Many Christians down the centuries have wished they could walk the road to Emmaus with Jesus! It must have been one of the most profound and joyous sermons ever heard!
We’re going to see something amazing about it. So much so that you can almost walk the road to Emmaus (as it were) today. As you understand why the two travellers were so discouraged and what changed that, then your own life can be transformed, enlivened, and made joyous.
We’ll have two parts: First, a look at the two men who went to walk the road to Emmaus, then we’ll step back and think about what it means to meditate on Jesus – the real source of joy.
These notes accompany a sermon on YouTube. You can find more in the series in our sermon index.
How to know that Jesus is risen
The events in Jerusalem have been bad for Jesus’ followers, but also very confusing. These two men are pretty downcast: Read Luke 24:13-17.
The verses set up a scene of two despondent, discouraged disciples trying to understand the day’s events. Then Jesus joins them. It’s not clear why they couldn’t recognise him. If you needed to know, Luke would have told you. There’s a lovely irony in v18. Read Luke 24:18.
Actually, Jesus is the only visitor in Jerusalem who truly does know! In v19, he asks them, “What things?” which is literally, “What?” – which seems to capture the irony and humour! They give their report. Read Luke 24:19-20.
Notice they stop short of some of the things they could have said, like Messiah, Lord, Immanuel. Those hopes have died with him (it seems), though they voice those hopes in the next verse. Read Luke 24:21.
Hope had turned to grief. But grief had turned to confused hope on the third day: Read Luke 24:22-24.
It’s one thing to hear of angels, but hard to accept they might actually have spoken to people you know today. The angels said Jesus is alive, not dead. Some had gone to the tomb and, sure enough, it was empty. But that’s not to say he’s been resurrected, is it? “Some… went to the tomb… but they didn’t see him.”
Many in the early church were eye-witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection – they saw him. These two men will soon realise that they’re talking with him, but (amazingly) that’s not what convinces them of the resurrection!
Rebuke
So their report is met with rebuke! Read Luke 24:25-27.
- That’s the sermon many would love to hear.
- Many would want to walk the road to Emmaus to hear it!
- In truth, we can guess at some of the things Jesus would have taught (and a 7 mile walk wouldn’t be enough for it all anyway):
- Genesis 3:15 promised a serpent-crusher who would undo the curse of death on humanity.
- Deuteronomy promised another prophet like Moses, a great leader of God’s people.
- 2 Samuel 7 promised a descendant of King David would rule God’s kingdom for ever.
- Psalm 110 makes it clear that that king will also be a priest who will reign and sit at God’s right hand in heaven!
- In fact, Isaiah 7 shows us that the Messiah will be none other than God With Us, Immanuel.
- And Ezekiel 34 tells us that the Messiah will be God himself come to his people, and a son of David too.
- Isaiah 53 explains how this saviour will actually die for the sins of his people, yet also reign and rule and (Isaiah 65) usher in a new heavens and new earth.
- Isaiah 25 mentions an end to the reign of death over humanity, and Daniel 12 looks forward to a resurrection to life for God’s people.
- Not to mention Jeremiah’s promise of a New Covenant, or Psalm 2’s joyous expectation of God’s Son ruling the world!
Sermon takeaway
What’s the point, the main takeaway from all that? Twofold:
- The Messiah must necessarily die to conquer death, to redeem his people, to suffer in our place.
- He must then rise to live forever to reign and rule as prophesied!
Read Luke 24:26 again! To hear that as you walk the road to Emmaus would be amazing (it is amazing!), but there was more in store for those two men.
Read Luke 24:28-31.
- We went for a walk a few years ago.
- We crossed fields, lanes, round ponds, through woods and generally lost all sense of direction (though we were following a map).
- When we climbed over a stile onto a busy road, there was a garage 30 yards along.
- I had absolutely no idea what road this could be, or where that garage was. And then I did. Something clicked.
- Then I couldn’t unsee it. I knew where I was.
Something disorienting like that happened to these men. Suddenly: It’s Jesus. And then he was gone.
Amazing for them, but the next verse is especially wonderful for you: Read Luke 24:32.
- Why exactly did their hearts burn within them?
- Was it when they recognised Jesus? No.
- Get this: Their hearts burned within them to get a vision of Jesus in the Old Testament that was so lofty and profound that they knew in their very bones the Jesus must be alive!
- Of course he’s the Messiah!
- Of course he had to suffer and die – to be the Messiah.
- Which means he absolutely must now be risen to glory! Praise God!
More than that, those men caught a glimpse of God’s glory.
God’s glory
By thinking and meditating on Scripture, they understood something of God’s love for us, his desire to dwell on the earth in love with humanity, and how far he will go to make that happen. Their hearts burned to see such love, such passion even!
In a sense, anyone could have preached that sermon. It wasn’t marvellous to them at that moment because of who was telling them (just some ‘stranger’). Their hearts burned to see such love, to see Christ in all his glory spelled out on the pages of the Old Testament. And their hearts burned with the knowledge that Christ must be alive again, and that hope lives on!
Only after that did they realise it was Jesus. Then they scooted back to Jerusalem: Read Luke 24:33-35.
- Who said the Lord had appeared to Simon?
- Different translations take it either these two men or the 11 apostles saying it. It’s probably the apostles, though the moment of meeting isn’t recorded.
- It was quite the show-and-tell; everyone has news to tell and it’s all variations on this one theme: Jesus is alive!
- Some knew it by sight; others had come to know it through Scripture.
- Either way, we finish next week with Jesus then turning up right there with them with powerful words to say!
For now though: I haven’t seen Jesus with my eyes, and neither have you.
But your heart can burn within you just as it did for those men as you do what they did: See him by faith as revealed in Scripture:
Meditate on Christ
Luke wrote Acts, of course. It’s a kind of Luke Volume 2. We can see how the news of Jesus’ resurrection was spread to the world once Jesus had returned to heaven in Acts 1. The apostles go about proclaiming the resurrection to the Jews of Jerusalem – and they use Scripture to do it.
- In Acts 2, Peter quotes Scripture as he preaches to the crowds on the Day of Pentecost:
- Joel 2 – the Holy Spirit was promised to all.
- Psalm 16 – God’s holy Messiah wouldn’t see decay, though he would die. He was always going to be resurrected.
- Psalm 110 – the Messiah would be exalted to sit at God’s hand of government over the world!
- And you killed him! (Hard to hear!)
- In Acts 3, they again use the Old Testament to interpret what people saw in Jesus:
- Deuteronomy 18’s promise of a prophet.
- Genesis 22’s promise through Abraham of blessing to all nations.
- In Acts 4 we hear the early church praying and identifying Jesus as God’s Son in Psalm 2, with Herod, Pilate and the authorities working against God’s Messiah.
Throughout Acts, when Peter, Paul or anyone is explaining how Jesus is the Messiah there are crucial threads that come up over and over:
- Whenever the audience is familiar with Scripture, that’s the starting point: Jesus is the saving fulfilment of all that was said before.
- Also, crucially, Jesus lives. We are (or there are) eye-witnesses.
Double Witness
So there’s a double witness to Jesus’ resurrection:
- First, there’s Old Testament Scripture. Properly read, that’s actually enough!
- Second, there were eye-witnesses.
In Berea, the apostle Paul preached Christ crucified and risen in the synagogue to the Jews. Paul was an eye-witness. But still, they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true (Acts 17:11).
Those eye-witnesses became writers of the New Testament for you, so that you now still have that double witness:
- The Old Testament Scripture.
- The eye-witness accounts that became New Testament Scripture. You can know that Christ lives as he’s described in the Bible in your hand.
Would you like to see God? Hebrews 1:3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature… To see God, look to Jesus. So would you like to see Jesus? Luke 24:27 Then beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted for them the things concerning himself in all the Scriptures.
And you’ve got even more now than they had. Right there in your hand. Your heart could burn, leap, somersault if only you spent time contemplating Christ as revealed in the Bible.
Meditations
There are direct revelations to meditate on:
- Isaiah 6:1 I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, and the hem of his robe filled the temple. – That’s Jesus
- Revelation 5:12 Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and blessing!
There are other prophecies and promises to contemplate:
- Read the Christmas narratives and see how they’re steeped in promise fulfilled:
- Matthew spells out over and over “and so was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophets…”
- Luke’s opening chapters are temple-oriented with Old Testament language in the songs of Mary and Zechariah.
Or read Leviticus (maybe with help from Hebrews) and ponder again how that explains what Jesus has done and is doing for you today.
Meditation on Jesus is for all Christians
How can you say you yearn for heaven, when you barely meditate on the one who is its chief delight? Meditating on Jesus should be as natural to you as any bride looking forward to her wedding day.
If you look to see Jesus by faith, as revealed in Scripture, then you will know what it is to be dazzled by him. Seeing Jesus like that will mean you’ve already taken hold of something of heaven itself. Then you won’t need great music or good coffee to worship him, you’ll just see him by faith.
When you know him like that, then you’ll know you can trust him. When you trust him, you’ll experience his grace, his strength, his love. You’ll know he lives. You won’t need convincing, because you’ll know him.
Do you need help?
- You already have a Bible. Read it.
- The Holy Spirit delights to show you Jesus. Ask for help.
- Christ is an ocean whose depths you can’t see fully into; take your time, and keep going back to him.
- As you speak to him, and learn from him, you will see more of the Father and his love for you.
Every day, take time to read a little of the Bible. Meditate on it, even if only briefly. And respond to God in prayer. There are plenty of helps for this – none as effective as the Holy Spirit!
Luke 24:32 They said to each other, “Weren’t our hearts burning within us while he was talking with us on the road and explaining the Scriptures to us?”
Lord, cause our hearts to burn with love and desire for you!