I invite your attention to the
24th chapter of the Gospel according to Luke. The Gospel according to Luke,
the third book in the New Testament. 24th chapter. We're going to be again looking
from verse number 13 down through verse number 35 and the subject of this exposition
is with Jesus to and in Emmaus. Let me first say that I am blessed
to be here tonight and blessed to be before you. In the last 29 days, I've been
blessed to preach the gospel 20 times in 17 different places,
and we wrap it up this evening. The Lord's been pleased to bless
us with a good trip. Except that I can say, Chris,
that my wife has now heard me 20 times. She's ready to hear
you for a few weeks now. She'll be remaining for a few
weeks. I return to St. Croix on Wednesday,
God willing. Appreciate your prayers. Pray
the Lord be pleased to open his word unto us this night. Luke
chapter 24 verse 13. In the first part of this chapter
we find the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Certain women had come to the
tomb very early in the morning on the first day of the week
and discovered that he was not therein. An angel from God told
them that he was risen just as he had said he would. Go tell
his disciples. And so they did. Later that day,
we read of two men walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus And we read
of them beginning in verse number 13. Now behold, two of them disciples
of Jesus Christ, not of the apostles, and we know not much else about
them. But they were traveling that same day, the same day of
the resurrection of Jesus Christ, later in that day. And they were traveling, they
were walking to a village called Emmaus, which was about seven
miles from Jerusalem. And they talked together of all
of these things which had happened. They talked of Jesus. Things had not turned out like
they had thought they should. They talked of his passion, his
death, and his burial. They evidently did not know he
had been raised from the dead, except that they had been told
that it was so. They had seen no proof of it. And so it was, verse 15, while
they conversed and reasoned, wondering, What has happened? That Jesus himself drew near
and went with them. He just joined them as they were
walking. But their eyes were restrained
so that they did not know him. Perhaps he's in a garment they
had not recognized before. And perhaps he just clouded their
vision, whatever. They did not recognize that it
was their Lord and Savior who was here walking with them. And he said to them, what kind
of conversation is this that you have with one another as
you walk and are sad? He could tell that they were
sad. They were sad. It was as though some dreams
and aspirations had been dashed. They were confused. As we said, things had not turned
out as they thought they should have. And so he asked them, what
are you talking about? And by the way, why are you so
sad? Then the one whose name was Cleopas,
we know only his name. There is another man in Scripture
named Cleopas. We do not even know that this
was the same Cleopas. It's unimportant. One was named Cleopas, and we're
not told the name of the other, but the one whose name was Cleopas
answered and said to Jesus, Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem? And have you not known the things
which have happened there in these days? Are you a stranger here? Have
you just come to this place? Are you not aware of what has
happened in the last three days or so? And Jesus said to them, what
things? What's happened? And they said to him, The things
concerning Jesus of Nazareth, that's where he was raised, that
was his home in his earliest days, until he began his ministry
at the age of about 30, at which time he was living in Capernaum. But Nazareth is the place where
he was raised. They identified him as a prophet,
mighty in deed and word. The things he did, and the words
he uttered, he was mighty in those deeds. The miracles he
had performed, the healings, the exorcisms, and all those
things he had done. The feeding of the thousands,
miraculously. They knew of these things, and
he was mighty in his deeds. He was mighty in his words. Mighty. In his preaching, he was mighty
in his teaching. Even those who heard him, who
did not necessarily believe in him, recognized that he spoke
as one having authority and not as the scribes and Pharisees. He spoke with authority. It was
known he had authority. It was known that he was a man
sent from God. Nicodemus said so. We know that
you are a man sent from God. No one can do the things you
do unless God is with him. No one can say the things you
say unless God gives the utterance to him. And so, they spoke with
him concerning those things. And here is Jesus learning from
them what they knew of him, a prophet, mighty indeed in word, not only
before the people, but even before God. It is one thing to be mighty
indeed in word before people, but it is another thing entirely
different to be Mighty before God and Jesus of Nazareth was. God looked upon this one and
said, that's my son. Hear what he has to say. Do what
he tells you to do. He was mighty indeed in word
before God and also the people. Have you not heard of verse 20,
how the chief priest and our rulers, that would be the Sanhedrin,
the council of 70 men who ruled the religious affairs of Israel,
who met there in Jerusalem. They ruled the people. Even Pilate,
the Roman governor, gave them authority to exercise rule over
the Jews. They had delivered him to be
condemned to death. and crucified him. Notice to
whom the crucifixion of Jesus Christ is here ascribed. It is
ascribed to the rulers of the people. Yes, it was Pilate who
consented to let the dastardly deed be done. But it was these
people, the rulers of Israel, who joined together with Pilate,
unbeknownst to them, in fulfillment of the Scriptures, by God's predestination. Pilate and the rulers of Israel
and the people of the Jews and also the Romans gathered together
to do God's will. And here these are recounting
to Jesus Christ that part and that deed that had been done
by the Sanhedrin, how that Jesus had been delivered to Pilate,
how he'd been condemned to death and how they crucified him. But we were hoping, verse 21,
that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Well, He had redeemed Israel. Learn a lesson here. You may sit for three and a half
years or longer under the ministry of a faithful gospel preacher,
and these men were disciples of Jesus Christ, not apostles,
but they were disciples, but they still had some baggage from
their Judaism. They thought Jesus was going
to come and redeem Israel away from the Romans, the nation.
Even the apostles had some misconceptions. Even on the day that Jesus was
ascended into heaven, they thought that he was going to restore
the kingdom. Some preconceived notions that
we bring with us from religion are hard to get rid of. And these men also. We thought
Jesus was going to redeem Israel. And unbeknownst to him, he had
done so, except it was not done in the way that they were expecting. We thought we would now be a
free people. Well, they were, except it was
not in the way that they thought. They were still traveling with
this baggage of religion. Indeed, besides all this, today
is The third day since these things happened, the third day
since he was nailed to a tree, we had high hopes and we had
high aspirations of what Jesus would do, this man mighty in
deed and word before God and the people and well, last time
we saw him, he was nailed to a tree and he died. And he was buried. And verse 22, certain women of
our company who arrived at the tomb early, they astonished us. We were startled at what they
had to say when they did not find his body. These were the
women who had come early in the morning after the Sabbath. The Sabbath concluded at sundown
on Saturday. And the first day, as it began
to dawn, that would be the first day of the week, what we call
Sunday, as the sun began to rise, here came these women, and they
were going to anoint the body of Jesus Christ. He had to be
put into the tomb on the Sabbath, or just before the Sabbath, and
no work could be done on the Sabbath, and so these women were
coming to tend to his body. and to make it suitable for burial
and for remaining there in the tomb. We were astonished at what
they had to say when they did not find his body. They came
saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said he
was alive. Well, okay, now they are really
startled. I mean, the last time we saw
him, he's dead on the tree. We heard he's alive, and they
do not understand what has happened. How can it be? Is it true that
he who died has been raised from the dead? And they did not understand
any of these things, and so the news he had been raised from
the dead was an astonishment to them. Verse 24, and certain of those
who were with us went to the tomb, certain of the other disciples,
and particularly this would be John and Peter, when they were
told he was raised, the angel said, go tell Peter. And Mary
had run to the residence of Peter there in Jerusalem and had told
him, and he and John had run to the tomb. We read that John
was younger than Peter. Peter was an elderly gentleman
at this time, and he was running as fast as he could. But John
was a young man, and out ran him. And John had gone to the
tomb, and he peered inside, and lo and behold, it's empty, except
for the garments that had been around him. And Peter finally
reached the tomb, and he just walked right on in and looked
around. Sure enough, he's not here. He's
not here. His garment, actually the swaddling
cloth that had been wrapped around him, it was lying there where
he had come out of it. And the napkin that had been
placed around his head, strangely, it had been folded. Folded and
neatly put into a place by which they know his body is not stolen. If somebody's going to steal
your body, they do not take the napkin off of your face and fold
it up and put it in the spot. Jesus had done this. Jesus had
risen, did not need the grave clothes any longer. They fell
to the place where they were when he stood and he took the
napkin off his face and folded it and put it down as proof my
body was not stolen. And we heard about this. Certain
of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just
as the women had said, but him they did not see. He's not there. And so here these
men are, they're talking with Jesus, and they're telling Him
all the things He already knew better than they did, but He
has not interrupted them. He's let them tell about the
things He did in deed and in word, and how He was condemned
and delivered to be crucified, how He died, and this report. He let them tell Him how that
it had been said. His tomb is empty, he is not
there. Verse 25, then he said to them,
oh foolish ones, what a rebuke. Oh foolish ones and slow of heart
to believe in all the prophets, all that the prophets have spoken.
Why have you not believed? Did I not walk with you for three
and a half years? Did I not teach you? Have you
not read the prophets? Well, of course they had. These
disciples of Jesus Christ were well-versed in the prophets. They knew the Old Testament.
They knew the prophecies. They knew the prophecy of Isaiah
chapter 53. How that he would die, but then
he would behold his seed. They knew that he would prosper
after he died. They knew that the prophets had
said he would be put into a tomb, but his body would not see decay
nor corruption. They knew that he was prophesied
to rule and reign. They knew he had not done so
yet, but they knew that he would. They knew the prophet said so,
and yet they had not believed what they read. Are you and I guilty of that? Or shall I say, Am I the only
one here who sometimes has doubts and questions about the things
of God? I also am sometimes foolish and
slow of heart to believe. I say it to my shame, but we're
not told the name of the man who walked with Cleopas, I think his name might have meant
Moose Parks. How often is it that we know
what God has said, we know the promises of God, and yet we doubt
and question the way that God deals with us. Oh foolish ones
and slow of hearts. Verse 26. Not the Christ to have suffered
these things and to enter into his glory? Had not the prophet
said it would happen? Did it not happen just like the
prophet said it would? Why have you not believed? Why
are you so foolish and slow of heart? Verse 27 And beginning
at Moses, that would be the first five books of the Bible which
Moses wrote, and beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he's
beginning in Genesis and going through the Bible to Malachi,
he expounded to them in all the scriptures, the Old Testament,
the things concerning himself. I love that text. Every time a preacher of God
takes a text, matters not what the text is, he looks for Christ. He looks for Christ. We gospel
preachers are rather strange in this world In that we find
Christ all the way through the scriptures. Other people read
the scriptures and they find other things. They find things that suit their
fancies. If a man's emphasis is baptism,
he'll look for baptism all the way through the Bible. If his
emphasis is on the church, he'll be looking for the church in
all the scriptures. If it's on eschatology, things
to come, the last things, that's what he's going to look for.
He might become an expert in those things, but he's missed
the whole point. The whole point. This is a hymn book. H-I-M-B-O-O-K. This is history. H-I-S-S-T-O-R-Y. This is a book about him. This
is a story about him. This is his story. And Jesus
began at Moses and went through the scriptures. Now remember,
they are eight miles in walking that day. From Jerusalem to Emmaus,
you can say a lot in eight miles. They're walking along, perhaps
rather leisurely. It's about between probably four
and six in the afternoon. And he expounded unto them in
all the scriptures the things concerning himself. God forbid
that we look in the scriptures for anything other than him.
Then notice, it's all about him. He expounded unto them and all
the scriptures the things concerning himself. My son has been blessed to preach
in a number of places and I have been blessed to read his notes
or his outline the day before he preaches. He sends it to me
in email, sends his notes to me and says, uh, read this, tell
me what you think. And, uh, well I'll tell you what
I think. I've been blessed. I've taken a number of paragraphs
and made articles and put them in the bulletin. But he made
a statement one time that really stuck. At the moment it is foremost
in anything I ever heard from him. But he said that Christ
is the only preacher from God who preached himself. That is
so profound. That is so profound. I am not in this book except
in the description of sinners. I don't go looking in this book
for most parts. Jesus did. It's all about him. Beginning at Moses and in all
the prophets There are some messages of Jesus that are recorded the
Sermon on the Mount Matthew chapters 5 6 & 7 Somewhat lengthy and
bear in mind that even in those three chapters. You may be reading
only a summary It probably is not every word. He said there's
the upper room discourse goes for quite some a lengthy passage
There in the upper room, he talks about his going away, not leaving
his people comfortless. He'll send a comforter. There
is the Olivet Discourse on the Mount of Olives, a rather lengthy
passage that describes the things to come. There is in Matthew
chapter 23 a message in which he denounces scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites, brood of vipers. And you can read some of these
messages of Jesus Christ, the things he taught. You can read
at some length. I have read them, I have rejoiced. I hope it's not wrong of me to
think so, but I wish I could have heard this
message. I wish I could have been there
on that afternoon, walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus. I wish I
could have heard Jesus expounding in all the scriptures the things
concerning himself. I would have loved to have heard
that message. About the best I can do is devote
my ministry Trying to do the same thing showing you from the
scriptures the things concerning Jesus Christ Then they drew near
to the village verse 28 They drew near to the village where
they were going that would have been Emmaus and he Jesus indicated
Let them know that he would have gone further. They were at their
residence and he Acts as though he's going to go further But
they constrained him They said abide with us We have a hymn
abide with me fast falls the even tide Well, it comes from
this text. They said abide with us Yes, they were showing Jewish
hospitality Jewish hospitality required in that place where
there were maybe no ends, no place to stay. Stranger comes
through, you give him a place for the night. They constrained
him even though he had called them foolish and slow of heart. They constrained him because
he had just expounded unto them and all the scriptures the things
concerning himself. They wanted to know more. They
constrained him. They said, stay with us, abide
with us. It is toward evening. The sun
will be set soon. The day is far spent. And so he went in to stay with
them. And it came to pass as he sat at the table with them,
the table, They're not only going to give him a place to sleep
for the night, but they've put a table and put bread, perhaps
some wine or water there, something to eat and something to drink. It was the evening meal. It was
not the big meal. The big meal would have been
at the middle of the day in their day. So this was somewhat of
a repast. This is just something light
before going to bed. And it would have been the custom
for the host to take the loaf of bread and to break it and
hand some to that man and hand some to that man and to hand
some to Jesus. But before the host could take
the loaf of bread to break it, Jesus took it. Just reached out
and took that loaf of bread. He took bread. Blessed him. after the Lord's blessing on
the bread. He broke it and he gave it to them. Then their eyes
were opened and they knew him. Something happened when he put
that bread in his hand. and reached out and handed it
to Cleopas and handed a piece of bread to the other man. They
saw the hand that gave the bread to them. They saw the hand that had the
print of a nail in it. Their eyes were opened. They
now are really astonished. That's the hand that was nailed
to the tree. That hand that now gives this
bread to us. They knew him. This is Jesus. And just as they recognized him,
he's gone. He vanished. The scriptures do
not say he walked away, the scripture says he vanished, he's gone! And there they are, bread in
their hands, and they know who it was that walked with them
on the road to Emmaus. And they said to one another,
did not our heart burn within us while he talked with us on
the road and while he opened the scriptures to us. Did not
our heart burn? You know, I've had heartburn and it wasn't pleasant. This was. If Jesus gives you heartburn,
it will bless you. Did not our heartburn, notice
the heart, singular, they were one in their heart. Did not our
heartburn, they then realized that as they were walking on
the road, they were being edified by what he had to say. Cleopas, my heart burned in me
as he spoke. And now I know why. It was he
who was speaking to us about himself from all the scriptures. Did not our heart burn within
us? While he talked with us on the
road and while he opened the scriptures to us. Notice, he
opened the scriptures to us. Unless He opens the scriptures
to you, this book will always be closed. He must open this book. Jesus Christ and Him alone is
the key that opens this book. He takes the key. He opens the
book. He shows to us from this book
everything that is therein concerning Himself. He opened the scriptures and
then he opened their eyes and then he opened their hearts.
How blessed we are when Jesus opens things to us. So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem eight
miles back. They had just walked eight miles
Now they're going to go back 8 miles to Jerusalem. I dare say the 8 mile walk back was faster than
the 8 mile walk there to Emmaus. Because they've got a report
that must be made. They've got good news. They've got the gospel, because
the gospel is good news. And they're going to rush back
as fast as they can to Jerusalem. They must find the eleven and
the rest of the disciples and tell them what they had just
seen. They rose up. They did not take
a nap. They did not rest. They got up
that very hour, returned to Jerusalem, found the eleven, and those who
were with them gathered together, saying, The Lord is risen indeed
and has appeared to Simon. And this would have been evidently
the disciples in that room. Cleopas and his companion walk
in and as they walk in the Apostles and the rest of the disciples
are telling them have you heard he's risen. He's risen from the
dead He's been saying Simon saw him Simon did you see him? Yes, I saw him I saw him Simon might have recounted how
that He had seen Jesus in Pilate's
judgment hall after Jesus had told him that you will deny me
thrice and then the cock will crow. Simon might have recounted
how that he denied the Lord thrice and then the cock crowed and
he might have recounted how that Jesus standing there before the
judgment turned around and looked at Peter. And what a look that
must have been. Peter knew what that look meant.
Jesus knew that Peter had denied him. But now Peter can tell everyone
here, he appeared to me. He appeared to me. The one that
I denied, He appeared to me. I saw Him! And the eleven and the rest of
them are, they're just all excited. Jesus has been seen. And they're
telling Cleopas and his companion. And then Cleopas and his companion
had their turn. Verse 35. and they told about
the things that had happened on the road and how Jesus was
known to them in the breaking of bread. Known to them in the breaking
of bread. I see on this table here before
me tonight that bread is to be broken and wine is to be served with
it. May Christ reveal himself to
us tonight in the breaking of this bread. That's his body. That's his blood. May he reveal
himself to us tonight. And if he does, do not be foolish. Do not be slow of heart to believe
the prophets. Rejoice in the fact that Jesus
has died and in that death He redeemed his Israel. He arose
from the grave victorious over death, hell, and the grave. He
has been seen. He's in glory. He said he's coming
back. Well, do not be so foolish as
to doubt it. Do not be slow of heart concerning
his promise. And may our hearts burn while
he speaks to us. May we ask him to abide with
us. He says, abide in me. Have him
abide with us. May he always be with us. And
I hope and I pray that you will believe this gospel. Do not Exit that door tonight
without believing. Do not walk out that door foolish
and slow of heart to believe. Believe in Him, trust in Him,
and do it right now. Pastor.