Luke 24:1-34 Their Eyes Were Opened

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

I love how fired up you guys are this morning. All right, let's get into the word. The word. Okay, here we go. So we're in Luke 24. We're in Luke 24. We're going to start in verse 1. I'm going to hit you with a bunch of verses, a significant amount. And this will be our next last week in Luke, okay? And so here we go. But very early on Sunday morning. Now, where are we at? Just real quick before the very early. We've just found out last week that the women had prepared oils and spices to put on the body of Jesus, but Sabbath hit, and so they obeyed the Sabbath and didn't go. And that discipline allowed them not to show up at a tomb that was still had the stone there, but allowed them to show up on resurrection morning, right? If they'd, if they had let we talked about, if they'd have let the impatience get the best of them, they'd have come to a tomb where the stone was still there, but they show up at an empty tomb on resurrection morning rather than silent Saturday. Yeah. So we talked about the importance of patience, and we talked about the importance of courage last week in regards to Joseph of Arimathea. Now it's resurrection morning. But very early on Sunday morning, the women went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. They found the stone had been rolled away. How incredible that is. I want to back up. Verse 2. It says, They found the stone had been rolled away. Why was the stone rolled away? It wasn't rolled away. Let me correct this idea. It wasn't rolled away so Jesus could get out. It was rolled away so the witnesses could get in. Right? Because we see already a little bit later in Luke, the disciples are all together, and then all of a sudden it's just like Jesus was among them. Right? We don't know what it looked like. Was it Star Trek with like all the sparkle swirls or whatever? And he's just there and didn't make a cool noise. Or was it inside? However, it happened, he's not worried about doors anymore. You with me on that? Jesus doesn't need a stone to roll to walk out. He's back in full God mode. He's in the presence of man. He can eat, he can eat fish still. We see that later in Luke, but he doesn't need the stone rolled away to get out. The stones rolled away so the witnesses can get in. Because remember, Luke is making sure that these are eyewitnesses' accounts to give us certainty in our faith. Yeah? So we got to remember when you see that, this is the reason why it's rolled away so the witnesses can get in. So they went in, but they didn't find the body of the Lord. And as they stood there puzzled, two men suddenly appeared to them, clothed in dazzling robes. The women were terrified and bowed with their faces to the ground. And then the men asked, Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? Praise God. He isn't here, he has risen from the dead. Remember what he told you back in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and that he would rise again on the third day. Then they remembered that he had said this. I love the patience. One of the things you're going to see today is the patience of God. I love the patience of God because his faithful, most faithful followers will have seasons, you will have a season in your life where you might forget what he said, but it doesn't mean that he's not going to do what he said. He'll still be faithful even in your forgetting until you get to the point of remembering. Because the women had forgotten. They're like, what are you doing here? Don't you remember? And then shared with them, and then boom, they remembered. Just really quickly, before I move past this empty grave, a couple things that I just want to remind you of. An empty grave means a few things. First thing is fear does not get to plan your future. When the grave is empty, that means death has been defeated, and you don't have to be worried about what's coming in the future because the grave's been defeated. Right? He's overcome it. Shame does not get to define your past. When you have an empty grave, you need to understand that shame doesn't get to dictate what your past was. You only now have a testimony of his goodness in your life. So everything that you look back on, the enemy would kick on you and say, This is dirt of your past. No, this is this is testimony of how good my God is. That even while I was a sinner, he died for me and he took me from that place and he's brought me to this one. Yeah? So it means empty tomb means shame doesn't get to define your past. And finally, hopelessness does not get to control your present. Man, like there are we we are in days where if you will feed on the wrong thing in media, you will get hopeless quickly. I mean, almost within a few minutes, you can you can feel sometimes scrolling, can you not feel things get darker, like the rooms getting dimmer? And it's your soul like just beginning to say, uh, you're connecting with this sort of like hopelessness in this world. And to have a faith that's founded in Jesus doesn't mean you don't pay attention to what's going on, but it means your primary focus is on him first, while your secondary understanding is this is still all going on around you. And while it's going on around you, you get to be a light in a dark place. You don't have to join in with the darkness. So hopelessness doesn't control your present. I'm gonna just tell you really quickly, as I was preparing this week, I was like, Lord, there's a lot of good stuff to save till Easter. It's a long wait, but I would remember, I promise. And I just felt like we needed to get after it today, okay? Verse 8. Then they remembered that he had said this, so they rushed back to the tomb, excuse me, from the tomb to tell his eleven disciples and everyone else what had happened. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary, the mother of James, and several other women who told the apostles what had happened. But the story sounded like nonsense to the men, so they didn't believe it. Uh, when you share your faith, don't always think that it's going to sound perfect to the people that hear it. Because these are eyewitnesses that all tell the exact same story of what just happened, and it sounded like nonsense to the men. Nonsense to men who had been living with Jesus for years. Yeah? So just understand, like sometimes we share our faith and then it's not received well, and then we get dejected and we don't share it anymore because we just feel like, well, I must not be good at this. These women were elite in their faith. And the men they were sharing the gospel with, the good news that he was written, risen, listen, they had spent time with Jesus and still yet they didn't believe. And listen, I want to just say that when people are in a painful place, it's hard for them to hear truth. But don't stop speaking truth because the disciples were in a painful place. Verse 12. However, Peter jumped up, gotta love Peter, and ran to the tomb to look. Stooping, he peered in and saw the empty linen wrappings. Then he went home again, wondering what had happened. Keep moving here. This is this, I want to tell you these next few verses, this next passage. The same day, two of Jesus' followers were walking to the village of Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem. Depending on who you ask, it could take a couple hours, maybe a little bit less, maybe a little bit more, depending on their pace. But we know it's a decent walk, right? So they were, as they walked along, verse 14, as they walked along, they were talking about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things, Jesus himself suddenly came and began walking with them. First thing I just got to say is this Jesus could have shown up anywhere, yet he comes to a path where two people are walking away. He could have shown up in a room full of hundreds, like, hey, I'm back. And yet there's two five, this is how he cares about people. There's two of his disciples that are walking away, leaving Jerusalem. They've heard the good news and they're still having trouble believing that it's happened. Jesus shows up and he begins talking to them, like, what's going on, guys? And I love this about our Jesus that there can be times in our life where we're actively going the wrong direction, away from purpose, and he still will find us. Man, the enemy lies so much that failure has disqualified you. And Jesus wants you to know this morning he is relentless in coming after you, and he is not done with you. And as long as you have breath, you have purpose. As they talk and discuss these things, Jesus himself suddenly came and began walking with them, but God kept them from recognizing him. He asked them, What are you discussing so intently as you walk along? They stopped short, sadness written across their faces. You gotta love the writing of Luke. Then one of them, Cleopus, replied, You must be the only person in Jerusalem who hasn't heard about all the things that have happened there the last few days. What things? Jesus asked. He was a prophet who did powerful miracles, and he was a mighty teacher in the eyes of God and all the people. But our leading priests and other religious leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. We had hoped he was the Messiah who had come to rescue Israel. This all happened three days ago. Then some women from our group of his followers were at his tomb early this morning, and they came back with an amazing report. They said his body was missing, and they had seen angels who told them Jesus is alive, exclamation point. Some of our men ran out to see, and sure enough, his body was gone, just as the women had said. And then Jesus said to them, You foolish people, you find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the scriptures. Wasn't it clearly predicted that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his glory? Just want to say really quickly, so you foolish, that sounds harsh, but the word really comes down to this. It means without understanding, lacking perception, lacking comprehension. So if you check this out, what it means is that they didn't have, it's not that they didn't have the information, they just had the interpretation of the information wrong. Because he says, you've had the scriptures, you've had all this information, but you've just gotten it wrong. And you're slow in this. Another version, the New American Standard Version says, You foolish men, and slow of heart to believe in all the prophets that spoke, and slow of heart. Wasn't it clearly predicted, verse 26? The Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his glory. Then Jesus took them, check this out, through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining all the scriptures, the things concerning himself, explaining from all the scriptures. Man, how did he pull this off in that walk? He breaks down the whole Old Testament in a couple hours. I mean, it's Jesus, right? So he's got that going for him. But can you think can you imagine this? The most epic Bible study in history is taking place in that moment, and there's only two people attending it, and then there's the teacher. And Jesus, and they don't even recognize who the teacher is. I don't know if he's like in Jedi mode, like he has the hood up and they can't see him, how it is that God has them not being able to recognize who it is. But he begins to share, and you're like, well, well, Joey, what does Moses have to do with anything? What do the prophets have to do? Well, we've learned through this all this year and a half of going through Luke that there's a whole lot of prophecies that Jesus fulfills, right? Over 300 some prophecies that Jesus fulfills, and we see that he didn't miss any of them. He doesn't miss any. There's even a there's a prophecy in the Old Testament that his side would be pierced. You remember that? But check this out, this is what happens. His side is not pierced to kill him when you read in the account in the gospel. His side is pierced after he's already dead. Why would you have to stab him? He's already dead, but yet they pierced his side. And what happened? Scripture was fulfilled. Right? This is blowing anybody else's mind. So over and over again, and check this out. So you've got you've got Moses who who, when he's born, there's like all this attack on babies. And his mother has to put them in the stream and send them downstream. Right? When Jesus is born, what happens? There's all this attack on babies. There's all there's so much foreshadowing in the Old Testament. There's there's so much that you look at. You look at Abraham and Isaac. Abraham is asked to sacrifice his son Isaac. Isaac is taken up onto the mountain. Now, Isaac is big enough, strong enough to carry the weight of his own wood that's going to burn him alive, right? Or burn him after he's killed. He's recognizing at some point this is what's about to happen, yet he's still trusting his father. And he gets up there and Abraham lifts him up, puts him on the altar, and right as he's raising the knife, God says, no, no, no, no, don't do this. If there's any more of a foreshadowing of what's to come, it's this moment. You with me on that? What about what about there's a there's a there's a young man named Joseph? Joseph's got a coat of many colors. You remember Joseph? Joseph rescues his family by bringing them in a time of famine to Egypt. Is there another Joseph you know of that takes his family to Egypt in a time of trouble? Like Joseph, the father of Jesus? Right? You look in the Old Testament, there's so many things that connect and connect and connect and connect. And Jesus is walking them through all of these. It's kind of crazy, right? Joseph in the Old Testament, like his his dad's name is Jacob. Joseph in the New Testament, Joseph, the father of Jesus, the earthly father, his dad's name is Jacob. You you you look and there's just like so many dots that are connecting. And Jesus is just saying, hey guys, let me connect the dots. And he's walking with them. And they're not, check this out, and they're they're not getting it. And he doesn't stop walking with them. He's one mile in of sharing. This is Jesus sharing scripture. And it's not, their eyes aren't open yet. Their eyes aren't open yet. Man, I love the patience of God. Wasn't it clearly predicted that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his glory? And Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining all the scriptures, the things concerning himself. Verse 28. By this time they were nearing Emmaus, and at the end of the journey, Jesus acted as if he was going on. But they begged him, stay the night with us. Man, highlight that. Stay the night with us since it's getting late. So he went home with them. Jesus is always willing to enter where he's invited. He is always willing to enter where he is invited. Stay the night with us. It's like, man, like we don't want you to leave. We don't want this conversation to end. Don't walk out into the dark. Stay with us. And as he sat down, verse 30, as he sat down to eat, he took the bread and blessed it. And then he broke it and he gave it to him. Now these guys weren't with Jesus in the upper room when Jesus established communion, right? This holy sacrament, the Eucharist, right? They these guys, Cleopas and his friend, they're not with the disciples when that happens. However, being followers of Jesus, they've seen him bless, break, and give bread more than once. Right? They've had fellowship with Jesus more than once. When you're around him, listen, you could be in the middle of a group of 5,000 people if you're following Jesus and he's going to break, bless, and give bread. Yeah? Feeding of the 5,000, you with me on that? So we see multiple times where Jesus blesses, breaks, and gives. Blesses, breaks, and gives. These guys weren't with him. And you know, I want to tell you something. I love that we just received communion last week. I love when we receive communion together. Because it declares who Jesus is. I was listening to a church father earlier this week, and he said, man, before, because we need to understand the Greek word uh testament, like when you hear New Testament, testament and covenant is the same word. Right? So when he said, I'm setting up a new covenant with you, I'm setting up a new testament with you. Before the New Testament was a document, it was a sacrament. Before, let me say it like this to you, but before the New Covenant was written on a page, it was served on a plate. Relationship. Jesus is having relationship. As they sat down to eat, he took the bread and blessed it. Then he broke it and gave it to them. Man, suddenly their eyes were open. And they recognized him. And at that moment, he disappeared. Jesus, we just figured it out. He's gone. Like, how frustrating would that be? You would look at each other, Clopus and his friend. We're gonna call him Hank. Clopus and Hank look at each other and like, where'd he go? Did you know? No, I didn't know. Did you know? No. Well, I just figured it out when he blessed it, broke it, and gave it. Yeah, me too, I figured it out. And then whoop, he's gone. Crazy. But check this out. But before we talk about him being gone, I want you to look at something really quickly. Verse 31 says, Suddenly their eyes were opened. They hadn't seen it until that moment, but suddenly, in the receiving of the bread, their eyes were open. Okay, this is this is important. I want you just I never asked you to do this. Adam does it. Sheila rarely would ask you. Say this with me their eyes were open. Okay, this is huge, and let me tell you why this is huge. There's only one other place in Scripture where you read their eyes were open. It's found in Genesis chapter 3, verse 7. And after Adam and Eve had eaten of the fruit of the forbidden tree, their eyes were open to their nakedness, to their sin. At that moment, their eyes were open. Sin has now entered into the timeline of humanity. Is it crazy? Like, this is not a small bit of writing. In only two places do you see their eyes were open. When Jesus is with Cleopas and Hank, and he breaks the bread, and he blesses it and breaks it and gives it to them, their eyes are open. He is, Jesus is the bread of life. He is the tree of life. And in that moment, I love how N.T. Wright says there is cosmic healing happening in that moment. Because at the beginning of time, they took from the wrong tree, Adam and Eve, eat the fruit, and sin enters the world. And now you have the redemption of man come full circle to where the bread of life is now serving Claropis and Hank, who are gone the wrong way. And in that fellowship, in that communion, he serves them, and then their eyes are open. And it just can you just imagine? It's like everything just shifts. Sin no longer has the upper hand, it no longer has the authority. Our king has come and in fellowship. Listen, he taught them the word. And check this out. I love this. Anyone remember earlier where he said, you guys have a slow heart to believe? Remember that? Okay. Suddenly their eyes were opened and they recognized him. And at that moment he disappeared. And they said to each other, check this out, didn't our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the scriptures to us. Didn't our hearts burn within us? They were slow of heart and now their hearts burn. I just want to say this. If you'll be willing to get in the word, Jesus is still taking slow hearts and turning them into burning hearts. Jesus is still taking slow hearts, slow to believe, and he's not giving up on them. But if you'll spend time with him, he'll take a slow heart and turn it into a heart that's on fire. I love, it's not always happened. I've heard a lot of sermons in my life. But man, there's been times where I sit and I hear a message and I feel it in me like, man, the scripture is coming to life, and I feel my heart lighting up. And I pray when I prepare that there are Sundays, at least some, a few maybe, where your heart turns on fire. But one of the things I recognize when I come to hear a message, I come with the realization that I want to the expectancy that when I get in the word, my heart is going to light up. If your heart feels slow to believe right now, I want to tell you something. Get in the word. Spend time in the word. Because in the scripture, we get a fire for our heart. Right? Man. Didn't our hearts burn within us. He explained the scriptures to us. Check us out. And within the hour, they were on their way back to Jerusalem. And there they found the eleven disciples. Others who had gathered with him who said the Lord really has really risen, excuse me, the Lord has really risen. He appeared to Peter. As I prayed over today, I I felt like there'd be a moment that would come.

SPEAKER_00 22:51

Man. Yeah, Holy Spirit, I just I just need you right now to move. There's been some things in my heart, Jesus, that have been slow to believe.

SPEAKER_01 23:06

I'm just praying, set it on fire, set my heart on fire. I don't know if you in this room would right now acknowledge maybe there's some areas in your life that you've been slow to believe.

SPEAKER_00 23:23

But I'm praying right now, by the power of the Holy Spirit, that your heart be set on fire.

SPEAKER_01 23:38

Jesus, I thank you that these men on the road to Emmaus that their hearts were burning as you taught them the word. But their eyes were open when you had communion with them.

SPEAKER_00 23:54

Fellowship among us right now, Jesus. Bless us among us.

SPEAKER_01 25:09

And in areas of our heart where maybe we haven't received that truth. And I knew from when we started. Man, the line messed me up when he said, Man, I'm the office, I'm writing so you can be certain in your faith. Can I tell you how many weeks I was preparing a sermon, uncertain, in my faith? Like just struggling with things. We started this journey literally as we were trying to raise funds for this building. Man, there's days I'd be driving down the road, and I'm like, I am uncertain, God, of what comes next if this doesn't happen. I'm uncertain. Like, listen, I'm just praying. I'm like, this was where I was at, God, I believe you can do it, but there's another part of me like, I don't know if you can. Or I don't know if you will, right? It wasn't an issue of I don't know if you can more than I guess it really was, I don't know if you will. I think this is what you're saying. And we're stepping out this huge step of faith. And there's been so many moments over the over the year where I've just been like, man, just uncertain in areas in my life. Can I just keep it real before you? And if you're uncertain about areas in your life, man, it is okay because we reminder today, I can't get away from the faithfulness and the patience of God that even those journeying the opposite way, he's like, Let me show up. And after their eyes were opened and they had been taught, what did they do? They immediately turned back and went and shared the gospel. They affirmed what the women had said. They came into that place, and we're gonna read next week what that moment looked like. And then we're gonna get into Acts and look what the church looks like as it was birthed and it was growing. And we're gonna see moments where there was uncertainty even then. But you're in good company if there's areas of your life where you're uncertain. You're in good company if there's areas of your life where you feel exhausted and tired. But what I recognize, man, I can't, I couldn't get over, I still can't get over every time a prophecy got fulfilled. Every time Jesus did exactly what he said he was gonna do. Man, it happens over and over and over as we read, over and over and over as we studied. And like preparing this week, I'm like, man, I still feel like there are areas where my heart was slow to believe. Right? Anybody else? Man, I've been praying and believing. I'll just give you this insight. I don't know if I've shared this with you guys or not. I've shared it with some people. The first day I ever came and looked at the building, I remember pulling on and seeing the size of it. And to me, this place is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside, right? Because I don't believe you me, I tried to take pictures that may try to make it look impressive, and it's like it looked like a little house on the prairie, right? Like, well, that's a cute little building, right? Like you're sitting next to some of the mega churches, and I suppose it is, but like, but as I I couldn't, but there was something in me that reminded me of um being in Bible college a minute ago and reading this book of this pastor's name was Jack Hayford, and he was sharing about the early days in his congregation. And there was like 60 people that was in his congregation. And he said, We had this awesome little cute church building, and every week we come together and we'd dive into the word and we'd pray and we would worship and we'd seek God. And he said, and I had a moment where um I was praying before the Lord, and he said, God, if 60 is what you have for me to minister to for the rest of my life, I'll be faithful to do it. But if you want to do something more here, I just want what you do. And then he pulls in one day, and as he says it, he said, there was a flame resting on the building. And then people just begin getting delivered from their bondages and healed from their sicknesses, and salvation was happening, and listen, not converts but disciples. And the church just began to grow and grow and grow. And listen, it wasn't simply that, oh wow, we need a bigger building now. It was that heaven was invading earth. And through everybody in that, everybody in that congregation, heaven was pouring through them into their community. And so I prayed. Listen, I did it this morning. Pulled in, dropped off the family, parked way over there. Uh, because I'm believing every week we're going to need all the parking we can get. And I was I was parking way over down that driveway, and uh looked like I was doing some shady stuff, but I wasn't. And parked, and I'm walking up, and there's a tree that's blocking my sight. And I promise, every time I come to this building, I look up and I'm like, I don't see the flame today, but it's coming. Can I tell you some days I feel slow to believe, but I feel that's what the Lord's put in my heart. Now, has He done signs, wonders, and miracles? We've seen people get healed. So Luisa's heart get healed. We saw Selah's hips get healed, right? There's this we've seen people healed, and we're gonna see it happen more. But what I'm saying is, there's can we not settle for what has been? Can we celebrate for what's happened, but believe for more? Can we just risk to believe that there's cars driving by right now and people don't even know that God loves them and that he'd send his son to die for them? But he is sending you into their world to share this hope with them. So that not just their life could be changed, but the life of their family and the life of their children. Could I just prophesy over you right now that you would be the ones like Jesus in our community, that there's people that are walking away, but you would go instruct them and share the word with them. And even as you do that, the Holy Spirit would just set their heart on fire. And that they would have a moment of realization of who Jesus is. I just want to prophesy over you right now. You are carriers of the gospel. You are a royal priesthood, a holy nation. And in the priesthood, you are called to minister to God and to each other. And may you be released not only to minister to each other in this room, but for people that aren't even in the room yet. That you would be a priesthood that would greet people as they walk in and recognize that they are welcomed before they ever believed, and they are loved before they are ever believed, and they are embraced before they ever believed, but we will not stop praying for the move of God in their life. Sometimes we churches will get into summertime because it's a slow season. It's like people are vacationing. I get that. People go and stuff. I'm not content to let a Sunday pass. This is holy time. This is a holy moment. I'm coming next week with the same idea that God, I'm looking for the flame on top of the roof. But Lord, in the meantime, we're gonna be faithful to praise you before it comes. We're gonna be faithful to love and serve each other before it comes. We're gonna be faithful to lay hands on each other because that's what he's called us to do. Believe in faith that listen, the sick will be healed. Man, man, praise God for people that love Jesus. Uh, honor you, bless you, and I just want to speak a um a blessing over you, and then I'm just share a couple announcements and we'll wrap. Lord, I thank you. May your face shine upon your sons and your daughters. Bless them and they're coming and they're going, they're lying down, they're rising up, be their front and their rear guard. Give them the mind of Christ and wisdom of God. The mind of Christ and the wisdom of God. And Lord, I declare over them today that you've not given them a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind. We pray for greater boldness in our lives. And we thank you for the opportunity this week to share your word, your hope, your love, your truth. And may the kingdom of heaven advance and may hell decrease in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.