I have a question. Have you ever been so angry, so distraught that you just walked away? When I was four years old, I left home. I walked in the exact opposite direction of loving parents safety and security. My home. I couldn’t see the love that was right in front of me because I was blinded by a four year old’s temper my eyes and my ears were closed down. I heard and saw only what I was convinced was the truth instead of actually hearing the truth today. We’re gonna hear about two men who lost their hope, their sense of peace, and their faith, and therefore they were unable to see the risen Jesus literally standing right in front of them. We’re gonna open up our Bibles and we’re gonna look at Luke and we’re gonna read chapter 24. Verses 13 through 35. That sounds like a lot, but it’s important because Luke is the only one who tells this story, and this takes place on Resurrection Sunday. And the women have been to the tomb. It’s empty. The angels have told them that the Lord has risen. They run and tell the men, and the men don’t believe the women Now. That same day, two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles outside of Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them, but they were kept from recognizing him. He asked them. What are you discussing together as you walk along? They stood still their faces downcast. One of them named Cleopas, asked him, are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days? What things he asked? About Jesus of Nazareth. They replied he was a prophet, powerful in word indeed before God. And all the people, the chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death and they crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what’s more? It is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn’t find his body. They came and told us they had seen a vision of angels who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus. He said to them. How foolish you are and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory. And beginning with Moses and the prophets, he explained to them what was said in the scriptures concerning himself. As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued as if you were going to go further, but they urged him strongly, stay with us for its nearly evening. The day is almost over. So he went and stayed with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him. And he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, we’re not our hearts burning within us. When he talked with us on the road and opened the scriptures to us, they got up and returned to Jerusalem At once. There they found the 11 and those with them assembled together and saying, it is true. The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon. Then the two told what had happened on the way and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread, the gospel of our Lord. Praise your Christ. Let us pray.

Dear Jesus, your you are right in front of us. You pursue us. You track us down. Give us the ears to hear your saving word. Give us eyes to see a hurting world. Give us boldness to proclaim to all who need to hear that you have risen. You have risen indeed. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. What happened on the road to Emmaus? Well, first. These men were heading in the wrong direction. Think about that for a moment. These men were walking away from their friends, from their faith community, from their beloved Jerusalem. They were withdrawing from the strength that they could have garnered by being in community with others, and instead they were retreating. In essence, they were running away. They didn’t believe the eyewitness accounts pertaining to a risen Jesus because what they heard didn’t make sense to them. But before we judge, let’s ask ourselves, have we ever walked away from church, from our faith? From our friends and family because we didn’t like the way things turned out or things just didn’t make sense to us. Have we ever become so focused on our own problems that we failed to see Jesus right in front of us? You see, when we withdraw and become really preoccupied with. Our dashed hopes and spoiled plans, just like the men on the road to Emmaus, we’re likely to miss Jesus and not hear his word of truth. Why? It’s because we become so focused on our own understanding of what’s happening. The men on the road to Emmaus were retreating because they felt Jesus had let them down. They just couldn’t understand what had happened. They were wrestling with disappointment after all this time. Jesus wasn’t the long awaited military Messiah that was gonna free them from the oppression of the Romans with Jesus dead on the cross, they lost all hope. Now, these disciples still saw Jesus as. A prophetic leader, just not the Messiah or the king of kings. They had hoped that he was going to be the one to return Jerusalem to the throne. They were holding onto their vision of God’s plan for the world when they actually needed to open themselves up to Christ’s vision for his plan for the world. They didn’t understand that Jesus’s death was actually the greatest thing ever. They didn’t understand that through Jesus’s death on the cross, he was conquering final death for all of us. The men had heard that the tomb was empty, but they didn’t know what had happened to Jesus’s body and despite the women’s testimony. Despite all the biblical prophecies, they still did not believe. Now Luke’s gospel tells us that one of the men on the road was named Cleopas. And this is kind of interesting. An ancient church tradition tells us that Cleopas was actually Joseph’s brother. The Virgin Mary’s husband, Jesus’s earthly father, and that many years later, uh, Cleopas is actually going to be martyred for claiming that his nephew was the Messiah Church tradition also says the other person on the road to Emmaus was Cleopas youngest son Simon. And this same church tradition says that many years later, Simon will lead the Church of Palestine and he will also be martyred. But that was much later. How could these men not recognize Jesus? Well, Martin Luther actually speculated about this. And he said he thinks the men were literally consumed by grief and unbelief, and therefore weren’t able to handle the truth that Jesus himself was standing right before them. And this is important. Scripture does not say that Jesus hid himself. Scripture does not say that Jesus disguised himself in any way. They were just blinded to the truth. You actually hear their disappointment in their words. We had hoped he was the one to redeem Israel. In other words, the men were saying, you know, we had hoped that he was the one that was talked about in Genesis three 15. You know, the one who had crushed the head of the serpent. Then Moses had talked about, but then we saw him die. These men knew scripture. They learned it since they were children, and they probably, along these three years, were mentally checking the boxes. Yep. He fulfills that one. Yep, he fulfills that one, and then he died.

They had such deep despair and disbelief they had to leave town because if Jesus was God, well then he died and that doesn’t make sense. What is coming out of their mouths is where their heart is. It’s unbelief, but this is what I find the most remarkable aspect of this story. It is the resurrection day. You would assume that Jesus has a lot to do on this day because it’s kind of a big day for him. I mean, he just rose from the dead Of all the things that Jesus could have done, what does he do? He chases down these two men. That’s incredible. So here’s our first biblical truth. Jesus is relentless in pursuing doubters. We heard last week in Pastor Todd’s sermon about Thomas and how Jesus was relentless in pursuing him. Because Jesus wants to turn our unbelief into belief. Jesus knows what he’s hearing from these two men is unbelief, which is why he chased them down, and then Jesus teaches them the scriptures again. Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory? And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them what was said in all scripture concerning himself. Jesus explained to the men that everything you know and have read is about me. The Messiah will have to die. He may say it’s not so, but it is. He died. He had to, the Messiah was not the deliverer of Israel from Rome. He was the deliverer of all people for all time. Jesus is teaching them the scriptures because in their doubt, they lost their faith we’re them. And this brings us to our next biblical truth. We need to hear the gospel again and again. We know it and then we forget it and so does everyone else too. And just like Jesus did with these two men on the road to Emmaus, we get to chase down unbelievers with the gospel news. The Bible tells us that Jesus did this huge data dump of all the scriptures, and I imagine that Jesus said something like, what’s recorded in John 5 35? You study the scriptures diligently because you think in them you have eternal life. These are the very scriptures that testify about me. So now the men have cognitive knowledge of the scriptures, but they still don’t get it. It wasn’t until later when they invite Jesus to dine with them and they see Jesus blessing and breaking the bread, then they actually get it. They then say that the man standing before him is the risen Christ. That’s why communion is so important to us. The breaking of the bread reminds us of Christ’s broken body, given for you, for the forgiveness of all of your sins. Luke says when he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him and he disappeared from their sight to the man. This was enough of an echo of what had just happened a couple of days earlier, what we refer to as the last Supper. Once their eyes were opened, they now had faith in the risen. Jesus. Jesus named their unbelief.

He pursued them. He explained the scriptures, he spoke truth to them about the scriptures, and now once they had faith, he left. Jesus came and did what he came to do because his word creates faith, and these men now know it deeply. This is what Jesus came to do. And this brings us to our final biblical truth, which we heard in our text reading from Romans Chapter 10. Faith comes from hearing the message and the message is heard through the word about Christ. Scripture tells us that Jesus stayed with them until they knew. The word know in Greek is sco, and this sco this knowing it’s intimate, it’s internal, it’s deep, it’s in the heart. Jesus chased down these unbelievers. And now you know what? They became preachers and they delivered God’s word of promise to others. Luke tells us they got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. They found the 11 and the others assembled together and saying, it’s true. The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon. You know, Jesus has actually pursued us since the beginning. Think about Adam and Eve after they sinned. Well, they didn’t run towards God. They ran in the exact opposite direction. They hid in the garden, but God pursued them. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man. Where are you from the beginning? Our creator has sought out his lost creatures. God has a heart of reconciliation. God’s passionate pursuit of us involves sending his only son to die in our place because we couldn’t reach up to him. He came down to us. He pursues us. Even when we’re obstinate, even when we’re a bratty 4-year-old, Isaiah tells us, I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me. I was found by those who did not seek me to a nation that did not call out my name. I said, here I am. Here. I. All day long I’ve held out my hands to an obstinate, people who walk in ways not good pursuing their own imaginations.

This story of the Road to Emmaus, it’s actually important to us for many reasons. It provides an emphasis on the fulfillment of Old Testament scripture. And it makes a connection regarding many eyewitness accounts of the resurrected Jesus. And Luke 24 is often seen as a model of the journey that Jesus makes with many of us today. He opens our eyes, he points to the word that creates faith, and he reveals himself as we’re trying to walk away. Jesus has continued to pursue men and women of all walks of life, every tribe and tongue. He wants to turn their unbelief into belief through his word, and remember Jesus’ last words to his disciples. They were instructions for continuing to carry out the work that he had begun. You will be my witnesses. To the ends of the earth. Jesus is now handing over this text to us. This is what we are called to do. Just like the men who are on the road to Emmaus until they met the risen Jesus. We are called to be witnesses and proclaim the risen Christ. Let’s pray. Lord Jesus, you have risen. Indeed. We have the gift of scripture Luther called this, the cradle that holds the Christ Child. We know faith comes from hearing your word. You died for us. Our sins are forgiven through the Holy Spirit. Empower us to share this good news with others. Amen.