Sermon at South Street Free Church, Eastbourne · Luke 24:13–35 · October 2023
Auto-generated transcript from the YouTube captions. Light caption cleanups applied; treat as a reading aid, not a polished manuscript.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRpECFzM65Q
On this site: Luke 24:13-35 – On the Road to Emmaus (Paul Wells)
thank you everyone for this invitation it's nice to be back here after several years and we assure you Alison and I the to South Street Church's very much in our prayers day by day and week by week so it's a joy to be with you coming now to the word of God let's think again about a passage that we know perhaps very well let down expectations and you probably have experienced let down expectations as well you've been away somewhere for a weekend but everything went wrong and you're returning home it's raining you've
got to go to work the next day and you just feel down in the dumps about everything well we have two probably a husband and wife because they invite Jesus to their place returning from Jerusalem and if you can imagine being let down they were a hundred times more let down than you could ever imagine because they had hoped great things Jesus was going to establish his kingdom but he ended up by being crucified of course his body was missing on the Sunday but they have no explanation for that and there they are walking
West from Jerusalem to Emmaus on a Dusty Road sunsetting it's getting darker they've done about seven miles and have got about four more miles to do maybe before getting home a tired weary distressed and a stranger approaches foreign approaches they don't recognize him probably he's wearing an oriental rope they can't see his hands and he's and so they don't recognize him and scripture says they did not know that it was Jesus Their Eyes Were kept from recognizing him well there are two questions we can ask about this
text that we heard and the first of these questions is why didn't they recognize Jesus they were his close followers they were intimate with the group of disciples so how come they didn't recognize Jesus who was risen from the dead but not that much changed physically that they wouldn't recognize him so why was this now one reason may be that they were walking towards the Setting Sun and when you're walking alongside someone talking to them you're not looking at them directly but it was something more than that but
that says they didn't at all expect to find Jesus on that road did they he was the last person they would expect to appear and accompany them in the final miles of their Journey and so his appearance is totally unexpected and they don't recognize him and that's the first thing that surprises us then the second thing that surprises us along the same lines is why on Earth would Jesus if he was risen from the dead why would he appear to two people walking down a Dusty Road this isn't at all what we'd expect we'd expect
Jesus to appear to Pontius Pilate and say make a press release on this pilot can't you see you put me to death I'm alive now we'd expect him to confront describe some Pharisees who put him to death but no he chooses to meet with two distressed people on a lonely road so what does this tell us and I believe that several things in this passage tell us about how Jesus is from now on going to meet his people who he's going to gather as a new church as a new company of people which is totally different from anything that
has existed in the world before and when Jesus does this he doesn't choose the big people of the world the dignitaries and the elites to build his church he chooses distressed lonely let down people and he descends to their level he he humbles himself to take people who aren't anything important in particular and he makes them part of his new people he didn't come for the elites of this world he came for the poor and suffering and such a way we are people who are poor and suffering and Jesus meets with us and that's
the first important Point here about how Jesus deals now with his people and it's in verse 35 as they were walking along and discussing this in distress together Jesus himself Drew near and here is the place where Jesus draws near to us in the company of his people Jesus draws near to us to make distressed human beings into a people with hope into a people with a project into a people with new life notice that up till now God had always dealt with his people through an institution through prophets priests and Kings
through a nation Israel but now it's Jesus himself who draws near to simple people and makes them into a new company of comforted people who are healed because he is the Risen one and he has a different way of doing things than anything that has been no before so this is the kicking off points Jesus himself draws near to us and He makes himself known to us as his people people but the second point how then does Jesus draw near what does he do when he draws near to them and this surprises us too when we think about
it and when we reflect on it you know Jesus is risen from the dead he's the vector of death and Hell and he doesn't come up to these two people on the road and say hey you guys look I'm risen this is great news look at me no he comes up to them and he explains to them everything about himself from the word of God from the Old Testament look at verses 26 and 27 his message to them is was it not necessary that Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory and beginning with Moses and all the prophets he
interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself so not only does Jesus approach them come up to them but he opens the Old Testament to them to show them something very particular that is why it was necessary for him to die and enter his glory that is Jesus shows them something that the disciples had never understood Peter confessed the Lord Jesus and then when Jesus said that he had to go to the Cross Peter said oh Master be it far from you that you have to go there and Jesus had to say to Peter
get thee behind me huh because you don't understand it was necessary for Jesus to go to the cross when Jesus approaches his new people he approaches them with a message about himself that it was necessary for him to die for and only this can bring our life renewal and new meaning yeah we look about ourselves for all kinds of physical and psychological ways of healing our problems we take vitamins and we exercise and we do lots of things to make ourselves good physically physically but there's one thing that's necessary
for personal renewal that is the recognition of the necessity of the Lord Jesus Christ's death for us personally it's the same message that Jesus brought to his disciples later when he met them in verse 44 and 45 in the same chapter he opened their minds to understand the scriptures and he said to them thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and rise to the Dead from the dead on the first third day and we see here that again the necessity of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ for new life for meeting with
God for healing so Jesus meets us and Jesus shows that he loves us so much that he gave himself for us and this was necessary for the Salvation of our sins and this is the door to New Life and so new life doesn't come through institutions it doesn't come through social movements the newness of life in this world the only true renewal comes through the Lord Jesus Christ who brings it through his death and resurrection and who brings it to us personally like Jesus met personally with these two on this road to Emmaus
so Jesus comes and Jesus comes with his word and Jesus expounds his word to them as being the source of their life and however thirdly that's not all it's not just left there because there's something more the teaching of scripture is not just a Doctrine it's not just a series of boxes that we have to check and say yes I accept that and that and that in order to believe and follow the lord Jesus Christ but something more than that that Jesus does In this passage and note that it happens in verse 31. and in verse 45
and just as it was necessary for Jesus to die something else is also necessary their eyes were opened verse 31 and they recognized him verse 45 then he opened their minds to you know people think that being a Christian is all about doing a few good works being a good person maybe for a lot of people today it's about being a disagreeable person and opposing their agendas but it's not about what we believe that we can tick off as teaching or what we can do that makes us a Christian first of all becoming a Christian is
having one's eyes opened by the Lord Jesus Christ to yeah you can believe a lot of things about Jesus Christ but if your eyes aren't opened to see the reality of who he is all that you know doesn't add up to much it's like knowing facts like knowing that the two Manchester teams got beaten yesterday that's a fact huh but we don't know Jesus as a fact like that we know Jesus because he opens our eyes and this we call the illumination of the Holy Spirit when Jesus is with them these two on the road to Emmaus and when
Jesus is with his disciples he opens their eyes but he also says that when he returns to glory and is absent from them he's going to send his holy spirit behold I am sending the promise of my father upon you verse 49. when Jesus is her the here he enlightens the rise of these people he opens their minds to understand and when he is not here anymore he sends the comforter to open their eyes the promise of the father in order that his people might believe in him so the word the message of scripture and the spirit of
the Lord Jesus go together and the two of them when they work together and they always go together they open our eyes to see the truth the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ and as I said you can know a lot of things about Christ without seeing the glory without seeing how it applies to you and then we have to ask if that's the case Lord send your holy spirits who enlighten me as to the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ open my eyes open my mind open my heart that I may see the truth about you and commit myself to you being
a Christian is about committing to the Lord Jesus Christ who's met us and taught us and enlightened us and then we commit to him because he's done all this for us personally so Jesus meets his people Jesus teaches his people and Jesus enlightens his people and now one Bridge further Jesus nourishes his people they reach the house they go in the room and they invite Jesus to sit at a table some food is got out and again Jesus Takes control of the situation Jesus reaches out and takes the bread pop and when he reaches
out what do they see they see his hands that have been pierced and bang it at some like an Express train they see that this is the crucified one who is breaking bread like he did in the upper room they must have known about this and saying take it this is my body which is broken for you and then the illumination comes in and they realize that the life they have is the life that is broken for them by the Lord Jesus Christ himself who is now nourishing them and giving them faith in him to trust in him and it's at this
moment of the breaking of bread that they really understand that the Lord Jesus Christ has done all this for him for them and that their life is a life which flows out from his death if they have newness of life it's because Christ has died for them and because Christ is living and he nourishes them on his death and that means there as Believers our sin is passed with Christ and we are nourished by his death to live newness of life because he gives us that life day by day he feeds us of himself spiritually and this
feeding on Christ is feeding on Christ by faith and depending totally on him when we're faced with the worst situations in life so we die with Christ and we rise again with him to newness of life because with these two on the road to Emmaus it's a change of life event that happens to them at this moment when they see that the Lord Jesus Christ breaks bread for them they realize that their life now depends on him meets his people Christ teaches his people Christ illuminates his people and then Christ feeds his people
and we live because we are dependents on him for our life Jesus nourishes us because he is the bread of life who is given he is like the manner who sent down from heaven that we might live and our life now is in Christ it's nourished by Christ it's an invisible secret life that nobody can see but we know it's real because it's there because we believe and depend on as we live out of it day by day and this is what being a Christian means living out the life of Jesus Christ through faith day by day as we depend on him
as he walks with us on this pilgrimage that is our life which has a destination no longer death and despair but now hope and glory with him that is our destination that is the end of our route to Emmaus the end of the road for you and me today is the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ that we will share with him one day because he is the Lord over all things and the Lord Of Our Lives and finally yet there's one more thing that we can't forget here and that is not only does Jesus illuminate Enlighten his people not only
does he nourish them but also his people yes his people adore him adore him the Lord Jesus the Blessed glorious Lord Jesus when we see these things when our eyes are opened we adore him he is the Lord the incomparable one and here we see that these two people on the road who were broken despairing and let down they say to the other disciples when they meet them but didn't our hearts burn within us when he opened the scriptures to us this is found here in verse 31 their hearts were opened verse 26 and they saw the Lord
Jesus Christ himself and they worshiped him because their hearts were burning because they they knew about him and isn't that amazing the Lord Jesus Christ who was with them who was adored by them and off they go to Jerusalem with a mission that is to tell the others what they've seen and witnessed because their hearts are burning within them they have this worship for the Risen Christ which becomes the motor of their new life because they have found something that they never expected to find they found the Lord Jesus
Christ Living and glorified and he's met them he's taught them being enlightened by him they've been nourished by him and now they worship Him he is the Lord and we're going to serve him so even though they were tired they were up and out and back on the road 12 miles back to Jerusalem probably arriving there in the early hours of the morning or the middle of the night to meet with the other disciples and tell them we have seen we have met the Lord Jesus Christ that is the believer's experience we have met the Lord
Jesus Christ he has taught us that he had to die for us enlightened us he has fed us and he invites us to worship him because we've met him this is life-changing this turns all our despair and all our distress all our downcastness into Joy this turns all our bad experiences on their head and they become transfigured because of the Lord Jesus Christ and his presence now I don't know how you came in here this morning and you don't know how I came in either do you we don't know our states of mind one to another but what
we do know is that when we meet the Lord Jesus Christ speaks to all our needs he lifts us up when we are downcast he heals us when we are broken he gives us new life when we are despairing of life and he promises us that this will never end because he is the Risen Lord because he is the savior he is the Lord of life he is the bread of our life and so he renews Our Hope day by day to trust in him and walk how by faith not by sight that is why the disciples the two didn't see Jesus Anymore there are no sacred places
there's only the Lord Jesus Christ who is sacred who and who is worshipful there is only the Lord Jesus Christ gives life and he asks us to come to him and to walk not by sight but by faith in him and whatever our condition whatever our need he invites us to trust in him and to walk with him in this pilgrimage of our life because he is our Lord and savior amen
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