Recognizing Jesus on Your Road

Recognizing Jesus on Your Road

Luke 24:13-35

 

This morning I want to look specifically at a time when two men were on a road, headed in a particular direction, and then Jesus, after His resurrection, began walking with them, talking with them. At first they did not recognize Him, but after they asked Him to stay with them, He revealed Himself to them, and they recognize who Jesus truly is on their road.

 

Illus. The Road!

 

John 14:6, Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.”

 

Luke 24:13-17, And behold, on that very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, which was sixty stadia (about 7 miles) from Jerusalem. And they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing Him.

 

The disciples Jesus meets in Luke 24 aren’t a part of the twelve disciples. The timing of our introduction to them comes as they are leaving Jerusalem on the third day after Jesus’ death on the cross. In our introduction to them we are given a description of their disposition. They are described as sad, hopeless, and having lost heart. And they see Jesus, but do not recognize Him. This leads us to the first point to consider this morning…

 

1. Realize He Recognizes You

 

• The two disciples are described simply at “two of them.”

 

• We don’t know anything about them outside of what this story describes. They are essentially “unknowns” and they might very well be those who represent the “nobody’s” of the world.

 

• We will learn the name of one of them, the other will remain nameless.

 

• Though we will learn the name of one of them, and some have attempted to suggest who he might be, we don’t know exactly who it is.

 

• They are headed to Emmaus, which we know from the text was about 7 miles away.

 

• We don’t know why they are walking there specifically. It seems that the best guess is that they likely lived there.

 

• They were headed home. They had been following Jesus, but they didn’t find what they were hoping for. They will say as much as the story goes on.

 

• As they walked down the road, they were talking and discussing everything that had happened.

 

• In the beginning of Luke 24, we understand that several women had gone first thing in the morning to the tomb of Jesus. They went to the tomb of Jesus in order to finish the work of embalming and wrapping His body for burial. When they arrived at the tomb where Jesus was laid three days earlier, they saw that the stone which was rolled in front of the tomb three days earlier had been rolled away. They also saw that Jesus body was not in the tomb.

 

Matthew 28:5-6, I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said…

 

Luke 24:5(b)-7, “Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.” And they remembered His words.

 

• Upon remembering His words, and recognizing that Jesus was risen from the death, they head and tell the eleven disciples.

 

• Most of the disciples don’t believe the report, but in verse 12 we read that Peter got up and ran to the tomb. From the book of John, we know that John went too.

 

• But the men in this story, had not seen anything. We do not see them walking to the tomb or going to talk to those who had been given angelic insights personally, rather, we see them walking away as it is getting late in the day.

 

• It is striking to me, these two men on the road to Emmaus, whose story we are welcomed into after learning of two groups who had been given insights and understanding into Jesus’ resurrection, but these two hadn’t. And as they travelled their road, Jesus comes at meets them on their road, and they are described at that point as being “at a stop, looking sad.”

 

• It is right then and there, and Jesus is going to meet them. Right there on that road.

 

Illus. Earlier that week.

 

• Jesus had died, they were heading home.

 

• And as they discussed such things, Jesus approached them and began traveling with them…. but they did not recognize Him.

 

• Jesus was in His resurrected body, and we don’t know why their eyes were kept from recognizing Him, we simply know that their eyes were kept from seeing Him.

 

• And though they did not recognize Him on that road, Jesus recognized them.

 

Psalm 139:1-4, You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.

Hebrews 4:13, And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him to whom we must answer.

Psalm 139:13-16

 

Isaiah 44:2, This is what the Lord says, He who made you and formed you from the womb, who will help you.

 

Jeremiah 23:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart… (NIV)

 

Illus. Facts.

 

1. He Is Ready to Hear What is On Your Heart

 

• After approaching the disciples on the road, Jesus listens in to their conversation, and then begins asking some questions.

 

Luke 24:17-24, He said to them, “What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?” And they stood still, looking sad. One of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to Him, “Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days?” And He said to them, “What things?” And they said to Him, “The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to the sentence of death, and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened. But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning, and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said; but Him they did not see.”

 

• The first question He asks is essentially, “Hey, what are you guys talking about?”

 

• Jesus wanted to know what they were talking about, He wanted to hear from them what was on their hearts.

 

• And they respond to Him honestly, “Are you the only one living near Jerusalem who doesn’t know the things that happened here in these days?”

 

• Jesus drills down deeper, “What sort of things?” Then they let Him hear what is really on their hearts…

 

• They describe what happened with Jesus, who He had shown himself to be, but He was sentenced to death and crucified on the cross.

 

• In verse 21, they tell Him, “We were hoping that He was going to redeem Israel, but it is now the third day and nobody has seen Him.

 

• Some women said they were told by angels that He is risen, other disciples went to the tomb and confirmed it was empty, but He hasn’t been seen.

 

• Notice, that the language they use is all looking back on what they once believed Jesus to be in the past.

 

• The things they once believed Him to be, the things they were hoping for, but now they have hope no more.

 

• Jesus was crucified on the cross, we had hopes for what and who He might be, but here we are on the third day, and all we have are some stories, but Him, we have not seen.

 

• Perhaps this is a description of where you are at on your road. You had hopes, you had dreams, you have heard the stories, but you do not yet recognize the reality of Jesus resurrection in the place you are at on the road you are traveling presently.

 

• Perhaps like these disciples…You understand that others have seen, you have seen the road they are traveling…But you haven’t recognized Him on your road.

 

• If so, I believe He wants to know what you have to say about that?

 

• What has happened to your hope?

 

Illus. What Happened.

 

Ecclesiastes 3:9-11(a), What do people really get for all their hard work? I have seen the burden God has placed on us all. Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart…

 

• God has placed eternity in the human heart, and Jesus made the way for it to be reality…For all who put their faith and trust in Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

 

John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”

 

1 Peter 1:3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

 

• It is in believing and receiving Jesus, whom God sent, that a person obtains eternal life…Eternal life, means just what is say, “life eternal,” lasting forever, endless…

 

Psalm 62:5-8, My soul, wait in silence for God alone, for my hope is from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my refuge; I will not be shaken. My salvation and my glory rest on God; the rock of my strength, my refuge is in God. Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts before Him; God is a refuge for us.

 

• He Can Bring Hope for Your Future

 

Luke 24:25-27, And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.

 

• After pouring out what was on their minds and hearts to Jesus on their road, Jesus began pouring over Scripture with them.

 

• He showed them through the Scriptures that showed the necessity of His death, His suffering.

 

• He began with the books of Moses, the first five books of the Bible, then into the prophets (the rest of the Old Testament).

 

Illus. Prophesies.

• Perhaps Jesus pointed these disciples to these Scriptures. Jesus explained all the things concerning Himself in the Scriptures, and there were many. These were prophesies, or a foretelling.

 

Illus. Odds.

 

• As Jesus pointed to these Scriptures, perhaps they had heard them before, perhaps they had heard the story before, many in that day studied the Scriptures in depth. Perhaps they had memorized the lines, knew what they said and had heard the revelation, but not the proper application.  

 

• They had never seen someone open the door and make the way before.

 

John 10:9, I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved.

 

Romans 6:9-11, Because Christ was raised from the dead, He will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. When He died, He died once to break the power of sin. But now that He lives, He lives for the glory of God. So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.

 

• Jesus pointed them to the Scriptures so they would know that it was necessary for Him to do what He did on the cross so that He could bring a future and a hope to those who feel like there is no way forward, those who are stuck, sad, and hopeless.

 

1. He is The Way, Choose Him Today

 

• In verses 28 to 32, we read that after explaining the Scriptures to the disciples, they approached the village where they headed, and as the went toward the village, Jesus acted as though He were going to keep walking past the place they were headed.

 

• As Jesus continued forward, they urged Him to stay. The word paints the picture of a strong request, an urgent ask… “please don’t go.”

 

Luke 24:29(b)-32, So He went in to stay with them. When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight. They said to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?”

 

• When Jesus went in to stay with them, He reclined at the table, shared a meal with them, and their eyes were opened.

 

• What they had at first failed to recognize, they now could see more clearly than ever before.

 

• Jesus had met them on their road, when they were stuck, saddened and hopeless. He pointed them to what is shown in His Word, what the Word says about Him and after meeting Him, understanding the truth about Him, they did not want to let Him go.

 

• He indicated that He was going out in front of them. And He would have, but they asked Him to stay.

 

John 14:1-6

 

Illus. Road Signs.

 

Luke 19:10, For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.

 

Revelation 3:20, Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.

 

Romans 10:9-10, If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. (NIV)

 

Romans 10:13, Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

 

Luke 24:13-35