The Emmaus Road

THE EMMAUS ROAD

Luke 24:13-35

Have you ever been to Emmaus? Lana and I have been there a few times. And I believe that most of you have been there to. If you haven’t been there yet, pack your bags there’s a road trip just ahead.

Where is Emmaus?

It’s the place where dreams go to die.

It’s the place where broken hearts are discarded.

It’s the place where shattered lives suffer in misery.

It’s a place of emptiness.

It’s a place of fear.

It’s a place of anger.

It’s a place of weeping.

It’s a place of hopelessness.

It is a place where you pray and you feel that even God has deserted you.

Our Emmaus Road is not a geographical place. It is a place that is a spiritual and emotional graveyard.

As we open our Bibles to Luke 24:13, we see 2 men in such a place.

It’s Sunday about mid-day. Jesus was crucified on Friday and buried. 2 followers of Jesus have left Jerusalem with broken hearts.

Luke 24:13-14 13 And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 And they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place.

They had watched Jesus be tortured. They were in shock as they watched Jesus be crucified. And they had wept after Jesus was buried. They’ve left Jerusalem and are talking thru all these things.

Luke 24:15-16 15 While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them. 16 But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him.

Jesus has approached them on the road and started walking right beside them but in their brokenness, they do not recognize Him.

* Oftentimes, when we are suffering in pain and grief, and we feel all alone, yet Jesus is right there with us, but we don’t even realize it.

Luke 24:17-18 17 And He said to them, “What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?” And they stood still, looking sad. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to Him, “Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days?”

Jesus asked them a question. This is what all great teachers do. It’s what good counselors do. Jesus is asking about something that is painful, but He does so in order to let them talk through their problems. Sometimes we have to talk thru the pain to find healing.

* Did you know that is what is happening when you pray?

Jesus does not need you to inform Him about what you is hurting you. He already knows what is in your heart before you speak a word. As we pray, though, we address our problems. We address our pain. And, as we share that pain with Jesus, we are already on the road to the healing of our broken hearts that we desperately need.

* Cleopas wondered how anyone that was in Jerusalem for Passover could be completely oblivious to the horrific events on that Friday.

Luke 24:19-20 19 And He said to them, “What things?” And they said to Him, “The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, 20 and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to the sentence of death, and crucified Him.

Notice that they now called Jesus “a prophet”. Only a week ago they were worshiping Him as Messiah and the Son of God. Prophets eventually die, but they thought the Messiah could never die. They Emotionally crushed as they think the restoration of Israel has died.

* Their Faith was destroyed as He died on the cross and was buried.

* How often does our faith become destroyed when we suffer great emotional pain.

Luke 24:21 But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened.

We had hoped.... that tells their story right there.

We’ve all been there....

We had hoped that the cancer would stay in remission.

We had hoped that the company layoff would not affect us.

We had hoped that our marriage would last.

** When the bad news we’ve been dreading hits us hard, it is so easy to lose hope.

This road to Emmaus is the road where all hope is abandoned.

It is not so much a physical place, it is a spiritual condition where darkness and despair swallow us up.

Luke 24:22-24 22 But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning, 23 and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said; but Him they did not see.”