What Now?

Sermon Title: What now?

Scripture Passage: Luke 24:13-35

Main idea: We are seated in heaven with Him

Application: Reign with him

Intro: Here we are a week later and Christ is still risen! We are still celebrating the resurrection but since Christ is raised we have to ask the question: “what now?” Where does that leave us? Well, we have confidence that Christ is our king and we can live out our lives being blessed. Blessing isn’t what we have blessed is who we are. It is a way of life of living with Christ. What does this blessed life look like? I think sometimes it can be easy to miss because there are times in my life personally that if feel miserable, and that doesn’t feel like a blessing. There are times when I feel like everything and I mean everything is going wrong. I joked last Wednesday that I feel like a mole in the wack-a-mole game and every time I get the courage to stick my head up I just get whacked. It’s hard to remember in times like that, that hope is still on the throne.

When I was young one of our Summer vacations was a trip to Kansas City and on two of the nights we went to watch the Royals play my brother and my favorite team at the time, the New York Yankees, I think we only liked them because our little league team had that name, but I’m not sure. Either way, we have both come to our senses and stopped watching baseball. Nevertheless, we went to the game the first night and the Yankees won something like 13-0 and Paul O'Neil hit 3 home runs. The second night looked like another blow out so my dad convinced us to leave. So we went and ate dinner then got back to the hotel, flipped on ESPN, and we missed one of the most exciting plays in all of sports. The Yankees won on a suicide squeeze in the top of the 10th.

We had given up hope that there would be any chance of an exciting game. We were way off because we had given up hope, yet the unexpected happen. I can think of a few other times when the unexpected happens. Can you? Around 10 years ago I was planning to sit in a church service and go through the motions to keep my mom happy and Jesus showed up in a way that I would have never expected and that unexpected event changed my life forever. When is the last time that Jesus showed up in your life in an unexpected way? Have you recently or in the past been amazed by something God has done in your life? I hope the answer to all those questions is a hearty yes.

More importantly, I want to ask. Have you ever been in a situation when it felt like God wasn’t there, or that he didn’t care? Listen, and you don’t have to raise your hand but I want to be honest. Have you ever felt like you or your circumstances were hopeless? I’m not talking about your pre-Christian life, I know you were without hope then. I’m talking about now. I’m talking about your life, as a redeemed, holy, purchased by the blood of Christ, child of God. Have you ever felt hopeless as a Christian? Well, let me give you this information. You’re not alone. I think in our honesty we would all admit that there are times when we feel hopeless, not that we don’t trust Jesus we just fear maybe that we’ve veered away from where he wants us.

Context: So, the context for this week is just last week’s sermon. The women come to the tomb and realize that Jesus isn’t there, he has risen. The women went looking for the living among the dead. Do you remember how the disciples responded? Luke 24:11 they thought it was nonsense that Christ had risen. So, they left Jerusalem and went home. Even Peter, who ran into the tomb and saw the linen wrappings verse 12 said he went home marveling about the things he had seen. The other gospels tell us they were to go to a mountain in Galilee, not in Emmaus, not go to their house.

Verse 13: So we see two disciples one of them is not named the other one is named Cleopas which we don’t learn until a little later in the passage. They are leaving Jerusalem feeling defeated, hopeless, and broken. You see they had not been convinced of the resurrection yet. They were so unconvinced that the text says they left that very day. Remember last week we talked about how this happened on a Sunday and it was a big deal that it was the first day of the week. These two guys and likely the other disciples didn’t even wait until Monday to head back home. Now, this is not a short walk the bible says this is 60 stadia which is just under 7 miles.

Verse 14-16: Now, while they are on this long walk they begin to talk to try and figure things out. They are talking about the things that had happened. Trying to make sense of the messiah being taken to the cross. We’ve talked all lent long about how strange it is that a king would go to the cross. These are the kind of questions they were asking and discussing. Now, I want to avoid the temptation to be critical because Jesus told them so clearly exactly what would happen. Here is why, he has told us very clearly that we would face struggles, the even said if people hated me what makes you think they won’t hate you, and then when stuff gets hard. What do we do so often? So, I’m just saying let's look at the disciples’ shortcomings through the eyes of grace. These two while discussing the events that had just transpired are headed back home feeling confused and defeated all while mourning the loss of hope. Remember they haven’t bought into the resurrection yet. They really felt like the one they had set their hope in had let them down. Now, look at what happens as these believers are walking away from Jerusalem trying to make sense of the hopelessness. In their mind, hope died on the cross, but in reality, Hope begins to walk with them even though they were headed the wrong way. Now, they don’t see him right away. In fact, the Greek word means their eyes were prevented from seeing that it was Jesus. It is the same word you used when they seized Jesus in the garden God wasn’t letting them see that it was Jesus yet. Maybe there are times when we don’t see Jesus working for a reason.

Verse 17-21: Now keep in mind this whole conversation they don’t realize it is Jesus talking that they are talking to. So Jesus asks seeming to be a stranger “what are you talking about?” They seem shocked this is where we learn that one of them is named Cleopas, that Jesus doesn’t know what is going on. Then they explain it to him. What had happened. They talk about all Jesus’s deeds, his teachings, his betrayal, and his crucifixion. They say he was mighty in deed and word. I want to zoom in on verse 21. But we were hoping he was the one who would redeem Israel. Did you catch that? Cleopas is using past tense words. We “had” “hoped” that he “was” the one who “would” redeem Israel. Implied statement but he wasn't. This is how powerful the cross was to the disciples,this is why none of them stayed around to see it. Because from their perspective when Jesus died on the cross the hope of redemption died with him. But because we know that Jesus lives our hope lives also.

Verse 22-24: Now they talk about the resurrection rumors. They say, Mary, Mary Magdalen, and Joana say that angels told them he was alive. Also, John and Peter ran to the tomb and it was empty. So we don’t know what is going on.

Verse 25-27: Now, here is where maybe we shouldn’t be so understanding for them not realizing this is Jesus. Because Jesus calls them fools. In fact, the Greek word ἀνόητος means not using your mind. Jesus is saying why aren’t you using your mind. So he starts with Moses, which means the first five books of the bible, and goes through all the prophets telling them that all the things they are saying are exactly what they should expect if in fact, this Jesus is the Messiah.

Verse 28-31 So, they do what everyone does when someone calls them a dummy. They invite Jesus to dinner. All joking aside, they want to hear more of this concept that maybe just maybe there was still hope to be found in Jesus the Nazarene. So, they recline at the table which is clear language that is similar to the Lord’s Supper from Luke 22 and when Jesus breaks the bread (his body) their eyes are opened and as soon as they realized it was Jesus he vanished from their sight.

Verse 32-35: So, now church don’t miss this they go back to Jerusalem. They don’t waste any time for they had found hope and realized that their hope is alive. They let Jerusalem feeling hopeless, but they returned with a hope that could never be shaken because they had, had an experience with the Risen Christ and realized that he had power over death itself.