What Did You Expect? Easter

Resurrection Sunday

What Did You Expect?

This morning we celebrate the greatest event in human history.

The RESURRECTION of our Lord and Saviour!

Jesus proving to the world that He IS the Son of God.

The resurrection is what our faith is based on.

Many others had come before Christ and CLAIMED to be the Messiah, but the problem was they died, and stayed dead!

Jesus defeated death, hell, and the grave.

You see if Jesus wasn’t raised from the dead our faith would be worthless.

1 Corinthians 15:14 “And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.”

There is no Christianity without the resurrection.

Which makes this the most important issue we could study.

I love C.S. Lewis’ quote, “Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.”

This is THE most important question of our lives.

Because if Jesus was resurrected then we have to grapple with the truth of what the Word of God says, and the truth about Heaven and hell.

If it’s false then who cares?

Then this whole thing means nothing.

But so many people act like, “maybe it’s true, maybe it isn’t, but I’m not too concerned either way.”

WE’RE TALKING ABOUT ETERNITY HERE!

Whether you believe in Jesus is the BIGGEST decision you will ever make in your life.

And for those of us that do believe, today is a GREAT day of celebration.

I saw on social media people saying how sad it is that Easter has to be cancelled.

YOU CAN’T CANCEL EASTER!

There’s no canceling what Jesus did.

Just because we can’t celebrate in person together doesn’t mean that we aren’t going to celebrate and honor what took place.

This morning I want to preach an Easter message that might be a little different than ones you’ve heard in the past.

There’s a story that takes place the day that Jesus was resurrected that doesn’t get talked about very much.

It’s a story however that I think MANY people can relate to.

This passage takes place right after Mary Magdalene and some women find the empty tomb and go and tell the disciples and nobody believes that he’s risen.

Because during this time the word of a woman was not deemed credible.

g what had happened.

Luke 24:13-35 “Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him. 17 He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?” They stood still, their faces downcast. 18 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?” 19 “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. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21 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. 22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.” 25 He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. 28 As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. 29 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. 30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him,and he disappeared from their sight.”

The first thing I think of is how ridiculous it is that NOBODY either remembered or believed what Jesus said about dying and coming back.

Literally everything that Jesus said would happen, happened. Including Peter denying Jesus.

Yet nobody seemed to believe the part about dying and being raised from the dead.

I mean this was NOT a secret.

Jesus told them he was going to be crucified and then be raised on the third day.

Just look back up at verse 7 and 8 when Mary Magdalene and the other women run into the angel who was at the tomb.

He reminded them of what He had said before.

Luke 24:7-8 “‘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.”

It took an angel to remind them of what Jesus said for them to remember that conversation.

That’s some pretty big news to share with your friends.

I would think you would remember that talk.

But the women and apparently all the disciples, including Peter forgot or just didn’t believe Him.

So here you have these two people. Cleopas and somebody else.

They are leaving Jerusalem to head to Emmaus and Jesus shows up.

It says they were, “kept from recognizing Him.”

Clearly Jesus is wanting to teach them something without them being distracted by who it is.

So Jesus asks them what they are talking about.

Then it says their faces were “downcast”. They were disappointed. Why?

“...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.”

That line just jumped off the page when I read that.

You see hope is beautiful thing.

It can also be a dangerous thing.

Because with hope comes expectations.

You see when we hope for something we usually have a certain expectation for how that is going to go.

When it’s your birthday or Christmas and you are HOPING you get something specific, part of that hope is an expectation that you’re going to get that exact thing.

And when it doesn’t go that way we’re disappointed and frustrated.

When you’re in a difficult season and you HOPE those closest to you will help you, which means you expect them to help, and they don’t, your faith and confidence in them is shaken.

Cleopas had a certain expectation of what was going to happen and it didn’t go that way.

So what I feel like the Holy Spirit was asking me is how many people’s faith have been shaken because when it comes to following Jesus, their expectations of life didn’t match the reality of the world they’re living in?

How many times have we HOPED for something and it didn’t pan out the way we thought?

I’ve had a few of those times in my life.

God called me into the ministry at 20 years old.

I KNEW He was calling me to be a full-time youth pastor.

I thought it would take 2 or 3 years.

It took 8!

Kate and I wanted to start a family.

We thought it would take a few months maybe.

It took two and a half years.

I got laid off from my job.

I hoped and thought it would only be a few weeks.

It was a year and a half.

Did God forget about me for a while?

Did he leave me for a while?

No He was walking with me the whole time.

I just couldn’t see Him because I was stuck on MY expectations.

Don’t let YOUR expectations get in the way of God’s promises.

Our job is not to play God but to trust God.

Trust that He’s in control.

That even though it may not end up the way you thought. He’s got you.

If you read the Bible you will see that God doesn’t do ANYTHING the way people expect Him to.

That includes the way he sent Jesus.

The Israelite people thought the Messiah was going to be this great King.

A warrior that will lead them over the Roman Government.

Yet God sent Jesus to be the son of a carpenter and to grow up in a town called Nazareth, which obviously didn’t have a great reputation.

Look at Nathanael’s response when Philip tells him he has seen the Messiah.

John 1:45-46 NIV “Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip.”

So God sends the Messiah to grow up in a city that clearly people don’t think very highly of.

The exact OPPOSITE way you would think the Messiah would come.

This is probably a big reason why the Jewish authorities and others couldn’t believe he was who he said he was.

They thought the TRUE Messiah would be a man ready to lead the Israelites into battle against Rome and overthrow their government and take over.

Many Old Testament prophecies talked about the Messiah as a King and having a Kingdom.

It just wasn’t the kind of Kingdom they expected.

When YOUR EXPECTATIONS aren’t met, it can cause you to truly miss God.

Can you imagine looking back during this time and realizing that the Messiah was with you the WHOLE TIME, but you missed it because He didn’t look the way you thought He should.

How many people are missing God today because THEIR expectation of what God SHOULD be doing in their life isn’t happening.

Getting back to Cleopas...

It wasn’t until Jesus broke the bread that they realized who He was.

Breaking bread was something familiar that they’ve seen Jesus do.

It’s like the movie Aladdin.

Sometimes in our time of struggle and when God seems to not be meeting our expectations, God does something in our life that reminds us He’s there.

Maybe it’s something we’ve seen him do before.

Like showing you a scripture you’ve read before but now it takes on new meaning.

Mine was Galatians 6:9 “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

Or maybe it’s something different.

Those are God’s ways of saying, “I’ve been walking with you this whole time. Trust me.”

I can’t help but think of Joseph when I think of this issue.

It took 13 years before he was second in command over Egypt.

He NEVER stopped trusting God.

We may not have Jesus physically walking with us but we have the Holy Spirit who’s with us 24/7.

And the only reason why that’s possible is because we serve a RISEN king. A God who is alive today.

Because Jesus rose on the third day and defeated death, hell, and the grave.

And he’s been walking alongside us ever since!

So remember today that it’s not about OUR expectations.

It’s about trusting our risen King!

Knowing that He has won the victory and it’s our job to follow, to trust, and to obey Him!

Things ARE NOT going to always go the way you think they should.

JUST LOOK AT OUR LIVES RIGHT NOW WITH THIS VIRUS!

Nobody expected us to be celebrating Resurrection Sunday from our couches at home.

But God is saying, “just because we aren’t celebrating the way we expected, doesn’t mean my Holy Spirit isn’t going to move in a powerful way in the lives of the people watching.”

This virus isn’t going to stop God and we can’t let our expectations stop him as well.

I’ll end with this verse.

Isaiah 55:8-9 NLT “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. 9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”

Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

God’s going to do things in your life that you don’t understand.

But His ways are not our ways.

But His way is the right way!

Trust God

He’s walking beside you.

He is ALIVE, He is RISEN

Now let’s follow Him!