The Emmaus Road Discourse Luke 24:13-36

I’m very aware that we live in anxious times—yet, as I begin, I’d like to raise your personal anxiety a few more notches…There is a phrase that deeply affects every person on the planet: When God is silent. We’ve all had seasons in our lives when we have longed for God to speak and found God to be silent. Even confirmed atheists would admit that if God clearly spoke, they would believe.

There was a German scholar/theologian named Helmut Thielicke who lived through the Nazi holocaust[1] and one of his books is titled, The Silence of God., [2] which was published in 1962 after a period of research and reflection. In a nutshell here’s what Thielicke found:

Anxiety is the “secret wound of modern man.”[3]

Initially, he thought our natural tendency was related to a fear of death. But, he said, World Wars I & II proved otherwise…an example is that Russian soldiers were more afraid of pain than death. Thielicke traces our anxiety to a “fear of emptiness” and that our anxiety can actually be traced to a longing to know where God is. Thielicke’s hypothesis for his research was:

“Where is God in the face of the mass slaughter of war, or the frightening development of [universal pandemics] which seems to press us inexorably towards destruction and final catastrophe?”

The 4th-century theologian and theologian and philosopher, Augustine came to the same conclusion as Thielicke when he prayed:

“God, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you.”[4]

In this essay, I would like for us to consider how a personal encounter, with Jesus Christ, will push back the anxiety of our lives. We will consider what’s called the Emmaus Road narrative found in Luke 24:13-35.

What we have on the road this Easter morning are two downcast, dismayed, and devastated disciples, who couldn’t recognize Jesus. It seems they had become spiritually blind. (I think it’s important to notice that even committed disciples can suffer from spiritual blindness.)

Two important questions we can ask of the text are:

1. What causes spiritual blindness?
2. How can we have a personal encounter with Jesus?

We’ll consider them one at a time…

1. What causes spiritual blindness?

We tend to think that our greatest need is a change of circumstances instead of a change of heart. We first notice that Cleopas is speaking in the past tense in verses 19b and 21a “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed…²¹but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.”

The Jewish people were looking for a Geopolitical King to liberate them from Roman oppression; instead, they got a Servant King, intent on liberating the soul. While the disciples certainly had moments of profound insight and revelation as they interacted and learned from Jesus, yet in the end, they failed to understand the primary purpose of the coming Messiah. To find true heart liberation, we must come to the end of ourselves and see our need for a Savior. This is both an initial need in order for salvation to take root in our lives—and an ongoing need for those of us who are active, intentional followers of Jesus.

A second posture that can result in spiritual blindness is, we can fail to recognize Jesus in the ordinary. Like with these disciples on the road, Jesus is closer to us than we realize. Jesus became an ordinary person to show ordinary people like us God’s extraordinary love. Right now, today, God is active in your life and using people and these current circumstances, in an attempt to reveal Himself to you—and to draw you closer to Himself.

The arc of biblical teaching—from Genesis to Revelation is that God doesn’t take us AROUND trouble, He takes us THROUGH trouble. And here’s His offer: a) He’ll go with us, b) He’ll teach us along the way, and c) we can go in His strength and power.

Remember, even disciples of Jesus can suffer from spiritual blindness.

Question: Where are your current difficulties or (unrealistic) expectations preventing you from seeing the active presence of Jesus in your life?

Unless we are willing to see Him in the routine and ordinary, we may miss Him.

2. This brings us to our second question: How can we have a personal encounter with Jesus?

We encounter Jesus when we are humble and see our need for His grace and empowering presence.

In v.26 we find Jesus giving a succinct summary of the gospel: “Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?”

In terms of the gospel, Christianity is the only religion or philosophy of life that has an answer to this question, how can God be both infinitely just AND infinitely merciful? At first glance they seem to be at odds. Yet what we find is that infinite justice and infinite mercy intersect at the cross.

In v.26 Jesus is saying that He had to die to make full redemption available to humankind. Again, Cleopas thought they needed a General, he didn’t fully realize that he needed a Savior. What we see in this passage is that Jesus wants to go deeper than our circumstances and heal our ultimate anxiety, which is our separation from God.

With that in mind I have BAD NEWS and I have GOOD NEWS. Here’s the BAD NEWS: God demands perfect holiness to enter into His presence. The tiniest, most minuscule sin will separate you from God forever. To miss the mark by even a millimeter is still to have missed the mark. The GOOD NEWS—and it’s actually great news, is that Jesus the Christ lived a perfect, sinless life, was brutally murdered to take away our sins and then was resurrected on the third day. As our hearts are AWAKENED to this act of perfect love, perfect justice, and perfect mercy we receive the gift of Christ’s righteousness, which is un-earnable, based on what Christ has done—not what we must do.

We encounter Jesus in the Bible. “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself” (v. 27.) They were on a 7-mile journey, which takes about 2-3 hours depending on the terrain. What we have on this journey is probably THE most important Bible study of all time. What we learn from this verse is, the whole Old Testament is about Jesus. What Jesus is doing on the Emmaus Road is opening their minds to the meaning of the Bible. Jesus is saying, “The whole OT is actually about Me.” Once our hearts are awakened to that perspective, we begin to see how the whole Bible—both Old and New Testaments only tells one story. It’s the story of redemption and reconciliation through Jesus.

Have you seen the movie The Sixth Sense?[5] We can only really see it twice. The first time the ending is quite shocking. The second time we become very aware of all the indicators that point to the shocking ending. It’s the same with seeing how the whole Old Testament points to Jesus. The Apostle Paul articulates this thought essence well when he declares, “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17). Jesus left the comfort and perfection of heaven to come into our brokenness and provide us with a righteousness, a peace, and a joy that we didn’t—and couldn’t—earn.

We encounter Jesus as we come together. When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them. ³¹ Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him.  Luke 24:30-31a Again, Jesus is closer than we think. He is already all over our lives. These disciples had been devastated and humbled—and in that condition—partaking of what we now know as the Lord’s Supper, which is an act of worship—they encounter the reality of the risen Christ. And notice too, how the disciples immediately take the good news to somebody else. Nobody can sit on this message when it truly comes alive in our hearts. “And they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem and found gathered together the eleven and those who were with them, 34 saying, “The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon” (Luke 24:33-34).

Returning to the German theologian’s conclusions regarding the root of human anxiety and our fear of emptiness, Thielicke writes that the “positive force, which defeats anxiety, is love.”[6] This parallels with what John says, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4:18).

Thielicke says our anxiety is the result of a broken bond—and that God’s sacrifice on the cross restores that bond. He says, “once we know that we are loved, we lose our anxiety” and he likens it to holding on tightly to a father’s hand in a very dark forest.

In both Matthew and Mark’s accounts of the crucifixion, they record the anxious final cry of Jesus exclaiming: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34). Yet a closer examination will reveal that even in excruciating death Jesus never let go of His Father’s hand. Notice Jesus cries out, “My God, My God…”  Jesus is bringing His anxiety to His Father. And because He did, so can we.

[1] There was an underground evangelical church movement in Germany during WW2.

[2]  Eerdmans 1962.

[3] Pgs. 17–21.

[4] Confessions (Lib 1,1-2,2.5,5: CSEL 33, 1-5).

[5] An 8-year-old boy is visited by ghosts and he is too afraid to tell anyone about his anguish, except for Willis who plays a child psychologist. (M. Night Shyamalan) Available on YouTube, Google Play, and iTunes for $2.99.

[6] Pgs. 23–24.

Saturday, April 11^th

What was happening on Saturday?

The body of Jesus was entombed.

Jesus Is Buried Luke 23:50-56

And a man named Joseph, who was a member of the Council, a good and righteous man (he had not consented to their plan and action), a man from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who was waiting for the kingdom of God; this man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. And he took it down and wrapped it in a linen cloth and laid Him in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever lain. It was the preparation day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. Now the women who had come with Him out of Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how His body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and perfumes. And on the Sabbath, they rested according to the commandment.

Three Thoughts…

Was it Really Three Days and Nights?

According to Christian tradition, Jesus died on Good Friday at 3pm (or, the ninth hour of the day according to Matthew 27:45-46; Mark 15:33-34; and Luke 23:44). By 6pm He was entombed and then on Sunday at dawn, Jesus rose from the dead. That’s approximately 36 hours. Yet, according to Matthew 12:40, Jesus said, “For, just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” So, what’s up with that?

First-century Palestine didn’t begin new days at midnight like we do in our 21st-century cultural context. For them, it was sundown, which the Jewish people still practice. In first-century Judaism, part of a day counted as a whole day. So, because Jesus was buried on Friday evening and rose on Sunday morning, He was in the tomb “three days and three nights.” The authors of the Gospels all point to the resurrection occurring at dawn on the first day of the week (for them it was Sunday). So, it was the beginning of a new day—both literally as well as symbolically!

What Was Happening Between the Cross and the Empty Tomb?

After Jesus’s human body died on the cross, Jesus descended into death. Death did indeed capture Jesus and He entered into it fully. We read in Luke 23:43 that Jesus told the humble criminal who was crucified next to Him that, “Today you shall be with Me in Paradise.” We also read in the Apostles Creed that, “He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to hell.” So, what was happening on this Holy Saturday? There are no specific scriptural references, but many have attempted to answer the question by examining many of the Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament (mostly those contained in Psalms) and what the New Testament records. My own thoughts are probably too simplistic for well-studied theologians, yet my current thinking is that Jesus did descend into hell, but not to continue His suffering. John was there as Jesus died on the cross and he records Jesus saying, “It is finished!” (John 19:30). My thoughtful speculation is that Jesus went into hell to seize the keys of death and hell from Satan. In Revelation 1:18, the risen Christ appears to John and declares, [I am] “the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.” After seizing the keys of death and hell Jesus took them to His Father in Paradise—and returned to the tomb for resurrection.

Sabbath Rest

Luke 23:56b: And on the Sabbath, they rested according to the commandment. On Holy Saturday we wait. It’s a Sabbath Day, and as such, a time of quiet and restful reflection. That first Holy Saturday was anything but restful for the disciples of Jesus. There was much anxiety, fear, and depression. These emotions are processed best in prayer and thoughtful reflection.

Author G. K. Chesterton in “The Everlasting Man” writes that this Sabbath “was the last Sabbath of the old creation, which was marred by Adam’s sin…What [the disciples] were looking at on Sunday morning, was the first day of a new creation, with a new heaven and a new earth; and in a semblance of the gardener God walked again in the garden, in the cool not of the evening but the dawn.”[1]

Thoughtful and reflective: Andrew Peterson “Resurrection Letters: One Album, Ten Years” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kx3vDBtf78E&list=PLSOArt-wtjbDxjvTK9gO62ok2EIdqZX2g

[1] G.K. Chesterton: The Everlasting Man, Part Two, Chap. III.

The gospels tell the what of the crucifixion while the epistles help us to understand the why. One of the most subtly graphic passages in the epistles is Paul’s declaration to the Corinthians (5:21),

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

This doesn’t mean that God made Jesus sinful, it means that on the cross the Father treated Jesus the way sinners deserve. Jesus sweating blood in the Garden of Gethsemane was a mere foretaste of the coming rejection. One commentator wrote, “Jesus came to be with the Father for an interlude before His betrayal, but found hell rather than heaven opened before Him…”[1]

On the cross, Jesus endured the FULL WEIGHT of the sins of humanity. Think about it, every past, present, and future sin of every person who would ever live was beginning to smother the soul of Jesus. Someone has said that the physical suffering that Jesus endured was like a flea bite compared to the emotional and spiritual suffering of bearing our sin.

What we encounter in the gospels is that Jesus didn’t exude the peace of God on the cross. If we look closely, we see that he actually lost His peace while He was dying on the cross. He cried out in agony saying, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?”  and then a few minutes later, in His final moment, “And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed His last” (Mark 15:34, 37).

To paraphrase what happened as He passed from life to death, we must acknowledge that Jesus died screaming. It was torturous, excruciating, and violent, fueled by unfathomable pain.

Here’s what may help us to better understand what happened on Good Friday, Jesus relinquished all of His peace so we could receive and enjoy eternal peace. The essence of the gospel is that God, out of unfathomable pain and immeasurable love became one of us and accomplished for us what we could not accomplish on our own. The Christian life is not about what we could do or should do to earn God’s favor and acceptance, it’s about what God accomplished for us. This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it (Psalm 118:24).

[1] Bill Lane. The Gospel According to Mark. Eerdmans, 1974: 573.

Good Friday, April 10^th

What happened on Good Friday?

Several sorrowful events took place…Jesus praying in Gethsemane (either late Thursday night or early Friday morning), the betrayal and arrest of Jesus, His denial, His sham trial and flogging, and His crucifixion.

Why is this Friday Good? Certainly, as the day unfolded it didn’t look or feel good—His disciples were still expecting a geopolitical kingdom (like David’s) to be established, so this day was shocking and bewildering to them. It is in looking back that we see the resolute goodness of that fateful day. By His death, Jesus became the final and complete sacrifice for our sins. Jesus willingly accomplished what we could never do for ourselves by dying for us on that first Good Friday.

Gethsemane

Luke 22:44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

The key-word, of course, is anguish. One commentator wrote: “Jesus came to be with the Father for an interlude before His betrayal, but found hell rather than heaven opened before Him…”[1]

Betrayal and Arrest

John 18:3-5a So Judas brought a detachment of soldiers together with police from the chief priests and the Pharisees, and they came there with lanterns and torches and weapons. Then Jesus, knowing all that was to happen to him, came forward and asked them, “Whom are you looking for?” They answered, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus replied, “I am he.”

Our tendency is to place the blame on Judas as a bad seed. But what we see later in Peter’s sermon that launched the Church (Acts 2) is that “we” killed Christ.

• Acts 2:23 This Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.
• Acts 2:36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you”

Denial

Luke 22:60-61 But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” Immediately, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, “Before a rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times.”

Two things stand out here:

• We’ve all heard the phrase, “If looks could kill I’d be dead.” So, when Jesus turned and looked at Peter after he denied Him three times, what did Peter see and experience? He did not see anger or pity, Peter encountered gracious love and complete acceptance in the eyes of Jesus, which caused a deep and life-changing repentance.
• What’s the difference between Judas’ betrayal and Peter’s denial? Certainly, both were grievous sins. The difference appears to be that Judas did not repent, he relented while Peter truly repented. True repentance is a summons to a personal, absolute, ultimate, and unconditional surrender to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Though it includes relenting and regretting, it is so much more than that. The unresolved guilt and shame of Judas’ relentance culminated in taking his own life.

Sham Trial and Flogging

Mark 15:15 So to pacify the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip, then turned him over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified.

Seven hundred years before the crucifixion Isaiah prophesied about the death of the coming Messiah: But many were amazed when they saw him. His face was so disfigured he seemed hardly human, and from his appearance, one would scarcely know he was a man (Isaiah 32:14). Wow.

On the cross, Jesus endured the FULL WEIGHT of the all past, present, and future sins of humanity. Someone has suggested that the physical suffering that Jesus endured was like a flea bite compared to the emotional and spiritual suffering of bearing the sin of humanity.

Jesus didn’t exude the peace of God on the cross. If we look closely at what Jesus endured on the cross, we see that he actually lost His peace while He was dying. He cried out in agony and said,

• Mark 15:34 “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?”
• Mark 15:37 “And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed His last.”

Paraphrase: Jesus died screaming.  It was an excruciating and violent death. Here’s what this means for you and me: Jesus let go of all of His peace so we could have eternal peace.

Application: Somehow, we must allow the events of this day to penetrate the lingering hardness and complacency of our hearts. I don’t know how to do that for you. Certainly, it will take some moments of quiet reflection. Will you get by yourself to reflect? Will you read these passages and pray with your spouse and family (or housemates)? We’ll also be reflecting on this in our Good Friday service later today…

[1] Bill Lane. The Gospel According to Mark. Eerdmans, 1974: 573.