WEBVTT 00:00:06.480 --> 00:00:08.960 Hello everyone, this is Pastor Benjamin. 00:00:08.960 --> 00:00:12.000 You're listening to Sermon Audio from New City Orlando. 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:15.439 At New City, we long to see our Father answer the Lord's Prayer. 00:00:15.439 --> 00:00:20.000 For more resources, visit our website at Newcity Orlando.com. 00:00:20.719 --> 00:00:23.600 And join me in this prayer of illumination. 00:00:23.600 --> 00:00:39.679 Gracious Redeemer, as we hear your word, open our eyes to your glorious kingdom, and bring us life through your Holy Spirit by the power that raised Christ from the dead. 00:00:39.679 --> 00:00:40.640 Amen. 00:00:40.640 --> 00:00:48.079 Our scripture reading this morning comes from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 24, verses 13 through 35. 00:00:48.079 --> 00:01:00.719 That very day, two of them were going to the village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking with each other about the things that had happened. 00:01:00.719 --> 00:01:11.120 While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 00:01:11.120 --> 00:01:18.319 And he said to them, What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk? 00:01:18.319 --> 00:01:32.719 As they stood still looking sad, then one of them, named Cleopus, answered him, Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days? 00:01:32.719 --> 00:01:36.079 And he said to them, What things? 00:01:36.079 --> 00:01:53.680 And they said to him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet, mighty indeed and word, before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered up delivered him up to be condemned to death and crucified him. 00:01:53.680 --> 00:01:58.799 But we had hope that he was the one to redeem Israel. 00:01:58.799 --> 00:02:04.079 Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. 00:02:04.079 --> 00:02:07.519 Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. 00:02:07.519 --> 00:02:19.520 They are at the tomb early in the morning, and when they did not find his body, they came back, saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. 00:02:19.520 --> 00:02:27.520 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see. 00:02:27.520 --> 00:02:40.960 And he said to them, O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken, was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory? 00:02:40.960 --> 00:02:48.879 And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. 00:02:48.879 --> 00:02:52.719 So they drew near to the village to which they were going. 00:02:52.719 --> 00:03:02.319 He acted as if he were going farther, but they urged him strongly, saying, Stay with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is now spent. 00:03:02.319 --> 00:03:05.039 So he went in to stay with them. 00:03:05.039 --> 00:03:16.639 When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them, and their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he vanished from their sight. 00:03:16.639 --> 00:03:25.439 They said to each other, Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures? 00:03:25.439 --> 00:03:29.120 And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. 00:03:29.120 --> 00:03:44.560 And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon, and they told what had happened on the road and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread. 00:03:44.560 --> 00:03:46.560 This is God's word. 00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:49.520 You may be seated. 00:03:50.080 --> 00:03:51.759 Well, happy Easter. 00:03:51.759 --> 00:03:58.159 We can say that today, but that's not how this day began 2,000 years ago. 00:03:58.159 --> 00:04:07.199 In fact, people woke up on the first Easter Sunday morning confused with dashed hopes and disappointed desires. 00:04:07.199 --> 00:04:15.439 You see, they had a gap between their expectations and their experience, between what they hoped for and what they had that Easter Sunday morning. 00:04:15.439 --> 00:04:18.319 And that's what we see in our text today. 00:04:18.319 --> 00:04:30.399 And so what I want to invite us to do, wherever you are, whoever you are, is to enter into this text together because I think it has something to say to all of us, but maybe especially to any of us here who know the feeling of disappointment. 00:04:30.399 --> 00:04:36.560 So if you have a Bible or a device or the worship guide, go ahead and get Luke chapter 24, verse 13 in front of you. 00:04:36.560 --> 00:04:40.879 And what I want to see is, I want to see how Jesus draws near. 00:04:40.879 --> 00:04:43.680 And I'm going to look at that in seven ways. 00:04:43.680 --> 00:04:44.560 Seven points. 00:04:44.560 --> 00:04:45.360 Jesus is risen. 00:04:45.360 --> 00:04:46.720 I get to have seven points in my sermon. 00:04:46.720 --> 00:04:47.759 Okay, here we go. 00:04:47.759 --> 00:04:51.519 How Jesus draws near, look with me at Luke 24, verse 13. 00:04:51.519 --> 00:04:52.560 It says this. 00:04:52.560 --> 00:04:59.519 That very day, two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 00:04:59.519 --> 00:05:03.439 And they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 00:05:03.439 --> 00:05:10.959 You see, Bible scholars have discussed and debated who these two disciples are since at least as far back as the second century. 00:05:10.959 --> 00:05:14.480 And I'm going to submit to you that it's actually a married couple. 00:05:14.480 --> 00:05:18.000 We find out the name of one of them, uh, the guy, his name's Cleopus. 00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:19.519 We find that out in verse 18. 00:05:19.519 --> 00:05:23.920 And there's a woman talked about in John 19 named Mary, the wife of Cloopus. 00:05:23.920 --> 00:05:28.480 So people think maybe it's just a little bit of a nickname for Cleopas, same guy. 00:05:28.480 --> 00:05:31.839 And so we don't really know, but we do know this. 00:05:31.839 --> 00:05:39.120 This is a confused couple or a duo of disciples that are walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus. 00:05:39.120 --> 00:05:45.279 And as they're walking from that place, they're walking away from all that they had hoped for. 00:05:45.279 --> 00:05:48.319 They're walking away from all that they expected to be. 00:05:48.319 --> 00:05:51.279 They're walking away from all that they knew to be true. 00:05:51.279 --> 00:05:54.319 And then something happens in verse 15. 00:05:54.319 --> 00:05:55.759 Look with me at this. 00:05:55.759 --> 00:06:02.560 While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near. 00:06:02.560 --> 00:06:06.160 Jesus himself drew near and went with them. 00:06:06.160 --> 00:06:11.759 Listen, Christianity starts with Jesus moving toward you, not you moving toward Jesus. 00:06:11.759 --> 00:06:19.759 So what I mean by that is you could be this very moment, this very morning, walking away from Jesus, but Jesus is still walking toward you. 00:06:19.759 --> 00:06:24.480 And it says in verse 16, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 00:06:24.480 --> 00:06:25.680 What do you think it was? 00:06:25.680 --> 00:06:27.759 What was keeping them from recognizing him? 00:06:27.759 --> 00:06:30.240 It might have been a supernatural blindness. 00:06:30.240 --> 00:06:36.480 I'm not really sure, but but at least what I have a hunch it could have been was false expectations. 00:06:36.480 --> 00:06:43.920 You see, imagine two sets of people living in a grand old dilapidated building. 00:06:43.920 --> 00:06:49.680 One group of people thinks that they're staying in an expensive hotel and they're bitterly disappointed. 00:06:49.680 --> 00:06:54.639 The other group of people thinks that they're in prison and they're pleasantly surprised. 00:06:54.639 --> 00:06:56.079 Do you see the difference? 00:06:56.079 --> 00:07:01.839 Expectations alter experience, it shapes what we think is possible. 00:07:01.839 --> 00:07:14.160 And so they may have been kept from recognizing that it was Jesus because their expectations bracketed out the possibility that this man was crucified and is alive now. 00:07:14.160 --> 00:07:17.439 And some of you this morning, that's true for you. 00:07:17.439 --> 00:07:24.639 You've bracketed out the possibility that Jesus of Nazareth was crucified and is alive today. 00:07:24.639 --> 00:07:27.199 It's just not in your worldview. 00:07:27.199 --> 00:07:28.560 It's not possible. 00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:31.439 Well, listen, what does Jesus do? 00:07:31.439 --> 00:07:34.319 What he does is he keeps pace. 00:07:34.319 --> 00:07:38.800 He essentially says to them, listen, let's walk this out together. 00:07:38.800 --> 00:07:44.160 In other words, Jesus is not fragile around your disappoint disappointments or disbelief. 00:07:44.160 --> 00:07:46.959 Uh, you don't have to figure it all out to get Jesus. 00:07:46.959 --> 00:07:48.720 In fact, he's already moving towards you. 00:07:48.720 --> 00:07:51.920 But as he moves towards you, he's gonna ask you some questions. 00:07:51.920 --> 00:07:52.639 That's number two. 00:07:52.639 --> 00:07:53.600 Look at verse 17. 00:07:53.600 --> 00:07:56.079 Jesus asks us questions. 00:07:56.079 --> 00:08:02.160 And he said to them, What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk? 00:08:02.160 --> 00:08:05.279 And they stood still, looking sad. 00:08:05.279 --> 00:08:07.600 I think this is beautiful. 00:08:07.600 --> 00:08:11.839 Jesus already knows, and yet he still asks. 00:08:11.839 --> 00:08:12.879 Why? 00:08:12.879 --> 00:08:20.399 Well, because he's trying to draw them out, he's trying to get them to put a name to their disappointment, which they do in verse 21. 00:08:20.399 --> 00:08:22.480 They say, We had hoped. 00:08:22.480 --> 00:08:24.959 That's the ache. 00:08:24.959 --> 00:08:26.639 What is it for you this morning? 00:08:26.639 --> 00:08:27.920 Where is that place of ache? 00:08:27.920 --> 00:08:30.480 Jesus is saying, Hey, what is it that's concerning you? 00:08:30.480 --> 00:08:33.519 What is it that's on your heart for them? 00:08:33.519 --> 00:08:45.440 As verse 18 says, then one of them named Cleopus answered him, Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who doesn't know the things that have happened there in these days? 00:08:45.440 --> 00:08:48.080 My man Cleopus is throwing shade at Jesus. 00:08:48.080 --> 00:08:48.799 That's what's happening here. 00:08:48.799 --> 00:08:51.120 He's like, Have you been living under a rock, dude? 00:08:51.120 --> 00:08:56.639 Now, I don't know about you, but I also get a little snippy when I'm sad. 00:08:56.639 --> 00:08:58.320 That's happening here. 00:08:58.320 --> 00:09:02.399 But Jesus isn't rebuffed by your defensiveness. 00:09:02.399 --> 00:09:09.600 Jesus knows that there's a self-protection that grows around a heart that's been hurt in its hope. 00:09:09.600 --> 00:09:18.879 And so there's an American writer named Zora Neil Hurst, and she says it like this There are years that ask questions, and there are years that answer. 00:09:18.879 --> 00:09:23.360 What are the questions that's being asked of you in this season of life? 00:09:23.360 --> 00:09:24.559 What does it look like? 00:09:24.559 --> 00:09:29.600 And Jesus is wondering at verse 17, hey, what are the conversations that you've been having? 00:09:29.600 --> 00:09:32.559 But Jesus goes on and he continues to ask questions. 00:09:32.559 --> 00:09:43.120 You know, when I was in grad school, uh, one of the ways that I would I'd get done with class, it'd be like 9 p.m., I'd come home, and I just needed to decompress a little bit, so I'd flip on Netflix or something like that. 00:09:43.120 --> 00:09:44.240 Nobody else? 00:09:44.240 --> 00:09:44.799 Okay. 00:09:44.799 --> 00:09:48.480 Can we can't we be honest in church or is that not okay? 00:09:48.480 --> 00:09:49.519 Okay, fine, I got it. 00:09:49.519 --> 00:09:50.320 It's all right. 00:09:50.320 --> 00:09:53.440 And I would watch through like seasons of The Office and things like that. 00:09:53.440 --> 00:10:00.799 But there was one show that defined this season for me, and it was a late 1960s detective show called Columbo. 00:10:00.799 --> 00:10:03.279 And notice who laughed. 00:10:03.279 --> 00:10:05.600 That's it says something about the people in the room here. 00:10:05.600 --> 00:10:10.879 Okay, so Columbo had this thing where you the show started, you found out who done it. 00:10:10.879 --> 00:10:12.799 You knew the murderer at the beginning. 00:10:12.799 --> 00:10:19.519 And then the fun part of the show is watching Columbo act like an idiot and pretend play dumb the whole time. 00:10:19.519 --> 00:10:23.360 And he just kind of bumbles into questions, he's like, Hey, so what about that there? 00:10:23.360 --> 00:10:25.200 And he finds out who it is, right? 00:10:25.200 --> 00:10:27.440 Jesus is doing the Columbo method here. 00:10:27.440 --> 00:10:28.960 Look with me at verse 19. 00:10:28.960 --> 00:10:31.279 And he said to them, What things? 00:10:31.279 --> 00:10:34.879 You see, he wants them to tell the story. 00:10:34.879 --> 00:10:38.720 He wants them to tell their version of the story, and so it works. 00:10:38.720 --> 00:10:52.080 And they said to him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a mighty prophet in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death and crucified him. 00:10:52.080 --> 00:10:55.440 Now here come the three heaviest words in our passage. 00:10:55.440 --> 00:10:58.639 But we had hoped. 00:10:58.639 --> 00:11:03.919 We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. 00:11:03.919 --> 00:11:08.639 If you if you do it didn't take much imagination to recognize these two are devastated. 00:11:08.639 --> 00:11:11.279 What is it for you though? 00:11:11.279 --> 00:11:13.039 I had hoped. 00:11:13.039 --> 00:11:16.480 I had hoped that the diagnosis wouldn't come. 00:11:16.480 --> 00:11:19.600 I had hoped that that that my marriage would be a little bit better. 00:11:19.600 --> 00:11:22.159 I had hoped that that prayer would be answered. 00:11:22.159 --> 00:11:25.440 I had hoped that God would come through in the way I needed him to. 00:11:25.440 --> 00:11:26.879 Fill in the blank for you. 00:11:26.879 --> 00:11:28.000 What is it that you would say? 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:34.000 We had hoped, because that's what you say when your future collapses into your past. 00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:36.159 That's what happened for them. 00:11:36.159 --> 00:11:39.919 Verse 21 says, But we had hoped that he was the one. 00:11:39.919 --> 00:11:42.799 He was the one to redeem Israel. 00:11:42.799 --> 00:11:46.639 You see, in Israel's story, this word redeem is a really important one. 00:11:46.639 --> 00:11:50.399 It comes from the story of the Exodus, one of the first books of the Bible. 00:11:50.399 --> 00:11:55.519 And in that story, redeem, redemption means to set free. 00:11:55.519 --> 00:11:59.360 You see, God is the kind of God who overthrows oppressors like Pharaoh. 00:11:59.360 --> 00:12:04.320 God is the kind of God who shows up and breaks chains, who gives his people their lives back. 00:12:04.320 --> 00:12:11.440 And so when they look at this situation, the one who was supposed to defeat Rome was defeated by Rome. 00:12:11.440 --> 00:12:16.879 They look at this situation, the one who was supposed to set them free could not save himself. 00:12:16.879 --> 00:12:20.000 They're wondering, how could God let this happen? 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:25.360 But listen, they were right about redemption, but they were wrong about the kind of redemption. 00:12:25.360 --> 00:12:31.120 You see, they wanted political rescue from Rome, but Rome was never their deepest problem. 00:12:31.120 --> 00:12:34.080 You see, that's not that's also true for you. 00:12:34.080 --> 00:12:36.639 Your situation is never your deepest problem. 00:12:36.639 --> 00:12:41.120 Instead, the strongest chains aren't physical. 00:12:41.120 --> 00:12:48.960 You see, the strongest chains that bind us are the patterns that you can't break, or the guilt that you can't shake, or the shame that you can't outrun. 00:12:48.960 --> 00:12:55.759 And so we don't just need freedom from what's been done to us, we need freedom from what's inside us. 00:12:55.759 --> 00:12:57.279 And Jesus knows this. 00:12:57.279 --> 00:13:00.960 That's why he didn't come to bring mere redemption from Rome. 00:13:00.960 --> 00:13:07.519 Jesus came to bring redemption for sin and death and everything that keeps us from God. 00:13:07.519 --> 00:13:09.600 That's what Jesus came to do. 00:13:09.600 --> 00:13:16.000 And in the shock of Christianity, the way Jesus sets us free is by taking our place. 00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:24.159 In other words, he doesn't break the chains from the outside, he takes on the chains and breaks out of them from the inside. 00:13:24.159 --> 00:13:26.159 You see, that's what's happening here. 00:13:26.159 --> 00:13:27.360 He takes them on himself. 00:13:27.360 --> 00:13:34.320 So when they say that they had hoped, what they what they're really saying is the cross was an abysmal failure. 00:13:34.320 --> 00:13:40.080 But what they didn't realize is that Jesus actually succeeded in a way that they could never imagine. 00:13:40.080 --> 00:13:43.519 You see, Jesus wasn't there just to deal with Rome. 00:13:43.519 --> 00:13:47.039 He he came to deal with everything that keeps us from God. 00:13:47.039 --> 00:13:50.879 And we see this, there's this turn in the story that's almost too good to be true. 00:13:50.879 --> 00:13:52.320 Look at verse 21. 00:13:52.320 --> 00:13:58.240 Yes, and besides all this, it's now the third day since these things happened. 00:13:58.240 --> 00:14:01.360 Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. 00:14:01.360 --> 00:14:15.600 They were at the tomb early in the morning, and when they, here's an important phrase, did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels who said to them that Jesus was alive. 00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:22.399 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see. 00:14:22.399 --> 00:14:26.159 Do you remember what Cleopas says in verse 18? 00:14:26.159 --> 00:14:31.759 He's basically like, Hey, are you the only person in Jerusalem who has no idea all the things that have gone on? 00:14:31.759 --> 00:14:33.600 Like, do you not know what's been going down? 00:14:33.600 --> 00:14:34.799 Don't you track with the news? 00:14:34.799 --> 00:14:36.879 Like, what how could you be oblivious to this? 00:14:36.879 --> 00:14:37.840 This is important. 00:14:37.840 --> 00:14:47.600 Because if you're here and you're skeptical about the claims of Christianity, you should know the crucifixion of Jesus was a very public event. 00:14:47.600 --> 00:14:51.200 This was like the execution of a local celebrity. 00:14:51.200 --> 00:15:03.200 And why that matters is because if you were anywhere around Jerusalem in that moment, you would have known about what had happened, and you would have known that there were claims they couldn't find his body. 00:15:03.200 --> 00:15:07.679 And here's the thing: there's only two, really two groups of people who could have done that. 00:15:07.679 --> 00:15:11.840 The first group would have been either the Jews or the Romans who crucified Jesus. 00:15:11.840 --> 00:15:17.519 Maybe they did something with the body, but listen, the last thing they wanted was an empty tomb. 00:15:17.519 --> 00:15:23.840 It made them look bad, and it was the reason, the claim, the basis of the claim for the resurrection. 00:15:23.840 --> 00:15:27.440 So then you might go, hey, listen, dude, it was the early Christians. 00:15:27.440 --> 00:15:29.600 They snuck in there, they stole the body. 00:15:29.600 --> 00:15:34.000 Of course, they had a vested interest that their Messiah didn't really die, right? 00:15:34.000 --> 00:15:36.080 Well, here's the problem with that. 00:15:36.080 --> 00:15:46.000 Not only was the tomb guarded by Roman soldiers who were pretty big, beefy dudes with swords, not only that, but people will die for things that are false. 00:15:46.000 --> 00:15:47.440 They do it all the time. 00:15:47.440 --> 00:15:51.279 But people will not die for things they know to be a lie. 00:15:51.279 --> 00:15:58.639 The early Christians would not have stolen the body and then gone to their death defending the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 00:15:58.639 --> 00:16:00.480 And so listen, here's my invitation. 00:16:00.480 --> 00:16:05.120 If you're in the room and you're skeptical about the claims of Christianity, just search this out. 00:16:05.120 --> 00:16:06.960 Look into the resurrection. 00:16:06.960 --> 00:16:10.639 Google what happened to the empty tomb, where's the body? 00:16:10.639 --> 00:16:12.480 Find out what you can find out. 00:16:12.480 --> 00:16:14.559 Because this is a significant claim. 00:16:14.559 --> 00:16:18.159 The resurrection of Jesus Christ makes all the difference. 00:16:18.159 --> 00:16:21.200 But maybe some of you in the room, that's not you. 00:16:21.200 --> 00:16:23.360 Instead, you're a little bit more like Cleopas. 00:16:23.360 --> 00:16:27.840 You know all the right answers, you've got all the right words, but something still hasn't clicked. 00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:33.519 It's still something's missing, which is why the third thing Jesus does is Jesus challenges us. 00:16:33.519 --> 00:16:35.360 Look at verse 25. 00:16:35.360 --> 00:16:42.480 And he said to them, Oh foolish ones and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. 00:16:42.480 --> 00:16:47.840 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory? 00:16:47.840 --> 00:16:50.879 This isn't harsh, this is healing. 00:16:50.879 --> 00:16:59.360 Jesus is like a surgeon with a scalpel, and he's cutting to the heart of the problem, which is always a problem of the heart. 00:16:59.360 --> 00:17:01.279 That's what he's doing in this moment. 00:17:01.279 --> 00:17:05.519 You see, it wasn't a lack of evidence, it wasn't missing information. 00:17:05.519 --> 00:17:10.240 The issue was unbelief shaped by unmet expectations. 00:17:10.240 --> 00:17:16.319 You see, that gap between expectations and experience, that's where doubt flourishes. 00:17:16.319 --> 00:17:22.480 That's where disbelief and shame and confusion and contempt, all those things flourish in that gap right there. 00:17:22.480 --> 00:17:25.519 And the problem is that they misunderstood the Messiah. 00:17:25.519 --> 00:17:26.960 That's what he says here. 00:17:26.960 --> 00:17:31.119 You see, they were expecting a conquering king, not a crucified criminal. 00:17:31.119 --> 00:17:40.000 They were assuming that they could look up to find God, but instead they should have looked low because Jesus was washing their feet. 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:43.920 You see, there is no glory without suffering. 00:17:43.920 --> 00:17:46.559 There is no crown without a cross. 00:17:46.559 --> 00:17:50.160 And so some of our unbelief grows from the same place. 00:17:50.160 --> 00:17:53.599 We wonder, how could God let me suffer in this way? 00:17:53.599 --> 00:17:56.319 Look with me at verse 26. 00:17:56.319 --> 00:17:59.680 Was it not necessary? 00:17:59.680 --> 00:18:04.000 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer? 00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:06.559 That one word, necessary. 00:18:06.559 --> 00:18:15.039 If it was necessary that Jesus Christ would suffer before entering glory, it will be part of the road for us too. 00:18:15.039 --> 00:18:21.359 You see, if you remove the cross, you don't get a better Christianity, you lose Christianity. 00:18:21.359 --> 00:18:28.000 What happens here is they've been reading the story, the whole story of Scripture, they've been reading through the wrong end of the telescope. 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:31.119 They thought that God was going to come and redeem them from suffering. 00:18:31.119 --> 00:18:41.440 What ended up happening was God came and redeemed them through suffering, particularly the suffering of the Christ, the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. 00:18:41.440 --> 00:18:49.039 And so listen, some of us here have the same struggle with unbelief because God hasn't come through in the way we wanted him to. 00:18:49.039 --> 00:18:51.279 How does Jesus respond? 00:18:51.279 --> 00:18:53.440 He leads a Bible study. 00:18:53.440 --> 00:18:55.519 Look with me at verse 27. 00:18:55.519 --> 00:18:57.119 Jesus teaches us. 00:18:57.119 --> 00:19:02.960 And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, that's how the Bible talks about the Bible. 00:19:02.960 --> 00:19:10.319 Beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. 00:19:10.319 --> 00:19:14.720 You see, their hope had a hermeneutics problem. 00:19:14.720 --> 00:19:17.359 Hermeneutics is simply the study of a text. 00:19:17.359 --> 00:19:18.480 That's all that it is. 00:19:18.480 --> 00:19:22.880 And what had happened here was they were misreading their scriptures. 00:19:22.880 --> 00:19:27.839 You see, the Bible isn't mainly about principles, although it has good principles in it. 00:19:27.839 --> 00:19:30.319 The Bible is mainly about a person. 00:19:30.319 --> 00:19:38.880 And this is good news because some of us read the Bible and we think it's about you doing better and trying harder and being more than you are. 00:19:38.880 --> 00:19:42.240 And if you could just kind of get your act together, it's not about that. 00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:48.880 It's not about who you are and what you do primarily, it's about who Jesus is and what he's done. 00:19:48.880 --> 00:19:55.599 And Jesus is inviting us to read the scriptures in a way that sets us free from main character syndrome. 00:19:55.599 --> 00:20:01.279 He's inviting us to go from the beginning to the end of the Bible, seeing that he's actually the center. 00:20:01.279 --> 00:20:16.079 And so listen, if you're here this morning, whether you are, again, skeptical or confused about the claims of Christianity, or you've been following Jesus for a long time, but your heart has been hurt in the place of hope, there's an invitation to read the scriptures. 00:20:16.079 --> 00:20:20.799 Read the Bible, explore what it says about who Jesus is. 00:20:20.799 --> 00:20:31.680 Because only when Jesus is replaced as the center of the story, the center of the grand narrative of what God's up to in the world, only then will the Bible make sense. 00:20:31.680 --> 00:20:34.640 But even a good Bible study isn't enough. 00:20:34.640 --> 00:20:36.400 And so Jesus draws us out. 00:20:36.400 --> 00:20:37.680 That's the number five. 00:20:37.680 --> 00:20:39.599 And look at verse 28. 00:20:39.599 --> 00:20:43.519 So they drew near to the village to which they were going. 00:20:43.519 --> 00:20:47.359 He acted as if he were going farther. 00:20:47.359 --> 00:20:48.240 I love this. 00:20:48.240 --> 00:20:49.759 Like this is straight out of March Madness. 00:20:49.759 --> 00:20:50.960 Jesus does a little pump fake. 00:20:50.960 --> 00:20:53.279 He's like, Yep, broke some ankles. 00:20:53.279 --> 00:20:56.160 Like this is the ultimate Jesus juke that's happening right here. 00:20:56.160 --> 00:20:58.559 And you gotta ask, like, what is going on? 00:20:58.559 --> 00:21:00.400 He acted as if he's gonna keep going. 00:21:00.400 --> 00:21:01.680 What's going on here? 00:21:01.680 --> 00:21:05.119 Listen, it's not manipulation, this is an invitation. 00:21:05.119 --> 00:21:13.359 What's happening here is that Jesus knows that what a hopeless heart needs more than anything else is an invitation to hope again. 00:21:13.359 --> 00:21:15.519 And he's offering that to them. 00:21:15.519 --> 00:21:24.559 You see, the human heart is fractured into pieces, and the only thing that brings healing is when it can be unified around seeking a worthy aim again. 00:21:24.559 --> 00:21:26.559 And so he's inviting them to that. 00:21:26.559 --> 00:21:27.359 And it works. 00:21:27.359 --> 00:21:36.559 Like, notice the movement in their hearts from who is this guy to verse 29, but they urged him strongly, saying, Stay with us. 00:21:36.559 --> 00:21:41.920 You see, Jesus will come near to you, but he won't force himself on you. 00:21:41.920 --> 00:21:45.279 Instead, he's drawing them out. 00:21:45.279 --> 00:21:52.319 He's he knows that it takes God to know God, but but if Jesus is inviting you even now to seek him, you ought to seek him. 00:21:52.319 --> 00:21:54.799 Listen to that invitation, respond. 00:21:54.799 --> 00:21:59.759 Because for some of you in the room, the issue is not your intellect, the issue is actually a matter of the will. 00:21:59.759 --> 00:22:02.799 You can choose to seek God. 00:22:02.799 --> 00:22:11.680 And actually, as you seek Him, you begin to find Him, and your intellectual confusion or doubts begin to make sense as you kind of see it clicked together. 00:22:11.680 --> 00:22:17.440 And so some of you this morning, just the most simple thing you can say to Jesus is, Jesus, won't you stay with me? 00:22:17.440 --> 00:22:19.359 Just stay with me. 00:22:19.359 --> 00:22:21.279 It might even be more honest than that. 00:22:21.279 --> 00:22:24.240 I want to want you to be true. 00:22:24.240 --> 00:22:25.200 That's enough. 00:22:25.200 --> 00:22:28.880 It's enough because look at how Jesus responds. 00:22:28.880 --> 00:22:32.319 The sixth thing is that Jesus stays with us, verse 29. 00:22:32.319 --> 00:22:36.799 So he went in to stay with them. 00:22:36.799 --> 00:22:40.799 See, they urge, stay with us, and Jesus does. 00:22:40.799 --> 00:22:45.680 The risen king accepts dinner with disappointed disciples. 00:22:45.680 --> 00:22:50.480 Jesus is more willing to stay than we are to ask. 00:22:50.480 --> 00:22:54.960 And so what we see here is that Jesus is working to draw us out. 00:22:54.960 --> 00:22:57.119 He waits to be wanted. 00:22:57.119 --> 00:23:03.359 Let me just ask, do you some of you, do you think it's an accident that you're here this morning? 00:23:03.359 --> 00:23:09.680 Like that you just kind of agreed to come because Easter is like the Super Bowl for Christians or something like that. 00:23:09.680 --> 00:23:15.279 And you're like, I'm just coming as an anthropologist to study this rare species of human that we have here. 00:23:15.279 --> 00:23:18.160 Listen, it's it's not an accident. 00:23:18.160 --> 00:23:21.920 Jesus is inviting you to invite him to stay a while. 00:23:21.920 --> 00:23:23.680 And when we do, look what he does. 00:23:23.680 --> 00:23:25.759 He eats with us, verse 30. 00:23:25.759 --> 00:23:37.839 When Jesus was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them, and their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he vanished from their sight. 00:23:37.839 --> 00:23:43.519 Now there's something so marvelous happening right here that I'm I'm gonna do my best to try to paint a picture of this. 00:23:43.519 --> 00:23:55.920 But but if you know the stories of Scripture, if you know the first meal in the Bible, it happens in Genesis chapter 3, and listen to what Genesis 3 says, and hear the rhyme scheme here almost. 00:23:55.920 --> 00:23:59.599 The woman took some of the fruit and ate it. 00:23:59.599 --> 00:24:02.160 She gave it to her husband, and he ate it. 00:24:02.160 --> 00:24:06.880 Then the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. 00:24:06.880 --> 00:24:14.000 You see, the first couple of creation, Adam and Eve, plunged the human race into ruin. 00:24:14.000 --> 00:24:17.279 Death itself was traced to that moment of rebellion. 00:24:17.279 --> 00:24:22.640 The whole creation was subjected to futility and decay and sorrow. 00:24:22.640 --> 00:24:29.680 And now, Luke, the writer of this gospel narrative, he's echoing that story that story as he describes another meal. 00:24:29.680 --> 00:24:32.720 Look with me again at Luke 24, 30. 00:24:32.720 --> 00:24:44.880 When Jesus was at table with another couple, Cleopus and Mary, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them, and their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. 00:24:44.880 --> 00:24:52.400 You see, their eyes were opened, not to their own nakedness and shame, but to Jesus who was clothed in glory. 00:24:52.400 --> 00:24:57.359 You see, what we see here is they finally see this stranger for who he is. 00:24:57.359 --> 00:24:59.359 What's happening here? 00:24:59.359 --> 00:25:01.200 Well, Luke is trying to make an argument. 00:25:01.200 --> 00:25:06.559 He's trying to make a case that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is nothing less than a new creation. 00:25:06.559 --> 00:25:10.720 On par with the first creation, when God spoke everything out of nothing. 00:25:10.720 --> 00:25:15.759 And if the resurrection of Jesus is a new creation, then that means the curse is broken. 00:25:15.759 --> 00:25:17.359 Death is defeated. 00:25:17.359 --> 00:25:27.599 God's new creation is brimming with joy and life and possibility, and it's breaking in, bursting in to the world of decay and brokenness here and now. 00:25:27.599 --> 00:25:30.319 That's what the resurrection of Jesus Christ means. 00:25:30.319 --> 00:25:36.960 But notice the simple verbs in this text: Jesus took, blessed, broke, and gave. 00:25:36.960 --> 00:25:39.440 That's the story of Jesus' life. 00:25:39.440 --> 00:25:42.400 Jesus is the one who took on our humanity. 00:25:42.400 --> 00:25:45.119 He's the one who was blessed in his ministry. 00:25:45.119 --> 00:25:47.759 He was great and mighty in his words and his deeds. 00:25:47.759 --> 00:25:54.799 Jesus is the one who was broken on the cross, and now Jesus is the one who stands, giving himself to all who will receive him. 00:25:54.799 --> 00:26:02.640 You see, Jesus wasn't made known in the walking, the questioning, the teaching, the challenging. 00:26:02.640 --> 00:26:04.640 It wasn't those things that opened their eyes. 00:26:04.640 --> 00:26:06.559 It was the meal. 00:26:06.559 --> 00:26:11.839 Because the meal is an invitation to receive Jesus into your very being. 00:26:11.839 --> 00:26:16.079 That's the invitation in our text, and it's the invitation this morning. 00:26:16.079 --> 00:26:21.680 Because some of you can tell that even now your eyes are beginning to open up a little bit. 00:26:21.680 --> 00:26:25.440 You're beginning to recognize a little bit more about who Jesus is. 00:26:25.440 --> 00:26:32.880 And listen, I can tell you from my own experience, until I was 19, I lived kind of a cultural Christianity. 00:26:32.880 --> 00:26:34.799 I was like half in and half out. 00:26:34.799 --> 00:26:38.160 And I just want to, this is my own little PSA announcement. 00:26:38.160 --> 00:26:45.680 There is nothing more miserable than knowing enough to feel bad about yourself, but not enough to find gladness in Jesus Christ. 00:26:45.680 --> 00:26:50.240 Straddling the strategy of if I'm I into Christianity, if I'm am I out? 00:26:50.240 --> 00:26:56.559 And listen, I know American culture still has enough value behind Christmas and Easter to that some people come. 00:26:56.559 --> 00:26:59.599 This is one of the times per year you show up and do this thing. 00:26:59.599 --> 00:27:01.119 And so here's the invitation. 00:27:01.119 --> 00:27:03.039 Don't straddle your strategy anymore. 00:27:03.039 --> 00:27:05.039 Go all in with Jesus. 00:27:05.039 --> 00:27:07.920 He's inviting you to receive more. 00:27:07.920 --> 00:28:11.759 And so let me close where the story ends. 00:28:11.759 --> 00:28:13.279 Look at verse 33. 00:28:13.279 --> 00:28:17.440 And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. 00:28:17.440 --> 00:28:26.240 And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, The Lord has risen indeed and has appeared to Simon. 00:28:26.240 --> 00:28:32.720 Then they told what had happened on the road and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread. 00:28:32.720 --> 00:28:35.359 You see, this is how Jesus meets people. 00:28:35.359 --> 00:28:46.559 He walks with them, he asks them questions, he challenges you, he teaches you, he draws you out, he stays with you, and then he gives himself to you, and he's doing that right now. 00:28:46.559 --> 00:28:53.519 I have great confidence that Jesus is doing right now with us what he was doing back then with them. 00:28:53.519 --> 00:28:54.160 How? 00:28:54.160 --> 00:28:55.359 Why would I say that? 00:28:55.359 --> 00:28:58.720 Well, because verse 38 says, the Lord is risen indeed. 00:28:58.720 --> 00:29:05.200 And that means that Jesus is not a memory, he's not a metaphor, he's not just some religious figure. 00:29:05.200 --> 00:29:09.519 It means that Jesus is alive, verse 23 says. 00:29:09.519 --> 00:29:14.240 And if Jesus is alive, then I want to ask you this question: where are you on the road? 00:29:14.240 --> 00:29:16.079 Where are you on the road? 00:29:16.079 --> 00:29:23.599 Because I think that there's people in this room who fall into probably three different categories, and you're here, so at least you're open to a conversation. 00:29:23.599 --> 00:29:24.880 I just assume that. 00:29:24.880 --> 00:29:30.000 The first group in this room, if you're honest, you you don't really recognize Jesus yet. 00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:37.920 You might still be walking away, you're still kind of sorting it out, you're you're carrying around a quiet we had hoped in your heart. 00:29:37.920 --> 00:29:43.680 And and I'm inviting you, just say to Jesus, Jesus, if you're alive, just stay with me. 00:29:43.680 --> 00:29:45.839 Stay near to me. 00:29:45.839 --> 00:29:50.640 And listen, you don't have to have a speech, you don't have to have certainty, you just have to have openness towards him. 00:29:50.640 --> 00:29:55.279 Because the the surprise of this story is that he's already closer than you even think. 00:29:55.279 --> 00:30:00.240 Maybe you're here because somebody was like, hey, you want to go to Jeff's bagel run with me? 00:30:00.240 --> 00:30:04.079 And then they pulled up here, which is messed up. 00:30:04.079 --> 00:30:05.519 I'm just gonna say that. 00:30:05.519 --> 00:30:09.119 But my guess is they love you and they're trying to serve you, okay? 00:30:09.119 --> 00:30:14.480 And so my invitation is like, talk to the people around you that know Jesus. 00:30:14.480 --> 00:30:18.799 If there's Christians in your life, ask them a little bit about why do they believe this stuff? 00:30:18.799 --> 00:30:26.400 Because remember verse 15, it says, While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near. 00:30:26.400 --> 00:30:29.759 The second group in this room, you know Jesus. 00:30:29.759 --> 00:30:36.240 You're a disciple of his, you believe in the resurrection, but you also are just tired. 00:30:36.240 --> 00:30:49.119 You've been carrying around disappointment for a little while now, and and something just didn't turn out the way you thought it was supposed to, and and your faith has quietly shifted to this past tense. 00:30:49.119 --> 00:30:50.640 Yeah, I had hoped. 00:30:50.640 --> 00:30:52.880 I'd hoped that he was the one. 00:30:52.880 --> 00:30:56.640 But listen, let Jesus reinterpret your story. 00:30:56.640 --> 00:31:00.000 Let him do what in counseling we call reframing. 00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:07.839 Let him do this thing for you this morning that he can take something that looked like a loss and he can show you that that's not the end of the story. 00:31:07.839 --> 00:31:14.480 In fact, what he's willing to do is say, hey, that felt like an absence, but let me show you my hidden presence in it. 00:31:14.480 --> 00:31:18.880 But listen, it just might take you waiting a little while while he does that work. 00:31:18.880 --> 00:31:21.440 You see, he hasn't left you alone on the road. 00:31:21.440 --> 00:31:22.880 I promise you that. 00:31:22.880 --> 00:31:28.079