He's Alive: But Not What Was Expected

Let us pray…Gracious and loving God, our lives are out of control and we cannot seem to see where this will all end. In this time and in this space, we ask you to help us settle our hearts, our minds, and our spirits so that we can hear a word of comfort for today. Amen.

This week, we continue our journey of the 40 days of Jesus’ resurrection appearances. You will notice from our Gospel lesson this morning that we are taking a step back a bit to the Sunday that Jesus arose from grave. As we explore this passage this morning, it is really important that we understand an idea that keeps coming to the forefront of all of our after Easter stories so far…Jesus meets people where they are and reveals himself in ways that are wonderfully unexpected…so I invite you now to sit back and join me on this journey of discovery as we encounter some folks who are just living out their lives and encounter Jesus in a totally unexpected way.

And to set us up a bit this morning, let’s do a quick recap of who has seen the resurrected Christ so far...

The resurrection appearances of Jesus Christ on the third day

The very day Jesus arose from the grave, he appeared to several people. In the stories of his resurrection and resurrection appearances what I find most interesting is to whom he appeared first and how he appeared to others afterward. The very first person to see Jesus was Mary Magdalene, and depending upon which Gospel story you might be reading, there are a few other women to whom he appeared as well. Regardless, in my mind, it is fascinating that Jesus chose women to whom to appear first and not appear but to be fully recognized and worshiped at the appearance. As we found out last week, the men needed much more proof and even after they were provided that proof, we are not told that they fell at Jesus’ feet and worshiped him. The women of Jesus’ time seemed to recognize, before anyone else, what the significance would be of the person who stood before them.

Now, if we were to draw out a timeline of his appearances, Jesus next appeared to...

Peter

According to Luke’s recollection of the story, Jesus needed to confront Peter’s doubts and fears about what he had done earlier in the morning. None of the Gospel narratives actually address this encounter or give us any details, we are just old that it happens…and here is what Luke recorded of this event...

Luke 24:33–34 NLT

And within the hour they were on their way back to Jerusalem. There they found the eleven disciples and the others who had gathered with them, who said, “The Lord has really risen! He appeared to Peter.”

Take note, it was not Peter who was telling the two men from Emmaus about seeing the resurrected Christ but rather all the others who were gathered in that locked room that night. So, at this point, I want to stop for a moment and make a few observations about this…these are not judgments or characterizations of what we have in the Bible in any way, these are just my observations of the world that Jesus lived in...

Mary, Mary, and a few others traveled to the tomb first thing in the morning and we believe that they were going to properly prepare Jesus’ body because they did not have time to do it on Friday before the Sabbath started. While there or on their way back, again depending upon which Gospel you are reading, they encountered the risen Christ. Now here’s my observations…they were the first to see the risen Christ; they believed what they were seeing was the risen Christ, and they were the first to do so, and they were the first to report on the resurrection to the others. Yet, it is not the women’s story that is reported in this piece of the story but rather Peter’s witness that is reported to the other men...

Secondly, Peter, after hearing what the women reported, must have still had doubts, because we know that he ran to the tomb upon hearing that Jesus’ body was no longer there. Now, I can understand his disbelief and it is really easy for us to judge what he does because we know the whole of the story. I can honestly say that if I were there that day, in the moment that I heard that Jesus’ body was gone, I am not sure that I would not have also had my doubts and fears and done very much the same thing.

However, this is my last observation on this, it just seems to me that we are talking about how people experience the risen Christ and their perceptions about what he had said was going to happen. Now, this will get us closer to what I want for us to hear this morning from the story before us, but I need to say that Jesus predicted everything that we have heard over the last three weeks and yet, his contemporaries and friends, still needed further proof to believe what they were seeing. Jesus met everyone of those to whom he appeared exactly where they were in that moment in time and he met them to bring comfort to their broken hearts. But at the same time, for some, his death was not something that they were anticipating from their Messiah because they were waiting for someone like King David who would help them to physically defeat their enemies and oppressors, not someone who was going to give them spiritual victory, love, and comfort in times of distress.

What this means, to me, is that it is ok for us to have doubts and fears and it is ok for us to believe what we believe. However, this also shows us that sometimes what someone reports to us is really what happened and when we trust that report, we can become those who share the story of hope and deliverance from sin.

In continuing our refresher, we had a story last week that gave us two other appearances of Christ. Both of which were with the disciples (the original 11) that remain. In those stories, we heard a bit more about how the disciples doubted that Jesus actually rose from the dead. The first encounter happened after our story for today (I mean within a moment or two actually) and the second a week later. On both of these occasions, the disciples had locked themselves into a house/room out of fear of what could happen to them in relation to being a disciple of Christ. Again, I get it, they heard what Jesus said but because our human minds really are not capable of understanding the full capacity that God enters into our world, they could not fully comprehend what was right before their eyes. I mean really, do we ever fully comprehend the ways that God breaks into our own world today. So, I can understand how they might have felt, at least a little bit but it is still hard to believe that of those with whom Jesus had surrounded himself, none of them would believed even thought they had direct reports from several people who witnessed the physical presence of Christ…this leads me to our discussion for the rest of our time this morning…in between the two resurrection appearances in the locked room in Jerusalem, we have a story of two men who are traveling...

To the two travellers to Emmaus

I am going to shorten this story a bit this morning for as we remember what transpired on that road to Emmaus…what we have is two men who are extremely discouraged about the events over the last three days. We are not told specifically if they were there when the Mary’s and other women returned from the tomb or not but these men have decided to leave Jerusalem because Jesus did not fulfill all of their expectations of him. They were looking for a warrior Messiah, not a passive, loving presence in their lives. They, along with the other Jews of their time, desired to be released from their captivity of the Roman world and anticipated someone to come forward, based upon scriptures they would have all known, who would lead them on to victory. What they did not realize is that they got what they were expecting but instead of releasing them from slavery to the Roman World, they got someone who released them from the oppression of man and sin…but I am getting a bit ahead of myself here…so because we have so few details of the why of their travels, I am going to draw a conclusion for us on their why of being one of seeking comfort. In other words, they did not get what they wanted and were disappointed about the events, so they were going home where they could be comforted and think through all that has happened.

Now, I want us to take a quick look at how Luke describes what they are doing as they travel...

Luke 24:14–15 NET

They were talking to each other about all the things that had happened. While they were talking and debating these things, Jesus himself approached and began to accompany them

There are a couple things to glean about this for us today…first they were talking about all that had happened. It is easy to see why they would be. Their Messiah had just died a horrific death and they were waiting for him to lead them into a rebellion of sorts. So they had not expected him to die, period. Then after three days, again not truly understanding what Jesus had predicted would happen, they heard a tall tale from the women that Jesus had actually done what he said he would do…he rose from the grave. Since we hear later in the narrative about the other disciples telling them about Peter’s encounter with Christ, we can make the presumption here that soon after the word spread about the women at the tomb, these two men decide to leave Jerusalem and head back to Emmaus, where they would more than likely find solace and comfort and be able to digest what they were going to do next.

The other thing I want to point out to you is the word, “debating” in this piece of the story. Now, I don’t know about you, but when I hear a word like that in conversation or story, I envisions people who are not just having a calm and relaxed conversation. I envision people who are deeply engaged in proving their point, not necessarily yelling at one another, but it indicates to me that their minds are rolling over their thoughts, probably very quickly. They are deeply entrenched in proving their individual points and probably not paying much attention to what is going on around them. They are talking in a defensive posture and not thinking about what else may be happening or could happen as they walk. I bring this up to lead us into another piece that I think is just as important to this story, if not more important than the fact that they were talking about what had transpired...

And that is the fact that Jesus joins them on their walk and they do not recognize him. Again, just like the other disciples who have either just witnessed or seen the risen Christ themselves, these men do not seem to recognize who it was that joined them on their journey…here is how Luke describes this for us...

Luke 24:16 NET

(but their eyes were kept from recognizing him).

Now, Luke reports that God kept them from recognizing Jesus. This may be because there was something that Jesus needed for them to hear before they could really see what was happening. In my mind, knowing that they were expecting someone to come along and rescue them from their oppressors, I can easily see that God would desire for them to come to recognize Christ after they realize that they were looking for something that did not exist. I know that sounds a bit hokey but really, if you think about it, when we are expecting something in our lives and we do not get it, but get something way better, do we not need time for our human minds to kind of digest all that is happening before we can truly appreciate what it is that we got.

I know throughout my life, there were many times that I expected one thing and got something totally different. Remember, God gives us what we need, not necessarily what we desire. The thing is, I never truly appreciated what I had received until much later when my mind got over the disappointment of not getting what I wanted and it was only then that I could fully see that what I had received instead was a blessing. To give you a prime example would be way too personal for us to share in this space, so you will have to just trust me on this that I know exactly how these disciples were feeling. They were anxious, tired, and filled with fear. Their minds probably would not have comprehended what was happening if they could have recognized Jesus in that moment that he appeared.

It was what happened next that I think reality set in and because it was done in love and fellowship, it gives us just another example of how Jesus meets us where we are but it also shows us how we are to be with one another...

Luke 24:29–31 NRSV

But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight.

These men recognized the journey they were on was long and hard and that their fellow traveler had every intention of traveling on. But what they do is key. They invite him into fellowship with them. As they were at the table enjoying a meal, Jesus broke bread with them and in that moment they knew who he was.

Now I want to highlight a few things for our understanding...

This was not the Lord’s supper that they remembered. Remember, in all three of the synoptic Gospels (Matt, Mark, & Luke), the Lord’s supper or Last Supper was only for the 12 disciples and Christ. There was no one else with them that night. So these two travelers/disciples were not part of that meal, they would have had no idea about what that meal was or what Jesus was doing. This was a new experience for them.

The second thing I want to point out is that Jesus met them on the road where they were in that moment. They invited him to join them in a meal. They showed him hospitality. They gave him a place to rest. This is extremely important for us today...

The last piece I want to highlight…Jesus immediately disappeared from their sight after they recognized him. I honestly believe that this is because they no longer needed his physical presence. They were able to fully comprehend that their expectations of who they anticipated would come to save them was not what they truly needed. They needed to understand that Jesus was the Messiah and what they truly needed to reconcile them to God. For me, I see this as one of those times that until their minds could grasp the idea that Jesus was what they needed, they could not see him for who he was. I hope that makes sense…I think what I really mean is that they needed to change their minds so that they could fully welcome him into their hearts. Jesus was what was foretold in all of scripture and their minds needed to see that so that they could change and once that happened, Jesus was in their hearts and that is where he needed to be. His physical presence was no longer needed.

For them and us, a change needs to occur…we need to change our expectations so that we can fully comprehend what Jesus truly was and will always be…a sources of comfort and peace that goes beyond all of our understandings. The key is how we respond when we do finally and truly comprehend...

Responses to Jesus Christ’s resurrection appearances

For most of us, here and now, our hearts need to be in the right place. We need to respond to this time with hope and not lose the hope that comes from hearing these stories and knowing that Christ did all that he did so that we can have comfort and peace. Listen, I get it, it’s hard to have hope in a time like this. Under normal circumstances it is hard to have hope, let alone at a time when we are separated. But these stories could not have come at a better time for us.

As we move through the coming weeks, and things begin to reopen, there is hope that life will get to a new normal. We cannot expect that things will all go back to being exactly as it was a month ago or six months ago or a year ago. That is the past and our experiences over the last couple of months have to change us. There is no way we can continue to focus on what was but rather we need to look toward and forward to what can be. Our lives have been changed drastically and will continue to evolve and change. There is no way that they cannot. What is most important to take into our hearts is the idea that God is with us and that God has sustained us thus far and the only expectation that we can have right now is that God will continue to sustain us into the future. The more we look for what we expect to happen the more we will be disappointed when God gives us what we need rather than what we want or desire. Our challenge is to let go of all of our expectations and live for what God desires for us…and believe me, that is really hard, but we can do it. If nothing else, the resurrection appearances of Christ assure us that he will meet us where we are and open our eyes to the possibilities when the timing is just right. So keep your eyes open…Amen.