Road to Emmaus 2
April 6
Revealed through telling Stories
Luke 24:25-29
I believe that most of us never really consider Jesus until we have been profoundly disappointed by this world. Disappointment. This is where we find our two friends on their road to Emmaus. Their religious leaders disappointed them. Instead of welcoming Jesus as the leader that would bring freedom to their nation, they rejected Jesus because he was a threat to their position of influence and power. Jesus had disappointed them. Couldn’t he have eluded the arrest? He walked straight into danger, Jerusalem, where the religious authorities had threatened to kill him. But all their discussion of disappointment did not change things. Jesus was dead and despite all their talk, they were no closer to finding an answer, figuring out what to do next, where to go.
Jesus walked with them a while, quietly listening. Then he began to speak. Luke 24:25-27. Does he commiserate? No. Does he sympathize? Not really. Rather than indulging their despair, he gives them a bracing rebuke. “How foolish you are and slow of heart to believe everything the prophets have written.” Jesus dives right in and gives the sermon of a lifetime. He goes through the entire Hebrew scripture and explains how Moses and the prophets predicted the events of his life—especially his death. And if you read further, the prophets told not just the Messiah’s humiliation, but his glorification, his justification, his ascension into glory.
So, what was Jesus talking about? Luke does not record Jesus’ words, but it might have included the following.
Gen 3:15—in God’s punishment of the snake after the first sin, he decrees that the seed of woman—the Messiah—will crush the snake’s head, after the snake has bitten his heel. This is the sufferings of Christ and his victory over the devil.
Nu 21:9—Moses made a bronze snake and lifted it up on a pole so that the snake bitten Hebrews would be miraculously healed. Jesus who knew no sin became sin—the snake—and lifted up on a cross, so in his death, sin might be killed and whosoever look to Jesus lifted up might find healing from their being snake bit by sin.
Deut 18:15—Moses promises that “the Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your own people.” No one was like Moses who spoke face to face with God like a friend until Jesus came.
Isa 7:14—the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. God with us. Jesus was not just a great leader who would inherit the throne of his father David the greatest Jewish king. Jesus was the very presence of God sent to earth.
Isaiah 53—told the entire story of Jesus’ life, an ordinary looking man, who ended up rejected and crushed. Then exalted by the Father. Jesus was the suffering servant whose wounds brought healing.
This was how Jesus taught during his ministry.
Luke 4:18-19—today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.
Luke 4:36—the people exclaimed “what is this teaching? With authority”
Mark 1:21-21 they went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.”
this was how the apostles taught during their ministry.,
Jesus taught this interpretation of Hebrew scripture to his disciples and that’s how they taught and preached. Peter on the first Pentecost—Acts 2:17-quotes Joel 2:28-32, Psalm 16:8-11, and Psalm 110:1 all to proof text Jesus as God’s Messiah. The early church members all met in the temple every day to hear Jesus’ apostles expound from the Hebrew scriptures about Jesus and the kingdom of God. When Peter explained about the healing of the crippled beggar in the temple gate he quoted Deut. 18:15, 18, 19. When Peter stood before the Sanhedrin, quoted Psalm 118:22. In Acts 4:25-30, the believers quoted Psalm 2 when they were trying to explain the anger of the religious authorities.
This is how we as modern day apostles and disciples should teach as well. Not just the preachers and clergy, but every member of the church, Christ’s body.
What about you? What do you say when your experience leads you to doubt the gospel, God’s love, His redemption? What do you say to a friend who is grieving over the death of a loved one, or in despair over a personal weakness? How do respond to a friend who has been profoundly disappointed by life?
Heed the example of Jesus. Know your bible. Biblical literacy has been a weakness of our church. We have not had enough classes and even those classes have been poorly attended. One early goal of our new church is for us to grow in our understanding of the Bible. Not to impress our friends, or win arguments. Few of us will fall into the ditch f the bible know-it-all. The ditch will often fall into is on the other side of the street—biblical ignorance. Let’s not fear saying too much. Let’s fear not having anything to say.
Be on the look out for new opportunities to learn the bible. Our new member classes will include scripture studies. Each bulletin has a bookmark with daily bible readings. Follow the example of Jesus who with his words was able to lift the spirits of his two friends from numb despair to burning hope.
He is risen,
James
Revealed through telling Stories
Luke 24:25-29
I believe that most of us never really consider Jesus until we have been profoundly disappointed by this world. Disappointment. This is where we find our two friends on their road to Emmaus. Their religious leaders disappointed them. Instead of welcoming Jesus as the leader that would bring freedom to their nation, they rejected Jesus because he was a threat to their position of influence and power. Jesus had disappointed them. Couldn’t he have eluded the arrest? He walked straight into danger, Jerusalem, where the religious authorities had threatened to kill him. But all their discussion of disappointment did not change things. Jesus was dead and despite all their talk, they were no closer to finding an answer, figuring out what to do next, where to go.
Jesus walked with them a while, quietly listening. Then he began to speak. Luke 24:25-27. Does he commiserate? No. Does he sympathize? Not really. Rather than indulging their despair, he gives them a bracing rebuke. “How foolish you are and slow of heart to believe everything the prophets have written.” Jesus dives right in and gives the sermon of a lifetime. He goes through the entire Hebrew scripture and explains how Moses and the prophets predicted the events of his life—especially his death. And if you read further, the prophets told not just the Messiah’s humiliation, but his glorification, his justification, his ascension into glory.
So, what was Jesus talking about? Luke does not record Jesus’ words, but it might have included the following.
Gen 3:15—in God’s punishment of the snake after the first sin, he decrees that the seed of woman—the Messiah—will crush the snake’s head, after the snake has bitten his heel. This is the sufferings of Christ and his victory over the devil.
Nu 21:9—Moses made a bronze snake and lifted it up on a pole so that the snake bitten Hebrews would be miraculously healed. Jesus who knew no sin became sin—the snake—and lifted up on a cross, so in his death, sin might be killed and whosoever look to Jesus lifted up might find healing from their being snake bit by sin.
Deut 18:15—Moses promises that “the Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your own people.” No one was like Moses who spoke face to face with God like a friend until Jesus came.
Isa 7:14—the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. God with us. Jesus was not just a great leader who would inherit the throne of his father David the greatest Jewish king. Jesus was the very presence of God sent to earth.
Isaiah 53—told the entire story of Jesus’ life, an ordinary looking man, who ended up rejected and crushed. Then exalted by the Father. Jesus was the suffering servant whose wounds brought healing.
This was how Jesus taught during his ministry.
Luke 4:18-19—today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.
Luke 4:36—the people exclaimed “what is this teaching? With authority”
Mark 1:21-21 they went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.”
this was how the apostles taught during their ministry.,
Jesus taught this interpretation of Hebrew scripture to his disciples and that’s how they taught and preached. Peter on the first Pentecost—Acts 2:17-quotes Joel 2:28-32, Psalm 16:8-11, and Psalm 110:1 all to proof text Jesus as God’s Messiah. The early church members all met in the temple every day to hear Jesus’ apostles expound from the Hebrew scriptures about Jesus and the kingdom of God. When Peter explained about the healing of the crippled beggar in the temple gate he quoted Deut. 18:15, 18, 19. When Peter stood before the Sanhedrin, quoted Psalm 118:22. In Acts 4:25-30, the believers quoted Psalm 2 when they were trying to explain the anger of the religious authorities.
This is how we as modern day apostles and disciples should teach as well. Not just the preachers and clergy, but every member of the church, Christ’s body.
What about you? What do you say when your experience leads you to doubt the gospel, God’s love, His redemption? What do you say to a friend who is grieving over the death of a loved one, or in despair over a personal weakness? How do respond to a friend who has been profoundly disappointed by life?
Heed the example of Jesus. Know your bible. Biblical literacy has been a weakness of our church. We have not had enough classes and even those classes have been poorly attended. One early goal of our new church is for us to grow in our understanding of the Bible. Not to impress our friends, or win arguments. Few of us will fall into the ditch f the bible know-it-all. The ditch will often fall into is on the other side of the street—biblical ignorance. Let’s not fear saying too much. Let’s fear not having anything to say.
Be on the look out for new opportunities to learn the bible. Our new member classes will include scripture studies. Each bulletin has a bookmark with daily bible readings. Follow the example of Jesus who with his words was able to lift the spirits of his two friends from numb despair to burning hope.
He is risen,
James
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