Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to Luke chapter 24, the chapter
that we read, and reading from our text, verse 17. Verse 17. And he said unto them, What manner of communications
are these that ye have one to another as ye walk and are sad? Now, this morning we spoke to
you of four questions that were asked on the morning of the resurrection,
the first day of the week. And this evening we look at six
questions that were asked in the evening of the same day. Now, the Word of God is the inspired
Word of God, and it's not by chance that we have recorded
in it what is recorded in it. And when we have questions, then
those are put there by design, by God. And it is with that thought
that I bring before you the questions that were asked and recorded
for us on this first day of the week. Now, you remember our Lord
when he commenced, you might say, his ministry, though it
wasn't the official commencing of it, it's when he was 12 years
of age. And he remained at Jerusalem. His parents, or Joseph and Mary,
had gone on their way, and then when they missed him, they went
back to seek him. And they found him in the midst
of the doctors, the lawyers, those of the religious teachers
in the temple, and he was both hearing them and asking them
questions. And here we have the resurrection
morn, the same thing. And this account here on the
way to Emmaus, we have again him hearing them, and asking
them questions. In fact there's only one question
that they ask of him but there are the five questions that he
asks of them. And we know that questioning
is a very powerful thing. If we hadn't got this account
or if It was that the Lord was immediately known to them when
he drew near to them on the Emmaus Road. Then you wouldn't have
had this dialogue, you wouldn't have had the questions, the answers,
we wouldn't have known what was going on in their hearts, what
was being said, what the feelings were at that time. Questions
are a very powerful way. I often use them when I go into
the schools with the Bibles and speak to the children, I ask
them a lot of questions. And those questions, they bring
answers, which bring further questions from them, and it also
tells me where they're coming from, how much they actually
know, how much they've been taught, what things actually need to
be addressed. It is a very useful a conversation
that comes as it is here, a two-way conversation. And so we need
to remember that. A child when it is learning,
when it's young, very often he's asking questions all the time.
Sometimes it is the word why, why, why, why this, why that? and they're learning from those
questions that they actually ask. So if we have those questions,
and with the dear disciples on this first day of the week, there's
no doubt many questions they had in their minds, but our Lord
met them with many questions as well, which drew out from
them those things that they were going through. So if you join
with us this evening, and you have many questions, Many things
that you like to ask, many things you can't reconcile or can't
understand, then may this be an encouraging portion for you
this evening. The six questions that belong
to the resurrection day, the first day of the week, and that
were asked in the evening, in the first part of this chapter,
we have one of the questions that was asked in the morning
at the grave, why seek ye the living among the dead? I won't
go through the other questions that we addressed this morning,
but the rest of this chapter contains the other six questions
I decided to look at this evening. So our text is actually the first
question that is asked, and it is, as the Lord draws near to
these two on the way to Emmaus, we're told that it is toward
evening, the day is fast spent, that is why later on they constrained
him to go into them. But we would remember this is
seven and a half, eight miles that they are traveling, they're
walking. If they're very quick walkers,
that would be a two hour journey. And if they're going to go walking
that two hours, that's the talking they had with the Lord. And when
he was revealed to them, they went back those two hours back
down to the apostles again and to meet with them, no doubt spurred
on by what they had seen and heard. But what a journey that
that was. But here we have them on the
journey and as they're going this stranger comes and joins
with them. We read that they were talking
together of all these things which had happened, came to pass
that while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew
near and went with them, but their eyes were holden that they
should not know him. This happened several times on
this first day of the week. The Lord was there, but not known
and hidden from them as to who he was. And it's not an unusual
thing. We think of how it was with Samuel
when he did not yet know the Lord and the Lord spoke to him. And he thought that the voice
that he heard was the voice of Eli who was bringing him up. But it was the Lord that was
speaking to him, and Samuel was ordained to be a prophet of the
Lord, that would often hear the voice of the Lord. The Apostle
Paul, when he writes to the Thessalonians, he tells them that they received
the word that was preached to them as it was in truth, not
the word of man, but the word of God. Now we are not inspired
like the Apostle, we do not bring words directly from God, but
we are commissioned to preach the Word, and we preach the Word
of God and bring before you the Word of God, and it is God speaking
through that Word, through the minister's mouth, his own Word
that he spoke upon the earth. And so when we have the Lord
here coming to the dear disciples, he comes and he speaks to them
and his opening remarks are to ask a question. So this is the
first question. He said unto them, what manner
of communications are these that ye have one to another as ye
walk and are sad? And really, just in the question,
we have a lot of things that are told to us. We're told that
they are communing one with another. The Lord knew that. He knew where
they were. He knew that they were walking.
He knew that they were sad as well. And, you know, I believe
he knew full well exactly what they were speaking. but he spoke
this to draw it out of them so that he would hear from their
own lips what they were speaking. Now there's a real reminder here.
The Lord knows our way. He knows not only what we say
one to another, he knows whether we're sad, he knows what lies
heavy on our hearts, He knows even what we are thinking. He
knows all things. We cannot hide anything from
Him. We are told that the thought
of foolishness is sin, and we shall give an account of those
things that we say and think and do. Every word which man
shall speak, he shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. And so our Lord did know, and
the Lord knows what you and I speak, all about our path and our way
as well. And yet, I believe I have proved,
I've known what it has been to have been sharing things with
another, over the telephone actually, and that the Lord has been pleased
as I've turned away from that phone call to so draw near and
bless and soften my heart. And it's been a good thing to
speak one to another of the things of God. And I would really encourage
you to speak one to another. Then they that feared the Lord
spake one to another, and the Lord hearkened and heard. We
read it in the end of the Old Testament, Malachi. A book of remembrance was written
on those that thought upon his name. And it is in that way the
Lord so often draws near. The Lord is that silent listener
that hears what is being said, that knows the heart, that reads
that sadness, that sorrow. He doesn't misunderstand it like
Eli did with Hannah. And so here he comes, and he
asks his question not so much that he might know, but to draw
it out from them to him. And there is that reminder. God does hear. Yes, we may come
before him in prayer and lay it before the Lord in prayer,
but he does hearken and hear when we speak one to another.
And so this question he asked them. Now, let us ask ourselves
this. This is the Lord's day. This
is the day of rest, the day that the Lord has for himself. You
think throughout the day, what manner of communications have
we had? Would we like to tell the Lord?
Would we like to tell these people what we've been talking about? Have we been sad? Why have we
been sad? Maybe we haven't been sad. Maybe we haven't been touched
by the sight of so many having no concern for their souls and
no desire for the things of God. It's a question, isn't it? What have we been communicating
and speaking throughout this day? Well, when the Lord asks
this question, they then ask a question in return. They do not directly tell him
what they have been speaking. We're told in verse 18, this
is the second question, that the one whose name was Cleopas
answering said unto him, and he answers him with a question,
are thou only a stranger in Jerusalem and hast not known the things
which are come to pass there in these days? It immediately
gives the rise to What had happened there at Jerusalem was not something
that had been done in a corner, is not just something that had
just been done and slipped the notice of many. In the eyes of
these two, on the way to Emmaus, what had been done was so public,
so outstanding, so great a thing, that it must be someone that
was an utter stranger to Jerusalem. that wouldn't know the things
that had happened here. They remember that. That which was done was not done
in a corner. That which is recorded in the
holy and sacred infallible word of God is not something that
is done and people didn't know about it. The Romans knew about
it. They crucified the Lord. The people dwelling at Jerusalem
They knew about it. So they asked out there only
a stranger. What were to speak to the Lord
Jesus Christ? Only a stranger. In one sense,
he was a stranger. And really all of the Lord's
dear people are. The Lord says, I am not of this
world. even as they are not of this
world. Or the other way around, they
are not of this world, even as I am not of this world. The Lord's kingdom was from hence,
he said in the garden. If my kingdom were of this world,
then would my servants fight. But my kingdom is not from hence. And really for At this present
time, with these two, the Lord was a stranger to them, but they
were not a stranger to Him. And really, with all the Lord's
dear people, there is a time at first when He is a stranger
to them. They do not know Him, and He
can draw near to them, He can speak to them, and they still
do not know Him. until he reveals himself to them. The Lord is not a stranger to
what happened at Jerusalem. Why, he was the Paschal Lamb. He was the one of whom they were
talking. He was the subject. He was certainly
not a stranger. But what a question, and what
we can tell from that question as to the greatness of those
things that had happened. So our Lord answers with another
question, with just two words, and he says,
what things? Really, they hadn't answered
the question that he had first asked them. So he continues to
draw out from them what those things were and what they were
speaking of. You know, in a natural sense,
we have those that are treating those that are ill, especially
depressed or mentally ill in some way, and they would try
to draw them out. Try to find out what it is. What
is the problem? What is the burden? What it is
that is worrying them and trying them? And this is what the Lord is
doing here. The Lord knows how to aim right
at the trial, right at the burden, right at that which very often
His dear people, when He begins to work in their hearts, When
He gives them eternal life, they do not know themselves. And very
often, you know, that is why those who are sick go to those
people who are probing to ask, because they can't work it out
themselves. They don't know. Many times,
Lord's dear people, they're strangers to themselves. They don't know
themselves. They can't understand themselves.
One of our hymns says, what am I? Strange myself and paths appear. Life seems to be just a complete
puzzle to them. They can't understand their thoughts,
can't understand their feelings. When the Lord first began with
me and brought me to realise such ignorance of the things
of God, and I wanted to attend every time I could to the house
of God, to read the word, to take every opportunity to know
the things of God which I felt so ignorant of. But at the same
time, the Lord was working in my life. I thought I could continue
on with all my pleasures, with all my pursuits, with all the
things that I was doing, and I wondered why I couldn't find
the pleasure in them as before, I couldn't find the delight in
them as I had before. I never put the two things together,
I didn't know why that was so. But you know when the Lord brings
a real concern of a soul, and makes the things of eternity
to be so great to a person, Then the things of time become like
Solomon says in Ecclesiastes. Vanity of vanity saith the preacher. All is vanity. Is that what is
happening to you? Vanity is stamped upon everything? An emptiness, a hollowness? An
aching void, says the hymn writer. An aching void that the world
cannot fill. Will the Lord with his questions
He then draws out to find out, what is this? What is this going
on? And what is this that's troubling?
So he says in verse 19, what things? And then they told him,
they said unto him, concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was
a prophet, mighty indeed, and word before God and all the people,
and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be
condemned to death and have crucified him. But we trusted that it had
been he which should have redeemed Israel. And beside all this,
today is the third day since these things were done. And we
can see so much going on in their mind here. They identify it is
Jesus of Nazareth, They're not able to say that he was the Christ. When our Lord appeared to the
woman at the well of Samaria and she says, we know that when
Christ cometh he shall tell us all things, he said, I that speak
unto thee am he. He clearly said that he was.
But these two are not able to clearly no doubt if they had
felt so, their faith had been so shaken now with those things
that had happened. Is your faith shaken because
of the things that have happened, the things that have come to
pass, they had trusted? It should have been he that should
have redeemed Israel. And their interpretation of what
things they'd seen happen had been that he hadn't redeemed
Israel. They hadn't seen that. That which
had happened was to redeem his people. They had an idea that
he would set them free from the Roman rule, that he'd redeem
them in that way. And maybe we've got different
ideas as to how the Lord will deliver us and how the Lord will
bless us and favour us. Well, they tell what had happened
to him, being condemned and then being crucified. And there was
their trust, seemingly in ruins. But then they add this, that
it is the third day. They don't enlarge on this. But
they obviously felt there was some significance in this. It's
the third day. Certainly the rulers had felt
there was. They had said, they had charged
and called the Lord a deceiver and that he said that he would
rise again on the third day. And no doubt these disciples,
they knew this. And certainly the Lord had told
them. This commandment have I received from my father. I have power
to lay down my life. I have power to take it again.
And then they add this, yea, and certain women also of our
company made us astonished which were early at the sepulchre.
When they found not his body, they came saying that they had
also seen a vision of angels which said that he was alive. And all of these things, they're
opening up, they're telling and hear part of the inspired word
of God in answer to this question, what things? We have this beautiful
summary in the, as it were, the view of the apostles, view of
the disciples of what had happened here on this first day of the
week. you know, maybe be very clear
in prayer and before the Lord to bring all of these things. No doubt in their own minds they
couldn't reconcile any of these things. Whole lots of disjointed
things all brought together and they couldn't put them together
and couldn't reconcile them, make them work together. Be like
a child coming with all the bits of a jigsaw puzzle and say, look,
I can't work this out. I can't see the picture. I can't
know how this goes together at all. And the parent comes and
they put all the bits together. And then the picture is clear.
There's times like this that we need to bring things to the
Lord, cast our burdens upon Him, lay it before Him, God is his
own interpreter, and he will make it plain. Those things that,
like with Daniel, many times he was asked, these dreams, what
do they mean? What do they signify? God gave
an answer, an answer to his prayers. We have Joseph interpreting the
dreams that Pharaoh had, or that the butler and the baker had
before that. And then the Lord interpreted,
Providence interpreted his own dreams those many years before. God knows, God knows what he
is doing. And there are those times in
our lives it all seems wrong, all seems disjointed, never seems
to add up. What are the what things in your
life and in mine? What would we add as our narrative
here? Well this then is the third question,
what things? The fourth then is the Lord's
answer to this which is found in verse 26. Our Lord said to them in verse
25, O fools and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets
have spoken. He gently reproved them at the
same time he's pointing to the Old Testament, he's pointing
to the prophets. And he asked this question, Ought
not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His
glory? Now remember, they do not know
that He is Christ. But they do know that Christ
was to come. They do know that the Old Testament
Scriptures spoke of Him, that the original promise was in the
first book of Moses, Genesis, the seed of the woman should
bruise the serpent's head. and that he should bruise his
heel. Immediately in that very first
promise, implying that there should be suffering to the seed
of the woman. But our Lord asked this question,
ought not Christ to have suffered these things? The crucifixion,
what did the law say? Cursed is everyone that hangeth
upon a tree. Our Lord was made a curse for
us, and that is why he hung upon the wood, upon the tree. What did the Lord say? Without
the shedding of blood, there is no remission. What did all
the sacrifices say? The question that Isaac had for
his father as they went up the mount. My father, the fire, the
wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? There must
be a lamb. God will provide himself, says
Abraham, a lamb for a burnt offering. Well, there was at that time
a ram caught in the thicket by its horns that was offered up
in the stead of Isaac. But the Lord Jesus Christ is
that provision, God's provision. His own Son himself was to be
the offering. And this is set before us right
through the Scriptures in all of the sacrifices, In all that
was set forth, and we think of Isaiah 53, that speaks so clearly
of the wounding, the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ. These
things they would have known, they would have been familiar
with, to have the scriptures but need, like the eunuch had,
a need of an interpreter. He was reading that 53rd of Isaiah. Who was the prophet speaking,
he said to Philip, of himself or some other man? And Philip
came up into the chariot and began the same scripture and
preached unto him, Jesus. And so what happened at Calvary,
what happened at Jerusalem, was in complete accord with the Old
Testament scriptures. It was necessary that Christ
suffer. It was necessary that the blood
was shed. It was necessary that he should
be offered up. And I said, our Lord, if I be
lifted up above the earth, will draw all men unto me. It is vital that this was done. What was the glory of God? What
was Christ's glory? Was it just heaven, or is it
not the glory that is due unto Him and Him alone as being the
Redeemer, the Saviour of the people of God? There is none
that stands with the Lord in this position. His name was called
Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. And that crown of glory as Saviour
is upon His head, this crown of Redeemer, is upon his head,
and yes, he then ascended up into glory, and there is as a
lamb as it had been slain at the right hand of the Father,
the Lord Jesus Christ, the same that was crucified, the same
that rose again, the same is in heaven, a living Saviour. So our Lord has this question,
Ought not Christ to have suffered these things? Dear friends, if
you and I know our sinnership, if we know what our sins deserve,
if we know the justice of God, the necessary judgment of God,
the soul that sinneth it shall die, if we know the Old Testament
Scriptures, we know that if ever our poor soul is saved, his Christ
must be the way, and that it must be alone, through the bloodshedding
of our Lord Jesus Christ. He laid down his life for his
sheep and he took it again. The taking it again proved that
he was truly God, proved the sacrifice was accepted, proved
the debt had been paid, proved the wrath of God had been taken
away. So that is the fourth question. Ought not Christ to have suffered
these things and to enter into his glory? And now we come to
the last two questions. This is when the Lord appeared
to the disciples in the upper room. These two, on the way to
Emmaus, had returned, and the Lord then comes to them And we
read in verse 38 that, when he came and stood
in the midst of them, the doors were shut, that they were terrified
and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. Mustn't forget that these were
men just as you and I, and to suddenly have One come in the
midst and stand in the midst of them. When he asked this question,
he said unto them, Why? Why are ye troubled? And why
do thoughts arise in your hearts? Really, there's two questions
here, isn't there? We count it as one. Why? Why
are you troubled? Why do thoughts arise? hearts. They thought they had seen a
spirit. One thing that is so vital in
this account and in the Scriptures of truth, that it was the true
bodily resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is why in
our Articles of Faith we specifically say that we believe that the
very bones and flesh that hung upon the cross are now glorified
in heaven. They're not on earth, they're
nowhere else, but it is the resurrection of that same Jesus. Not just a mirage, not just a
spirit, not just a disembodied person, And yes, you might say,
well, how could he go through, go through a shut door? But God can do all things. We are confined to laws of nature. He is not. And here we have a
real demonstration. He asked this question about
their troubled thoughts and rising in their hearts. And in an answer
to it, he doesn't Wait for them to answer. He knows why. He knows the answer. He says,
behold my hands and my feet that it is I myself. Handle me and
see for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as you see me have. How vital that this is so clearly
set forth in the scriptures of truth. how that we have this
question that brings this out. Again, we state this is inspired
word of God, that God has seen fit to emphasize these questions
so that he may say without any shadow of a doubt, here is the
risen saviour, here is a deliverance from death. Death could not hold
him. Death has not bound him. Then we have the sixth question,
and really it's to seal this same truth to them. He says in verse 41, have ye
here any meat? And they gave him a piece of
a broiled fish and of a honeycomb, and he took it and did eat before
them. Again, these things are done,
and these last two questions The whole emphasis is to tell
us that Christ has risen indeed, his bodily resurrection from
the dead, and then later on his ascension up into heaven. We
mentioned this morning Paul's very clear teaching in 1 Corinthians
chapter 15, where's the joining together of the resurrection
of the dead and the resurrection of our Lord. How vital it is
that there is a resurrection of the dead. If the dead rise
not, then is Christ not risen? If Christ is not risen, then
we are yet in our sins. They that have fallen asleep
in Christ are perished. Our preaching is vain. We are
false witnesses. So much hangs upon the Resurrection
is a central truth of the Christian faith. The empty tomb is so vital. Yes, the bloodshed, the sacrifice,
but the setting free from death, the deliverance from death, the
conquest, the victory over the grave. This is what we have in
our Lord Jesus Christ. And he says, because I live,
ye shall live also. So we have in this 24th chapter
of Luke, this time of the evening of the first day of the week,
the day of the resurrection, six questions. And if we were
to divide the fifth question, we might say there's seven questions. And in those questions and the
answer to it, we have a beautiful opening up of the very precious,
vital truths of the Resurrection. The Lord is risen indeed. May the Lord bless these things
to us. May there be a help to us in
all our questions, in all our paths. In all those things that
we may speak one to another with and be sad, may the Lord himself
draw near and interpret to us our path and our way. For as
sure as he did with these two here on the way to Emmaus, so
he will to all his dear people. Those things, those causes that
are too hard for us, may to bring them to the Lord. And God is
his own interpreter. and he will make it plain. May the Lord add his blessing.
Amen.