Luke 24:13-35 - Recognizing Jesus

When I was about eight or nine, my sister and I thought we’d put one over on our parents. We had among our toys a box of dress up clothes and we thought that we’d use these clothes to disguise ourselves as each other. I’d dress up like my little sister and she’d dress up like me and we’d then go downstairs and they wouldn’t recognize us. I am happy to say that this was the first and last time I ever dressed up like a girl. So, we dressed up like each other and agreed that I would answer to her name and she would answer to mine. We even made sure to wear hats so that our hair wouldn’t give us away. We were sure that my parents wouldn’t catch on at all.

Oddly enough, not only did my parents not mistake us for each other, but they didn’t even get what it was that we were trying to do. My first practical joke was a failure. But it is good to know that I’m not the only one to try this type of practical joke. No, this kind of practical joke is, well, it’s as old as the Bible. And even Jesus decided to put one over on his disciples as we see in today’s scripture. You get the feeling that Jesus is having fun, that he’s playing games. He comes upon two of his disciples on the road and has himself disguised so that they don’t recognize him. But unlike my attempt with my sister, Jesus’ practical joke works and it isn’t until the end of the day that he has spent with them that they catch on, and it isn’t until dinnertime that they realize who it is that they are with, and suddenly this day that they had spent has all the more meaning to it.

I. On the road to Emmaus

In the scripture we read this morning we are introduced to a couple of the followers of Jesus who are traveling along the road to Emmaus. These travelers aren’t any of the twelve apostles, but rather other lesser known followers of Christ. We are given the name of one of them, Cleopas. The other one remains nameless. They are discussing the amazing things that they have just witnessed and heard of. They are trying to figure out what in the world is going on. They are trying to wrap their minds around the things that have happened. They had grown up reading the scriptures a certain way and understanding what it was the Messiah was about. And then they met and followed Jesus and had to throw out much of what it was that they believed about the Messiah.

Was the scripture that they had been reading their whole lives wrong? No. The truth was in the scripture… it had been there from the beginning, but their worldview… the things they had been taught… the things going on in the world around them caused them to interpret scripture in a certain way. And they interpreted it wrong. What they expected from God in the world around them is not what they got. And this frightened and confused them. It took revelation from God… it took God’s Word in the flesh for them to understand the words that they thought they knew so well.

So these two disciples, Cleopas and his friend, walk and discuss and they come upon a stranger who joins them in their walk. Now from the beginning we know something that they don’t, this stranger is the Word of God, himself. It is Jesus. But these two disciples, these two followers of Jesus are unable to recognize him. It is good to know that Jesus doesn’t only appear to the twelve (well actually eleven for they had lost Judas). He begins by appearing to the women, he then appears to Peter, and then he appears to these two as they walk on the road… two followers of Christ who we have not met before in scripture and who we don’t hear about again. Jesus didn’t need to go to the leaders of the church right away. When he first showed himself, it was to regular followers who were trying to figure him out.

So the stranger asks these two what it is they are talking about, what it is that troubles them. They respond by telling the stranger about the strange things that have happened in their lives. They talk about how this Jesus they had followed was a prophet who was powerful in word and deed. They talk about how he was handed over to death and crucifixion. They talk about their hope that was squashed at the crucifixion, this hope that Jesus might be the one who was going to redeem Israel. Then they talk about the fact that some of the women that are a part of their group are telling them a story that amazes them: that they went to the tomb and found it empty, that angels had told them that Jesus had risen.

What these two disciples on the way to Emmaus have to say is important. It shows what their experience has been of Jesus, it puts the resurrection in the context of their own lives. They talked about Jesus power in word and deed. They knew that these were signs of his being a prophet. Therefore, they knew that his words needed to be listened to; that his deeds needed to be watched. They tell you right out what their expectations were for Jesus, what they wanted Jesus to do for them. But the fact is that their expectations, their desires did not match up with what Jesus was really about.

You see, sometimes it isn’t enough to put the resurrection in the context of your own life, sometimes you need to look deeper and farther at what God has been doing, not just for you and those around you, but for the whole world, from the beginning of time to the end of time.

II. Putting it in context

And this is what happens next. The stranger, who they still don’t recognize, tells them how what has happened fits into the scripture and is actually the very thing that that they should have been expecting. Jesus opened up scripture to his disciples. He put the events that troubled them about what had happened the last few days into a much bigger context. He took them out of focusing on their own little world and brought them into seeing a bigger picture than they had probably ever imagined. Instead of coming just to redeem Israel, they discovered that Jesus came to redeem the whole world. Instead of just saving the people who followed him as he taught, he came to save people who will follow him from every generation and every people. Instead of merely speaking the words of God, Jesus was the Word of God. These disciples were unable to see the truth in the Scripture until God gave them inspiration. And they comment on the fact that in that inspiration, in that time as Jesus shares the word of God with his people, their hearts burned within them.

We like to talk about the inspired word of God, the Bible, our scripture. Yet it is possible to read the Bible without inspiration. It is possible to use the very word of God to bring harm to God’s kingdom. And this seems to happen when we forget to rely on God, and instead rely on our own understanding. When people take God’s word and use it to their own ends without allowing God to be present at their reading of scripture… this is a desecration of the very thing we hold so high.

Scripture is so much more than a place to go to find a text to back up a point that we want to make. This is what was done by the religious leaders of Jesus’ day… and they ended up killing Jesus because of it.

God honored these disciples in their desire to know the truth. They came with questions and God gave them answers. God gave them answers that transcended their culture, their teachings and their understanding.

As the disciples on the road to Emmaus searched for the truth the Word of God appeared to them, though they did not recognize him and answered the questions that they had. If they had tried playing games with him they would not have listened. If they had argued with him, they would not have listened. If they had held onto their own pre-conceived notions… they would not have listened. Instead, they humbly listened to the Word of God, and found truth.

On that road to Emmaus these disciples recognized truth and they recognized wisdom. They knew as scripture was being revealed to them that something special was happening. They knew that a holy moment was continuing. And they weren’t ready for it to end. Though they weren’t playing games with Jesus, we discover that he was somewhat playing games with them, for when they came to Emmaus (which was about seven miles away from Jerusalem), they didn’t want this special time with this stranger to end. And Jesus, having hidden his identity from them already now pretends like he is going to keep going on the journey. And he makes them argue with him to get him to stay with them to eat.

These games that Jesus are playing actually have a point to them, they do have a meaning. By hiding his identity he is making the words he speaks more important. The disciples are able to focus on the message instead of the messenger. This is important because if they had known it was Jesus they were talking to, they wouldn’t have taken time to listen to what it was that he had to say… they would have been too excited by his mere presence. When Jesus appears to his other disciples, they spend the time figuring out whether it really is him, but Jesus needs to help his followers understand what this death and resurrection were all about. So he plays this game and hides his identity so that these two are not able to recognize him. And then, by making them ask him to stay with them, Jesus is helping them to realize how important the truths he is sharing with them truly are.

III. Recognition

But teaching and inspiring these disciples is not the end of the story. No, they still need to come to a point where they recognize their Lord and Savior. And it is when they eat with him that they recognize him. It is specifically when Jesus breaks bread that their eyes are opened to his true identity. What begins as a meal shared among strangers turns into Holy Communion for these disciples as they are reunited with their Lord.

Last week I talked about how Peter preached the first Easter sermon on Pentecost. Well, that may have been, but today we find the first Easter worship service. And it happens on Easter day itself. For what is this walk that these two disciples took if not a worship service? They discussed scripture, they applied it to their lives, they had the Word of God opened to them and they celebrated communion with their Savior. What began as a mere walk turned into a worship service; the sacred overtook the secular, the profound overtook the profane. Jesus took a seven mile walk and turned it into an encounter with the holy.

We as Christians tend to compartmentalize our lives. We let our Sunday mornings be our time of worship, our time to focus on God, and then we have the rest of the week to focus on everything else. God is a part of our lives, but then we put him away for the rest of the things we deal with, for our jobs, for our friends, for our school. But here we see that Jesus sometimes doesn’t want to be relegated to just our worship time. He wants to come into every part of our lives… even as we are walking down the road or talking to strangers… even as we sit down to eat together.

I encourage you this morning and every morning, to look for Jesus in the world. Don’t relegate him to Sunday mornings. Allow him to speak to you through strangers, allow him to join you as you and your family sit down together for food. Expect the regular parts of your day to turn into times of worship and communion with your God. Recognize the fact that God is active in every part of your life, that God is working through all the people you come in contact with, and that God just might even work through you. How are you going to react when a regular day turns into an encounter with your Savior? Are you going to invite him in to eat with you or are you going to send him on his way? I think of Revelation 3:20 where Jesus tells his church, his people, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with them, and they with me.”

Often when we hear this verse we think it is about salvation, but Jesus is writing it to a church of people who are already Christian. He isn’t just talking about salvation, he is talking about relationship, he is talking about coming in for fellowship with his people. On the road to Emmaus we discover what this fellowship looks like and we see Jesus being revealed to his disciples as he eats with them. Let the word of God speak to you and teach you, let yourself be changed and affected by it. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again to myself and to all seated here. If you aren’t letting the Bible change your mind about things then you aren’t really letting the Spirit of God work through scripture in your life. And then look for Jesus in the daily events of your life. Find God’s presence in the meeting with strangers. And invite Jesus in to eat with you, whether you recognize him or not. Build that fellowship with your Savior and Lord. Amen.

Acts 2:22-32 - David's Prophecy

Going to the store the day after Easter you discover something amazing and wonderful. All the candy and decorations that have been up for Easter are now marked down to ½ price. Can you believe that? The Easter candy goes down in value as soon as Easter is over. Some stores even begin to lower the price on Easter merchandise before Easter, hoping to get people to buy last minute Easter things that they wouldn’t buy otherwise. But here’s the question for you to consider on this 1^st Sunday after Easter: does the value of Easter itself diminish? I saw a community together last Sunday that celebrated the risen Lord in a special way. I found myself filled with joy. It was amazing seeing all these families together and singing praises to our risen Lord together. It was a time of celebration and joy, a time to thank God for what he has done for us. Is there any less joy exuding from our faces today than on Easter itself? Should there be? Is there any less reason for us to be sitting here this morning in comparison to sitting in the same seats on Easter Sunday? No. The true substance that gives Easter its meaning, Jesus’ resurrection, never diminishes in its value for us as believers. It doesn’t take a hiatus for the 364 other days or the 51 other Sundays in the year. Each day, each Sunday is a reminder of the joy that Christ brings through his resurrection. So let us come together today as we learn from Jesus’ word, and let us remember that we are still an Easter people, people focused on and changed by the resurrection of our Lord.

I. Peter’s Sermon

The scripture that we read this morning is the first sermon that Peter preached after receiving the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. He began the sermon with an explanation to the people gathered, that he and the other disciples are not drunk or doing anything weird, rather that they are filled with the Holy Spirit. This happens in verses 14 through 21. He then gets into the meat of his sermon, which we read this morning. And doing so, he does a couple things. You notice that he quoted scripture, specifically one of David’s psalms. But he also talks about the only thing that is really worth preaching about. He talks about Jesus and he talks about Jesus’ resurrection. Peter’s first sermon is an Easter sermon. Peter’s first message is about the joy of the resurrection. And Peter has something important to say about the resurrection.

Peter begins by telling the people about the Jesus they knew: a man who did miracles, wonders and signs. He didn’t start with the resurrected Jesus, he didn’t start with the fact that Jesus was God. No, he started where the people were, he started with the people’s own experience. He reminded them of the teacher that they had seen or heard about, traveling through Galilee, who was doing miracles, wonders and signs. Peter reminded the people that these miracles, wonders and signs show that God was active in this Jesus they had seen, that God was doing something through this Jesus they had heard about.

But then Peter needs to remind them of the bad part of the story: that Jesus was put to death on a cross. And Peter reminds the people listening that they were involved in this, that they are partly responsible. But he also makes it clear that Jesus’ trip to the cross is not only something that they are responsible for, it is something that God knew about and allowed… for it led to something great.

And here is where we hear the Easter message that we celebrated last week. “God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.”

Peter’s message here is so very simple. Jesus is stronger than death. Peter didn’t feel the need to get into the deep theology of what Jesus did for us on the cross. He doesn’t even spend time talking about the fact that our sins are forgiven because of what happened on the cross. These are important things to know, but they aren’t the point of Peter’s message here. Instead, Peter focuses on the fact that Jesus rose from the dead. God showed that Jesus was special by working through him to do miracles, signs and wonders. God shows that Jesus is unique by raising him from the dead. And Peter needed to show that Jesus rising from the dead is in line with what these people were looking for from their Messiah. And so he talks about a prophecy from our good friend, King David.

II. David’s Prophecy

What Peter refers to as a prophecy of David is actually a psalm that David wrote talking about God’s faithfulness. David is talking about how God continues to be with him no matter what he is going through. David talks about the Lord always being before him and because of this David knows he will not be shaken. David talks about the fact that God will not even forsake him when he dies. He can rest in hope because he knows that God will not abandon him to the realm of death.

David, when he wrote this Psalm, probably was talking about the hope that he saw in having a God who loved him and cared for him and who had not abandoned him and would not abandon him. But Peter sees something much greater in this Psalm, for he knows that Jesus is a descendant of David and Jesus is living out this Psalm in a special way. David is still the one whose body can rest in hope and he can know that he will not be abandoned to the realm of the dead. The reason for this is that God’s holy one, Jesus, the Messiah, will not see decay. Jesus, the Messiah, will be raised from the dead. Peter witnessed the fulfillment of this prophecy himself. He saw David’s descendant raised from the dead. He saw that decay did not overcome Jesus. He saw that Jesus was the Messiah that God had sent to save God’s people.

David’s prophecy has been fulfilled, a prophecy that I’m not sure that David even knew he was making. His prophecy pointed towards Jesus, the Messiah, the one who would rise from the dead and therefore offer salvation and victory over death for us all and for all who turn to God. David could find hope in such a promise. We can definitely find hope in the fulfillment of such a promise.

III. Our Response

A little past what we read this morning in scripture, it comes to the point where the people responded to Peter’s sermon. And, oh, I wish I could get responses like this to my sermons. We are told that when the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter, “What shall we do?” They knew that it wasn’t enough just to hear the gospel message, to hear that Jesus had risen from the dead in accordance with scripture. They knew they needed to respond. Perhaps the reason the message cut them so hard is that it is the first time they heard it. And perhaps it was the fact that the Holy Spirit was speaking so clearly through Peter. Either way, they knew that they needed to act; they knew that they needed to do something.

And the something that Peter called them to do is the same something that we are called to do. He told them to repent and be baptized. He told them to save themselves from this corrupt generation. He told them to turn to God for the forgiveness of their sins. And we are told that about 3000 were converted to the faith on that day.

This is something that makes the resurrection all the more real to me. This is something that helps me to realize that I need not be a skeptic. People in Jesus’ day were skeptics. We are told that the religious leaders spread a rumor that the disciples had stolen Jesus’ body. Your automatic response to hearing that someone was raised from the dead would be to disbelieve them. And it would take an amazing speaker to convince you otherwise. Yet Peter was a mere fisherman who ran away when the going got tough. It is clear that something special happened at the resurrection, something that changed Peter. Here is the man who denied even knowing who Jesus was on the night of the crucifixion now standing in front of crowds and sharing the good news that Jesus had risen from the dead. And here are 3000 people coming to a saving knowledge of that same Jesus and turning their lives around. Something happened that Easter morning, otherwise we would never see this amazing change in Peter. Something happened that Easter morning, otherwise we would never see these 3000 people change their lives. Something happened that Easter morning, otherwise we would have no need to see change in our lives.

The Easter message isn’t just about seeing something that happened in the past. It called for a change in the lives of the people who heard about it then, it calls for a change in our lives. What does it mean to you that God’s love is greater than death? How does it change the way you live?

Many of us have repented, most of us are baptized. But this isn’t the end of our response to the glorious message of Easter. It isn’t just something that you do once and then go on and live the rest of your life the way you have been. Peter is calling for something deeper, something much more profound.

Living as a believer, living as a follower of the resurrected Jesus means that he is your Lord. It means that your priorities are changed. We all have those lists of priorities, those lists of the things that are important to us, that help us decide how we are going to spend our time and energy. On the top of that list, in differing orders, usually lie our families, ourselves, our God, our work, our church (which is not the same as God), our friends. You may have other priorities that are also near the top of that list.

Neither Peter nor anyone in the Bible try to tell us exactly what order that list should take. It will be slightly different for all of us. But they all are sure of one thing; God should truly be at the top of that list; above yourself, above your family, above your church or your friends or your job.

This is what Peter is calling for all God’s followers to do. This is what God desires from each of us. Are you ready to put him first? Are you ready to let him take that first spot on your priority list? Are you ready to give yourself fully to him? Are you ready to have your priorities changed in the same way that Peter did, as the 3000 did? It is oh so simple. Give yourself fully to him, re-arrange your priorities, let his resurrection matter. Don’t think of Easter as something that we celebrate once a year and then goes to the discount rack. Instead, allow yourself to celebrate Easter each and every day, remembering that Jesus rose from the dead and that changes everything. Amen.