Easter Sunday 2006
Wholly Heartbroken to Holy Heartburn
Luke 24:13-37
It is customary for most sermons to start off with some type of cute story or illustration to get us going. Today is no exception, but the story we’re going to begin with today IS the sermon – it’s one of my favorite episodes in the entire Bible.
It’s the Sunday afternoon after the first big holiday of the Spring. Commuters are headed down the roads back to their hometowns after spending the weekend celebrating – not all that unlike the bumper-to-bumper traffic on a Sunday afternoon headed back to Chicago after spending a beautiful holiday weekend in Wisconsin. Two people in particular are our focus. They have about a two or three hour trip ahead of them as they set off for home – again, about the same time it would take to make that trip to Chicago from here. But it’s a little different – they’re making the trip by foot. It’s a seven-mile walk from Jerusalem to the city of Emmaus. The story is found in Luke 24, verses 13-37. Let me share it with you:
13Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles[a] from Jerusalem. 14They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16but they were kept from recognizing him.
17He asked them, "What are you discussing together as you walk along?"
They stood still, their faces downcast. 18One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, "Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in these days?"
19"What things?" he asked.
"About Jesus of Nazareth," they replied. "He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23but didn't find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see."
25He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" 27And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
28As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther. 29But they urged him strongly, "Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over." So he went in to stay with them.
30When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32They asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?"
33They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34and saying, "It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon." 35Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.
From the time I was a young boy, this story has captured my imagination. It’s just so “real.” I can easily picture myself in the dusty sandals of Cleopas and his friend. As we examine their walk, see if you can recognize yourself there as well.
Wholly Heartbroken
As they are walking along the road to Emmaus, these two followers of Jesus are heartbroken.
They can’t get the images of all that they had witnessed in the last three days out of their heads. Do you remember the days immediately following 9/11? In shock, grief, anger, confusion and denial the entire nation was fixated on the catastrophic images. It was like an emotional hangover – we were in a fog – unable to comprehend the magnitude of the loss.
For these two, the feeling is much the same. They had been faithful followers of Jesus. Luke introduces them by saying “Now that same day (Sunday), two of them were going to a village called Emmaus…” What does he mean by “of them”? Well, in the paragraph just preceding this, he’s recounting the activities of the women who went to the tomb on Sunday morning to complete the burial work for Jesus, and the actions of Peter and the other disciples. Then the next line says “Now the same day two of them were going to a village…” Obviously these are two people were part of the group of people who were followers of Jesus. They were known to Peter, John, Matthew, and the rest.
Perhaps they had followed Jesus to Jerusalem a week earlier, and celebrated with the throngs of people who welcomed Him into the city as the Messiah, the deliverer of Israel, throwing their coats and branches from palm trees on the streets in front of Him. A lot of Jesus’ followers had been in town that day – they were expecting that this was going to be the week when Jesus made His move to finally throw out the Romans!
Perhaps they were there when He drove the moneychangers out of the temple on that Monday morning, or on Tuesday & Wednesday when He confounded the teachers of the law and the priests as they tried to trick Him. They most certainly were there for Thursday’s Passover celebration – it probably seemed like half of the Nation was there! And the buzz was all about Jesus! Everyone was talking about this teacher from Nazareth! Was it possible that He was the One? These two had thought so for some time, but now it seemed like everyone was getting behind Him! This was going to be great! It was finally happening! Deliverance!
But then Friday came…overnight Jesus had been arrested – betrayed by Judas – one of the 12! Everyone knew that the priests and elders were out to kill Jesus, but they were afraid of the crowds – surely the people who hailed Him as “King” on Sunday would demand His release on Friday! But it had not happened. The whole city had heard of the back and forth between the Pilate and Herod – neither wanting to take responsibility for His death. There was Jesus – barely able to stand after having been punched, beaten with a club, and scourged. The people cried out “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”
“NO! Not crucifixion!” Anything but that! Stone him if you must, but not crucifixion! It’s the most cruel, agonizing, humiliating death ever devised by the twisted heart of sinful men. And yet that is exactly what had happened. Had these two stood in the crowd at a distance, and seen Jesus on the cross? If they had they wouldn’t have recognized Him – his face and body were so cruelly abused. Had they heard His words, “Father, forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing?” Had they seen his mother, and John, one of the 12, at the foot of the cross? Had they seen Him take one last breath, and call out, “It is finished!”? Perhaps they witnessed Joseph of Arimathea and a few others take Jesus’ body to the tomb and seen the Roman guards placed there.
We don’t know if they were first hand witnesses to the events of that Dark Day, but they certainly knew what had happened.
And now these two are lost in the posttraumatic fog of Sunday. They still can’t believe what has happened – it just doesn’t seem real. As they walk along, they talk in animated but hushed tones, because they still don’t know if the rest of Jesus’ followers are going to be rounded up or not, but they can’t NOT talk about it. Luke tells us that they talked with each other about everything that had happened…they just couldn’t wrap their minds around the events they had witnessed.
There are some words in Luke’s telling of this story that I think are revealing. One is at the end of verse 17. It says they stood still, their faces downcast. The sadness that they are feeling is evident just by looking at them. Their grief is written all over their faces. It is an all-consuming sadness.
When Jesus asks them why they are so sad, they say, in verse 21, “we had hoped…”
They had hoped. Now they are hope-less. All their hopes and dreams for the future have been crushed by the events of the last three days. They had thought they were doing all the right things! They were following this great teacher who talked about the love of God and preached about the Kingdom of God being at hand. They had thought they had it all figured out – but now God had played some cruel joke on them – Jesus was dead – their hope was gone. What’s the use?
Can you relate? Ever felt that way? I have. I’ve had times when I was certain that I had it all figured out, only to have the rug pulled out from under me.
Ø The sudden, unfair death of a younger brother, or parent, or child.
Ø Plans that I thought I had all laid out for my career, or my family.
Ø Seemingly impossible struggles with sin and bad habits that I should have victory over by now. Why doesn’t God just take away the desire???
Ø That look on the doctor’s face when he walks in the exam room, and you know it’s not good.
When I faced those times, I had heard the truth, and I believed the truth – “God is in control. His ways are not our ways. Trust Him.” But when our world seems to be falling apart, it’s hard to do, isn’t it?
These two had heard, too. They had heard the reports that morning that Jesus was risen – the women had come running back to the disciples and excitedly told them about the empty tomb, the angels telling them that Jesus was alive – risen from the dead – but it was just so much talk. It did little to help them in their situation. They had watched Him die! They weren’t going to trust the hysterical ranting of some fanatics! They were still downcast and hopeless.
Ø Ever been found standing there, like them, with downcast face?
Ø Ever found yourself saying, “I had hoped…”
Ø Have you ever had people tell you about God, and thought, “Sure, that’s good for you, but I live in the real world, and it ain’t working for me!”
Ø Have you ever felt like calling out to God and saying, “Are you aware of what’s happening here? This is not going according to plan!”
Ø Have you ever been wholly heartbroken? I’ll bet you have.
We all have at one time or another.
What’s so cool about this story is that Jesus heard them out. He allowed them to relate the entire story – their’ dashed hopes and disappointments. What happened next is so great. Jesus says, “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all the prophets have spoken…” Now I know that seems kind of harsh, but then Jesus patiently started at the very beginning of the Scriptures and showed them that everything that had happened was part of God’s plan from the very beginning.
From Genesis 3:15, where God first promised that one day a deliverer would come and crush Satan’s head, but before He did, Satan would bruise His heal. Then there was Genesis 22, where Abraham placed his only son on the alter and was willing to sacrifice him. And then there’s the story of the Passover, where a lamb’s blood was shed and placed on the doorpost and top of the doors of their homes, and the angel of death would pass over the dwelling of the faithful. Then He took them through the entire Old Testament sacrificial law, the tabernacle, the Day of Atonement, the serpent in the wilderness, the Suffering servant in Isaiah 53, the clear agony of the Messiah’s death in Psalm 22 and 69.
As first-century Jewish men, each of these passages would have been very familiar – they had heard it all before – everyone had - but Jesus began to show them how the Scriptures were not meant to be religion, but real life! This stuff really matters! He showed them that even though the plans didn’t unfold the way they thought they would, it did happen exactly the way God had said it would be from the very beginning. God was, indeed, in control.
He showed them, detail by detail, how what had thrown them into bewilderment and confusion made perfect sense when seen and heard as part of what God had been doing and saying all along. He was in control when Judas made his plans. He was in control when the disciples fell asleep. He was in control when the soldiers arrested Jesus, and the disciples ran. God was in control when Jewish Religious leaders and Roman Political leaders thought they were in control. God was in control when it felt like everything was out of control.
Sometimes I think that when we have those times where we feel like God is not following our plans, Jesus wants to say, “Oh how foolish you are and how slow you are to believe the Word of God!” I mean, doesn’t it seem just a little presumptuous of us to think that God should be following our plans – and not the other way around?
As the three of them entered the village of Emmaus, Jesus made it appear that He was going to keep heading down the road, but the two disciples asked him to stay with them for the evening, and He agreed. (Some believe that this was a husband and wife, since they shared a home.) They still didn’t know who He was – He was keeping His identity from them. But they knew that they didn’t want their visit with this stranger to end. His sharing of the Word of God with them had begun to bring healing to their souls. When they sat down for a meal, Jesus took the bread, gave thanks for it, and broke it to give it to them. In that instant, they recognized Him. Was it His nail pierced hands that gave it away? Was it a divine opening of their eyes? Whatever the cause – they knew in that instant that they were with Jesus! Jesus had opened the Word of God to them, and now He opened their eyes to His identity. Now they had seen with their own eyes that He was alive. They had heard the women’s testimony, the empty tomb, the angels, the other witnesses, the Scriptural evidence, and now they had encountered Jesus Himself, and they believed.
Holy Heartburn
Sitting there at the table, in total astonishment, they looked at one another and said, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” Their encounter with Jesus changed their heartbreak into heartburn. Had their physical circumstances changed? No. Jesus was still physically gone. According to the gospels and the first few chapters of the book of Acts, they still had moments of intense fear for their safety. They still didn’t know how things were going to play out in the days ahead – in fact, in the coming weeks, months and years they would see Steven, James and countless other leaders and believers killed for their faith - but there was a change…They now had a fire in their souls that would see them through those uncertain times. And it was because of an encounter with the Risen Christ.
On this Easter morning, have you encountered Him? Sure, they saw and believed, but, as Jesus Himself told Thomas, “Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed.” Faith is believing in what we can’t see. But that doesn’t mean we check our brains at the door of the church. If you will take the time to explore His claims, and seek Him, you will find Him. He will not appear before you in the flesh, but His Spirit still speaks to the downcast and the hopeless. His Word is still living and powerful, and able to light a fire in your soul – if you will listen.
Their encounter with Christ occurred in the most common of places – walking along a road, and sitting down to a meal. He’s ready to meet you where you are – as you are. Maybe this Easter morning finds you in a place where it’s difficult to celebrate and worship. The wheels are falling off your wagon, and life is just coming apart at the seams. He’s walking along the road of life with you, and He wants you to tell Him what’s been happening. He’ll listen to you, and He wants you to listen to Him, to read His Word, and to trust that God really is in control, and the One who sees the end from the beginning will direct your steps, if you’ll trust Him and seek Him.
Make this Easter morning the day when you get a strong case of holy heartburn. Allow the Risen Christ to talk with you along life’s road, and open the Scriptures to you.
Prayer.