HoHum:
When times are hard, I have trouble praying. When that happens, I go walking in a deserted place and talk with the Lord while I walk. This seems to help. On these walks I am able to open myself up to the Lord, express myself. “He walks with me and he talks with me and He tells me I am his own, and the joy we share as we tarry there none other has ever known.” Go out discouraged and come back filled with hope. Started closed but then opened up my heart and lips to the Lord and then open to hearing from him and to doing His will
WBTU:
Two disciples went on a walk. They walked toward Emmaus, weighed down with disillusionment and despair. A few hours later they raced back to Jerusalem invigorated by hope and excitement. An incredible chance meeting that afternoon completely changed their spirits. They had been joined on the way by the risen Christ! He was no longer dead but alive! This same transformation can happen to us if we are open to walking and talking with Christ
Thesis: Things that were opened for these two disciples
For instances:
Opened hearts
A stranger joined them along the way and asked, “What are you talking about?” When asked the disciples were very open about their doubts and concerns. Jesus called them “slow of heart to believe” (Vs. 25), but at least they were teachable. They didn’t claim to know it all or have it all together. Their hearts and minds were open to the truth.
A former atheist, Jordan Monge, says this: I [began] to read through the Bible and was confronted by my sin. I was painfully arrogant and prone to fits of rage. I was unforgiving and unwaveringly selfish. I passed sexual boundaries that I’d promised I wouldn’t. The fact that I had failed to adhere to my own ethical standards filled me with deep regret. Yet I could do nothing to right these wrongs. The Cross no longer looked merely like a symbol of love, but like the answer to an incurable need. When I read the Crucifixion scene ... for the first time, I wept.”
Opened Scriptures
Jesus began with Moses and the Prophets and explained to them what was said in the Scriptures concerning the Messiah, himself (Vs. 27)
Through the HS, Moses wrote the first 5 books of the Bible. Jesus went back into the Old Testament and I believe He began with the book of Genesis. I believe Jesus probably started out telling these men the story of Adam and Eve. He would have told them about how Adam and Eve had been created by God, had enjoyed the blessings of God, and walked closely beside Him every day. But then one day… all that changed. Adam and Eve had allowed themselves to be tempted by Satan to sin and disobey. As a result Adam and Eve lost practically everything. They became separated from God. They died spiritually and began to die physically.
But in the midst of all this tragedy, God pronounced a curse upon Satan that goes this way:
“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”” Genesis 3:15, NIV.
NOTICE, the prophecy was that it would be the offspring of a woman (not a MAN and a woman) who would destroy the power of Satan.
THEN I believe Jesus could have turned them to Deuteronomy 18:15 where Moses declared:
“The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.” Deuteronomy 18:15, NIV.
Now there are many great prophets listed throughout the Old Testament. And yet, none of them quite measured up to what Moses did in his lifetime.
1. Moses came for the specific purpose of freeing his people from slavery
2. And Moses was sent by God to give His people a new and special covenant that would set them apart to be His Holy people.
No other prophet in the Old Testament accomplished anything like that. None had freed their people from slavery or introduced a new relationship with God to their nation. In fact no one ever did… until Jesus came.
BUT WHEN Jesus CAME
1. He freed His people from the slavery of sin
2. And He gave His people a new covenant… and set them apart to be God’s Holy people
Lastly, I think Jesus would have taken them to the last few chapters of Isaiah.
Until Jesus came many had a hard time making sense out of these prophecies:
“See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted. Just as there were many who were appalled at him--his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness--” Isaiah 52:13, 14, NIV.
Then Isaiah goes on tell us more about this “messiah”/ servant – sent by God.
“He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.” Isaiah 53:3-5, NIV.
Isaiah explicitly describes the Messiah as being wounded and pierced… sent for the specific purpose of taking on the sins of mankind.
In the next few verses Isaiah speaks of messiah dying. Being cut off from the land of the living.
“He poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” Isaiah 53:12, NIV.
Review… throughout the Old Testament we’re repeatedly told that the Messiah was coming.
1. He would be the offspring of a woman (not a MAN and a woman)
2. He would be like Moses – freeing His people from slavery and creating for them a new relationship with God.
3. He would suffer wounds and piercings
4. And would die for the sins of mankind.
A popular business quote says, “Nothing happens until somebody sells something.” In spiritual matters, nothing happens until the Word of God is opened. The HS works through the Bible to convict of sin and convince people that Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah, the Christ. The two men later said, vs. 32
Opened homes
Vs. 28-29
Even though they didn’t recognize him, they found Jesus a captivating personality. The faith of these two disciples was not just a one hour of worship in the temple, it was a passion they took home with them. When faith moves from the Communion table to the kitchen table the possibility for change is greatly multiplied.
Biblically, the kitchen table, or the dining table, or the banquet table was where Jesus did much teaching. It was around the table that Jesus would gather with his friends. He would gather with the religious leaders. He would gather with anyone and everyone including tax collectors, prostitutes, and ‘sinners.’ It was around the table where Jesus told some of his well known parables. And it was within those parables that often the banquet table played an important image when talking about the Kingdom of God. Around the table Jesus taught forgiveness, of people getting second (third) chances. Around the table Jesus gave advice, words of wisdom, words of warning and words of blessing. It was around the table where Jesus gathered his disciples on that last night as they shared stories and the Passover supper.
“They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,” Acts 2:46, NIV.
Opened eyes
Vs. 30-31
There must have been something familiar about how Jesus broke the bread that caused these disciples to recognize him. Hard to open people’s eyes in that way but a changed life can.
Josh McDowell tells of his father who was an alcoholic who came to Christ. He said this after his conversion, “The life of my father was changed right before my eyes. It was as though somebody reached in and turned on a light bulb. I've never seen such a rapid change before or since. My father touched alcohol only once after that. He got it as far as his lips and that was it. He didn't need it anymore.”
Opened lips (Luke 24:33, 35)
Even though it was dark and the trip was dangerous, the two disciples raced back to Jerusalem, found their friends, and excitedly related what had happened on the way (Vs. 33-35). They had to share what they had experienced. When the truth about the resurrection of Jesus Christ gets inside of our hearts, it wells up within and bursts forth in testimony. A genuine believer is unable to keep silent about what he has seen and heard. “For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”” Acts 4:20, NIV.
So what?
“Those who walk with God, always reach their destination.” ― Henry Ford
