So this week there was a, this week in history type event, which took place where someone
experienced something for the very first time and it made a difference in their life and
it made a difference in an event and an action that took place.
So we're going to go back to the year 1896.
So quite a few years ago and it is in, there we go, the nation of Greece.
So 1896 was when they were bringing back the Olympic games.
Now I'm just going to let this, let you guys know this, that I'm a big Olympics fan and
this is an Olympic year.
So it may be over the course of the next few months that you may hear a few Olympic stories.
But this was the return of the modern Olympics and so it was 1896.
Now in 1896 those Olympic games were just a little bit different because the athletes
had to pay their own way to go to the Olympics.
And so in 1896 there was a young man, a wealthy young man from a wealthy family named Robert
Garrett and he was part, in fact he was the captain of the track team at Princeton.
So he was a student at Princeton, he was the captain of the track team, part of a wealthy
family and he was going to make his way over across the ocean in 1896 to participate in
the very first modern Olympic games.
That was a lot of things to say there.
But his coach came to him one day and said, you know what, there's an event at the Olympics
that you have never done before.
In fact, no one in the United States has ever done it before.
But it was an ancient event, the event of the discus.
You've seen the discus where they throw a round disc as far as they can.
And so they had no idea what this event was like.
And so they went to the ancient Greek resources and read the stories and so Robert hired a
blacksmith to make a discus for him.
Now the discus that was made, that he went and picked up from the blacksmith, it turned
out it was one foot across of metal and it weighed 30 pounds.
So there was no way that Robert nor anyone else could throw this thing for more than
a few feet or a few inches.
So then he arrives in Greece and he sees what a real discus looks like.
It's about eight inches across, it's partially of wood, partially of metal, and it weighs
about four and a half pounds.
And so the event takes place and Robert has never participated in this event before the
Olympic day arrives.
And so in the discus you get three throws and whichever throw is the longest, that's
the one they count.
And so throw number one, throw number two, both of these were awful.
And the crowd laughed and he laughed at himself because they kind of tumbled over and over
and over.
But then for the first time as Robert held this disc one more time and he kind of twisted
himself and he spun a little bit and he released the discus and this time it worked.
This time it got the spin that it was supposed to, it twirled through the air, he released
it and it went 95 feet.
And before that day was over, Robert had won first place, he'd won the gold medal in the
very first modern Olympic games, the very first time he had ever participated in this
event.
And in fact, during that Olympic time he also won the shot put and he got second in the
high jump and the long jump.
So it was a good Olympics for him.
But the way he threw that discus changed kind of the direction of that sport because people
noticed the motion that he made and they saw how far the discus had gone and they kind
of began to craft a future training based on something that someone had done for the
very first time.
And so believe it or not, sometimes a new experience can change your view about life.
And so here we are on this Sabbath morning on a weekend when only a couple times during
the year that many people in the world are thinking about Jesus, are talking about Jesus,
or maybe asking questions about Jesus.
So we're going to step aside from our study and acts and we're going to talk about Jesus.
And so we're going to talk about that one particular weekend that was a weekend of worry
and tears and fear.
Because that Passover week there at the end of Jesus' life on this earth, that Passover
week started with a parade, but it ended with a cross.
For that Sunday all the people were saying, blessed is he who comes in the name of the
Lord.
And they were waving their palm branches and they were shouting Hosanna.
But as the week went on, the attitude changed.
And we're going to pick up our story on the next Sunday, Sunday afternoon.
We're going to spend most of our time in Luke chapter 24.
Because in Luke chapter 24, we find ourselves on Sunday afternoon and we find some weary
travelers making their way home.
So we're going to read here in Luke 24 starting in verse 13.
It says, now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus,
which was seven miles from Jerusalem.
Seven miles.
So they were traveling from the big city, which is kind of high in elevation up on the
ridge, and they're traveling down the slope, down seven miles to Emmaus.
Now just ask yourself, how long would it take you to walk seven miles?
We could all do it.
We could all do it in one day.
It may take some of us a little longer than others.
But an average walk, if somebody's out walking on the greenway, it's about three and a half
miles an hour is the average pace of a walk.
You could do it faster or slower.
So about two hours.
This is a journey of about two hours as they're traveling from Jerusalem, traveling to home.
And it says in verse 14, and they talked together of all these things which had happened.
So they're making their way two hours, seven miles, and they're talking about all these
things that had happened.
They were talking about what they had experienced, what they had seen, what are they going to
do now?
You know, as humans, we like to tell stories.
If you're like me and my wife, at the end of the day, it's like, how was your day when
you get home from work?
And sometimes it's just a normal day.
But then sometimes it's like, well, let me tell you this story.
I saw this, or I talked to this person.
Or maybe this week, you woke up one day and you saw that a bridge had collapsed and you
felt the need to share that with someone because that was a tragedy and it was an incredible
sadness of something that had happened.
And you wanted to make sure that other people knew about that.
So these folks were talking about what they had seen, talking maybe about maybe they had
been at the Passover parade a week before.
Maybe they had been in that mob that had kind of changed its attitude as the week went on.
Maybe they had felt an earthquake on Friday or they had seen the sky get dark, not in
an eclipse like we're going to have in a few weeks, but something supernatural where for
hours the sky was dark as Jesus hung upon the cross.
What did they see?
What now?
And as they're talking, verse 15, the story goes on and it says, so it was while they
conversed and reasoned, so they're chatting, they're reasoning, they're thinking logically
about things perhaps in their own mind, that Jesus drew near and went with them.
So they're walking along this path, they're communicating, they're talking, and suddenly
someone comes up beside them, maybe from a side path, maybe catches up from them, maybe
they catch up to him as they're walking, but suddenly there's three of them.
But the very next verse says, but their eyes were restrained so they did not know him.
So two people are walking, we know the name of one of them is Cleopas, the other we don't
know and people think maybe it's his wife or just a friend, we're not sure who this
other one is.
But suddenly they're joined by someone else and it says their eyes are restrained.
Could this be a miraculous intervention so that they don't recognize that they're now
walking with the Savior?
Could it be that they're just so consumed with their own conversation that they don't
notice that someone they recognize and that they know has come up beside them?
We're not entirely sure, but they're now walking with Jesus, but they don't recognize him.
They're thinking logically, they're reasoning, they're discussing the details, but they're
confused.
Something is missing.
Have you ever been confused about your spiritual life, confused about your spiritual journey?
Have you ever been going through your day or your week and you just seem to be missing
something?
It seems important, but you're not quite sure what it is.
Well, if you're confused in your spiritual walk today, I want to assure you, encourage
you to recognize and know that Jesus still walks beside you.
Even if you don't see him, even if you don't recognize him, Jesus walks beside those that
are confused.
Jesus walks beside those that are uncertain and he wants to clarify things.
He wants to make things clear.
So Jesus asked them a question.
He said to them, verse 17, what's up?
What are you guys talking about?
What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are
sad?
So they're sad as they're experiencing this.
And then it tells us the name of one of them is Cleopas and said to him, who are you?
Where are you from?
Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem and have you not known the things which happened
here in these days?
How can you be here and not know what's going on?
How can you be coming out of this city and not know what we're talking about?
How can this make a difference in your life?
How could you be living and not hear these things?
And then it goes on in verse 19.
Jesus answered and said to them, what things?
What are you guys talking about?
Explain to me.
What are you talking about?
It's incredible to me that they're now talking to the resurrected Savior, but they don't
even realize it.
They don't even know it.
They don't even know that Jesus is walking beside them.
And Jesus says, what things?
And so they said to him, the things concerning Jesus of Nazareth.
And yet here he is.
And they begin to describe who Jesus was as they're talking to Jesus.
And continuing in verse 19, who was a prophet, mighty in deed and word before God and all
the people.
Maybe they talked about miracles that they had seen or at least miracles that they had
heard about.
You know, what are your favorite miracles to read about Jesus when he took the fish
in the loaves and he fed a mass of people?
When he walked on the water?
When the storm was raging and he stood up and he said, peace be still?
When Jesus came into a town and touched those who were sick, touched the blind, touched
those who couldn't walk, and they were healed.
Maybe they told some of those stories of how Jesus was a prophet, mighty in word, mighty
in deed and word before God and all the people.
And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death and they crucified
him.
He was mighty in word and deed, but then they turned on him.
Then they crucified him.
Then they killed him.
And maybe they were there.
Maybe they had been in that crowd that saw Jesus carrying the cross up the Via de la
Rosa.
Maybe they were there standing far back as they saw a mass of people watching three people
dying on a cross.
They crucified him.
They condemned him to death.
And then we see their attitude.
Verse 21, but we were, is that present tense or past tense?
That's past.
We were hoping, we used to be hoping that he was going to redeem Israel.
It's almost as if they're saying, but now our hope is gone.
We were hoping that this man who was mighty in deed and word was going to redeem Israel,
but now he's been crucified.
Now he's gone to his death.
Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened.
We know that he's dead because this is the third day, but there's some confusion because
it says certain women of our company arrived at the tomb early and what did they do?
Astonished us.
You remember that story.
Those ladies, depending on which gospel you're reading, there's different journeys.
It's one or it's a couple that go down to the tomb to be where Jesus was laid and they
get down there and there's no Jesus.
And they come back and tell these followers of Jesus that he's not there anymore.
And it says, when they did not find his body, they came saying that they had also seen a
vision of angels who said he was alive and certain of those who were with us went to
the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but did not see.
These women went to the tomb and it was empty and they astonished us.
I love that word.
When was the last time you were astonished by something?
Did someone throw a surprise party for you that you really had no idea was going to happen?
Did somebody get you some gift that you'd been hoping for but you didn't think it was
going to happen?
Or maybe I think it was Wednesday night driving home from prayer meeting.
There was an incredible sunset that took place on Wednesday night.
If you didn't miss it, you missed being astonished.
When was the last time you were astonished by something?
When was the last time you were astonished by God?
Are we sometimes at the place where we're just going through the motions of our day,
we're going through the motions of our week, and so it's Saturday morning so we get up
and we come to church, but we leave and we haven't been astonished by what God is doing,
by what God is saying.
If I was writing this story, if I wanted the best effect, this would be the moment.
If this was a movie or a television show, this would be the moment where the music would
get more suspenseful.
This would be the time of the big reveal.
Perhaps there'd be an angelic choir which would begin to sing and the sun would beam
down upon this stranger that was walking with them.
Perhaps in a voice like the burning bush, Jesus could say, I am he.
That's not what happened here.
That's not how this event took place.
You see, Jesus didn't want them to be astonished by his presence.
He was right there and they missed it.
Jesus wanted them to be astonished by the promises of the word of God.
It wasn't enough for them to see that Jesus was there.
He wanted this to be a learning moment.
He wanted to teach them something.
So we go on as they were astonished, as this tomb was empty.
Jesus says something that I hope he doesn't say to me, but I recognize that probably sometimes
too often he does.
Verse 25, he said to them, oh foolish ones, in slow of heart to believe in all that the
prophets have spoken.
I wonder how many times that has been said about me.
Oh foolish one, why are you so slow to believe the prophecies, believe the words of scripture,
to believe the things that are there?
But then he goes on and says, ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to
enter into his glory.
Isn't this what was supposed to happen?
You know there's lots of Bible stories that I would love to see what they look like and
I can imagine, you know, whether it's the parting of the Red Sea, what did that look
like as they're walking through?
Or the burning bush or a pillar of fire or creation or Noah's Ark during the flood or
the sanctuary, all these different things.
Bible stories that I wish that I could see, but maybe this is not as visually dramatic,
but oh how I wish I could have heard what was said here.
Because notice what happens, it says, beginning at Moses and all the prophets, Jesus expounded
to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
Jesus doesn't make the light flash, he doesn't make the thunder boom, he gives them a little
Bible study as they're walking along.
And he says, remember this story, remember this passage of scripture, wasn't that talking
about how the Messiah was supposed to suffer and enter into his glory is the way that he
described it in verse 26?
What stories could Jesus have told that afternoon as they were walking along?
Could he have recited to them Psalm 22, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Or maybe recited Isaiah 53 by his stripes, by his wounds, we are healed.
He was to be, you know, buried with the criminals and different things like that.
Talk about the suffering servant.
Maybe he reminded them about the lamb from the Garden of Eden that was sacrificed so
that Adam and Eve could have clothes or the sacrificial system where a creature, an animal
was dying in place of the one who had actually sinned.
Maybe he reminded them of the sanctuary service.
You know, you remember the temple here, we just came from there.
There's an altar with a sacrifice for sins to be confessed upon.
There's a laver, a basin of water for cleansing.
And you guys have read about the Most Holy Place.
There's bread.
You know, man does not live by bread alone, but by every word from God.
And you know, on this side, there's a candlestick where we are illuminated by the Holy Spirit.
Don't forget that incense altar.
That's like our prayers, you know, ascending to heaven.
And then, you've read about it, that Most Holy Place with a seat of mercy where the
blood is sprinkled.
I don't know what passages he shared, but there's so many that I just wish I could see
this Bible study that Jesus gave as he expounded to them in the books of Moses, in all the
prophets and in all the scriptures, the things concerning himself.
And so, as Jesus is sharing, they make their journey seven miles, two hours or so, and
they arrive to the place that they're going.
And we'll look at verse 28, and it says, They drew near to the village where they were going,
and he, Jesus, indicated that he would have gone farther.
Maybe they're like, oh, this is our stop.
And Jesus waves or indicates or takes another couple steps.
He indicated that he would have gone farther.
You know, Jesus comes alongside of us when we're confused, when we're uncertain, but
Jesus never forces himself upon anybody.
We have to invite Jesus to be a part of our life.
We have to invite Jesus to guide us and to welcome him into our life.
And so here we are on this side of the cross, on this side of the resurrection, just as
these two folks were.
What can we do to welcome Jesus into our life?
Are we spending time in God's word?
Are we spending time in prayer?
Are we recognizing how Jesus can change our life?
You know, if we want to spend more time in God's word, that may mean that we've got
to turn something off in the evening.
You've got to hit the power button on a remote for a few minutes at least.
Maybe you've got to set your alarm just a couple minutes earlier or take a few minutes
of your lunch break and say, you know what?
I'm going to focus on God.
I'm going to concentrate on something that was happening.
Jesus would have gone further, but notice what happened.
These guys wouldn't let him.
It says they constrained him.
I don't think they wrestled him, but they invited him.
They compelled him saying, abide with us, stay with us for it is toward evening and
the day is far spent.
And that's all it took.
An invitation, Jesus come and be with us, a simple invitation.
And he went in to stay with them.
That's hospitality of the day.
And it wasn't just enough to stay, but there was food to be provided.
It came to pass as he sat at the table with them, that he took the bread and bless and
broke it and gave it to them.
And something in that action, something in that motion, whether it's the way that he
prayed or the way that he broke the bread or maybe they saw scars upon his hands or
maybe that miracle that had been closing their eyes suddenly was removed so that their eyes
were open.
But it says then their eyes were open and they knew him.
And I can almost see them sitting at the table like, wait, how, who, how could this be?
We were just taught it.
You were sharing and how could this be?
And as soon as they recognized him, amazingly, another miracle, he vanishes from their sight.
But they knew.
It wasn't like, oh man, that was, we were hot.
We were dehydrated.
That was a hallucination.
These two people, they, they knew and notice what they said to each other in verse 32.
Did not our heart burn within us while he talked with us on the road and while he opened
the scriptures to us, our heart was excited.
Our heart was burning within us.
Not because Jesus was there physically.
They didn't even recognize Jesus was there physically.
Their hearts were burning.
Their hearts were excited because he was opening up the Bible promise.
It wasn't about his presence.
It was about the promise.
And because of that, they had hope again.
They had hope in what Jesus wanted to do.
And our scripture of the day, 1 Corinthians 2, 2, it says, Paul writes, for I determined
not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
And later in chapter 15, it says, I declare to you the gospel which I preach to you, by
which you also were saved.
For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received that Christ died for our sins
according to the scriptures and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day
according to the scriptures.
And so for the New Testament, that was what that gospel was all about.
That Jesus had died, that Jesus was resurrected.
And for these people who were uncertain, their life was changed because they had hope again.
They had said, we had hoped that he was going to redeem us.
But they had lost that hope because they had a misconception of what the cross was about.
But now they said, did not our heart burn within us?
So what is their response?
What is their action?
Verse 33, it says, they rose up that very hour and they returned to Jerusalem.
How far was that?
Seven miles.
Do you think it took them two hours?
Or do you think they did it a little faster on the way back?
I don't know.
It was uphill, so it was a little more difficult journey.
They'd already walked seven miles.
I think that's about 14 total.
I think they might have done it faster because they got back, they found the 11 and those
who were with them and they said to them, the Lord is risen indeed.
And that is what gave them hope.
And I think that is what gave them speed as they were returning back.
The Lord is risen indeed.
And we recognized him and we know that he has made a difference in our life.
And they went back and said, the Lord is risen.
The Lord is risen indeed.
And they were changed.
They were changed by what had happened.
Even someone inexperienced can make a difference.
These two folks, they had just heard these Bible stories, just heard this Bible study,
I should say.
They probably knew the stories, but they zeroed in on how it related to Jesus.
The little maid and the children's story.
She was inexperienced, but she could tell somebody about God.
There was a story.
I'm going to see if this works because it's a video.
I'm going to hit it one more time and it's supposed to play.
We'll see if it does.
But this was a couple years ago in England or Great Britain.
There was a group of people, they were having an Easter egg hunt.
And so they were out in a field and they were enjoying themselves.
And as they were out there, two strangers run by.
And before long, they see some helicopters and their police helicopters.
And they begin to realize that the police helicopters are looking for the people that
ran through the field.
And they can't tell them.
And so the children lay down and they point a little arrow.
They make an arrow so that the people in the helicopter can say, look, they went that direction.
And the helicopter flies that direction and sure enough, sees these two burglars, these
two criminals, and they call the police on the ground and they go and track them down.
One can make a difference.
Christians like you and me can make a difference.
We don't have to be experts at everything.
We can be inexperienced.
We can be like these two travelers who were confused and who were hurting and who did
not understand what was happening until they heard the power of God's word.
And they saw a resurrected savior.
And they saw the promises that pointed to Jesus who was dying as the Messiah and resting
and then resurrecting again.
We have one more promise that the Bible tells us about.
One more promise that this crucified and resurrected savior is coming again.
We look forward to the day when Jesus will return and we can be in his physical presence.
But until then, we can be astonished at the promises that we have.
We can be astonished by the grace that we have.
Our hearts and our faith can burn within us as we recognize what Jesus has done.
And we can come to Jesus in our confusion, in our uncertainty, but each and every day
as we invite Jesus to be with us, we can leave different.
So that's my challenge for you this week, look to Jesus the resurrected savior.
Invite him into your life each day and open up your heart to be astonished by what Jesus
wants to do for you.
Let's bow our heads for prayer.
Dear God, we thank you for a story of grace, a story of miracles.
And Lord, it's my prayer that each of us will find something each day, each week to be astonished
because of what you do for us.
And that we can hear your promises and look for that day when we can be in your presence.
In your name we pray, amen.
I invite you to open up your hymnals now.
We're going to sing hymn number 526, Because He Lives.
Because He Lives, number 526.
Just stand with us.