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Luke 24:13-35
Cascades Fellowship CRC, JX MI
March 30, 2008
not Rachel, like I said it was when I was a YOUNG LAD. At any rate, when I was
in her ear. When she picked up the phone I began by using my pet name for her
return… but was instead met by the snickering of her mother who said she’d go
and get her daughter. Needless to say, the moment was passed, I was
embarrassed and the next time or two I visited the house, things were a bit
awkward.
Now you would think that since I was head over heels in lust with this girl –
recognize her voice on the first syllable. It’s not like this was the first time I called
her house. I’d had talked on the phone with her numerous times. So, you would
think that I would hear the difference between her voice and the voice of her
mother. But I didn’t – on that day, for some reason I could not identify who I was
talking to.
There is something similar going on in our text for today. Two disciples of
Jesus are on the road to Emmaus – the day after the Sabbath, the third day
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since Jesus was crucified. One is named Cleopas, the other remains unnamed.
The speculation as to who his traveling companion might be runs high – his wife
maybe; some even think it was one of the apostles, but that is unlikely. Whoever
the person is, the two are leaving Jerusalem after the most extraordinary
The week began with Jesus entering Jerusalem in triumph to the praises
of his disciples and the crowds gathered for the Passover. He caused quite a stir
riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, like a King being received by his people after
a long absence. But the honeymoon didn’t last long because Jesus had upset
the religious apple cart – he’d angered the religious leaders, so they started
Then came the betrayal – one of Jesus’ inner circle turned snitch and led
helped the religious leaders take Jesus into custody in the middle of the night
where adoring eyes would not see. They convicted him in a kangaroo court and
handed him over to the Romans to be put to death. We know this story well – we
rehearsed it again just last week. Jesus is tortured and then crucified, but on the
third day – the same day the two disciples in our text are walking to Emmaus –
There are some who suggest that Cleopas and his companion are fleeing
Jerusalem, perhaps out of fear of being next or maybe Jerusalem just holds too
many horrific memories for them now. It is true that they do not tarry in
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Jerusalem with the rest of the disciples. And as they are walking, they are
hopes and fears were in play. There was heat in their words, dissonance filled
I have no doubt that the two disciples suffered from a kind of grief
hangover. Reality itself might have seemed a bit tenuous to these two, the world
around them but a shadow in the wake of their sorrow and fear. Let’s face it,
watching the man you pinned all your hopes on get horribly disfigured and nailed
to a cross is going to leave some scars on your psyche for a long time and this is
just a couple days after witnessing such horror. So it is no wonder that their
thoughts are dominated by images of Jesus bloodied and dying. As the two
them.
Commentators have noted through the ages that Luke shows his mastery
of irony throughout this passage. For instance, Luke clues us in on who the
stranger is but his identity remains hidden from the disciples in the story; it’s sort
of like being a spectator in a game of hide and seek. We have that sense of
knowing something really important that the person playing doesn’t and the most
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So Jesus enters the scene, but no one knows its Jesus. We suppress a
chuckle behind our hands; this ought to be good. Jesus, risen from the grave,
Jesus, to whom all authority on heaven and earth has been given, Jesus who
has wrestled the Keys of death and hell out of the grasp of the enemy, Jesus the
Second Person of the Trinity, the Son of God, the one in whom the fullness of
Deity bodily dwelt, the Word of God made flesh – this Jesus asks what in anyone
Do you ever laugh at the Scriptures? I do. The Bible is full of these
delightful moments that come like a breath of fresh air during some of the most
serious moments. If there was anyone – ANYONE – who knew what was going
on it was Jesus. Yet, he’s the one with the question on his lips – “What’s going
on?” And it is the disciples who are totally clueless who are trying to tell him
what’s happening! Here again, we find Luke using irony to draw us into the
narrative.
If this story was a video and we were watching it for the first time, about
now we would screaming at the screen, “It’s Jesus! Come on, you
knuckleheads, open your eyes. It’s Jesus!” And just like when we scream at
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screen during “The Birds” or “Friday the Thirteenth” or “Blue’s Clues” the
By the way, it’s not foolishness because I say so – it’s because Jesus says
Cleopas begins recounting the history that Jesus just lived through. He
describes Jesus as a prophet and powerful. Yet, the chief priests handed him
over to the Romans for execution. He even expresses his hope that Jesus was
the one who would redeem Israel. But that couldn’t possibly be the case
Now let’s pause there for a moment and consider what Cleopas has said.
Notice how the disciple connects Jesus’ execution with the certainty that he could
not have been the Messiah they were waiting for. Why?
Because redemption to them did not mean freedom from the bondage of
sin, it meant freedom form the bondage of Rome. It meant political and cultural
God was once again going before the armies of Israel, empowering the arm of
Israel’s king to strike down Israel’s enemies. Cleopas was looking for the
Messiah to purchase back God’s people by spilling the blood of Israel’s enemies,
But there is a hitch in the story. Did you catch it? There is this lingering
hope – this ever-so-slight possibility that there is more to the story, but Cleopas
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doesn’t dare believe it; he doesn’t dare hope. Have you seen it yet? Look
“And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place.”
Cleopas notes with emphasis that it is the third day after all this took place
the priests and Pharisees and being handed over to Rome for death. Maybe he
remembers that Jesus said every time he foretold his death that he would rise
again. After all, the tomb was empty – at least that was the report circulating
Can you see the way the discussion was going between Cleopas and his
reasons to smile. And now, here comes this bumpkin out of nowhere asking,
I remember one time when a friend and I was going to see his
came pouring out, very overwrought. Our military training had conditioned us to
respond in crisis – so we assumed the worse. Was there a fire? Was someone
out of control, destroying equipment and lives? We ran across the parking lot
In surprise and anger a man appearing around sixty rasped at us, “Yes.
My son is dead.” With ice cold clarity my friend and I became suddenly aware
that we were treading on some very personal, very sacred ground. I imagine that
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Cleopas felt somewhat the way that father who lost his adult son to a bee sting
But Jesus is not so easily put off. These disciples – his disciples – were in
great distress; sheep without a shepherd, blinded by their own grief and
misconceptions. Knowing they need someone to lead them out of the valley of
study the Scriptures. For an hour we will study maybe as much as a chapter of
Genesis and then go home feeling like we have feasted on the Word of God. In
the time that it took the disciples to walk with Jesus to Emmaus – a reasonable
estimate might be three hours – Jesus walked the disciples through the Old
redemptive history pointed toward him – toward a Messiah that had to come, die
at the hands of sinful men and then rise again from the dead.
I want us to note something here – all during this time, it does not
suddenly dawn on Cleopas or his companion that they are talking to Jesus. He
remains hidden from their eyes – even after connecting all the points of faith and
doctrine for them. For some reason they still don’t see Jesus for who he is.
and Cleopas begs him to stay and enjoy his hospitality. Jesus agrees but oddly
enough acts as the host. It is Jesus who takes the bread, gives thanks and
breaks it. And in that moment, as he re-enacts the breaking of bread made three
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nights before – the one he told the disciples to do in remembrance of him – in
that moment, the eyes of his disciples are opened and the true nature of their
seems like Jesus is playing hide and seek with his disciples and once they find
him, he’s off. As I read through it in preparation for this sermon the question that
kept popping up was “Why? Why can’t Jesus just show them who he is
immediately and send them scurrying back to the other disciples with another
to the passage that I hadn’t noticed before. Remember where Jesus found them
on the road – dismayed, confused and wrestling with some wrong assumptions
about who and what the Messiah should be. When he found them, they were not
prepared to see the real Jesus – their expectations would still have been for him
prominence. They would have rejoiced that Jesus was back from the dead, but
they would have completely missed the reason why he was back at all. So Jesus
sets about correcting their thinking about the Messiah. And once he had their
thinking corrected, he then revealed himself using the symbol he had given the
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It dawned on me that what we find in the Emmaus story is an explanation
for the way God reveals himself to us – the disciples of Jesus Christ, the children
of God. You see, we often feel the way Cleopas and his companion felt –
dismayed, confused, and wrestling with thoughts of God that are unworthy.
There are moments in life when it seems like God is playing hide and seek.
The reality is God may not be hiding at all. It may be that we are not
seeking him in the way he has already revealed himself. In those times when we
can’t seem to catch a glimpse of God the problem isn’t that God is not there, the
problem is that our eyes have not been trained to see him. In other words, we
keep looking for him to show up in a particular way – we want to see God
Where do we see God as he really is? In the Gospel of John, Jesus says
that his true self would be revealed on the cross. Can we go to Calvary, see our
mutilated Savior crucified for our sin and have a sudden epiphany about the
nature and person of God? Literally, no; it happened two thousand years ago –
But there are two specific ways we can see – relive – Jesus on the cross
and both are represented in the Emmaus story. The first is through the
Scriptures. How did Jesus prepare the disciples to see him? By taking them
through the Scriptures and revealing how Genesis to Malachi pointed to him, to
the cross and to the resurrection. He corrected their vision of the Messiah by
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giving them the lenses of the Scriptures. When God seems hidden, maybe he’s
just out of focus because the eyes of our heart need glasses. Go to the Scripture
to cure your myopia first – pray for the Holy Spirit to open your eyes to presence
and power of Christ as you read. God said that those who seek him shall find
him.
With our vision corrected – just as with the disciples on the way to
Emmaus – the second means of seeing Jesus revealed on the cross becomes a
powerful image of the love and grace of God. We also see Jesus revealed in the
participation of the Lord’s Supper. You see, the two go together. It is when our
reading of Scripture is coupled with faith that coming to the Table reveals Jesus –
Scriptures, to seek God where he has revealed himself, then our hearts will not
be prepared to see him when the bread is broken for us. God will seem hidden
to us.
him on sight, to recognize his voice. So let’s not play hide and seek with God –
let’s just play seek. Use the means God has given us to correct the vision of our
hearts – his Word – so that we can see his presence here where tow or three are
gathered.
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