VAN BUREN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 1 Peter 1: 17-23
THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER Luke 24: 13-35
APRIL 6, 2008
“THE EMMAUS EXPERIENCE”
Tell us, O God, the mystery of your plans for the world, and show us the power of our risen
Lord, so that day by day obeying you, we may look forward to a feast with him within your
promised kingdom; by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Christmas and Easter are exciting times. They are times of expectation and excitement. But there is
also a down time after. The excitement passes, the special services are finished. Life seems to slip back
into the old routines.
But for us as Christians, Easter is not the end but the beginning. It may come at the end of the four
Gospels, but it is in the first part of the New Testament. We see in the second chapter of Acts that the
Christians started gathering on the first day of the week to worship God. They did not abandon the
Sabbath, but the first day of the week, Sunday, was the day of the resurrection. The resurrection of
Jesus was the corner stone of the Christian faith, and it still is today.
Each Sunday we need to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. And each day we need to know and
experience anew the new life we have in him. But there are so many things that get in the way. Our
Gospel lesson this morning tells of two disciples who were feeling lost after the death of Jesus. They were
traveling down the road headed to the village of Emmaus. They are caught up in the events of the
weekend. They are joined by another traveler. This walk changed their life as they came to recognize
Jesus and experienced his community.
A. A LIFE CHANGING WALK
Let’s look at this life changing walk for a moment. We are told that one of the disciples was named
Cleopas, the other is not identified. Some have speculated that it might have been Cleopas and his wife.
Jesus did have a number of women who were disciples. A masculine noun is used in the Greek, but that
would also be used to refer to a man and his wife. Part of this speculation comes in because it appears
they shared a house.
Whoever these two might have been, they are walking along the road, discussing with each other all
the events of the past few days. Suddenly, there is another traveler on the road. They had been so
consumed with their discussion that they hadn’t even noticed this other traveler come up and they had no
idea who it was. The intensity of their discussion must have been evident. As he walks with them he
asks, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”
At this question, the two stop. In the stillness, with their faces down cast, Cleopas responds, “Are
you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in these days?” I
get the sense that Cleopas is dumbfounded. The world has been falling apart and this guy has no sense
of what’s been happening. Cleopas and the other disciple have been so focused on themselves and their
loss, that they seem to forget that the rest of the world was still functioning. To them, nothing else was
important, how could anyone live life without feeling the loss they were feeling.
It is like the person who has had a loved one die or experienced some other tragedy in life. Your
loved one has died, everything in your life has stopped. You walk out the door of the hospital absorbed in
your hurt and you see children playing, teenagers laughing, lovers walking along the street hand in hand.
There is almost a burst of anger, “How can you do that, how can you be happy, my loved one has died,
the world must stop while I grieve!”
The one who has lost the loved one needs to grieve, but the rest of the world goes on. There are
times when we get so overwhelmed by the immediacy of our own lives that we fail to see the bigger
picture. “What is happening in my life is important, and nothing else counts.” That may have been a little
of what was happening to Cleopas and the other disciple. They were caught up in their own world and
could not see beyond their own selves.
But Jesus came to walk with them. He came to walk in the midst of their hurt and pain. He came to
care for them and to open their eyes to the bigger picture, to help them to understand all that God was
doing, not just the direct affect on their own lives.
Jesus is alive and he comes to us, to walk with us along the road of life. The events of Easter cannot
be reduced to a creed or philosophy. We are not asked to believe the doctrine of the resurrection. We
are asked to meet this person raised from the dead. In faith, we move from belief in a doctrine to
knowledge of a person. When we walk with Jesus, our lives are changed. Like these two believers say
later back in Jerusalem, we can say, “We met him; he is alive!”
B. RECOGNIZING JESUS
When Cleopas tells the stranger of all that had happened, reveling in his pain and loss, focusing on
his own situation, the stranger pulls him out of his self-centeredness and opens to them the truth of the
bigger picture. The stranger says, “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the
prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?”
I can hear Jesus saying, “You’ve missed the point. This isn’t just about you. Look beyond yourself.
What happened is part of a greater plan that is dealing with more than just you. You’ve been raised on
the teachings of the prophets, but you have missed the big picture.”
Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, Jesus explained to them what had been said in the
Scriptures regarding the Christ. They had heard the stories, but they had not studied all of the
Scriptures. As Jesus revealed to them all that was in Moses and the Prophets, they began to recognize
Jesus.
How do we recognize that ultimate person as we travel our own Emmaus Road? The clues are here
in these verses. First, we recognize him by knowing the Bible. Jesus traced back through all the prophets
showing them the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah. As we read and study the Bible, we can
begin to understand the big picture that God has. And it is through the written word that we can recognize
him. We need to read and know the Bible if we want to know Jesus.
But there is a second clue here. If we really want to know Jesus, we have to do more than just read
the Bible, we must spend time with the author. As we study the Scripture, we have the privilege of having
access to the author of the book. God himself is with us through the Holy Spirit as we read. We can ask
him to give us wisdom and insight about portions that are puzzling. The purpose of Scripture is to point to
the author, who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
C. EXPERIENCING COMMUNITY
As they walked along the road Jesus opened for these two the message of the Scripture. They were
spending time with the author, even if they didn’t know it. Later they would say, “Were not our hearts
burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” But their Emmaus
experience was not yet finished.
As they reached Emmaus evening was falling. Jesus acted as if he were traveling on. The two
urged him to stay with them. They were not ready to let him go. He had started a warmth in their hearts
and they wanted to know him more. They wanted to spend time with him. They wanted to experience
community with him. They asked, so he came in to stay with them.
To break bread meant to share a meal. As the guest he was invited to say the blessing and to break
the bread. As he did, they entered into community and their eyes were opened and they recognized him.
He then disappeared from their sight, but not from their hearts.
Jesus desires to have community with us, but he will not force himself on us. He waits for us to invite
him into our lives.
A few years ago the children’s choir at a church I served performed the musical We Like Sheep. It
tells the story of the lost sheep from the perspective of the sheep in the flock. Jesus has gone off to seek
the sheep Grimey who has run off. In the distance they hear his horn sound. The baby sheep Ewenice
says: “It sounds wike He can’t find Gwimey.” Ramsey replies: “No, He always knows where His sheep
are.” Wooley adds: “Yeah. I guess Grimey just won’t follow Him.” To this Ewenice says: “But why doesn’t
the Shepherd just tie him up and dwag him back. Isn’t He strong enough?” Wooley says: “Oh Jesus has
all the power in the world, but He doesn’t force Himself on anyone. Curley speaks: “Just because He’s a
shepherd doesn’t mean He hasn’t got good manners.” Another sheep named Whitey adds: “Sure. Say
He went to visit someone. He wouldn’t go barging into their house. He’d knock on the door and then wait
‘till they answered.” Wooly says: “Our shepherd’s a gentleman.” Ramsey finishes: “The gentlest of men.”
Jesus desires to have community with us, but he will never force himself on us. He calls to us, he
knocks on our doors, but he waits for us to invite him in. He will not intrude on us. When we invite him in,
then we will have community with him. That’s what Jesus is talking about in Revelation 3:20 when he says:
“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and
eat with him, and he with me.”
Jesus knocks at the door of your life. Have you invited him in?
CONCLUSION
Have you had an Emmaus Road experience? Have you taken that life changing walk with him?
Have you read the Bible, spent time with the author, so that you can recognize that he is alive? Have you
invited him into your life so that you can experience community with him?
As you face every situation in life, remember that you have the ultimate source of power and love
with you on your Emmaus Road. That is bound to make a difference in every circumstance, wherever you
are. In Numbers 21:9 we read when the Israelites were in danger from poisonous snakes, Moses, by God’
s command, raised up before them a bronze serpent on a pole. If they were bitten, they were to look up
at this bronze serpent and remember God’s presence with them and they would survive. They were to
look up and live, and they did. We have something better than a bronze serpent, though that was a
forerunner of Christ: the healer Himself is among us. He is with us on our journey - our Emmaus Road.
He goes before and with us. He says to us, “Look up and live.” Look up to the risen Christ, focus your
eyes on Him, and live! SERMON OUTLINE
SERMON: “THE EMMAUS EXPERIENCE”
SCRIPTURES: 1 Peter 1:17-23, Luke 24:13-35
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Introduction: The story of Easter comes at the end of the Gospels, but it is just the beginning of the
Christian life. As the two disciples walked along the road they were overcome by what was happening in
their lives. They were focused on themselves. Then they meet a stranger who changed their lives. He
opened to them the Scriptures which allowed them to understand the mission of Jesus. Then they were
able to experience community with Jesus as he broke bread with them. Are you ready to have an
Emmaus experience?
A. A Life Changing Walk
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B. Recognizing Jesus
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C. Experiencing Community
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