HG176-179 Mark 16:12-14, Luke 24:13-43, John 20:19-31, 1 Cor 15:5 Easter Day 2019
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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 the only one visiting Jerusalem who does 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 they did not see Jesus.”
He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah 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.
As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on 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.
While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence.
I want to paint a picture this morning to get into the hearts and the minds of the disciples. In the time that the disciples were with Jesus He was performing many miracles, turning water into wine, healing the sick such as the paralytic and the blind, he was teaching them things with such an authority. Then this same Jesus was telling them many things on the way to Jerusalem none of which made any sense; He was going to be betrayed and killed. He said he was going to be gone for a little while and you will not see me and then you will see me. Confusing things because surely Jesus is the one who is about to liberate Israel from the Romans.
Then in the garden, their friend and companion, Judas, had come with an armed gang and taken Jesus away and they had to flee for their very lives. They all deserted him in his hour of need. Later Peter was warming himself by the fire and when questioned he denied Jesus three times. The next thing they knew was that their Messiah, the one they had spent the last 3 years learning from, getting to know him, was sentenced to death and no sooner had that happened he was hanging from a cross. His death substantiated with a spear in the His side; and then buried in a tomb. What has just happened?! Their hopes and dreams were shattered. Where to turn to? No doubt they too would soon be arrested and tried in just the same manner. It’s just a matter of time.
This was
Preaching the Word: Luke, Vol. 2—That You May Know the Truth Confusion (vv. 13–24)
a “Messiah” who managed to get himself imprisoned and handed over to the Romans who then crucified him was a disappointing delusion. They had supported Jesus—and because of that their life had not been easy. Now they ached with grief and confusion. The Scriptures promised a Messiah, and they thought Jesus was the one, but Jesus did not deliver.
Truly this has been a roller coaster for the disciples – they came rejoicing into Jerusalem, within days their Lord, teacher and friend was dead devastating them and leaving them bereft and grieving and scared.
But some strange things were happening among them. Their women told them that Jesus had risen from the dead – leaving them incredulous and unbelieving. Then, gradually, Jesus appears to all of them and they are not sure whether they should be full of joy, regret or even if they believe their own eyes. Not so long after this they are no longer scared, no longer afraid, no longer grieving, no more regrets but instead with boldness preaching in public and willing to die for Jesus.
Talk about ups and downs and loop-the-loop!
We are on the road to Emmaus, we know that one of them is Cleopas, and it is possible that the other disciple is his wife, Mary, mentioned in John 19. And Jesus Himself draws alongside but they did not recognise Him. And why would they - they certainly was not expecting Him! And He questioned them about why they were downcast and drew out of them their grief and disappointment and disbelief.
And He rebuked them for not knowing the Scriptures and why it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer. And He started with Moses, who wrote the first five books of our bible. And then followed that up with the rest of the prophets. We would have loved to have been there to hear all these words - but it is not necessary if we read it for ourselves.
What would Jesus have been talking about? Jesus was crucified for the sins of the world. Why? Because the world is in rebellion. Everything was perfect at the beginning of creation until the first man, Adam, wanted to do things his way instead of God’s – and since then every person who has ever lived has carried on in the same way doing their own thing instead of God’s whether conscious of it or not and the result is a world that is in a mess today. This rebellion against God is called sin. But God is holy. He cannot bear to even look at sin.
God is a just judge,
And God is angry with the wicked every day.
God says even our good deeds are like filthy rags. There is none righteous declares God. So, by default God considers us all wicked. None of us have loved God and loved our neighbour as ourselves as much as is required by God.
So, Jesus had to die, the only way we could have peace and reconciliation with God was that Jesus had to pay the penalty for our sins which was death. There was no other way. Jesus had to die?! That’s right, because God could not leave us in our predicament; He loves us so much that His nature did not allow Him to have a choice; He had to send His own Son. And on Good Friday he took our place on the cross, took the punishment that we deserve, and died.
So, what passages of Scripture do we think Jesus would have referenced along the way with these two disciples on the Emmaus Rd? What was interesting was that
The Word of God incarnate explained the written Word of God.
Perhaps Jesus would have interpreted the sacrifice of Isaac in Genesis 22 and the resulting receiving back to life again of Abraham’s son as a picture of His own death and resurrection on the very same mountain. Perhaps Jesus would have used the Passover lamb as a picture that His blood on the cross was like that put on the wooden lintels and doorposts to ensure God’s judgement did not come near to those who put their trust in God. I have no doubt that Jesus would have gone through Psalm 22 starting with those opening words: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” in relation to His own despair on the cross. And then what of the four suffering servant passages of Isaiah (Isaiah 42:1-4; Isaiah 49:1-6; Isaiah 50:4-7; and Isaiah 52:13-53:12)
Let’s hear just some of those words:
And they made His grave with the wicked—
But with the rich at His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was any deceit in His mouth.
Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him;
He has put Him to grief.
When You make His soul an offering for sin,
He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,
And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.
He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.
By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,
For He shall bear their iniquities.
And perhaps to close He would have mentioned:
For You will not leave my soul in Sheol,
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
So, Jesus said, it was necessary for the Christ to suffer but also to rise again, according to the Scriptures:
This is how we come to this day for the death of Jesus was not the end. It was impossible for death to keep a hold of Him. So he rose from the dead. Upon this all of Christianity hangs. If this is not true then everything else falls down. He is alive! He had to rise from the dead to complete the work of salvation, to conquer the wages of sin; death itself. If he had not then death would still be the penalty we all have to pay.
As this is so crucial to our faith can we really know that Jesus physically rose from the dead? I think that the answer is a resounding ‘yes’!
Perhaps, there is no more proof that Jesus knew he was going to die and rise again than enemies recording his own words at his trial and when he was buried!
and said, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.’ ”
saying, “Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise.’
Then we have the eyewitnesses. Following his Resurrection, Jesus remained on earth for forty days, appearing at least ten times to various individuals and groups. Some assume that Christ only appeared to His hardcore believers. That isn’t true.
First, all the disciples were sceptics; none imagined that He would rise from the dead – it was the furthest thing from their minds. But we see that once the disciples on the road to Emmaus had come back to Jerusalem and was telling the others about their experience that Jesus Himself stood there - not as some delusion of the mind but clearly bodily showing them His hands and feet and then eating in from of them food that they gave to Him. And what of Thomas who was not present at the time, a vocal and determined doubter who had to be convinced and was after he saw Jesus. What of James, the Lord’s half-brother who had originally rejected Christ or of Saul who was the great enemy of the Church. We read that Jesus:
to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.
And Saul who became Paul wrote:
For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.
Then we notice that these scared disciples were radically changed from being full of fear to being full of faith
John Stott wrote: “Perhaps the transformation of the disciples of Jesus is the greatest evidence of all for the resurrection. It was the resurrection that transformed Peter’s fear into courage and James’ and Thomas’ doubt into faith...It was the resurrection that changed Saul the Pharisee into Paul the apostle and turned his persecuting into preaching.”
And the testimony of millions throughout the centuries has been that Jesus is alive. Our testimony is that He is alive! My testimony is that He is alive!
It is one thing, though, to intellectually ascent to these facts, it is yet another to do something about it. Today we are reminded of the things that happened about 2000 years ago but we are not to forget what it cost for God to send His Son to us knowing full well that we would mistreat Him and kill Him. Not only that, he did it willingly for those who were still his enemies. For us.
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
And even in the darkest hour when it seemed that mankind was lost forever because of the depravity of killing God’s son, where it appeared that Satan had won the victory – what was actually happening was that hell was being breached and hordes of people like you and me were being set free. Satan thought he had won but actually the deceiver was deceived for had he known he would not have crucified Him and if He hadn’t been crucified we would still be in our sins.
If we continue in Romans it says:
Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
Why was the resurrection so crucial? [1 Cor 15] Without the resurrection then we have no basis for our faith, no forgiveness of sins, and no hope for the future. With the resurrection we are now reconciled to God and have eternal life.
What is required of us?
We hear Scripture say
that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
Do we already acknowledge this? Are our hearts warmed by what Jesus has done? Then I suspect that we have already come to faith in Him. What arises in our hearts is a desire to love Him all the more.
When Jesus rose from the dead he conquered our last enemy – death itself, there is no longer any fear to be had in it for it is just the gateway to our new life in Heaven. This resurrection means that we have hope – that we too will be resurrected. And Scripture attests to this:
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
Because we were crucified with Christ we are now also raised with Him. It is a done deal.
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
This victory is victory over death, over sin, over law, over the grave, and over the devil. This is the Gospel, the good news.
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.
Zindendorf became a Christian and dedicated his life to Christ when he saw a painting of Christ with a crown of thorns which under it said: “All this I did for thee, What hast thou done for Me?”
Easter reminds us of His death, burial and resurrection which was all done for you and me. What will we do for Him?
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, hallelujah!
Benediction
Benediction
saying with a loud voice:
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
To receive power and riches and wisdom,
And strength and honor and glory and blessing!”
And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying:
“Blessing and honor and glory and power
Be to Him who sits on the throne,
And to the Lamb, forever and ever!”
Bibliography
Bibliography
Hughes, R. K. (1998). Luke: that you may know the truth. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.