He is Risen!                                   2016.03.27                                               

                  The Road to Emmaus     

                     Luke 24: 13- 35

Good morning!

He is risen… He is Risen Indeed! Thanks for coming this glorious morning… As we study the Word of God this morning…

It is the day of the Resurrection… The disciples have heard that Jesus is Risen! A few have already seen him… But most have not… And they are uncertain… As we pick up the events of that day we join 2 disciples on the Road to Emmaus… They are discouraged and confused… Is Jesus alive?... Where is he then… What is happening… What is the truth…?

Is the resurrection of Jesus from the dead… true?

The Answer of the Word of God is YES!!

The Answer of secular History is also YES! He is risen…

There is no other explanation of the facts of these last 2000 years… Jesus is Risen Indeed!

This is the most important reality in the world… It is God’s truth... When anyone repents and believes the Gospel… It becomes very real and very personal… They discover that the death and Resurrection Of Jesus from the dead is the truth that saves from hell…… It is The most important truth of all… The truth that sets us free…

There’s only one place this truth is found and that is in the Scriptures, the Word of God, the Bible…… Only those who understand the Bible can know the truth about salvation and be saved from hell….. Only those who know the truth of the Bible can live fulfilled, obedient, blessed, effective, joyful lives…..  Therefore the greatest thing that we can ever do for anyone is to explain to them the meaning of the Bible…..

SCRIPTURE

1. need for understanding

We are lost and ignorant about the most important things of life… Finding Meaning in death and suffering for example…

2. the source of understanding

 The  Word of God produces understanding…

3. response to understanding……

we repent of our sins… we believe the Gospel… we find joy…

The knowledge of Scripture produces joy…

To understand Scripture is to understand everything from God’s perspective…… the one true view….. Only when we dig into the Word of God… believing that it is true… can we can understand the purposes  of God for us…  The clearest picture of God…. His universe  and His plan…  can be known only to those who understand the meaning of Scripture… It´s a lifelong task (aufgabe)…

 The  very best thing that you can do for anyone is to teach them and help them understand The Word of God… It transforms lives… It gives true freedom and great hope even in the midst of disaster…

We have a powerful illustration of the power of the Gospel in Luke 24 this morning…   Jesus ministers to two of His followers who are confused…. They are filled with doubt......

Jesus gives them a clear understanding of Scripture…… He opens the Scripture and shatters the darkness and confusion with the light of truth…

How I wish we were there! Can you imagine?  Their hearts were on fire!

The Lord Jesus using the Word of God took them from despair to Joy!….. The disciples believed that all their hopes and dreams were destroyed at the foot of the cross…. Gone  because Jesus had been crucified…….

Can you imagine their disappointment…… Can you imagine their great Joy as Jesus explained the Word to them…… They went from the lowest despair to the highest joy……

Their hearts were on fire…… Lighted into flame by the Word of God!

There are 2 important Emmaus Road lessons for us to learn today.…….

1. Jesus is Alive… Jesus truly rose from the dead…  Both His death and resurrection had been prophesied many times in great detail in the Old Testament……

Knowing that Christ is alive is the first great lesson…… The second great lesson is knowing that

2. Scripture is alive…..

Those are the lessons that we want to learn as we look at this tremendous event on the road to Emmaus……

In a wonderful act of love we meet Jesus on the road to Emmaus…  And Jesus is still teaching at every opportunity…  our Lord makes this glorious appearance and teaches this incredible lesson on  the Messiah  from the OT… And I love this…  He did it for 2 ordinary people……
The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is the most important event that has ever happened in the history of the world….. His death and His resurrection are the events that seal redemption and forgiveness… If He doesn’t die and rise from the dead… there’s no salvation for anyone… the whole human race is damned to hell…

Because the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ are the most important events in Human history… They are predicted in Scripture…

Jesus said… Come…You should have known it… It is not the fault of the Scripture if you do not understand… It is clear… It has been given to us so that we can understand…

The sadness and the confusion of these two on the road to Emmaus is because they didn’t understand the Scripture which they possessed…… notice this….

It wasn’t that they didn’t believe the Scripture…… They did….. It wasn’t that they didn’t think God wrote the Scripture….. They did…. It was because they had a very limited understanding of Scripture……They had been taught about the Glory and triumphant kingdom of the Messiah…….. They had heard these things from their youth…..

But they had not been taught the whole story…… the whole nation had a limited theology of Messiah…… They had only a partial understanding of the Old Testament…..   

Their sadness and disappointment…… their confusion and their grief……. was related to the fact that they didn’t understand all that the prophets have spoken……. It´s often the same with us…. We are often confused and disappointed when we don´t understand what´s happening in our lives….. Sometimes we lose our faith and trust in the LORD because we do not have His Word hidden in our hearts… Or like these 2 disciples….. because what is happening to us doesn´t line up with our expectations… It doesn´t fit with our understanding of The Word….

They had such a limited understanding of the Messiah…..

That when he instead of establishing the Kingdom immediately….. He was crucified…. They were wiped out….. There was just no place in their very small understanding of Messianic theology for a dying Messiah……. They expected that the Messiah would come and He would establish the throne…… the throne promised to the greater Son of David in Jerusalem and He would reign in Jerusalem not only over Israel but He would extend His Kingdom over the world…… That’s the triumph and the glory….. That part they believed…… Unfortunately they were literally blinded to the suffering and the death part…….
And it wasn’t that Jesus didn’t tell them…… He had told them many times……

But there was no place in their theology for a dying Messiah… It wasn’t that the Old Testament didn’t say it, the Old Testament said it in detail… It was that they weren’t interested in believing it…  They followed Jesus because they thought they might get to sit on His right and left hand in the Kingdom… They wanted to reign with Him… They really didn’t want to die with Him… That’s why they were so upset  when He said, “I’m going to go to Jerusalem…  

When Jesus was crucified…They forsook Him and ran to hide… Only John stayed around at the cross… They thought it was over… And they were scratching their heads about how they could have been so wrong…

So here two of them are walking home… Their hopes are gone… It’s over…

Luke 24: 13-16                          NKJV   slt2000

13 Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 And they talked together of all these things which had happened. 15 So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. 16 But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.

13 Und siehe, zwei von ihnen gingen an demselben Tag zu einem Dorf namens Emmaus, das von Jerusalem 60 Stadien entfernt war.14 Und sie redeten miteinander von allen diesen Geschehnissen. 15 Und es geschah, während sie miteinander redeten und sich besprachen, da nahte sich Jesus selbst und ging mit ihnen. 16 Ihre Augen aber wurden gehalten, so daß sie ihn nicht erkannten.

verse 16 says… Their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him… and that was the way it was in every case after His resurrection...

They don’t know who it is… He just joins them and walks along with them… look at v17,18…

Luke 24: 17,18       NLT Neues Leben

17 And He said to them, “What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?”

18 Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, “Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?”

17 Und er sprach zu ihnen: Was habt ihr unterwegs miteinander besprochen, und warum seid ihr so traurig?

18 Da antwortete der eine, dessen Name Kleopas war, und sprach zu ihm: Bist du der einzige Fremdling in Jerusalem, der nicht erfahren hat, was dort geschehen ist in diesen Tagen?

V18… Cleopas says… What are you the only one who doesn´t know?...

 Haven´t you heard about everything that´s been going on?.. v19…

Luke 24: 19- 24           NKJV slt 2000

19 And He said to them, “What things?”So they said to Him, “The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him. 21 But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened. 22 Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us. 23 When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive. 24 And certain 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.”

Luke 24: 19- 24        NKJV slt 2000

19 Und er sprach zu ihnen: Was? Sie sprachen zu ihm: Das mit Jesus, dem Nazarener, der ein Prophet war, mächtig in Tat und Wort vor Gott und dem ganzen Volk;

20 wie ihn unsere obersten Priester und führenden Männer ausgeliefert haben, daß er zum Tode verurteilt und gekreuzigt wurde.

21 Wir aber hofften, er sei der, welcher Israel erlösen sollte. Ja, bei alledem ist heute schon der dritte Tag, seit dies geschehen ist!

22 Zudem haben uns auch einige Frauen aus unserer Mitte in Verwirrung gebracht; sie waren am Morgen früh beim Grab,

23 fanden seinen Leib nicht, kamen und sagten, sie hätten sogar eine Erscheinung von Engeln gesehen, welche sagten, er lebe.

24 Und etliche der Unsrigen gingen hin zum Grab und fanden es so, wie es auch die Frauen gesagt hatten; ihn selbst aber haben sie nicht gesehen.

Naturally  Jesus knows all of this….. He just wants to hear from them… They’re confused about how this could happen… He is going to shine the light of scripture on their hearts…

The whole thing is too bizarre….. If He is alive and if He’s been alive since morning, since six o’clock this morning, ten hours ago, maybe, where is He?  

So they’re totally confused… They didn´t understand… They didn´t understand because they didn’t know the Scripture… Then Jesus tells them the whole story of redemption…

Luke 24: 25-27       NKJV  slt 2000

25 Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” 27 And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself

25 Und er sprach zu ihnen: O ihr Unverständigen, wie ist doch euer Herz träge, zu glauben an alles, was die Propheten geredet haben! 26 Mußte nicht der Christus dies erleiden und in seine Herrlichkeit eingehen? 27 Und er begann bei Mose und bei allen Propheten und legte ihnen in allen Schriften aus, was sich auf ihn bezieht.

They are confused because they have a limited view of the Messiah…

They were right to expect the Messiah to reign and rule…… But that was only part of it…..

He calls them dull… Greek… (anoetos)….   He says that they are slow of heart…  He doesn’t blame the Scripture…  He doesn’t say, “Well, the Old Testament is a really hard book…The problem is not the Word…... Jesus simply says… Have you not read the Scriptures?

v 27… Jesus says… Wasn’t it necessary? Why did Jesus say that?

Because there are many passages in the Old Testament that speak of the Messiah suffering…….. And so  beginning with Moses…..

Jesus explained the Scriptures… It´s all about Him and His redemption…

The Old Testament is clear about the need for a substitute…

The Day of Atonement is a powerful picture of the need for the shedding of blood and for a substitute to bear our sins… It was celebrated every year…

There were daily sin and guilt offerings? And of course as was fresh in their minds… The Passover… A perfect symbol of substitution and sacrifice…

They knew that sin caused death… and that God would accept the death of a substitute… But they also knew that no animal ever offered satisfied God completely… Because they had to offer another animal and another one day after day… year after year… Those daily sacrifices did not and could not cleanse their hearts… They needed to be finally and permanently redeemed…

Everyone of them knew that sin brings death… The soul that sins, it shall die, said the prophet…

All of the sacrifices in the Levitical system were pictures of that final substitute that would come…  As we see in verse 27… Jesus… opens it all up to them…

He gives them a solid biblical understanding of the Messiah’s suffering… I wish there was more here, don’t you? I wish I knew all that He said…

We know what the Old Testament says about the suffering of Messiah…… So let me give you a little survey of what the lesson might have been like, okay?

The first Bible text about the Messiah…. According to the ancient rabbinical texts is Gen 1:2…… They taught that the Spirit of God moving across the face of the waters……. was the Spirit of the King Messiah!...

It was the ancient  rabbis who first taught that the Whole scripture is about the Messiah! I can imagine Him beginning with the beginning…. Genesis…

He might have started in Genesis 3:15… He might have told them, “Do you not know that I am the wounded seed of the woman who crushes the serpent’s head?” He might have stayed in Genesis for awhile….

Probably He went to Genesis 6 through 8 and recounted the history of the Flood… And as Peter does… Calling Jesus the Ark of safety…

I’m sure He stopped at Genesis 22 and reminded them of the story of Isaac……. There Abraham was prepared to offer up His only son……   but a ram caught in a thicket was used in Isaac’s place which is a true picture of Christ, the substitute…

I’m sure He must have gone to Exodus 12 talked about the Passover that they had just celebrated with Jesus… “Don’t you remember the Passover lamb… the Passover lamb had to be without blemish and without spot…  And if his blood was shed and splattered on the doorpost and the side beams, the angel of death would pass by that house….. I am the true Passover Lamb who protects the sinner from divine judgment….. I will the blood to their hearts and they will be clean…

I think He probably went to Exodus 16 told them that He was the true manna from heaven….. He said that to them before… in John 6…

I think He went in to Leviticus… and explained that all of the OT sacrifices are about the need for a substitute for sin…

Hebrews makes it clear that He is the true offering, the final permanent sacrifice… the perfect substitute…

All through First five books of Moses… every reference to the Day of Atonement pictured Him… and I´m sure that He made it clear that He was not only the sacrifice on the altar… but He was also the scapegoat who took away sin…

It´s a powerful picture of substitution…

I´m sure that He told lots of things from the Psalms… There are many Messianic Psalms… beginning in Psalm 2… The Messianic Psalms are A great place for your personal quiet times…

Surely He spent some time in Psalm 22…… Jesus is the one the psalmist hears when the Psalm begins, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” The very words He spoke on the cross…… Psalm 22 says, “He will be a reproach….. He will be sneered at…. His bones will be out of joint. His strength will be gone….. His hands and feet will be pierced….. His clothes will be divided up by lots as He dies…..All of these Crucifixion  Details are found in Psalm 22……

Maybe He went to Psalm 40 verse 7 which says, “Behold, I come in the scroll of the book, it is written of Me, I delight to do Your will, O God, Your law is within My heart… Hebrews says this text applies   to the Messiah…

I´m sure that Jesus took them to Isaiah… to the suffering servant passages that we talked about last week…

Isaiah makes it clear… The Suffering servant of the Lord is the King Messiah and He is the permanent final substitute for our sins… 

JESUS is the final substitute… This is a picture of Messiah… It’s unmistakable…The lesson must have been stunning and staggering…

Now that brings us to the 3rd point in our outline…  knowledge of Scripture produces joy.

Remember…..  They don’t know who He is yet……. They still don’t know this is Jesus…… What fires their hearts is a better understanding of the Scriptures….   Anyone who explains accurately the Scripture can expect to see that kind of response… Understanding the truth fulfills the true believer’s deepest longings…  

The more we understand the Word of God…  The more sense we can make of our lives… And even when we don not understand what or why… Our faith is anchored in reality… Knowing the truth produces profound joy even in hard times… To understand the Scripture is to know God… and to know the things are the way the Scripture says they are… and that God’s plan is unfolding…  We understand that God is sovereign and His purpose is being accomplished… This is Awesome truth…

Here on the road on this first Easter day…These 2 men  are so excited… They are on fire on the inside… Here’s their response… v28,29…

Luke 24: 28,29               NKJV  slt 2000

28 Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther. 29 But they constrained Him, saying, “Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.” And He went in to stay with them.

28 Und sie näherten sich dem Dorf, wohin sie wanderten; und er gab sich den Anschein, als wollte er weitergehen.

29 Und sie nötigten ihn und sprachen: Bleibe bei uns, denn es will Abend werden, und der Tag hat sich geneigt! Und er ging hinein, um bei ihnen zu bleiben.

v29… Don´t go… stay with us…  

Why did they invite Him in?

The Word of God was coming alive… This is about more teaching…  It thrilled them… They still don´t know that they are with Jesus…

They only know that their fear and confusion is leaving them… as they see the scriptures clearer…Then… when he broke the bread… v30,31…

Luke 24: 30, 31  NKJV   Schlachter 2000

30 Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.

30 Und es geschah, als er mit ihnen zu Tisch saß, nahm er das Brot, sprach den Segen, brach es und gab es ihnen.

31 Da wurden ihnen die Augen geöffnet, und sie erkannten ihn; und er verschwand vor ihnen.

their eyes were opened….. Now they see that it is Jesus…… In an instant going from the depths of despair to the transcendent heights of joy, they recognized Him… And He vanished out of their sight…    

They had hoped He would be their Redeemer… and turns out He was… And now all the Scriptures made sense… They saw the big picture… Look at verse 32…

Luke 24: 32             NKJV Schlachter 2000

32 And they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?”

32 Und sie sprachen zueinander: Brannte nicht unser Herz in uns, als er mit uns redete auf dem Weg, und als er uns die Schriften öffnete?

Their hearts were on fire with the deepest joy… Scripture was true… This was the Messiah…It was all part of the plan… He is alive…

verse 33…

Luke 24: 33-35              NKJV  

33 So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, 34 saying, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” 35 And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.

Luke 24: 33-35   Schlachter 2000

33 Und sie standen auf in derselben Stunde und kehrten nach Jerusalem zurück und fanden die Elf und ihre Gefährten versammelt,

34 die sprachen: Der Herr ist wahrhaftig auferstanden, und er ist dem Simon erschienen!

35 Und sie selbst erzählten, was auf dem Weg geschehen war, und wie er von ihnen am Brotbrechen erkannt worden war.

Their hearts were burning while He was explaining the Scriptures…

Remember that what lit their hearts on fire was an understanding of Scriptures… They still did not know it was Jesus…

The Word of God is Alive… Down through the centuries… IT is still setting hearts on fire…. It is still being used by the Holy Spirit to transform hearts and lives…

The most important thing that we could ever do is explain and teach the Word of God to a lost and dying generation…  

It produces a burning heart… It transforms lives….. It comforts the faithful….

Jesus is alive… and the Scripture is alive… Their flaming hearts came from Him explaining  the Scriptures… And it turned in to zeal to preach the message… proclaim the Good News… What we’re talking about here is joy and testimony…

Two things that flow out of this, when your heart's on fire because you understand the Scripture… you have an internal joy because you know it’s the truth… It´s all true… Jesus is Alive…  And our salvation is certain…

Close

I know that sometimes even we who are believers find our world shaken by the things that happen in our lives… we don´t understand… Where is the Lord? How could this have happened… We find ourselves on the rough road of our life… Where do we go…?

We go to the Word of God… Jesus is in our hearts… He is ready and able… More than able to open up the scriptures to us… It will set our hearts on fire…  And we will understand… The Word of God will teach and comfort and strengthen us… Look with me at… Hebrews 10… v35,36…

Hebrews 10: 35,36    NLT   Neues Leben

35"So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! 36 Patient endurance is what you need now so that you will continue to do God's will. Then you will receive all that He promised. "

35 So werft nun eure Zuversicht nicht weg, die eine große Belohnung hat! 36 Denn standhaftes Ausharren tut euch not, damit ihr, nachdem ihr den Willen Gottes getan habt, die Verheißung erlangt.

Great verses… v35… Confident trust… v36… Patient endurance… And finally… we receive everything that he has promised…

It was more than 40 years ago That I bought a bible… A long haired hippie on TV said that God was real… That Jesus was real… that the Bible was true… He said that if I would read it for myself… I could find Jesus…

I went and read the bible… I began at Matthew 1… I read it nonstop… By the time I had spent a few days reading it…The Holy Spirit had used it to take out my heart of stone… My eyes were opened to see Jesus… My heart was burning within me… It was all true… There was hope… The Resurrection of Jesus turned a disaster into Glory! Jesus sacrifice has once for all time made it possible for every disaster in our lives to be turned into Glory! It´s Good News!

There is hope! It´s all true… He is Risen! We have a savior… His Name is Jesus!

Matthew 12: 21      NKJV  Schlachter 2000

21 And his name will be the hope of all the world.

21 Und auf seinem Namen wird die Hoffnung der ganzen Welt ruhen.

He is Risen….. He is Risen Indeed!

Communion

Turn with me to 1 Cor 11: 23-26....

1 Cor 11: 23-26  NLT

23 For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread 24 and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this to remember me.” 25 In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this to remember me as often as you drink it.” 26 For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again.

1 Cor 11: 23-26  Neues Leben

23 Das Folgende hat der Herr selbst gesagt, und ich gebe es euch so weiter, wie ich es empfangen habe: In der Nacht, als er verraten wurde, nahm Jesus, der Herr, einen Laib Brot,

24 und nachdem er Dank gesagt hatte, brach er ihn und sprach: »Das ist mein Leib, der für euch hingegeben wird6. Tut das zur Erinnerung an mich.

25 Ebenso nahm er nach dem Abendmahl den Weinkelch und sprach: »Dieser Kelch ist der neue Bund zwischen Gott und euch, besiegelt durch mein Blut. Wann immer ihr daraus trinkt, tut es zur Erinnerung an mich.«

26 Denn jedes Mal, wenn ihr dieses Brot esst und aus diesem Kelch trinkt, verkündet ihr den Tod des Herrn, bis er wiederkommt.

Let´s pray…