❖ Video
❖ Audio (Message)
We Fail To See Jesus, Who Is With Us
Luke 24:13-35
Mari Ikeda
As you know, Easter Sunday is the day to remember and celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, but how real do you feel that Jesus is resurrected and lives with us? Do you truly believe and rejoice for Jesus being close to you, guiding your life and walking with you? I’m asking you and myself. I sometimes lose faith and doubt. However, reading the text today, I can be sure that it is my problem if I don’t see him, because he is indeed always just in front of us. The text today is Luke 24:13-35. Let’s start reading firstly from v. 13-24.
A. Because Jesus’ death is just one side of who He really is (13-24)
13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him. 17 He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?” They stood still, their faces downcast. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” 19 “What things?” he asked. “About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”
This scene is in a way a comedy. Just imagine how ridiculous it is that these two guys, looking sad, are talking and grieving that their Jesus is dead, while he is just in front of them.
Why do you think these two guys could not notice that the man before them was Jesus? I think there are two reasons. One is that, as we’ll see later, the resurrection of Jesus is something beyond our human ability to understand, unless Jesus himself teaches us personally in the way each of us can understand. The other reason is that these two disciples were overwhelmed by the fact that Jesus had died. They believed that Jesus had died a tragic death without fulfilling his life goal. And they condemned their religious leaders who put Jesus to death, while they were also disappointed with their own powerlessness for they could not prevent Jesus’ execution.
Unlike these two guys, we know and believe that Jesus is resurrected. Yet, just like these two, we sometimes get so overwhelmed by the magnitude of our sin and of injustice in this world that we forget that Jesus did not just died for us but also came back to life for us. If we only know that Jesus died for us, we’ll see ourselves just as the sinners who killed Jesus and our society will become just a place to be hated as it pushed Jesus to die. If we do, our life will become just a torment, and we’ll fail to see Jesus, who is resurrected and just in front of us. Surely Jesus will ask us, “Why do you look so sad? What are you discussing together so seriously?”
Let’s continue our passage today, v.25-27 next.
B. Because we cannot know Jesus unless He Himself works in us
1. Jesus’ explanation of the bible (25-27)
25 He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
Our weakness and sin and injustice of this world are all no surprise to Jesus. He was in the first place the Messiah, the savior, who was sent by God to save us and this world. Right from the beginning, his purpose was clear. He came to this world in order to die for us. He rose again from death in order to live with us.
However, this is something that we cannot understand so instantly. In v.25-27, it is said that Jesus explained the whole bible for the two disciples. We need it, too.
But how can we have Jesus explain the bible to us? It is by asking the Holy Spirit to help us, just as Jesus would order the disciples later. The bible is the word of God, while Jesus is the word of God as well. Although we can get a certain level of understanding about God with the help of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, we’ll face a limit of understanding about Jesus and God’s plan if we don’t read the bible. Therefore, it’s important for us to read the bible and deepen our understanding with the help of the Holy Spirit. If we don’t do so, we’ll not be able to see Jesus with us.
Let’s move on to v.28-31.
2. Jesus’ breaking of bread (28-31)
28 As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. 29 But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 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.
It is said here that the disciples recognized Jesus when he broke bread and give it to them. This clearly reminds us of “Last Supper” of Jesus and his disciples, that we just read last week. The act of breaking bread is, as Jesus told during Last Supper, the symbol of giving his body.
Certainly this doesn’t mean that we’ll understand Jesus once we receive the bread during Communion. Instead, to receive the bread broken by Jesus means that each of us accepts that Jesus’ body was broken and he died “for myself.” It is for each of us to get the conviction that Jesus knows each of us very well, forgives our sin and weakness, and loves us.
However, it is not in our own strength to strive for getting the conviction, but rather it is only by Jesus working in our heart and teaching us. While he used the act of breaking bread in the case of these two disciples, he will teach us personally by choosing the way each of us can understand. What we can do is to urge him in our heart to stay with us for a little more time and ask him to teach us.
Now, it sounds odd that Jesus disappeared immediately after the disciples recognized him. Nonetheless, their excitement got stronger. Let’s read the last remaining part.
C. Does Jesus disappear from our sight once we get to know him? But our hearts are on fire. (32-35)
32 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. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34 and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” 35 Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.
Even though Jesus disappeared from their sight, the disciples’ hearts were filled with conviction and joy. They were overjoyed because they were convinced that it was Jesus whom they had just spoken to, that he is alive again, and that he came to meet them personally. They knew they had to share the news with other disciples, so they hurried to go back the way they had just come. It was 7 miles distance, approximately 2 hours walk. When they finally reached Jerusalem, they found other disciples also in a great excitement for some of them had met the resurrected Jesus as well. It was the night of the third day after Jesus’ death.
None of us has ever met Jesus in person. Yet, the conviction and joy that were shared among the disciples at the night of the third day after Jesus’ death have been passed on through more than two thousand years and have reached us today. It means that throughout these two thousand years people have never ceased to share and celebrate with each other their own news, “Jesus truly lives, died for me, and came to meet me personally.” In such a way we have been forming a visible body of Christ, on behalf of invisible Jesus. As I always say, no one can keep one’s faith in Jesus by oneself. Everyone can lose sight of Jesus from time to time. We need friends who can give testimonies of Jesus with each other. That’s why I encourage you to spend time to pray with each other, along with reading the bible, seeking the Spirit’s help and praying to Jesus by yourself, as I have spoken to you. If we do, we’ll see Jesus always with us, because it is our problem if we don’t see him near.
(Prayer) Dear our Lord Jesus, I ask you now to reveal yourself in the way each of us can understand so that we know you are alive and with us. Give us the confidence in your love, even when we cannot get concrete solutions for our problems because you know them very well. Help us walk our life with you with joy until its very end. We are looking forward to seeing you in person one day. Dear our Lord Jesus, we give thanks to your life sacrifice and love, and pray this in your name. Amen.
Summary
We are able to believe that Jesus is “God who died for us” and “God who walks with us,”not in our own strength, but because Jesus Himself comes to meet with each of us personally and give us understanding. When we lose sight of Him, He is actually closest to us. Once we know it, we’ll feel the joy of being with Jesus springing up in our hearts, even though our eyes cannot see Him, and we’ll have the desire to share this joy with others.
For Discussion
1. How did you come to believe the resurrection of Jesus, the resurrection of the dead, which defies common sense? How do you explain it to others?
2. What does this passage teach us about what we should do when we doubt if Jesus is really with us?