Pastor Thanael Certa-Werner
Scripture | Luke 24:13-35 (NIV)
13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him. 17 He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?” They stood still, their faces downcast. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” 19 “What things?” he asked. “About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.” 25 He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. 28 As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. 29 But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” 33 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34 and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” 35 Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.
What is something that you think most kids don’t really know about? But what’s something that kids might see in action all the time, but don’t really know anything about – or that it even exists? I think the greatest example of this is taxes. Yup, even in Church, there’s no escaping the IRS. And how appropriate for the tax season! But how many kids actually know what taxes are or how they work? I remember the day I learned about taxes. I was around seven years old and had gotten a dollar from somewhere. I took my bike and rode down to the local McDonald’s because they had ice cream cones for $1. So I went in, ordered my cone, and just about threw up when the cashier said it would be $1.06! I only had $1! Luckily, the kind cashier found some spare change and covered the rest for me.
Kids see taxes in operation every time their parents go to the store and buy something. They might see them in operation when their parents are crying as the try to figure out the seemingly endless forms which need to be filed. Yet, even though they see something – even something so fundamental and commonplace as paying taxes – that does not mean that they understand the tax code. I barely understand it and I pay my taxes every year!
In fact, I think for most adults who are not tax experts, taxes are a bit of a mystery. We know that we pay them. We know, supposedly, what they go to pay. We understand the concept of taxes. Yet, in the end, many of us know little more than what our tax people tell us. Really, we just do what we have to in order to get ‘em done and out of the way.
In many ways, this is a bit like many people in the Church. We all know what the Church is about. We know that we’re supposed to go to Church on special days. We get the concept that Jesus is an important guy. We’ve heard the story that Jesus rose from the dead on Easter. But in the end, all we really know is what our pastor and maybe what some of our friends have told us about this Church business. And for that matter, a lot of what we know about Jesus is what we’ve heard in Church. Just like most of us have not had the joy of filing our own taxes, many of us have not experienced what the Bible talks about when it comes to following Christ.
Maybe you’ve heard of others who have heard the voice of God. Maybe others have experienced the miracles described throughout the scriptures. But what about us? Many people come to worship having not experienced those things. Maybe you are one of those people. It’s for this reason that I want to share with you another Easter story. Some of you might remember it, but many of you probably have not noticed that it takes place on Easter as well.
At the end of Luke’s Gospel, we read about two disciples who are walking along the road to a nearby town from Jerusalem. One is called Cleopas, and we don’t know the name of the second disciple. But they’re walking and as they do, they’re discussing what had all just happened. They’re talking about everything we’ve experienced over this last week as we walked through the stories of Holy Week. They talked about Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. His anger and teaching at the temple. His prayer and arrest Thursday night. His trial and execution on Friday.
As they’re talking about these things, a man shows up and starts to walk along side them and talks with them. Now we know, as the reader, that THIS IS JESUS. Not a disguised Jesus, not Jesus in a form they wouldn’t have recognized. The way Luke describes it is, “Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him.” It seems pretty incredible that His own disciples would not recognize Him – but something was keeping them from doing so. Nonetheless, He inquires after what they’re talking about and why they seem so sad. They respond by telling Him everything that they were just talking about. About His entry into Jerusalem, His arrest, and His death. They even tell Him about the crazy events that had happened earlier that day.
They say, “Some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn’t find His body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said He was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.” So, in other words, something happened this morning and the body of Jesus is gone. The women thought they saw a vision, but clearly they can’t be trusted because no one else was able to see it (is what they’re thinking).
Jesus’ response is, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter His glory?” Now I don’t know about you, but this sounds like a classic Jesus response to me… Still the disciples didn’t catch on. Then Jesus goes through the work of explaining how the entirety of the Old Testament points to Him. Even after He’s explained all of this, they still have not caught on that this is Jesus – this is the person Whom they have been following and listening to for who knows how long and they still haven’t noticed that it’s Him. I have to admit, these are my kind of people. They have my level of thick-headedness.
Finally, after this grueling story of the blindness of these disciples, they reach Emmaus, where they were heading, and invite this stranger in. Together, they share a meal and finally, as Jesus breaks the bread and blesses it, the disciples catch on. Luke records, “Their eyes were opened and they recognized Him, and He disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while He talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?’ They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, ‘It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.’ Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when He broke the bread.”
After all of that, it’s when Jesus broke the bread that His disciples finally see Who it is that they are with. They had been with Him for at least two hours as they were walking to Emmaus, yet they could not see Who He was. His identity was kept from them. But what kept it from them? It was their expectations which kept it from them. They had been in Jerusalem during all these events. They might have even seen Jesus’ crucifixion. They felt the earth shake and the saw the sky darken. They knew Jesus was dead and they expected Him to stay that way. Even after the women came running back to the followers of Jesus and told them what they had experienced, they still expected Jesus to be dead. And so, they could not see what was right in front of them. They did not understand Who Jesus was, or what He had done.
In so many ways, we fall prey to the same problem. We expect that Jesus is to be found in the walls of the church building. How do you come to know God? By making sure you come to church on important days. Maybe by coming to church every Sunday. By making sure that you’re giving like you should. Maybe even by reading the Bible regularly. By making sure you’re living a good life and working hard to do good things. That’s how we expect to come to know God. But it’s these expectations which keep us from really knowing Who God is and from knowing the real saving power of love which was given to all people on that cross.
We expect that even when we do all these things, that nothing too major will change in our lives. We don’t actually expect miracles to happen. We don’t really expect to hear the voice of God. We don’t actually expect that it is Jesus Himself Who is walking along side us and talking with us. We don’t actually expect anything out of Easter more than an hour in church and a feast of food afterwards. But it is these very expectations that we have of God which keep us from Him. Going to church regularly, giving generously, living in accordance with the Word of God, reading our Bibles – all of these things are wonderful things which have the power to connect us to God and to illuminate our lives with the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. Yet, they do that only when we come to them with the right expectations – and the right intentions.
But how is it that these disciples came to see Jesus even when their expectations were that He was dead? It is still through their expectations which they came to see Jesus for Who He is. Notice what they were doing as they walked to Emmaus: they were talking through the events of the last week. They were thinking through all that had happened and were sifting through all the chaos for meaning. They were searching God for answers, seeking out Who this Jesus really was and ready to listen to whatever they needed to hear in order to figure it out. It’s why their hearts burned when they heard Him teach them; it’s why they felt it so necessary to invite this stranger in for supper; and it’s finally why, when He broke the bread and gave thanks, they knew Who He was.
Jesus Himself says in Matthew: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” His disciples, while still expecting that Jesus was dead, also expected that if they would seek Him they would find Him. For us gathered here, it is a reminder of what it truly means to seek after Him. Seeking after Jesus – asking for answers to life’s questions and knocking on the door of faith – fundamentally requires expecting for the door to be opened, for answers to be given, and for you to actually see Jesus. The power of Easter is that after three days of seeking, Jesus’ followers saw Jesus – and this time they understood Who He was.
On Good Friday, life was given to the world. On Easter, hope was given. Give to you and to me, that if we seek, we will find. So, as we travel our own roads, and continue on our paths today, let us choose to expect to find God when we seek Him. We may just be surprised to find that He has been walking along side us from the beginning. For that, thanks be to God. Amen.