There was a kid in the youth group at the first
church I worked at as a youth minister back in
LaGrange, Georgia. And there was this story about
this kid. At the time I met him, he was like
15 or 16. But before this, like 10 plus years
ago, when he was like seven or eight, maybe a
little bit younger, he went missing. They were
at church for a Sunday morning worship gathering.
They had Bible class and everybody was where
they were supposed to be or so they thought.
And his parents thought, oh, he's with the kids
in Bible class. And so after Bible class, they
go to get him and he's not there. And so they
start to panic. As you can imagine, parents would
panic if their kid was missing. So they look
all over the church building and they try to
find him in every closet, every classroom, everywhere
they could look, they looked. And then, you know,
they panic a little bit more. So the rest of
the church is helping them look for him. So they
start looking in the neighborhood. They live
near the church building. So they thought maybe
he walked home. So they go to their house. They
look all over this downtown area and they cannot
find their son. They keep looking and they keep
looking. And finally, somebody is looking at
the church and he pops out from behind the podium.
He was hiding in the pulpit the whole time. They
looked all over the town. They looked all over
the church building. They could not find him,
but he was right there the whole time. And imagine
you've lost someone. You're freaking out because
you think there's nowhere. We can't find him.
Surely he's gone somewhere far away. Somebody
took him. Or maybe he was out walking and they
picked him up and they took him farther away
than he really was. But the whole time, he was
right where they were. I tell you that story
to try to set up what we're going to see in Luke
chapter 24, verses 13 through 35. See, in this
story, you've got the disciples. They're still
terrified. They're still worried because they
haven't seen Jesus yet. They know, well, they've
heard that he's risen from the dead. He's not
in the tomb anymore. They've seen the empty tomb,
but they have not seen Jesus. And so in this
story, you've got these worried, fearful, uneasy
disciples who feel like they've lost Jesus. And
I want us to look at this story together with
all of that in mind. Luke chapter 24, verses
13 through 24 here first. That very day, two
of them were going to a village named Emmaus,
about seven miles from Jerusalem. And they were
talking with each other about all these things
that had happened. While they were talking and
discussing together, Jesus himself drew near
and went with them. But their eyes were kept
from recognizing him. And he said to them, What
is this conversation that you're holding with
each other as you walk? And they stood still,
looking sad. Then one of them, named Cleopas,
answered him, Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem
who does not know the things that have happened
there in these days? And he said to them, What
things? And they said to him, concerning Jesus
of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet, mighty
in deed and word before God and all the people,
and how our chief priests and rulers delivered
him up to be condemned to death and crucified
him. But we had hoped that he was the one to
redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it
is now the third day since these things happened.
Moreover, some women of our company amazed us.
They were at the tomb early in the morning, and
when they did not find his body, they came back
saying that they had even seen a vision of angels
who said that he was alive. Some of those who
were with us went to the tomb and found it just
as the woman had said, but him they did not see.
So here you have these two disciples. They're
walking along the road. They're talking to each
other. And as it describes, they were still kind
of worried. And what you see is that based on
the conversation that they're having, that they're
not just worried, they're troubled. They're disturbed
with the events of this past week. And you could
imagine how that would feel. This rabbi that
you've been following for all this time, you
just watch him delivered up to be beaten, to
be crucified, to be mocked, to be spit on, to
be stabbed. Like the man that you put your trust
in, that you've given your life to, who has just
faced the most brutal death you could imagine.
And you thought that he was the one that was
going to save your people, but instead he died
just like any other man. And so they're very
deeply troubled. And even after going to the
tomb, which was proclaimed empty. The women that
they were friends with, that they trusted said,
we saw an angel that said, he's not here, he's
risen. And they go back, they see the tomb empty,
but they're like, well, we still haven't seen
him. And what I think of is like, they probably
were thinking, well, maybe he just was stolen.
His body was taken. Or maybe this is some practical
joke. Or maybe he did rise, but he left us. He
just abandoned ship and he went back to heaven.
I don't know what exactly they were thinking,
but I want you to just kind of feel the trouble
that they were feeling. They're understandably
sad. And as they're walking in this sadness,
this random guy who we know because we read it
as Jesus, but as far as they know, this is just
some stranger that's being annoying and walking
with them while they're trying to grieve. And
so they're walking along the road. This guy walks
up, and he starts following them, and he hits
them with this question, kind of like, well,
what you talking about? And I could imagine if
I was them, I'd be looking at this guy like,
why are you talking to me? I don't know you.
Also, I'm upset. Can you not see that? But he's
just like, what y 'all talking about? Have you
ever been in a bad mood, and then somebody comes
along, and they do something like mildly inconvenient
that really sets you off? In our house, we use
the word overstimulated, like I'm already stimulated
and you are overstimulating me. That's how I
feel like I would be if I was in these disciples'
shoes. This guy, he's overstimulating me. I'm
already feeling things, and now you come in and
you're bothering me. I want you to hold on to
that feeling as we read verses 17 through 18.
And he said to them, what is this conversation
that you are holding with each other as you walk?
And they stood still looking sad. Then one of
them named Cleopas answered him, are you the
only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the
things that have happened there in these days?
Do you feel that tension? These guys look at
Jesus. They don't know it's Jesus, but they look
at him and they're like, dude, seriously? Are
you the only person in town that doesn't know
what's going on? You're the only person that
doesn't know that this man who had this, like,
regional fame, everybody has been talking about
him for the past three years. He's just been
brutally murdered, and the Jews think they've
won. The Romans think they've won. We feel like
we're defeated. You don't know that this is happening?
Seriously. And then he's like, no clue. What
happened? Again, overstimulating. Why are you
bothering me? This is like when your parents,
they already know that you did something wrong,
but they ask you what you did because they want
you to confess to it, and they want to see if
you're willing to be honest. They want to see
if you're going to own up, or maybe they have
an inkling of an idea, but they don't know the
full story. But they ask you anyways to see what
you're going to say. That's what I think Jesus,
he's asking them. No, why don't you tell me what
happened? And so they tell him. And I want to
draw attention to how they tell this story because
I think it's very interesting the way they say
these things. They say, Jesus of Nazareth, a
man who was a prophet. Or they say, we had hoped
that he was the one to redeem Israel. And then
they say, some of us went to the tomb and we
found it empty, but him we did not see. You see,
there seems to be a lot of doubt, a lot of uncertainty.
A lot of disappointment. And you know what that
feels like. When someone that you thought you
knew, someone that you had such high hopes for,
that you felt like, I understand the potential
they have. I know what they're capable of, or
I think I know who they are. And I know, I have
so much confidence in them that they're going
to come through. And so the disciples, they felt...
that. And then when Jesus in their mind doesn't
come through, it's this serious disappointment.
Like we thought we knew who Jesus was. We thought
he was God. We thought he was the Messiah, the
one who was going to save us. We thought he was
going to defeat death and conquer Rome, but instead
he died like any other man. And he told us that
he'd be back in three days, but Here we are on
day three, and we hadn't seen them. That's what
they're feeling. And I don't know why they were
so unsure after seeing the empty tomb, but I
think I get it. I think I understand. Because
sometimes witnessing the back end of a miracle
just isn't enough to convince us. Like, they
saw the empty tomb, but they didn't see the one
who made it empty. And so they're not convinced.
And maybe for us, like seeing the change in somebody's
life isn't enough for us to understand the one
who did the changing. Like sometimes seeing the
healing on the other side of it isn't as real
as like when you're in the weeds and you see
the healing happen. We don't find ourselves convinced
when we just see the backside of the miracle.
But for the disciples, this shouldn't be the
case because they had lived with Jesus for all
this time and they had been told, they had been
taught by Jesus and by the Jewish prophets like
the Old Testament is littered with examples and
stories and promises of the Messiah being exactly
who the New Testament proves he was going to
be and prove he was. And so this shouldn't have
been shocking for them. It shouldn't have been
a surprise. And for those of us in Christ, it
also should not be a surprise. When we see lives
change, when we see transformation happen, when
we see someone literally raised from the dead
and made into a new person, it should not shock
us that Jesus can change lives like that. But
I love how the story illustrates a very important
and grace -filled truth for us to remember. Jesus
meets us where we are. In the midst of our doubting,
in the middle of all of our uncertainty, when
we're not sure what life is going to look like,
when we're not sure what our purpose is, why
we're here, when we don't know, when we are afraid,
Jesus meets us where we are. just like he met
these disciples as they were walking. And that
doesn't mean he doesn't meet us there with some
uncomfortable truth. It doesn't mean he doesn't
meet us there with some challenges, but it means
he meets us where we are. Just hear what he says
to the disciples in chapter 24, verses 25 through
27. And he said to them, O foolish ones, and
slow apart to believe all that the prophets have
spoken. Was it not necessary that the Christ
should suffer these things and enter into his
glory? And beginning with Moses and all the prophets,
he interpreted to them and all the scriptures
the things concerning himself. You know, it's
always fascinating to me, every single week,
every single morning, my kids cannot comprehend
that mom has to go to work. Like that thought
doesn't make sense to them. Mom has to go to
work. She has to leave the house, go somewhere
that is not with us, and be there for eight hours.
And then after school, when we come home, she
will eventually come home too. Like that thought
process is really hard for them. But it has to
happen. And every day, we tell them the same
thing. We're going to work, but we're coming
home. But that doesn't make sense to them. And
when I look at this story, like I see the same
thing of Jesus had told them, I've got to go.
I have to go to work. I've got to go do what
the prophet said I was coming to do. I've got
to go do what God sent me to do. I have to go
to work. And even then, the disciples still don't
get it and they're still sorrowful. But he's
like, don't you know? Don't you get it? Oh, foolish
ones. Like, I'm here. I'm here with you. I'm
standing. I'm walking with you in your doubt,
but I still need you to understand that you're
being a little crazy. He looks at them. He says,
you knew this was supposed to happen. And then
he proceeds to share the gospel with them, the
good news of God's promise to redeem his people
and how it had been prophesied that God was going
to come. He was going to save his people. He
would leave. Then he'd come back. And then he'd
leave again. And he's going to come back. And
this is the Jesus way being revealed to them
through Scripture. It says Jesus walked them
through the Scripture. He taught them. He probably,
like I imagine, he would, you know, he'd say,
well, do you remember in Isaiah when it said
this? They're like, yeah, we do. Okay, well,
do you know what that was about? Well, yeah,
we, no, no, no, no. This is what that was about.
And that's what I imagine is happening here.
He's revealing the way that he was going to come,
live, die, rise, go, come back. He was revealing
the gospel to them through Scripture. And in
telling them all that he did, pointing them back
to Scripture, he's helping them understand the
nature and the way, the plan that was always
the case for the Savior. And he shows them that
his way aligns with Scripture. That Scripture
has told it the whole time through. This long
-awaited prophecies, the earliest promises of
God pointed to this Jesus. And I think that should
help us understand just how important studying
Scripture is. We can't live this life without
studying Scripture to see who God is, to see
what His way is, to see what His plan was. And
I think when we read both the Old Testament and
the New, we see the fullness. of God's goodness
displayed. I do believe studying Scripture reveals
the nature and the heart of God. And for the
disciples and for us, it reveals the way of Jesus.
A life of sacrifice, of mercy, of goodness, of
grace, and ultimately of resurrection. And isn't
that the life we want? We want to live good lives.
We want to live lives that one day when this
physical life is over, when this worldly life
is over, we rise again to live in that full,
abundant, eternal life. Before we move on, I
want you to notice that they still don't recognize
Jesus. He's walked through Scripture with them.
He's walked with them. He's been talking to them,
and they still don't recognize Him. And I want
to say, well, maybe I'm asking a question. Is
it fair to say that we can know Scripture, like
we can quote the Bible all we want, we can know
Scripture and still not recognize God, even when
He's right in front of us? Or as it says on the
screen, we can know Scripture and still miss
Jesus. And there's a lot of people, a lot of
good intentioned people that know their Bible.
But I will say, sometimes the way they act, let
me put myself in there. Sometimes the way we
act and sometimes the way we speak, the things
we do and even the things we think, they illustrate
to the world that we don't know Jesus. But even
though knowing Scripture isn't enough, just knowing
the Bible isn't enough, I have hope. I have hope
because I do believe spending time with Jesus
coupled with... Studying His Word is how we see,
how we are revealed, or how Jesus is revealed
to us. I want us to look at the rest of this
encounter in Luke 24, verses 28 -32. So they
drew near to the village to which they were going.
He acted as if He were going farther, but they
urged Him strongly, saying, Stay with us, for
it is toward evening, and the day is now far
spent. So He went in to stay with them. And when
He was at table with them, He took the bread
and blessed and broke it and gave it to them.
and their eyes were opened, and they recognized
him. And he vanished from their sight, and they
said to each other, Did not our hearts burn within
us while he talked to us on the road, while he
opened to us the scriptures? You see, they spent
hours walking and talking with Jesus, and they
still didn't recognize him. But then when he
gets into their home, and he sits down at the
table with them, he spends time with them, and
he breaks bread with them, and he has this meal.
He draws them back to about a week ago where
he sat at this table with his disciples for this
last meal before his arrest. And he tells them
what's going to happen. And he tells them why
it's going to happen. And he institutes the Lord's
Supper and he says, we're going to eat this meal
together again one day. I'm going to come back
and we're going to break this bread together.
And it's not until this happens where they break
the bread together that they recognize. He had
taught them the scriptures. He walked through
the scriptures with them. And because they were
lifelong Jews, they knew their word pretty well.
And that wasn't enough, but it's when he sits
down at the table with them and they spend time
just fellowshipping with God and he draws them
back to that sacrifice, that broken bread. That's
when... it all becomes clear to them. He goes
from this mystery man to revealed, risen Savior.
And that's where he changes everything. I love
that it says their eyes were opened. Because
we know their eyes had been opened this whole
time. It's not like they were like walking around
with their eyes closed. That's not what they
were doing. They just didn't recognize him. But
when this happens, when he breaks that bread,
and I imagine like he's passing it to them. And
he's probably saying some of the same things
he said at that last supper. That is when it
became clear. That's when Jesus, Son of God,
risen from the dead, was revealed to the disciples.
And that didn't happen because they fully understood
Scripture. It happened because they spent time
in Scripture with Jesus in his presence. And
that reminds me of a book I read recently by...
a preacher named John Mark Comer. And in that
book, Comer calls us to not just know about Jesus,
but to be with him, to not just study his word,
but to apprentice under him, to let his presence
shape us, to let being with him make us into
new people. And you know what that's like when
you spend time with people. And you spend a lot
of time hanging out with people. And that's the
people you talk with. It's the people you play
golf with, the people that you go to the movies
with, the people that you hang out with at home.
These are the people that you spend time with.
And over time, spending time with them starts
to rub off on you. It's why your parents told
you, be careful who you hang out with. Because
what they do is going to turn into what you do.
And what they say is going to turn into what
you say. And who you spend time with is going
to determine what your life looks like. And so
the more we spend time with God, the more our
lives look like God. But we've got a lot of people
that are content with just spending an hour with
Jesus on Sunday mornings or just spending an
hour with them on Wednesday nights. And maybe
they do like a morning Bible study. And that's
it. I got to tell you. Eight hours a day at work,
five days a week is a lot more than one hour
on Sundays, one hour on Wednesdays, and maybe
20 minutes every morning. The math is simple.
The more time I spend with Jesus, the more time
I spend with Jesus' people, the more like him
I will be. John Mark Comer writes that following
Jesus isn't just knowing scripture, but it's
arranging our lives around being with. and like
him. And I think it's in that being with Jesus,
that daily presence, that's where transformation
happens. That's where life change happens. It's
not just knowing more. It's being more. It wasn't
the sudden intellectual breakthrough that changed
everything for the disciples. It wasn't through
more study that their eyes were opened. It was
the engagement with Jesus and their willingness
to invite him in that he was revealed to them.
And that's the same way God works in our lives.
I do truly believe that true. He doesn't always
reveal himself through some prophetic word, some
revelation that comes to our minds. He doesn't
always reveal himself through these dramatic
events or miracles. I do believe those things
can happen, but I don't believe that's how he
always does it. I actually think often he reveals
himself in the small, ordinary rhythms of our
lives, in the little moments. There's a book,
it's called Domestic Monastery, and it talks
about how being a parent is where spiritual formation
can happen the most. And it's in those little
moments of mommy, can I have a glass of water?
Or daddy, can I have the juice box? Or hey, I
peed in my diaper, I need a diaper change. It's
in those little moments that we experience change.
And I think there's more to it than just being
a parent. I think in our friendships, we see
these little moments changing our lives, transforming
us. And if we're aware and if we're paying attention,
we can notice God working in those moments. So
I'll say this, discipleship isn't just about
accumulating knowledge. It's about arranging
our lives to be with Jesus. That is the revealed
way. It's seeing Jesus in scripture. It's spending
time with him in our lives and inviting him into
everything we do. And here's the deal. When we're
confronted with these new revelations, this new
material, these new truths that have been revealed
to us, when we're confronted with new revelation,
we have to respond accordingly. I'm a believer
that when you get new information, when you discover
something new, when something becomes clear to
you, you have to respond, and you will respond
in one of two ways. Maybe there's a couple other
ways, but you'll either choose to ignore it,
you'll choose to obey it. You'll pretend it never
happened, or you'll say, there's something here
that I need to do. And every time something becomes
clear to you, you have a choice to respond in
one of those ways. And I want you to see how
the disciples in this story responded in verses
33 through 35. And they rose that same hour,
and they returned to Jerusalem. And they found
the eleven and those who were with them gathered
together, saying, The Lord has risen indeed and
has appeared to Simon. Then they told what had
happened on the road and how he was known to
them in the breaking of the bread. You see, earlier
in the story, the disciples, they seemed troubled,
and they seemed really unsure, and they were
maybe even fearful. Well, this is a complete
about -face for them. This is a complete shift
because they were afraid and they were unsure,
but now they're declaring, they're proclaiming,
the Lord is risen. They didn't just believe.
They didn't just appreciate the experience. Like,
they are convicted, and now because of this conviction,
they immediately, they go and they share the
good news. When something is revealed to you,
you have to respond accordingly. And for the
disciples, it was revealed that Jesus Christ
had risen from the dead. He is no longer dead.
And if he has risen from the dead, we have nothing
to be afraid of. And that is good news. And that
news needs to be shared. And so the first thing
they do, they go share it with their friends,
their closest companions. And then as scripture
will tell us, and as we'll see, even when we
get into our series on the book of Acts, they
go and they tell the world, Jesus is risen indeed.
When the good news is revealed to us, the appropriate
response is to go reveal it to others. We can't
keep it to ourselves. We can't keep it in these
seats. We can't keep it in our homes. We can't
keep it in our cars, on the radio. It has to
be shared with the world. I want you to think
of the hard time that the other disciples were
having. Like we see it told that these disciples
were kind of unsure, but think about the other
ones. how worried they must have been, how afraid
they must have been, how unsure they were about
life. And when the good news is shared with them,
I just imagine how alleviating that was, how
transformative it was to know we have nothing
to be afraid of now. Everything that Jesus said
would happen has happened, so we can trust in
God. We can trust that this was the Messiah.
This was our Savior. And so here's how I want
to challenge us this morning. I want us to understand
the importance of studying Scripture because
in Scripture is where we begin to have the goodness,
the nature of our good and merciful God revealed
to us. I do believe we seek understanding, we
seek direction, we seek guidance in Scripture.
But I also want us to practice presence. I want
us to be a people that spend time with God outside
of this hour, outside of the times, like the
little moments in the day where we do our little
Bible studies. Like I want our lives to be arranged
to where it just feels like Jesus is walking
with us everywhere we go. There's a song. You
got to take the Lord with you everywhere you
go, in the street, in the home, on the highways,
the byways. You got to take the Lord with you.
Take him with you. Be present with Jesus everywhere.
where every moment, and then reveal revelation.
What God has revealed to you, what God has made
clear to you in the good book, what he has revealed
in your life, go share that with others. Because
it's in sharing the good news with the lost and
troubled world that we will change their lives.
And I want you to remember the story about the
kid hiding in the pulpit. Everybody's searching.
Everybody's panicking, they're worried, they're
wondering where he was. And the whole time, he
was right there. Right there where they were
all looking just an hour before. He was right
there. They just didn't see him. Maybe there's
times in your life where you wonder, God, where
are you? I've been told... And I've been told
through scripture that you've risen. I've been
told that you are an active God, that you're
a present God, but I don't feel you in my life.
Like maybe it's the sickness, the diagnosis.
And you're like, there's no way that a good living
God who has promised eternal and abundant life
would put me through this. Maybe it was the loss
of a loved one and you're thinking there's no
way. Maybe it's like the real inconveniences
in life, the lost job. the financial troubles,
the unsureness of everything going on in the
world. In those moments, it's very easy to say,
where are you, God? But what I believe Jesus
shows in this story and all throughout Scripture
is God is a whole lot closer than we think. Just
because we can't see Him now does not mean He's
not in the room with us. There's another song.
Have you seen Jesus, my Lord? He's here in plain
view. Take a look. Open your eyes. He'll show
it to you. Just because we're in dark moments,
just because we're not sure what's going on in
our lives, in this world, just because it's troubling
now does not mean He is not here. It does not
mean He's not working. And so what I'm challenging
us to do is look to Scripture. It's there. Practice
being with him. He's there. And when you find
that he is with you, when you see that he is
changing you, that he's changing people around
you, go and tell the world. Because we're all
searching for something. We're all stressing.
We all have our things in life that ask or make
us ask, where is God? But I do believe that he's
here and he's working. And he wants you to see
him. And so I know there are some in this room
who are really struggling, like more than just
struggling, but they're troubled. I want you
to hear this. He's not far. He is not far at
all. And he wants you to see him. He wants to
reveal himself to you. And if you need help.
If you need help seeing him or wanting to know,
like, how can I find that revelation? How can
he be revealed to me? I want to know him more.
I want to know how I can spend time with him.
I want to know how to follow him more. Wherever
you are, I want you to not find yourself looking
back like the disciples did in verse 32 and saying,
well, didn't we see? Didn't our hearts burn?
Didn't we know that that was our rabbi right
next to us? Don't ignore the feeling that you
have right now of like, Is there something stirring
in me that's trying to get me to respond? Don't
look back and say, how did I not feel that? Or
how did I not recognize that? Respond to it.
And if you are someone who does know Jesus already,
but maybe you've been having some trouble seeing
him this week or in your life recently, the invitation
is the same for you. Don't ignore the burning,
the stirring. And when you find the good news
revealed in your life and revealed to you, respond
to it accordingly. We offer a time of invitation
at the end of the sermon. If there is anything
you need, if there is a feeling that you need
to respond to or a truth that you need to respond
to, we're inviting you to respond to it now,
not to wait, but to understand that God wants
to reveal himself to you. He's just waiting for
you to come and open your eyes. Whatever you
need, we invite you to respond to the invitation
now as we stand and as we sing.