Untitled Sermon

Road to Emmaus

Have you ever been in a situation where you thought for sure you would recognize something if it were in front of you but then you didn’t. Maybe you had seen a picture of someone you were to meet or pick up. Maybe an item in a store flyer. Maybe you had not even had the benefit of actually seeing a photo, you just thought you knew what the thing you wanted looked like. Did you miss it?

Have you ever been in a situation where you thought for sure you would recognize something if it were in front of you but then you didn’t. Maybe you had seen a picture of someone you were to meet or pick up. Maybe an item in a store flyer. Maybe you had not even had the benefit of actually seeing a photo, you just thought you knew what the thing you wanted looked like. Did you miss it?

These disciples did.

Have you ever had an idea in your mind about how something should look or be? Has the reality of that thing ever been so far removed from your idea of it, that you missed the real thing all together. Like maybe a friend asked you to pick up something from the store and it was not at all what you were expecting. Maybe you had to meet a stranger at the airport and all you had to go on was a photo and they looked nothing like you were expecting… maybe you even walked right by them. Do you think that sometimes we do this with Jesus as well? Do you think that sometimes the things we think we know and understand prevent us from seeing Him as He actually is… maybe those misconceptions prevent us form recognizing His presence in our lives. Maybe we end up thinking that we are alone and He is right beside us, but He is different than our expectations.

This was very much the case for the disciples following Jesus’ death on the cross. Even though they spent time with Jesus, He didn’t always match their ideas of who the Messiah was to be. In fact, very often Jesus was the complete opposite of their expectations. This week and next week we are going to be looking at , the Road to Emmaus encounter, and I hope it will help us to recognize the transformative power of laying aside personal presuppositions concerning the work and person of Jesus and the importance of adjusting our view to one rooted in the revelation of Scripture. I want us to look at our PERCEPTION and his RESPONSE and ultimately understand that when Jesus intervenes, eyes are opened.

The New International Version Chapter 24

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” 8 Then they remembered his words.

9 When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. 11 But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. 12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.

The New International Version Chapter 24

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

Luke 24:1–12 NIV

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” Then they remembered his words. When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.

Luke 24:

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.

The New International Version. (2011). (). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.