesus. They have been spending time with the one they were discussing!
But as soon as they recognize him, he is gone. [7]
Back to Jerusalem
Luke 24:32–35 (ESV)
32 They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” 33 And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, 34 saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” 35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.
Their winter of soul was gone forever. So it is when the Scriptures come alive in your soul with the centrality and reality of Jesus Christ.[8]
Cleopas and his friend acknowledge how amazing their walk and talk have been. “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
Had not God been at work through Jesus’ words to help them see what God was all about in Jesus' suffering and glory?
Was not God's promise that they had just experienced? Their reaction communicates no real surprise in light of what has taken place on the road. Now it all makes sense.
The understanding of Scripture they had received from Him set their hearts on fire.
The burning joy that resulted was so overwhelming that they immediately went out into the pitch-black night and headed back to Jerusalem to share the knowledge they alone possessed with the others—that Jesus’ suffering and resurrection were firmly grounded in the Old Testament. God’s plan was being fulfilled.
It is late, but what they have seen cannot wait to be reported until tomorrow.
They must tell the others about Jesus’ appearance to them. So they return at once to Jerusalem.
There, the Eleven and the others are still gathered and quite excited.
Before the two from Emmaus can get their story out,
the report of the truth of the women’s story fills the room. “It is true!
The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” The Emmaus disciples then tell what has just happened to them on the road and how Jesus revealed himself to them at the table.
Jesus is starting to show up everywhere.
Despair becomes delight as the truth about Jesus’ resurrection begins to sink in.[9]
Closing Reflections
This very moment Christ knows where we are.
He knows the geography of our lives inside and out.
He knows the temperature of our souls.
He knows whether there is ice or fire.
Whatever our state, his method is the same—to meet us where we are with his own person framed in the beautiful context of his Word.
The life-giving, energizing truth is that Christ suffered and died for our sins “according to the Scriptures.” And then, on the third day, he rose from the dead “according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3, 4).[11]
Have you seen Jesus in the preaching of the Word? Can you see Jesus in the breaking of the bread? If not, then ask God to open your eyes, for this is a prayer he loves to answer.
(see Ps. 146:8; Acts 9:18; Eph. 1:18). Then again, maybe you have seen Jesus before, but are having trouble seeing him lately. Sometimes the trials of life and our own unrepentant sin make it hard for us to see Jesus.
If that is the case, the place we will see him again is in the Word and the sacrament, not in some other place.
Do not miss the opportunity to see Jesus. Imagine what the Emmaus disciples would have missed if they had let Jesus go on his way instead of asking him to stay. They would have regretted it for the rest of their lives. “I can’t believe we didn’t invite Jesus to say with us that night,” they would have said. “What were we thinking?”
Ask Jesus to stay. He loves for us to see him in the preaching of his gospel and in the breaking of his bread. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you see Jesus in word and sacrament. Ask Jesus to stay with you forever.
110[12]
[1]MacArthur, J. (2014). Luke 18–24 (p. 426). Moody Publishers.
[2]Ryken, P. G. (2009). Luke (R. D. Phillips, P. G. Ryken, & D. M. Doriani, Eds.; Vol. 2, p. 655). P&R Publishing.
[3]Ryken, P. G. (2009). Luke (R. D. Phillips, P. G. Ryken, & D. M. Doriani, Eds.; Vol. 2, p. 655). P&R Publishing.
[4]Ryken, P. G. (2009). Luke (R. D. Phillips, P. G. Ryken, & D. M. Doriani, Eds.; Vol. 2, p. 656). P&R Publishing.
[5]MacArthur, J. (2014). Luke 18–24 (p. 427). Moody Publishers.
[6]Ryken, P. G. (2009). Luke (R. D. Phillips, P. G. Ryken, & D. M. Doriani, Eds.; Vol. 2, p. 658). P&R Publishing.
[7]Bock, D. L. (1996). Luke (p. 614). Zondervan Publishing House.
[8]Hughes, R. K. (1998). Luke: that you may know the truth (p. 411). Crossway Books.
[9]Bock, D. L. (1996). Luke (p. 614). Zondervan Publishing House.
[10]MacArthur, J. (2014). Luke 18–24 (p. 427). Moody Publishers.
8 J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Luke (1858; reprint Cambridge: James Clarke, 1976), 2:508.
[11]Hughes, R. K. (1998). Luke: that you may know the truth (p. 411). Crossway Books.
[12]Ryken, P. G. (2009). Luke (R. D. Phillips, P. G. Ryken, & D. M. Doriani, Eds.; Vol. 2, pp. 664–665). P&R Publishing.