Introduction about the black/gold dress or blue/black dress. What about a very confusing movie that only makes sense in light of knowing the end?

In this story, we’re going to be answering three questions that arise:

1.      What keeps us from recognizing Jesus?

2.     What has Jesus done to help us see?

3.     How should we then live our lives?

As we leave this place, you’ll see that the resurrection of Jesus demands a decision from us.  

These three questions get answered as we move through one of the most detailed and beautifully weaved recordings of Jesus’ appearance.

What keeps you from recognizing Jesus?

Explanation: As we were reading this story together, did anyone think this was somewhat comical? As we read this story, some of you may have been wondering: goodness, these guys seem clueless. How could they not tell that it was Jesus was walking alongside them? Frankly, Luke, the author of this gospel, doesn’t give us a clear-cut answer. There could be a few reasons that most folks agree on:

1.      The Holy Spirit prevented them from seeing Jesus as who he is. Why would the Holy Spirit do this? There’s a lot of opinions out there to answer this question and as much as I would live to delve deep, it’ll distract us from what God, through Luke’s writing, is trying to convey. So, we’ll put that one on a shelf for a future sermon.

2.     Their deep sadness and regret – they are heading to Emmaus, which is away from Jerusalem. They can’t take it anymore and need to get out of the city. They’ve been crushed and in despair because of the events that have happened in the last 3 days. Perhaps they met Jesus 1-2 years ago, they sold all their goods to the poor and traveled with their Rabbi Jesus. They were there when they saw him bring Lazarus back to life. They were there when Jesus delivered the greatest teaching the world has ever and will ever know in the Sermon on the Mount. They were there when Jesus was joyfully welcomed in as a King to Jerusalem just a week ago. And they were there when Christ was crucified and died. Was it all a lie and a  sham? Was Jesus some sort of sorcerer who somehow faked his miracles? Wasn’t Jesus supposed to be different? That’s why the text says they were downcast. Their whole world was falling apart. But they felt this way because of their…

3.     Unmet expectations of what Jesus was going to do – as they begin to talk to Jesus, they reveal their hand at what they expected Jesus to do.  In verse 21, they shared that they had hoped Jesus was going to redeem Israel. In their minds, most likely, they would have believed that to redeem Israel, Jesus would conquer the Roman Empire through a military victory similar to Judas Maccabeus in 160 BC. But that word ‘redeem’ is critical. In the bible, redeem is used to describe how God liberates or frees people who were slaves so that they can become free people. He redeemed his people when they were freed from the oppressive slavery in Egypt through the Passover feast.  

God gave Pharoah multiple opportunities. The plague of the firstborn was the last option. Passover gave people a way to escape judgement through the blood of the lamb.

That’s what Jesus did though. He was the Passover lamb who was sacrificed to liberate his people who are slaves to sin and through the spirit, we can live life according to the Spirit not to the powers of the flesh. His followers thought redemption would come through Jesus

Illustration: You still may feel

Argumentation: There’s a lot of people in this room but we all have blinders up in our eyes. Holy Spirit, Lack of Faith, Post-Modern Lies, Life’s pains, Expectations of What He Was to Do,

The problem is us.

Transition: So, we’ve covered some ways that we may be blinded by seeing Jesus for who he truly is. But, how do we get the blinders off? How can we see him truly? We’ll keep walking through our story to find out.

What has Jesus done to help you see?

Jesus draws near in the questions, demonstrates his purposes through the Scriptures, confirms his resurrection with others, and offers you life.

Explanation: In this story, we don’t see a God who is aloof of life’s miseries or distant from his followers pain or the pains of this world. Instead, we see Jesus drawing near to his two followers in this story. As I’ve mentioned, these two followers are in a bad place. Their faces are downcast. Their dreams and entire life likely feels meaningless. If you have a caricature of God that says God is always angry at people and just ready to zap you with lightning from the sky, remember this story. He enters into these two people’s story and begins to walk alongside them. He starts to ask questions to better understand what is going through their minds. When they share their struggle with him, you may have been taken aback a bit by Jesus’ rebuke. He calls them foolish and slow of heart.

Why foolish? Jesus isn’t calling these guys stupid. When he calls them foolish, he’s calling them out on their faulty beliefs about Jesus. They’re foolish because they cannot see how Jesus death would accomplish God’s purposes. They’re foolish because despite Jesus’ attempts to tell his friends: hey guys, the messiah is going to have die and raise to fulfill God’s plan. They didn’t get it. So, what does Jesus do after calling them foolish? He writes them off and says you’ll never get it.

No, of course not. Jesus patiently walks them through the entire story of the bible. We don’t get the full details of how he walked them through but I imagine he would’ve likely shared that in the beginning, God created. In love, he desired to share his creation with image-bearing humans who would rule and reign on God’s behalf. But, those humans wanted to be in charge instead – they desired to define what was good, true, and beautiful after being swayed by the Satan. They hid from God in their error. Before they became exiles from the garden, God made a promise to them: one day, God would send someone who would crush the serpent’s head meaning this someone would undo the damage that the serpent had unleased. The Old Testament displays God’s commitment to save and to be with his people: despite massive failures, God demonstrates his faithfulness through saving a remnant

Enter Jesus

Illustration: “I could never myself believe in God, if it were not for the cross. The only God I believe in is the One Nietzsche ridiculed as 'God on the cross.' In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it? I have entered many Buddhist temples in different Asian countries and stood respectfully before the statue of the Buddha, his legs crossed, arms folded, eyes closed, the ghost of a smile playing round his mouth, a remote look on his face, detached from the agonies of the world. But each time after a while I have had to turn away. And in imagination I have turned instead to that lonely, twisted, tortured figure on the cross, nails through hands and feet, back lacerated, limbs wrenched, brow bleeding from thorn-pricks, mouth dry and intolerably thirsty, plunged in Godforsaken darkness. That is the God for me! He laid aside his immunity to pain. He entered our world of flesh and blood, tears and death. He suffered for us. Our sufferings become more manageable in the light of his. There is still a question mark against human suffering, but over it we boldly stamp another mark, the cross that symbolizes divine suffering. 'The cross of Christ ... is God’s only self-justification in such a world” as ours....'

Argumentation: Some of you may be thinking: why didn’t these two believe the previous testimony?

Application: ???

Transition: This story ends with Jesus offering new life through the breaking of the bread. After they break bread with Jesus, they realize

How should you then live your life?

You have a burning in your bones. You jump in to the dance. You break bread with Christ at the table. You share it with others.

Explanation: The late Dr. Tim Keller would often say: The most important question we all must answer is – did Jesus really rise from the dead? If he didn’t, why bother with anything that he said? He was just another spiritual teacher like so many others. But if he did rise from the dead, we must make a decision about him.

Jesus himself would press his followers with a question: who do you say I am?