197. Luke 24:13-35  JESUS ON THE EMMAUS ROAD

Introduction:

	In our text last Sunday Luke tells about some of the women
going to the tomb of Jesus on Sunday morning and finding the tomb
empty.  In our text today he tells about two of the disciples
seeing Jesus on the road to Emmaus.

I.  The two men who went to Emmaus

    V. 13, "And, behold, two of them went that same day to a
village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore
furlongs."  Emmaus was a village which lay west of Jerusalem
about the same distance as Overton is from Pleasant Hill.  Two of
the disciples left the group at Jerusalem and started out on the
road toward Emmaus.
    V. 14, "And they talked together of all these things which
had happened."  I understand that the scenery between Jerusalem
and Emmaus was exceptionally beautiful.  However, these disciples
could care less.  They were not saying, "Oh, look at this" or
"Look at that!"  They were talking about the great burden that
was on their hearts and minds.  They were talking about the
arrest, trial and crucifixion of Jesus.  They were talking about
the women who went out to the tomb.  They were deeply disturbed
and we can understand why they would be.

II.  The stranger who joined them & the question He asked

    V. 15, "And it came to pass, that, while they communed
together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with
them."  As they walked along they were suddenly aware that they
were not alone.  Someone else was also walking toward Emmaus and
he was very near to them.  That person was Jesus, but they did
not know at this time that He was Jesus.
	Jesus was apparently walking behind them.  They would have
noticed Him sooner if He had been ahead of them.  He was walking
behind them and was walking faster than they were because He was
drawing near to them.  He was catching up to them.
    V. 16, "But their eyes were holden that they should not know
him."  In some supernatural way Jesus hid His identify from them.
He fixed their eyes in some way so that they would not recognize
Him.  John said in his writing that Jesus appeared in another
form to them. Apparently, even though Luke does not mention it,
Jesus also disguised His voice in some way so that they would not
recognize His voice.
    V. 17, "And he said unto them, What manner of communications
are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad?"
It was quite apparent that these men were quite disturbed.  It
was obvious from the tone of their voices and from the
expressions on their faces.  They were no little bit sad.  They
were deeply grieved --- and it showed.
	Jesus asked them "Why?  Why are you so sad?"  It was not that
He did not already know.  He very well knew why they were sad and
what they were talking about, but Jesus wanted them to put it
into their own words.
    V. 18, "And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas,
answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem,
and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in
these days?"  Luke tells us that one of these men was named
"Cleopas."  It seemed to Cleopas that anyone who had been in
Jerusalem for the past few days would what all the sadness was
about.  Everybody was talking about it and almost everybody was
sad about it.  Especially those who were the disciples of Jesus
were sad about it.  The kind of things that had been happening
would make almost anybody sad.
    V. 19, "And he said unto them, What things?  And they said
unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet
mighty in deed and word before God and all the people."  It is
quite noticeable that the men referred to Jesus by the term
"prophet."  They spoke of Him as a prophet of God who was mighty
in deed.  That is, He did miracles which only a prophet of God
could do.  Furthermore, He spoke with such power and persuasion
that only a prophet of God could speak.
    They spoke of Him as prophet, but they did not speak of Him
as the Messiah, the Christ.  There is little doubt that just a
few days earlier these men had been in the large crowd who
proclaimed Jesus as Messiah King, the Christ of God, as He rode
triumphantly into the city of Jerusalem.  There is little doubt
that after that event they told everybody who would listen to the
that Jesus is the Christ.  That is, until Jesus was arrested.
Since His arrest, His trial and His crucifixion, they had told
nobody that Jesus is the Christ.  Their  faith was so shaken that
they were no longer certain that He is the Christ.  They still
called Him a prophet of God, but they were not at all sure that
He is the Christ.
    V. 20, "And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered
him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him."  Assuming
that the man to whom they were talking knew nothing about the
crucifixion of Jesus, the two disciples proceeded to tell Him
that Jesus had been crucified.
    V. 21, "But we trusted that it had been he which should have
redeemed Israel..."  They explained further that the death of
Jesus had destroyed their hopes.  They had believed that Jesus is
the Christ, the Messiah who would deliver the nation of Israel
from Gentile power.  They had been counting on Him to drive out
the Romans and make Israel free from Gentile Power.  All of the
disciples of Jesus had expected this, even the apostles.  But the
crucifixion of Jesus had literally destroyed their dreams.  They
had been expecting the wrong kind of redemption --- the wrong
kind of deliverance.  Now their hopes were gone.
    (V. 21), "...and beside all this, to day is the third day
since these things were done."  To add to their dilemma a strange
new twist of events had taken place.  V. 22-24, "Yea, and certain
women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at
the sepulchre; And 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 certain of them which were with us went
to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but
him they saw not."  Now some of the women say that they went to
the tomb and angels told them that Jesus is risen from the grave.
They say that some of their people went out to the tomb to check
and, sure enough, the body is gone from the grave, but they did
not see Jesus.
	They had reached the point that they did not know who to
believe or what to believe.  It had been feared that somebody had
stolen the body, but the women said that the message from the
angels is that He has risen from the dead.  They really did not
know what to think.  They were all confused.  They were just
about ready to throw up their hands.

III.  The rebuke He gave and the Bible lesson He taught

    V. 25, "Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to
believe all that the prophets have spoken."  The word, fool, is
not used here in the sense of wickedness.  Rather, the Greek word
that is used carries the idea of being slow witted, of being dull
of understanding.  Jesus said the problem was in the heart.  They
were slow of heart to believe what the Old Testament prophets had
written.  They had thought that the crucifixion should have never
taken place, that Jesus should have gone to the throne and taken
over.  Jesus appearing to them as a stranger explains that what
they had expected was not what the prophets had predicted.  What
had actually taken place was just exactly what the prophets had
predicted.
    V. 26, "Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and
to enter into his glory?"  He pointed out to them that the
suffering and death of Christ is not the defeat of Christ.
Rather it is a route that Christ must take in order to achieve
His greatest glory.  His suffering and death would bring His
glory.  He does not specifically mention the resurrection at this
point, but He surely hints at it pretty strongly.
 	Then as they walked along the road together, Jesus gave them
a Bible lesson.  V. 27, "And beginning at Moses and all the
prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things
concerning himself."  They had studied the Scriptures just enough
to know that the Christ would come, but they actually knew very
little about what the Scriptures taught about His coming.  Jesus
gave them a very thorough lesson in the Scriptures.  He quoted
Scripture after Scripture to them and showed them from those
Scriptures that it had been predicted all along that Jesus would
die on the cross.  He would come to the world not to set Israel
free from the Roman government.  He would come to the world to
set men from sin.  That would require His own death on the cross.
He must give His own life if He would save the souls of sinful
men.
    He probably did mention the resurrection of Jesus to them at
this point because the Old Testament prophets had predicted that
Jesus would arise from the grave.

IV. The revelation of who He is

    V. 28, "And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they
went: and he made as though he would have gone further."  I can
envision the scene.  When they reached Emmaus, one of the men
turned to Jesus and informed them that this was as far as they
were going.  He lived right down the street and they had plans
for staying the night there.  He may have invited Jesus to come
and eat with them and even to spend the night with them.  But
Jesus indicated that He would just go on, and I think He would
have if they had not insisted that He stay.
	The men by this time had taken a special liking to this
stranger and they were not content to let Him go on.  V. 29, "But
they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward
evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with
them."  He did not intend to spend the night as they had asked,
but He did not tell them this at this time.
    V. 30, "And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he
took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them."  A meal
was prepared and set before them.  They all sat down at the
table, or to be more specific, they reclined at the table.  It
was at this point that another strange thing happened.  Jesus did
not wait for His host to break the bread and serve Him.  Instead,
He assumed the place of the host and He broke the bread and gave
to them.  That must have come as a big surprise.
	But that was not the greatest surprise.  V. 31, "And their
eyes were opened, and they knew him..."  I am not certain about
this, but I think that when He reached out His hands to them with
the broken bread they must have seen the fresh nail scars in His
hands.  I can envision them staring long at those hands before
they finally reach out and take the bread.  Then in astonishment
they look up at His face and here is something which I am certain
about.  When they looked into His face this time, the Lord opened
their eyes so that they could see clearly who He is --- and they
did.
    (V. 31), "...and he vanished out of their sight."  Instantly
He was gone!
    V. 32, "And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn
within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he
opened to us the scriptures?"

V.  Their return to Jerusalem

    V. 33, "And they rose up the same hour, and returned to
Jerusalem..."  They surely had not planned to turn right around
and go back to Jerusalem.  But this was such great news that they
just had to return immediately and tell the other disciples.  So
off they go in a rush.  They really covered the territory in a
hurry as they rushed back to Jerusalem.
    (V. 33), "...and found the eleven gathered together, and them
that were with them."  Now before we go on the next verse, let us
pause and get the picture.  They have rushed back these seven
miles or so to Jerusalem to tell the apostles and other disciples
that Jesus really has risen from the grave as the angels had told
the women.  So they go to the door and knock on the door and
identify themselves so that they will be let in.
	Somebody opens the door and they step inside and listen to
what happens before they can say a word.  V. 34, "Saying, The
Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon."  Everybody
inside very excitedly begins to tell them the very thing that
they have rushed back to tell the others.  Everybody is jabbering
at the same time and it is difficult to understand what anybody
is saying, but when the message finally gets through, the people
are all telling them that Jesus has risen indeed and that He has
been seen by the Apostle Peter.
	When the two men finally got a chance to tell their story,
they told all about Jesus joining them on the road, questioning
them about their sadness, and about Him revealing Himself to them
as they ate their meal.  V. 35, "And they told what things were
done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of
bread."

VI.  The message I want to impress upon you

	I want you to listen to me very closely.  God really did send
His Son to the world to be born in human flesh.  Jesus really is
the Son of God.  Jesus really is the Christ whom the prophets all
wrote about.  He really did go to the cross of Calvary and was
crucified and laid in a tomb.  The body of Jesus really did lay
in a grave and come out of that grave after three days and three
nights.  Jesus really is the Savior of men.  Each and every one
of us really are sinners living in a sinful flesh and a sinful
world.  There really is a heaven and there really is a hell.  If
anybody trusts in Jesus Christ as their Savior, they really will
be spared from hell and go to heaven.
	I have trusted Jesus and I can assure you that Jesus has
saved my soul.  A lot of other people here this morning have
trusted Jesus Christ as their Savior and I can assure you that
Jesus has saved their soul.  I can likewise assure you this
morning that just as surely as you trust Jesus Christ as your
Savior, Jesus will save your soul.

Conclusion:
	
    Won't you lift your thoughts and prayer to Jesus right now
and ask Him to save you and keep you out of hell?  I am going to
ask our musicians to come and while they come I am going to ask
you to call on Jesus and trust Him to save your soul.
	I am going to also ask you to come forward and profess Jesus
Christ before this congregation as your Savior.  Won't you come?