Easter 3 A [Luke 24:13-35] (4-May-2014)

This sermon was preached at St Mark's Lutheran Church, Mt Barker (8.30am, 10.30am).

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

The sermon text for today was inspired by the Holy Spirit through the apostle St Luke, from his Gospel 24:13-35, which we read earlier. And I’ll read a couple of verses:

Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scripture?...Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.

Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, send to all of us your Holy Spirit, to me that I may preach well, and to all of us that we may hear well. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

 

Our Gospel reading today is a favourite passage of many people, and it tells the events that took place on the afternoon of the first Easter Day. We have here a wonderful example of the words where Jesus says: Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Here in the Gospel reading, we have two disciples, who don’t even realise that Jesus is alive, but Jesus joins them, preaches to them and breaks bread together with them. And what a wonderful thing it is that Jesus should take the time to spend with these two disciples? He could have done so many other things, and broken bread with another 4 or 5000, like he did with the loaves and the fishes, but no—he wants to show to us that he comes to be with two or three. Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

So we read: That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking with each other about all the things that had happened.

Seven miles from Jerusalem is just over 11 kilometres, and is a bit like walking from Mt Barker to Hahndorf. It’s not that far, but it’s still a good solid walk.

And we read: While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognising him.

It’s such an astonishing thing that Jesus meets these two men in such a humble way. He doesn’t appear in a puff of smoke and surprise them. He doesn’t stop them in their tracks. He simply draws near to them and walks along with them, just like any other traveller who is looking for some people to share a journey with. And we read that their eyes were kept from recognising him. Now why do you think this is the case?

Sometimes it happens in our lives too that Jesus walks along with us for a while, but our eyes are completely blinded to his presence. Sometimes, if we find ourselves in difficult and hard times, we might say, “Jesus, where are you? What are you doing?”—only to realise later that he was there with us the whole time, protecting us, guiding us, leading us. So also, here in our Gospel reading, their eyes were kept from recognising him, not because God didn’t want them to recognise him, but so that they could recognise him later and when the time was just right to strengthen and build their faith in most amazing way possible.

Notice also, that Jesus simply draws near to them and goes along with them. He is so humble and gentle: he doesn’t push his way into the conversation, but simply comes alongside of them, just at the place where they are at, and then he walks with them.

And we read: And [Jesus] said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?”

This is amazing. Jesus knows everything that is going on. He knows very well what they’re talking about. Only within the last day, he has risen from the dead, and the only thing he wants to know is what these two men are talking about. And the same goes for us: Jesus has risen from the dead, he’s sitting at the right hand of God the Father, with all the authority of heaven and earth in his hand, and what’s the one thing that he wants to do? He draws alongside of us and he walks with us, and he wants to take an interest in every detail of our lives. He wants to take an interest in our conversations with family and friends, our little conversations that we have with ourselves, our consciences, our thinking, our ruminating, our philosophising. And he comes alongside of us, walks with us, and asks: What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk? You think, this man has just risen from the dead, and that’s the best thing he’s got to say?

But here Jesus demonstrates for us something wonderful, and I think there is something really great here to learn about outreach and evangelism. We all know that there are a lot of people who have never heard about Jesus, and haven’t come to know him. And many of us want to reach out to people and share the faith with them.

Also, many of us feel guilty about not sharing our faith when we had the opportunity. Then, when we hear passages about “letting our light shine”, and such like, we are struck down even more. We think, “Jesus, what do want me to do? I want to share the faith, but I’m not very good at it, and I feel like I’m being sent out to fail at something that I’ve failed at a million times before.”

And yet, when we start to think like this, Jesus gently draws near to us and walks along with us and says, What is this conversation that you are having as you walk along? He takes an interest in us and he wants to know our thoughts, and all our frustrations. But then he shows us his example from this. He shows us that as we go on our way through life, we can spread the good news of the resurrection in a gentle way. We don’t need to be aggressive, but we can simply draw alongside people, walk with them, and then ask them a simple question: What are you talking about? What do you mean? Jesus talks in such a way that these two men are the most interesting people he knows. And when we show an interest in people, we testify to the fact that they have a God and a Saviour who is interested in them.

We read: They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” And he said to them, “What things?”

Look at this innocent conversation. Jesus has all the authority of heaven and earth in his little finger, and yet, he wields all of this authority with such simple words: What things? See how Jesus uses all his authority, all his power, all his strength in such a gentle way. So often we hear people say something vaguely religious which has all kinds of things mixed into it. People say: This is happening to me because of bad karma. We can say: Why do you think that? Or: Why do you believe in karma? Or people say: I’d never set foot in a church. We could say: Why not? They might say: Because it’s full of hypocrites. You could say: Why do you think that? Just see what happens. You see, here in our gospel reading, our loving Saviour, Jesus, shows his interest in these two men by asking them such simple questions. He doesn’t come along side of them because he wants to win them over to his side of an argument, he’s not trying to win friends and influence people, he’s not trying to gain power by rallying a little lobby group or a fan club around himself. Jesus doesn’t need to influence their spirits, because he already has authority over their spirits. And true authority doesn’t need to force itself.

Now what happens when Jesus gently pushes them with this question? We read: They said to him, “[Were talking about] Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. Some 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.”

See how Jesus’ simple question brings about a complete and full confession of their heart. Jesus’ knows the human heart so well, that he knows that only a small button needs to be pressed, and out comes the whole conscience, out pours the heart, the soul, the spirit of a person.

We can see in this conversation some things that are right and some things that are wrong. This is always the case with everyone, even with pagans and atheists. Sometimes there are some things that they have understood correctly, even if they are minor things.

So now Jesus gets to work: he cuts to the chase. And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

The more we read the Scriptures, the more we realise just how much we don’t know. I once knew a man who didn’t want to come to church, because he thought that he knew everything that there was to know. And it’s the people who have read the bible through from beginning to end 10 times who go back for the 11^th time because they know that there is so much that they don’t know. And so Jesus is right when he says to these disciples: O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the Prophets have spoken. And then he goes through the Scriptures, from Moses, the prophets, and he points the disciples to himself. The whole Scriptures, from beginning to end, teach us about Christ. The Holy Spirit takes each word of Scripture, each verse, each chapter, and shows us Christ.

Now, in the second part of our reading, they come to the village, and they ask Jesus: Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent. Think of that first Easter day, and all the wonderful things that happened on it. Wouldn’t you wish that that day would never end? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if it would just continue like one long day, so that we could all enjoy it, and soak up some of the amazement of that day? And yet, in some sense, that’s exactly what happens. The sun is going down, the darkness is setting in, and the disciples look to the Light of the world and ask him: Stay with us. Easter day is finished, but we need you to stay with us, because without you, without your preaching, without your teaching, Jesus, we are just left with our sorrow, and we don’t want to have to go into the evening and into the night like that. We need you, Jesus, we need your presence. We need you to stay with us.

And so he does. He stays with them, and breaks bread with them. And in the New Testament, when it says: breaking bread, it often refers to the Lord’s Supper. I think it’s fair enough to assume that this is exactly what Jesus did for them: He gave them his body and his blood to eat and drink, just as he did with the 12 disciples only a few days earlier.

And then we read: And their eyes were opened, and they recognised him. And he vanished from their sight.

Do you recognise Jesus in the Lord’s Supper? Do you recognise his body and blood there, his body given for you, his blood shed for you for the forgiveness of sins? Let Jesus open your eyes to let you recognise him, and recognise just what a precious and wonderful gift he is giving to you there.

Jesus knows just how much time he needs to spend with these disciples. And once he has preached the word of God to them and shared his supper with them, we read: He vanished from their sight.

There is another passage like this, in Acts 8, where Philip is on the road with an Ethiopian man and baptises him. We read: When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. I might have liked Philip to stay with me a bit longer, and teach me some more, but the Spirit of the Lord knew just how much time he needed. The same with Jesus: When everything was done, he vanished from their sight.

And the two disciples were not disappointed and sad again because he had vanished. In fact, night time turned around. All their tiredness and sleepiness was converted into energy. They said: Did not our hearts burn with us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures? And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. They rose that same hour: at night time, and returned to Jerusalem, 11kms away. That’s a long walk to begin at night time. And yet, St Luke writes about it like it was no effort for them at all. And we read: They told what happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.

This gospel reading is so rich, and we could spend so many hours meditating on it. But each Sunday, we come to stand in the presence of this same Jesus, who has vanished from our sight. He draws alongside us, walks with us, preaches his word to us and breaks bread with us. That’s the two main parts of the church service: listening the word of God, and receiving the Lord’s Supper. Every Sunday is a kind of anniversary not just of the resurrection, but of this event where Jesus breaks bread with these two disciples.

So as we face our week ahead, our worries, our future, let’s hang on to this same Jesus, and pray to him: Stay with us, Lord Jesus. How we need your presence with us! If it weren’t for your presence and for your help, we would ruin everything. Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.

Amen.

Lord Jesus, draw near to us today and walk with us in our lives. Speak your words to us, and interpret to us everything in the Scriptures about yourself. Through your word, kindle in our hearts the fire of your Holy Spirit. Fan the flickering light of our weak faith into full flame. Open our eyes and teach us to recognise you in the breaking of the bread. Amen.