THE RISEN CHRIST BREAKS THE BLUES
LUKE 24:13-35
DEPRESSION IS ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST PROMINENT ILLNESSES. NO ONE IS EXEMPT FROM HAVING IT, AND WHEN IT HAS YOU, IT CAN BE A BIG BATTLE TO DEFEAT IT. THOUSANDS ARE EITHER HOSPITALIZED OR USING MEDICATION TO HELP DEAL WITH THE EFFECTS OF DEPRESSION, SOME MAY BE WITHIN THE SOUND OF MY VOICE.
THERE ARE NO OUTWARD SIGNS OF DEPRESSION. BREAK AN ARM OR A LEG AND YOU HAVE A CAST, HAVE AN OPERATION AND YOU HAVE STITCHES OR STAPLES. THERE ARE FEW OUTWARD SIGNS OF DEPRESSION AND MOST OF THESE ARE CAREFULLY HIDDEN.
DEPRESSION OFTEN OCCURS AT A TIME OF LOSS. IT COULD BE A LOSS OF LIFE, LOSS OF SOMETHING SIGNIFICANT, LIKE A JOB OR HOUSE, POSSIBLY A SPOUCE THROUGH DIVORCE. SOMETIMES IT IS A LOSS OF POTENTIAL OR DREAMS, AS OCCURS WHEN A PERSON IS FIRST DIAGNOSED WITH A MENTAL OR PHYSICAL CHALLENGE. IT IS A LONG PROCESS TO REASSESS AND RECONFIGURE OUR DREAMS.
SUCH WAS THE CASE WITH THE MEN ON THE ROAD TO EMMAUS. THEY WERE DISCIPLES OF CHRIST, THOUGH NOT AMONG THE TWELVE. THE CRUCIFIXION HAS JUST OCCURRED, AND ON THE SAME DAY AS THE RESURRECTION, THEY WERE USING THE SEVEN OR EIGHT MILE JOURNEY TO EMMAUS TO DEBRIEF ABOUT THE EVENTS OF THE LAST FEW DAYS.
WE HAVE AN ADVANTAGE LIVING ON THIS SIDE OF THE CROSS. WE STILL HAVE TO BELIEVE BY FAITH, BUT WE HAVE THE ADVANTAGE OF OVER 500 WITNESSES TO THE RISEN LORD, TWO OF WHICH ARE THESE MEN ON THE ROAD TO EMMAUS.
THEY WERE FACED WITH THE SAME PROBLEM THAT THE PRODUCERS OF SESAME STREET FACED, WHEN THEY HAD TO EXPLAIN THE DEATH OF WILL LEE WHO PLAYED MR. HOOPER ON THE SERIES. HOW DO YOU COMMUNICATE DEATH TO 10 MILLION OR SO CHILDREN WHO WATCH THE SERIES.
THEY DECIDED TO GO WITH SOME BASIC STATEMENTS, HE’S GONE, HE WON’T BE BACK, HE’LL BE MISSED.
ON THANKSGIVING WHEN THE SHOW AIRED SO PARENTS COULD BE WITH THEIR CHILDREN, BIG BIRD SAID HE HAD A BIG PICTURE OF MR HOOPER AND COULDN’T WAIT TO SEE HIM. A CAST MEMBER SAID “BIG BIRD, REMEMBER, WE TOLD YOU THAT MR. HOOPER DIED.
BIG BIRD SAID “OH YEAH I FORGOT,” THEN HE SAID “WELL, I’LL GIVE IT TO HIM WHEN HE COMES BACK.”
THE STAFF MEMBER PUT HIS ARM AROUND BIG BIRD AND SAID “BIG BIRD, MR. HOOPER ISN’T COMING BACK”
“WHY NOT” BIG BIRD ASKED INNOCENTLY
“BIG BIRD, WHEN PEOPLE DIE, THEY DON’T COME BACK.”
THIS WAS THE REALITY THAT THESE TWO MEN WERE DEALING WITH AS THEY WALKED TO EMMAUS. JESUS WAS DEAD AND THE DEAD DON’T COME BACK.
THIS DAY THOUGH THEY WOULD NOT BE ALONE IN THEIR THOUGHTS.
AND WHEN MARY MAGDALENE STOOD BY THE EMPTY TOMB (NOT KNOWING SHE WAS TALKING TO ANGELS) IT SAYS THAT THE ANGELS ASKED HER, "WOMAN, WHY ARE YOU CRYING?"
JOHN 20:13: THEY ASKED HER, “WOMAN, WHY ARE YOU CRYING?”
“THEY HAVE TAKEN MY LORD AWAY,” SHE SAID, “AND I DON’T KNOW WHERE THEY HAVE PUT HIM.”
THIS IS A TOTALLY LOGICAL CONCLUSION IF YOU DID NOT CONSIDER THE RESURRECTION. WHY SHOULD SHE? THE DEAD DON’T COME BACK.
PETER HEARD THE STORY AND WE’RE TOLD
LUKE 23:12: PETER, HOWEVER, GOT UP AND RAN TO THE TOMB. BENDING OVER, HE SAW THE STRIPS OF LINEN LYING BY THEMSELVES, AND HE WENT AWAY, WONDERING TO HIMSELF WHAT HAD HAPPENED.
HE WAS WONDERING WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BODY OF JESUS. WHY, BECAUSE THE DEAD DON’T COME BACK!
THEY WERE ALL WONDERING WHO MOVED JESUS’ BODY AND WHERE IS IT NOW?
FOR THE MEN WALKING TO EMMAUS IT WAS NOT JUST THE TOMB THAT WAS EMPTY, BUT SO WERE THEIR HEARTS. THEY UTTERED THE CRY OF THE DEPRESSED WHEN THEY SAID
LUKE 24:21: BUT WE HAD HOPED THAT HE WAS THE ONE WHO WAS GOING TO REDEEM ISRAEL.
HOW SAD THOSE FIRST FEW WORDS ARE, BUT WE HAD HOPE. THEY HAD PUT THEIR HOPES AND DREAMS IN THIS CARPENTERS SON. THEY HAD HEARD OF HIS DYNAMIC TEACHING, AND KNEW OF HIS HEALING. THREE YEARS OF HOPES DASHED BY THE SOUND OF A WHIP, AND THE CLANK OF A NAIL. NOW THEIR HOPE WAS GONE.
JESUS WAS EXECUTED ON THE CROSS. HE WAS DEAD AND THE DEAD DON’T COME BACK. THEIR SPIRITS WEEPED WITH THE MASSIVE DISAPPOINTMENT THEY WERE FEELING.
AS I LOOK AROUND AT YOU TODAY I WONDER HOW MANY OF YOU ARE IN THAT SAME POSITION. HOW MANY OF YOU JUST FIND THE RESURRECTION JUST TOO FAR OUT TO BELIEVE. HOW MANY OF US HAVE HOPES AND DREAMS CRUSHED, AND ONCE THEY ARE DEAD, THEY DON’T COME BACK. IT’S NOT SO FAR FETCHED TO RELATE TO THESE TWO MEN AFTER ALL.
THIS PASSAGE GIVES US SOME WAYS THAT BELIEVING IN THE RESURRECTION CAN HELP US DEFEAT THE DEPRESSION THAT WE MAY FACE, AS JESUS HELPED THESE MEN DEFEAT THEIR DEPRESSION.
FIRST: JESUS LISTENED TO THEM
LISTENING IS A LOST ART IN TODAY’S SOCIETY. WE WANT TO SOLVE A PROBLEM QUICKLY, AND MOVE ON, SOMETIMES BEFORE PEOPLE ARE READY TO. LISTEN TO THE ONE WHO IS HURTING AS IT IS THEIR STORY, NOT YOURS. YOU MAY HAVE BEEN THERE BEFORE, BUT THEY ARE THE ONES WHO ARE THERE NOW AND NEED TO TALK ABOUT THEIR PAIN AND HURT.
THESE MEN WERE HURTING. THEY’D JUST SEEN JESUS DIE ON THE CROSS. IT LITERALLY HURT THEM TO THINK ABOUT HOW JESUS HAD BEEN TREATED. AND NOW THEY’RE FILLED WITH DESPAIR.
YOU CAN’T HELP A PERSON UNTIL YOU KNOW WHERE THEY ARE HURTING. YOU NEED TO KNOW THEIR POINT OF GREATEST FELT NEED, AND THEY WAY YOU DO THAT IS BY LISTENING TO THEM TALK. THE MEN ON THE ROAD TO EMMAUS WERE DEPRESSED, NOT BECAUSE OF THE DEATH OF CHRIST, BUT BY THE LOSS OF HOPE CAUSED BY HIS DEATH. THEY HOPED THAT HE WOULD BE THEIR LEADER AGAINST THE ROMANS, AND NOW THAT HOPE OF LIBERATION WAS GONE.
POINT TWO: TAKE THEM TO THE SCRIPTURE
LUKE 24:27: AND BEGINNING WITH MOSES AND ALL THE PROPHETS, HE EXPLAINED TO THEM WHAT WAS SAID IN ALL THE SCRIPTURES CONCERNING HIMSELF
NOTE THE FACT THAT JESUS NOT ONLY TAKES THEM TO THE SCRIPTURES, BUT HE TAKES THEM TO SCRIPTURES ABOUT HIMSELF. HE USED THE WORDS OF THE PROPHETS TO SHOW HOW THE EVENTS OF JERUSALEM HAD TO HAPPEN AS THEY WERE PROPHECIED. IN DOING SO HE WAS USING THE SCRIPTURES TO DISPROVE THEIR GREAT STRUGGLE AND DISAPPOINTMENT. HE WAS USING THE SCRIPTURE TO SHOW THAT DEAD MEN DO COME BACK.
IF WE LEARN TO GO CONSISTANTLY TO THE SCRIPTURES WHEN THINGS ARE GOOD THEN WE WILL ALSO LEARN TO TRUST IN THE SCRIPTURE WHEN THINGS ARE CHALLENGING. CAN WE NOT DEPEND ON THE SAME LORD WHO LEADS US THROUGH THE GOOD, TO ALSO BE WITH US DURING CHALLENGING TIMES.
POINT THREE: INTIMACY WITH CHRIST:
JESUS HELPED WITH THE DEPRESSION OF THESE INDIVIDUALS BY BUILDING A RELATIONSHIP WITH THEM. WHEN THEY TALKED WITH THEMSELVES THEY FOCUSED ON THEIR PROBLEMS. BUT WHEN JESUS JOINED THEM HE CHANGED THEIR MOOD BY CHANGING THE DIRECTION OF THE CONVERSATION.
HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU TRIED TO SOLVE A PROBLEM AND FIND THAT BY GOING OVER IT OVER AND OVER AGAIN WITH A FRIEND THAT IT ONLY GETS YOU MORE FRUSTRATED. IT SEEMS INSURMOUNTABLE.
JESUS REALIZED IN LISTENING TO THEM THAT THEY WERE WALLOWING IN THEIR DEPRESSION OVER THE PAST EVENTS. HE TALKS TO THEM ABOUT THE PROPHETS AND THEY CONTINUED TO TALK UNTIL THE MEN ASKED HIM TO HAVE SUPPER WITH THEM. IT WAS IN THE INTIMACY OF THAT SUPPER THAT HIS IDENTITY WAS REVEALED TO THEM.
LUKE 24:30-31:
WHEN HE WAS AT THE TABLE WITH THEM, HE TOOK BREAD, GAVE THANKS, BROKE IT AND BEGAN TO GIVE IT TO THEM. 31 THEN THEIR EYES WERE OPENED AND THEY RECOGNIZED HIM, AND HE DISAPPEARED FROM THEIR SIGHT.
FOURTH: INVOLVEMENT FOR CHRIST:
A TRUE MEETING WITH CHRIST IS A LIFE CHANGING MOMENT IN OUR LIVES. IT IS FRESH AND EXCITING AND DOES NOT LEAVE US THE SAME PEOPLE WE WERE. IT IS AS WE REACH OUT TO OTHERS THAT WE FIND A PURPOSE FOR OUR OWN EXISTENCE.
ILLUS: IMMEDIATELY AFTER WW II, THE ALLIES GATHERED HUNGRY, HOMELESS CHILDREN AND PLACED THEM IN LARGE CAMPS. THERE THEY FED AND TOOK CARE OF THE CHILDREN. BUT AT NIGHT THEY DID NOT SLEEP WELL. THEY SEEMED RESTLESS AND AFRAID. FINALLY, A PSYCHOLOGIST HIT UPON A SOLUTION. HE SAID: WHEN THEY PUT THE CHILDREN TO BED, THEY WERE TO GIVE EACH ONE A SLICE OF BREAD TO HOLD. IF THEY WANTED MORE TO EAT, MORE WAS PROVIDED. BUT THAT SPECIAL SLICE OF BREAD WAS NOT TO BE EATEN -- IT WAS JUST TO HOLD.
AND IT WAS LIKE MAGIC. THE CHILDREN WENT TO SLEEP, SUBCONSCIOUSLY FEELING THAT THEY’D HAVE SOMETHING TO EAT TOMORROW. AND THAT ASSURANCE ALONE GAVE THE CHILDREN THE HOPE THEY NEEDED TO MAKE IT THROUGH THE NIGHT.
JESUS GAVE THE MEN AT EMMAUS SOMETHING PHYSICAL AS WELL. HE BROKE BREAD WITH THEM, AND THE EFFECTS WERE TRANSFORMING.
LUKE 24:32-33:
THEY ASKED EACH OTHER, “WERE NOT OUR HEARTS BURNING WITHIN US WHILE HE TALKED WITH US ON THE ROAD AND OPENED THE SCRIPTURES TO US?” 33 THEY GOT UP AND RETURNED AT ONCE TO JERUSALEM
THEIR HEARTS BURNED AND WERE ENERGIZED AS THEY TALKED WITH THE LORD. SOME TRANSLATIONS INDICATE THAT THEY RAN BACK TO JERUSALEM, BUT WALSK OR RUN THEY IMMEDIATELY WENT BACK TO TELL THE OTHERS WHAT HAD HAPPENED.
WE HAVE A PHYSICAL REMINDER OF THE PRESENCE OF CHRIST IN OUR LIVES. IT IS THE SAME AS HE GAVE TO THE MEN OF EMMAUS. IT IS THE ELEMENTS OF THE LORD’S SUPPER.
CONCLUSION:
OUR RESURRECTED LORD CAN BE THE CURE FOR DEPRESSION. THE RESURRECTION SAYS “HE’S DEAD, BUT HE’S COMING BACK.”
THE STORY IS TOLD OF A FIVE YEAR OLD BOY WHO LOVED HIS GRAND-FATHER DEARLY. ONE DAY HIS GRAND-FATHER DIED. THEY HAD HIS FUNERAL AND WENT TO THE CEMETARY.
THE LITTLE BOY LOOKED INTO THE DEEP GRAVE AND ASKED HIS GRAND-MOTHER, “HOW IS GRAMPY GOING TO GET OUT OF THAT DEEP HOLE?”
HIS GRAND-MOTHER ANSWERED BY TELLING HIM ABOUT JESUS. SHE SAID “YOU DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT GRANDPA COMING OUT OF THAT GRAVE, BECAUSE JESUS HAS ALREADY COME OUT OF THE GRAVE”
THE RESURRECTION IS OUR FOUNDATION OF HOPE AND IS BUILT RIGHT INTO OUR FAITH.
1 CORINTHIANS 15:12-24:
BUT IF IT IS PREACHED THAT CHRIST HAS BEEN RAISED FROM THE DEAD, HOW CAN SOME OF YOU SAY THAT THERE IS NO RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD? 13 IF THERE IS NO RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD, THEN NOT EVEN CHRIST HAS BEEN RAISED. 14 AND IF CHRIST HAS NOT BEEN RAISED, OUR PREACHING IS USELESS AND SO IS YOUR FAITH. 15 MORE THAN THAT, WE ARE THEN FOUND TO BE FALSE WITNESSES ABOUT GOD, FOR WE HAVE TESTIFIED ABOUT GOD THAT HE RAISED CHRIST FROM THE DEAD. BUT HE DID NOT RAISE HIM IF IN FACT THE DEAD ARE NOT RAISED
20 BUT CHRIST HAS INDEED BEEN RAISED FROM THE DEAD, THE FIRSTFRUITS OF THOSE WHO HAVE FALLEN ASLEEP. 21 FOR SINCE DEATH CAME THROUGH A MAN, THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD COMES ALSO THROUGH A MAN. 22 FOR AS IN ADAM ALL DIE, SO IN CHRIST ALL WILL BE MADE ALIVE. 23 BUT EACH IN TURN: CHRIST, THE FIRSTFRUITS; THEN, WHEN HE COMES, THOSE WHO BELONG TO HIM.
IT’S THE BASIS OF WHO WE ARE. AND IT’S DRIVEN HOME EVERY TIME YOU SEE SOMEONE BAPTIZED INTO CHRIST. WHEN WE BAPTIZE SOMEONE, WE LOWER THEM INTO THE WATER AS IF INTO A GRAVE. AND WE DON’T LEAVE THERE DO WE? NO, OF COURSE WE DON’T! WE LIFT THEM OUT OF THAT WATERY GRAVE AS IF THEY WERE BEING; RESURRECTED.
IN BAPTISM GOD IS NOT JUST PROMISING US THAT OUR SINS ARE BURIED IN THAT WATERY GRAVE, HE’S PROMISING US THAT JUST AS WE’VE RISEN OUT OF THAT WATER, WE’LL RISE OUT OF OUR EARTHLY GRAVE WHEN JESUS COMES AGAIN.
WE CAN CLAIM PAUL GREAT PROMISE TO THE ROMANS IN CHAPTER EIGHT.
ROMANS 8:1-3:
THEREFORE, THERE IS NOW NO CONDEMNATION FOR THOSE WHO ARE IN CHRIST JESUS, 2 BECAUSE THROUGH CHRIST JESUS THE LAW OF THE SPIRIT WHO GIVES LIFE HAS SET YOU FREE FROM THE LAW OF SIN AND DEATH. 3 FOR WHAT THE LAW WAS POWERLESS TO DO BECAUSE IT WAS WEAKENED BY THE FLESH, N GOD DID BY SENDING HIS OWN SON IN THE LIKENESS OF SINFUL FLESH TO BE A SIN OFFERING. P AND SO HE CONDEMNED SIN IN THE FLESH
THE RISEN CHRIST GIVES US THE FOUNDATION OF HOPE FOR ETERNITY.
