Untitled Sermon

Intro:

Hi everyone! My name is Ethan Mathis, representing our Union Cross Campus. I hope you are all having a very happy Easter, celebrating the resurrection of our Lord from your home. Normally everyone gets all dressed up for Easter, and typically I will too, but this year my “Easter Best” looked like jeans, a clean t-shirt, and a hat to cover my hair that hasn’t been combed in a WHILE… And believe me, that’s a HUGE step up from my quarantine usual of gym shorts and an old t-shirt. I even showered… man it’s almost like I could be around people again.

I got all showered and dressed up for you guys today to share with you the story of two disciples traveling to a place called Emmaus. This story is found in Luke 24:13-35, which, if you joined us for our live stream service today, you know is where Pastor Alan preached an incredible sermon on dealing with life’s disappointments by calling on Jesus, who walks with us in our despair and leads us to victory through the good news of the Gospel.

And that is exactly what happens in this story. The disciples leave Jerusalem in defeat, and return later in triumph and joy having encountered the resurrected Jesus!

You see, Cleopas and another unnamed follower of Jesus were leaving Jerusalem to go to Emmaus, a small town scholars believe to be located somewhere within a 7-18 mile radius of Jerusalem. They had just seen Jesus crucified, and with his death, all of their hopes and dreams of the restoration and redemption of their people had died as well.

And then in verse 15, Jesus appears to them, but the don’t recognize him. They are obviously sad, and when pressed further, they revealed that they “had hoped” Jesus would have been the one to redeem the people of Israel. But that hope was no more. They had heard about the women who found the empty tomb and saw angels, but they went on to say that when others went to check out the tomb, it was empty, sure, but they had not seen Jesus alive either.

Then Jesus calls them out and lets them know just how foolish they are being. He then takes them through the books of Moses, otherwise known as the first five books of the bible, then he takes them through the prophets, and shows them that everything that happened had been prophesied all throughout the Old Testament. What they thought was a tragedy was actually part of the plan all along. Then, they invite the man over for dinner, and as Jesus breaks bread with them it finally clicks, and they realize that this whole time they had been walking and talking with the Risen Jesus! Then, it says that they go back to Jerusalem to share with the others everything that had just happened. They were filled with Joy. They had left Jerusalem in defeat, and returned full of hope and joy.

The resurrection of Jesus brings hope in the middle of despair. In the middle of the disappointments that the coronavirus brings in our lives, being isolated from our friends, not knowing exactly when things will be back to “normal”, we can have hope in the resurrection of Jesus. You see, Scripture refers to Jesus as the firstborn of the dead, and that is really significant. Because it means that Jesus is now reigning supreme as the FIRST over all creation in a way that death now works backwards - new life springing up from what was once dead. It also shows that he is the first product of this new creation, since he is risen now to die no more.

And so we can look to the resurrection to give us hope. Hope of new life springing from places where there was once only death. Hope that in the midst of the coronavirus and everything that comes with it that Jesus still reigns supreme. Hope that in whatever else we may be going through that he will keep his promises to never leave us or forsake us. That he will love us and walk with us. Hope that when our journeys begin in death and despair, Jesus will meet us on the road and bring us home in joy and new life.

I hope you guys have a very happy Easter, know that all of the leaders and staff here at Reynolda love you, and we can’t wait to be able to gather together with you all in person when all this is passed. In the meantime we’re praying for all of you, and look forward to hearing from you through Zoom, text, phone call or any other means of communication God has blessed us with in this time! See you soon