Let us turn to God's Word in
Luke chapter 24 the portion we were reading in particular those
happenings on the road to Emmaus recorded here from verse 13 through
to verse 32 We were earlier considering the
former part of the chapter. Those women who were early at
the sepulchre on the first day of the week, they'd observed
Joseph of Arimathea taking the body of Christ and laying it
in that new tomb. and then gone to prepare spices
and ointments and they come early on the first day having kept
the Sabbath, the Jewish Sabbath, they religiously kept that and
then they come on the first day of the week expecting to find
the body but the tomb was empty and of course they're somewhat
bewildered And angels speak to them, and tell them, or ask the
question, why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here,
but he is risen. Remember the word that he spake
unto you, and it was yet in Galilee. Well, we were looking at these
things this morning, and the angels affirmed that blessed
truth. of the resurrection of Christ,
and all according to His own words. And these women, they
remember these words, we're told, there at verse 8. But when they
return to Jerusalem, Mary, Magdalene, Joanna, Mary, the mother of James,
and these other women, and tell these things unto the apostles,
their words seem to them as idle tales. and they believed them
not. And then we read of these two,
of the disciples, part of that company later in the same day
and they are journeying now from Jerusalem to Emmaus and as they're
walking so they're talking and the Lord Jesus comes and joins
himself to them but their eyes are holden, they don't recognize
him and he enters into conversation with them and doubtless they
were those who who didn't believe the words that the women had
spoken were idle tales how the Lord goes on to rebuke them O
fools, he says, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets
have spoken! Ought not Christ to have suffered
these things, and to enter into His glory? Well, I want us to
consider two things from this passage of Scripture. The conversation
that is taking place on the road to Emmaus and then in the second
place the confused state of the minds of these two disciples
the conversation and the confusion and I'll read as it were for
our text just the opening verses from verse 13 through to verse
16 these words as it were forming our text this evening Luke 24
verses 13 through 16 that they should not know him.
First of all I want to say something with regards to this conversation
and three things with regards to the conversation. The matter, the subject matter
that they're talking about and then secondly the manner of their conversation the way
in which they were talking about these things and then thirdly
the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ as he comes and quite
deliberately joins himself with them and joins himself with them
for a purpose he has come of course not to be ministered on
to but to minister and to give his life a ransom for men Well,
he's given the great sacrifice. The ransom price has been paid.
But the Lord is still a ministering Savior. And now He ministers
to these two in all their bewilderments on that road. First of all, let's
look at the matter that they're talking about. It's those things
which had just happened in Jerusalem. and as we see Christ comes and
he joins himself to them and he asks them, verse 19, what
things? They said unto him concerning
Jesus of Nazareth which was a prophet mighty indeed and word before
God and all the people. They thought that this one, Jesus
of Nazareth, was indeed the promised Messiah. This was the Christ
of God and he had been crucified. And yet they were so convinced
that this was the Christ because of the mighty works that he'd
been able to perform. A prophet mighty indeed and worked. We can think of the the language
of one of the rulers of the Jews. Nicodemus, remember, in John
3. Rabbi, he says to the Lord Jesus, we know that thou art
a teacher come from God. No man can do these works that
thou doest except God be with him. How the miracles, of course,
are such a confirmation of the ministry of Christ, are signs
that direct these men and women to see that this is indeed the
one that is spoken of in the Old Testament prophecies. And
yet he had come and he came unto his own and his own received
him not. The chief priests, they say at
verse 20, the chief priests and their rulers delivered him to
be condemned to death and have crucified him. And the strange
thing is, now these women of our company, they had gone early
to the sepulcher and they've come back with strange words.
Verse 22, Yea, certain women of our company made us astonished.
They went early to the sepulcher but found him not, or found no
body, and they said they'd seen a vision of angels who had said
he was alive. Well that was the message of
the angels, wasn't it? Why seek ye the living among
the dead?" they'd said back in verse 5 to these women. He is
not here, but he's risen. Remember how he spake unto you
when he was yet in Galilee? Why had he not spoken of that?
How confused these poor men are. And this is the subject matter
then of their conversation. But observe
also that the way in which they're talking about these things how
it's described here in verse 15. It came to pass that while
they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near and went
with them. Or they were talking together,
they were reasoning, trying to work these things out together.
They were so earnest, they were so enthusiastic in all this conversation. And the Lord observes the way
in which they are talking. Verse 17, what manner of communications
are these that she have one to another as she walk and are sad. And it's interesting that expression
that she have one to another. It's the rendering of a word
that literally means to throw a ball in turn. You know, we
might as children do that. We just take a ball and we throw
it one to the other, one to the other. And this is how they're
discoursing between themselves. These communications that you
have, you're saying one thing, he's saying the other thing.
And they're so excited and yet they're so bewildered in their
minds at the things that have been happening. And the Lord
comes along and joins himself to them. He takes an interest
in their conversation. Does he not remind us of those
words that we have back in the Old Testament in Malachi 3.16?
They that fear the Lord spake often one to another, and the
Lord hearkened and heard. And a book of remembrance was
written before him for them that fear the Lord, and thoughts upon
his name. And they shall be mine, he says,
in that day when I make up my jewels that lovely passage and
the emphasis that we have there they feared the lord they were
the god fearers and they were talking together and he says
the lord hearkened and heard there's an emphasis there's a
repetition he doesn't just hear he hearkens It takes an interest. Doesn't the Lord take an interest
in our conversation? Do we desire to speak of better
things? We might sometimes feel ourselves
to be so confused. We can't fathom the Lord's dealings. That's such a mystery to us.
But do we like to discuss these matters amongst ourselves? To
unburden ourselves one to the other? To minister to one another? The Lord is here, you see, ministering
to these men. And Christ's identity, of course,
is concealed. It's the Lord, but they don't
realize that. Their eyes were hold and were
told, at verse 16, that they should not know Him. And again,
it's a strong word, to hold fast. It's a miracle really. that the
Lord, it's the same Jesus that they knew, the one who had been
crucified, it's that same body, it's a glorified body, it's a
spiritual body, but their eyes are so held fast that they cannot
recognize Him. But how we see the Lord as one who is so concerned And
so he comes to minister to them. It's a resurrected Christ. It was Christ, though they didn't
recognize the man. Does he not, as we read in the
opening chapter of Acts, or did he not, we should say, show himself
alive after his resurrection by those infallible proofs? over
a period of 40 days and certainly we see later in this chapter
that it's a real it's a real person it's not some
apparition when he appears to the disciples later that same
first day in the evening there in the upper room The Lord is
suddenly there in the midst of them. What a miracle it was,
the doors were bolted and barred. And yet this is a physical body
that has risen from the dead. It's a glorified body and He
can suddenly appear in the midst of them. And unto those words,
Shalom, peace be unto you. In verse 37, they were terrified
and affrighted. And suppose they had seen a spirit.
And He said unto them, Why are you troubled? Why do thoughts
arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet,
that it is I myself. Handle me and see, for a spirit
hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have." And again, there's
an emphasis here, isn't there? He doesn't just say, it's me.
No, he says, it is I myself. There's repetition. and he tells them, you see, he
has flesh and bones and when he had thus spoken he showed
them his hands and his feet and while they yet believed not for
joy and wondered he said unto them, have you here any meat?
and they gave him a piece of a broad fish and of a honeycomb
and he took it and he did eat before them he deliberately partakes
of the food and where does he eat it? in their presence before
them it's a demonstration of the reality of his resurrection
and so whilst these two don't recognize him the only reason
is that their eyes were were hoarded held fast they couldn't
recognize him but he was that same Jesus that they had known
when he was tabernacling amongst men here upon the earth but how
we see his concern to minister to his disciples always we said
that was the purpose of him coming not to be ministered on to but to minister to others his
care for his disciples feeling for them we have not a high priest
Paul tells us which cannot be touched with the feeling of our
infirmities but was tempted in all points like as we are yet
without sin. He understands us. Or such a
high priest becomes us. I like that expression that Paul
uses to the Hebrews. Such a high priest becomes us. Now of course he becomes us in
one sense in that he is bone of our bone and flesh of our
flesh. For as much as the children were partakers of flesh and blood,
he likewise takes part of the same. He doesn't take upon Him
the nature of the angels. He's made lower than the angels.
He's a man. He's the man, Jesus of Nazareth. But in that expression,
such an High Priest became us. It really means He suits us. He's fitted, you see, to be of
real use to us. or the humility of the Lord Jesus
as he comes to minister. And what does he do ultimately
with regards to these two? Well, we're told, aren't we,
how before he leaves them their eyes are opened and they knew
him. Eventually he does reveal himself. Their eyes were opened and they
knew him, and he vanished away. But how did he open their eyes? Well, he opens their eyes, I
would say, in association with the opening of the Word of the
Scriptures. That's how he ministers to his
people. There, in verse 31, we're told
how their eyes were opened. Then in verse 32, as they speak
to one another they say did not our hearts burn within us while
he talked with us by the way and while he opened to us the
scriptures it was the opening up of the word that led to the opening of their
eyes this is what the Lord does and he said we come to the word
of God we wonder the Lord should open our eyes to the truth of
the scriptures and open our minds to understand and open our hearts
didn't the Lord open the heart of Lydia? All we read of that
blessed woman whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended
to those things that were spoken by Paul and Silas in Acts 16. When we come together like this
do we desire that the Lord would open our eyes, our understanding,
our ears, our mind, open our hearts, that we might have the
Word of God and that the Word of God might be that that is
real and vital to us. or the Lord you see comes and
ministers when he speaks of going away in John remember those chapters
14, 15 and 16 he must needs depart if he doesn't depart the spirit
will not come but if he depart he will send the spirit but he
says there doesn't he I will not leave you comfortless I will
come to you and he comes in here to comfort these or they are
talking together The subject matter is all about those events
that had taken place concerning Jesus of Nazareth and the Lord
is there with them. But let us turn in the second
place to the confused state of their minds. They just couldn't understand.
And the Lord speaks rather sharply, O fools and slow of heart to
believe all that the prophets have spoken. Ought not Christ
to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory? And beginning at Moses and all
the prophets, He expanded unto them in all the Scriptures the
things concerning Himself. Well, thinking of their confusion,
what was the cause? What was the cause of their confusion? Well, we have it there in verse
25. the words that the Lord uses this is that man of course who
is the prince of all preachers that man who never spoke one
idle word, every word every word was the right word and what does
the Lord say? He calls them fools oh fools
and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Now, this word rendered fool, it's a negative word, there's
a negative in front of the words. It begins with the letter alpha
and literally what the Lord is saying is you're not thinking,
you're not considering, you're not perceiving, you're not discerning,
you're not understanding. That's what he's saying. That's
the force of the expression that he uses. Now, remember the Lord
also uses the word in the course of the Sermon on the Mount, back
in Matthew. In Matthew 5.22 He's expounding
the sixth commandment, Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt do no murder,
and the Lord makes it plain that the Lord of God doesn't just
have to do with the deed no, God's Lord is spiritual it has
to do not just with our actions but also with our words with
our thoughts, that's how spiritual God's word is it exposes all
that we are, it's not just what we're doing it's interesting
what the Lord actually says in that verse, in that passage in
the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 5, verse 21, you have
heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill,
and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment.
But I say unto you that whosoever is angry with his brother without
a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. Isn't anger a state
of mind? Whosoever shall say to his brother
Raka the margin gives the expression thine fallow shall be in danger
of the council but whosoever shall say thou fool shall be
in danger of hell fire. So the word fool is there but
it's a different word It's a different word in the Sermon on the Mount
to what we have here on the road to Emmaus. There, when he says,
thou fool, the word literally means stupid, senseless. But it's quite different, you
see. When we come to this portion
in Luke 24, he's simply saying, you're not thinking. you're not
considering, you're not discerning, you're not perceiving you're
not understanding you're slow of heart oh fools, slow of heart
to believe all that is written by the prophets or they're not able to discern
the truth of holy scripture they're not able to discern. Now remember the scribes and
the Pharisees, those proud men, they thought they knew so much.
But how the Lord rebukes them, says that they were men who for
all their boasting were unable to discern the signs of the times. In Matthew 16 we see them as
they come and they're trying to catch the Lord Jesus out. They do this many times. The
Pharisees or the Sadducees, these various men, the rulers amongst
the Jews. The beginning of Matthew 16,
the Pharisees also with the Sadducees came and tempting desired him
that he would show them a sign from heaven. And He answered
and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair
weather, for the sky is red, and in the morning it will be
foul weather to-day, for the sky is red alone. O ye hypocrites,
ye can discern the face of the sky, but can ye not discern the
signs of the times? The wicked and adulterous generation
seeketh after a sign, and there shall no sign be given unto it
but the sign of the prophet Jonas. You may well be familiar with
the passage. But the Lord is rebuking them. They couldn't discern the signs
of the times. And so the Lord speaks here to
His disciples. And they're not thinking right. They're not discerning what they
should discern. They're old. How is it that we
are to perceive the truth of God's Word? Well, God has made us rational
beings. He communicates with us, doesn't
he, through our mind. That's the way God has made us.
He breathed into man's nostril the breath of life. He became
a living soul, and surely the mind, the understanding, that's
one of the faculties of the soul. It's that that distinguishes
us from the brute beast. But what is the state of our
minds? Well, we read of those unbelievers amongst the Gentile
nations having the understanding darkened, alienated from the
life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the
blindness of their hearts. And Paul, he often makes those
sort of statements. He speaks in Romans 8 of the
carnal mind. Remember Romans 8, 7, the carnal
mind. That's the natural mind that
we're born with. Enmity against God, not subject
to the Lord of God, he says. Neither indeed can be. We have minds. All our faculties are ruined
in the 4th. We're not what we were. And when
Paul writes to Timothy, he even speaks of some who were men of
corrupt minds. How we need that the Lord God
then should give us a sound mind. A sound mind. And when a man is born again
of the Spirit of God, and he becomes a partaker of the divine
nature, then is there not the restoration of man's mind? Oh,
remember the words of the apostle to the Colossians, the need of
putting on the new man. Colossians 3.10, have put on
the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the image
of him that created him. What was lost in the fall is restored in the new birth a sound mind so vital, so important
renewed in knowledge again when Paul speaks to Timothy he says
God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power and of love
and of a sound mind we need a sound mind And to use our mind, God has
made us that way. Be ye not as a horse or as a
mule that hath no understanding, whose mouth must be held in by
bit and bridle, lest it come near unto them. We have these
exhortations in scripture. We need a sound mind, a discerning
mind, an understanding mind. And from whence can it come?
It is only the Lord who can do it. And what do we read concerning
the Lord's ministry? He opens our understanding. You
see how the Lord is ministering to them here, these two on the
road to Emmaus. Yes, He speaks, as it were, that
words of reproof, we might say. but then it begins at Moses and
all the prophets and expands onto them in all the scriptures
are things concerning himself and then later when he appears
to his disciples in the upper room what does he say? verse 44, verse 45 These are the words which I spoke
unto you while I was yet with you, that all things must be
fulfilled which were written in the Lord of Moses and in the
Prophets and in the Psalms concerning Mary. Then openly their understanding
that they might understand the Scriptures. All we need the Lord
to open our understanding we need to pray over the Word of
God and we need to stretch our mind sometimes. I think it's
good practice. You know people don't like doctrine.
I know that's a generalization. I suppose there must be some.
There are some who love doctrine. My dear Martin Luther said doctrine
is heaven. He certainly loved doctrine. But today people aren't prepared
to stretch their minds. I think sometimes it's good to
read a book that's maybe a little bit beyond us, and to struggle,
to try to stretch the mind. That's the way God teaches us. We have great doctrinal truth
set before us here, of course, in Holy Scripture. Are we renewed
in knowledge? Or do we desire that sound mind? Or are we those who are slow,
slow of heart to believe all that's written in the Scriptures? And how the Lord deals with these
men, you see, and they... Oh, they're amazed, aren't they,
in the end? Their hearts were so burning
within them when the Lord was teaching them, instructing them. They're in a confused state.
And what was the cause of their confusion? Because they had darkened minds
and unbelieving hearts. But there's a cure, there is
a cure to it all. And what is the cure that is
set before us in this passage? Two aspects to that. The Lord
ministers to them by bringing them to a knowledge of the Scriptures
and really bringing them to a knowledge of Himself as the Saviour of
sinners. He certainly makes much use of
the words. There's no disputing that fact
not only here as we see it in verse 27 but as I said just now
again in verse 44. He begins at Moses and all the
prophets and expounds in all the scriptures the things concerning
himself. He's in all the Scriptures. He's
there throughout the Old Testament. Does he not say, to the Jews,
search the Scriptures, they testify of me. And what are these Scriptures? Well, it's interesting in verse
44, because we have the Jewish threefold
division of the Old Testament. He says all these things must
be fulfilled which were written in the Lord of Moses and in the
prophets and in the Psalms concerning me. Now that's a threefold division
that the Jews would be familiar with in their Old Testament.
They would speak of course of the Lord of Moses, the Book of
Torah. That's the first five books of Scripture. Genesis through
to Deuteronomy. And then they would speak of
the prophets And then the third division is what they would call
the hagiographer, the writings. The writings. And chief and principal
amongst the writings is the Book of Psalms. And so when the Lord
uses those words in verse 44, He's embracing all the Old Testament
scriptures. And this is what the Lord uses
in order to minister to His people, to comfort His people, to establish
His people. And this is how the apostles
minister, isn't it? When Paul is defining the gospel,
we saw it this morning. We read that passage in 1 Corinthians
15. And I said then that in the opening
words we have another definition of the gospel. Not dissimilar
to what we have at the beginning of the epistle to the Romans.
That's a definition of the gospel. You know, it's a wonderful definition
here in this 15th chapter. Moreover brethren, I declare
unto you the Gospel. The Gospel which I preached unto
you. The Gospel which also ye have received and the Gospel
wherein ye stand. The Gospel by which also ye are
saved. If ye keep in memory what I preached
unto you. unless you have believed in vain.
And then he says what it was that he had preached. I deliver
unto you first of all that which I also received, that Christ
died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was
buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the
Scriptures. Here is the Gospel. It concerns
the dying of the Lord Jesus, it concerns the rising again
from the dead of the Lord Jesus, and it's all written in the Scriptures.
Twice he says that. According as it is written in
the Scriptures. Oh friends, how important then
is the Word of God. Why is it that in our non-conformist
places of worship the pulpit is so central? Because we emphasize the the
importance of the Word, the Word to be read in the public place,
the Word to be opened up and expanded, and the Gospel that's
to be preached. It's because God ministers to
us by His Spirit here in His Word. And that's why when we
come together, we give that all-important place to the Scriptures. We believe
that this is the Book of God, inspired by the Spirit of God.
Inherent, no errors anywhere in it. The very words of God
that we have and of course this is why we still contend for the
old version, the authorised version, because it's such a faithful
rendering of the best manuscripts. We're not just old-fashioned,
we want the purity of the Word of God because the Word of God
is so important and the Lord Jesus surely recognized that
himself when the Lord is having to deal with Satan remember after
his baptism when he's led of the Spirit into the wilderness
he's tempted and how does the Lord deal with Satan? you can read it there, you're
familiar with the portion I'm sure of the beginning of Matthew
4 It is written, says Christ. It is written. It is written
again, three times. Satan come, how the Lord wields
that sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Oh, the Word
of God is not just the sword of the Spirit, it's the bread
of life. Man doesn't live by bread alone, but by every word
that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. it's the word and this
is what the Lord is using as he so graciously ministers to
these two on the road to Emmaus all they need to have a knowledge
of the scriptures they need to know the word of God but not only that there must
be that knowledge of the Lord himself the scriptures and the
Lord bear one tremendous name, the written and incarnate word
in all things are the same. Christ's words are not just those
words that we have recorded in the Gospels. It's all Christ's
words, from Genesis right through to Revelation. It's all, in its
totality, the Word of God and the Word of Christ. and here
we come to a knowledge of the Saviour all its life eternally
says to know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou
hast sent to know not just to know about the Lord Jesus in
an intellectual way we might have some intellectual understanding
but we want more than that we want to know him in that real,
that personal, that experimental way the reality of the man Christ
Jesus it's life eternal to know him and what was Paul's great desire?
all that I may know him that I may know him and the power
of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made
conformable unto his death. And of course, the order there
is not the chronological order, is it, of the Lord in his sufferings
and his death and his resurrection? Because there in Philippians
3.10, Paul puts the resurrection in the front, in the first place.
that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship
of His sufferings being made conformable unto His death we
can know nothing at all of the Lord Jesus until we know the
power of His resurrection that comes first that comes first,
that must come first and it's that power of the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus that comes into the soul of the sinner whereby
that sinner comes to believe. Now, that's so evident in that
great passage at the end of Ephesians 1. Remember the prayer. It's one of the prayers of Paul,
isn't it, that we have there. And what a prayer it is. He says, I cease not to give
thanks for you making mention of you in my prayers. And then
we have a sort of prayer really. This is his prayer for the Ephesians.
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,
may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the
knowledge of him. See how this relates to those
two on the road to Emmaus. How the Lord is ministering to
them, opening the Scriptures to them. that scripture that
reveals himself and his prayer Paul's prayer that the father of glory may
give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge
of him the eyes of your understanding being enlightened that ye may
know what is the hope of his calling and what the riches of
the glory of his inheritance in the saints and what is the
exceeding greatness of his power to us would you believe according
to the working of His mighty power which He wrought in Christ
when He raised Him from the dead and set Him at His own right
hand in the heavenly places. It's beautiful. It's Pauline.
Oh, it's Paul. He doesn't just speak of God's
power in verse 19, he speaks of His mighty power. He doesn't
just speak of the greatness of that power, but he speaks of
the exceeding greatness of that power. The exceeding greatness
of his power to ask or do believe. And it's according, it's in the
same manner as the working of his mighty power which he wrought
in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him at
his own right hand. That that was there in the resurrection
of Christ has to come into the soul of the sinner. That's what's
happening with these two on the road to Emmaus. It's the resurrected
Christ ministering to them, communicating to them the wonder of His great
power. Thy dead men shall live, together
with my dead body shall they arise. How the Lord ministers
you see. Or do we believe these things?
Do we believe these things? Going back to what we said this
morning, those dear women, Mary Magdalene, Joanna Mary, the mother
of James, and the other women, when the angels spoke to them
concerning what Christ had said, they remembered His words. They remembered His words. And
they come and tell the others, and their words seem to them
as idle tales. and they believe them not. Oh
God have mercy upon us we might not treat God's word as an idle
tale but love the word because it is that word that reveals
unto us that glorious person of the Lord Jesus Christ the
wonder of his work the grace that we so evident in the manner
of his ministry. Oh the Lord come then and open
our understanding that we might believe the Scriptures, that
He might come and open our hearts, that we might receive it into
the very depths of our souls. May the Lord bless His Word to
us now. Amen.