Do you ever wish you just could have been there, when you hear the stories of Jesus’ death and resurrection? I do. I would have especially loved to be on the road that day with Cleopas and the other disciple–possibly Simon– as Jesus opened up the Scriptures to them. It would be great to see these things for yourself, to write your own story about them.
I would love to have been there because, as Luke tells us, “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” (Luke 24:27) Talk about the ultimate Bible study or sermon! That was it right there. Jesus, giving the definitive list of the passages in the Old Testament which pointed toward Him and what He had come to do. Sadly, neither Cleopas nor the other disciple wrote down what Jesus had said that day. Imagine what a great treasure that would be for the church! Even so, I think it is valuable for us to consider what this journey on the road to Emmaus means for us.
First, it means that Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection were not some random event, but were part of God’s carefully worked plan of salvation for the whole world. You can trace the thread of salvation through the Scriptures, and, since that day nearly 2000 years ago, faithful Christians have been doing just that. To that end, I would also like to briefly trace that thread with you this morning.
The thread of salvation begins in Creation itself. God created everything by His Word, and it was very good. But then sin entered into the world, through Adam and Eve’s distrust and disobedience of the Word of God. Yet even though the stated punishment for sin was death, God gave Adam and Eve a promise as well, that one day one would come along who would crush the head of the serpent who had deceived Eve. This promise carries on through the line of Adam–to Seth, to Enosh, to Kenan, to Mahalalel, to Jared, to Enoch, to Methuselah, to Lamech, to Noah. Then the sin of the people of the world was so grievous that God destroyed all people on earth except for Noah and his family. The promise of God to care for His people was restored. Then came Babel and the scattering of languages and peoples throughout the world. Then God chose Abraham to be the father of God’s chosen people and gave him the promise of being a great nation, having a land to call his own, and that one of his descendants would bless all people.
Abraham passed the promise down to Isaac, Isaac to his second-born, Jacob, and Jacob to his twelve sons who went to Egypt. While in Egypt, the promise was forgotten. God restored His covenant with His people through Moses, the great prophet and judge of the people Israel. God’s people were led by Moses out of Egypt, through the Red Sea and into the wilderness, where God gave His Law to His people as a sign pointing forward to His eternal kingdom. At the time of the deliverance from Egypt, God freed His people from the hand of the Pharaoh by the event of the first Passover–the lambs which were slain, whose blood gave freedom from death to those who followed the Word of the Lord and marked their houses with blood. Under the hand of Joshua, the people of Israel entered into the promised land, driving out the Canaanites and their false gods before them. Through the period of the judges, the people of Israel became involved in a desperate loop of turning away from God, having trouble, repenting, and being delivered from their enemies.
Finally, Samuel, the last judge, anointed Saul as king, and the people of Israel became a kingdom. Yet this kingdom too was only there to point forward to the kingdom of heaven which would be accomplished in Christ. King David was said to be a man after God’s own heart, yet he had feet of clay and sinned greatly against the Lord. King Solomon had great wisdom and yet fell into idolatry and great vice. Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, ended up dividing the kingdom by his heavy-handed ways. The northern kingdom, resentful of the south, set up unauthorized places of worship to the Lord and ended up being destroyed as a people. The southern kingdom fell into sin against the Lord time and time again, with the kingdom being removed at the time of the Babylonian captivity. Yet the Lord also brought His people home again.
It was to a people freed yet not free that Jesus came. They had reasonable autonomy and religious freedom under the structures of Rome, yet their religious freedom was heavily guarded by those who appointed themselves guardians of the faith yet had placed their trust in the words and works of men rather than the grace of God. Jesus, the virgin-born Son of God, conceived by the Holy Spirit, came into this situation and changed everything, giving His Word to all he came in contact with—grace to the hurting and law to the proud and self-centred. He came expressly to be the great king of Israel, the prophet of all prophets, and as the priest to offer His own life as the perfect, final offering. He came to die on the cross for our sins and then to rise from death to break its power once and for all.
No doubt what Jesus taught of himself along that road was much, much more again than this little survey I have given. For Jesus would have given the exact passages which referred to Him and explained just how He fit in throughout the Scriptures—what Luther once called “seeing Christ on every page.” With the eyes of faith, we too can see Jesus on every page of the Scriptures, bringing even the most obscure corners of the Bible to vivid colour and life.
The second thing that is important to note is that without the guidance and indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we can have all the biblical data we like and it won’t mean a thing. These two disciples on the road knew that Jesus was a great prophet, they knew their Scriptures, but they had not yet had their eyes of faith opened to how Jesus’ death and resurrection fit that picture. I have mentioned in the past a commentary I once read on Isaiah 53, that beautiful passage which depicts Jesus’ death for us in the most powerful way. This commentary, written by a non-Christian, got to Isaiah 53 and was absolutely baffled as to what this passage meant. It didn’t fit the way that the author read the Scriptures, and the visual image of death and resurrection on behalf of the people didn’t add up. He was blind to Christ and thus blind to understanding this passage. This scholar was brilliant in his knowledge of ancient Biblical Hebrew, but couldn’t see the One of whom these Scriptures taught.
Since we are so blessed as to be able to read the Scriptures in faith, we dare not neglect them, nor take this blessing for granted, or, worse, give ourselves some measure of extra credit because we have the blessing of the faith to hear the Word rightly. This faith is a gift of God given to us, not something we deserve or earn through our own abilities. It is very easy to trust in yourself rather than in Christ and His Word, even when we study that Word that gives life. There are many talented scholars and interpreters who can detail for you the exact grammatical and syntactical structures of the most obscure Hebrew or Greek passages, but who do not see the Scriptures with faith in Christ, and, as such, miss the point. There are many powerful statesmen who can convince a person to hang on their every word, but without Christ, their silver tongues avail nothing. We need to put Christ and His Word first and have our hearts and lives changed by that Word.
It is likewise possible to come to church every Sunday, to hear the Word of God, to be confirmed and regularly receiving the body and blood of Christ and miss the point, if all it is for you is a habit, and you turn off your ears when you enter the sanctuary. Jesus spoke to the crowds regularly and yet not all believed. We have Jesus’ words, written and recorded for us in the Bible, but it is possible to hear and not believe. Faith comes by hearing, as St Paul says in Romans 10, but some will yet resist the Word and the Holy Spirit. When we believe, this is God’s work on our hearts and minds by the Holy Spirit. When we do not, we have only our own stubborn and ungodly will to blame. There is always this tension in the mind of the Christian—the believing new man in Christ and the unbelieving old sinful flesh are at constant battle.
The third and perhaps most important thing to note is that even as they heard the word of Jesus, even as they walked with Him, these two disciples–not utter strangers to Jesus, but disciples–still didn’t recognize Him until He shared their meal with them. Ours is not to know the whens or whys that the Holy Spirit’s action on the heart through the Word will take its final hold and create faith, opening a person’s eyes to Christ. We have the promise of faith and the Holy Spirit attached to Baptism and to the Word, yet the precise times and seasons are left to the Lord.
This in and of itself should be the greatest encouragement to us. When it comes to sharing our faith, when it comes to making disciples, the ultimate responsibility isn’t on us, but on the Word. Our job is simply to get the Word out there, to depart from this house of the Lord with His Word in our hearts and on our lips, so that as the week goes by we live and act in a way that causes others to want to know why we have the hope that we do, as St Peter noted in his first epistle.
There may have been three thousand baptized that first Pentecost, as we read in our first lesson for today, but there were far more than three thousand people milling about when Peter preached his sermon and gave that general call to repentance and baptism for the forgiveness of sins. Not everyone is going to believe or receive the Word of Christ gladly. Having said that, it is still our role to get the word out–but even in that, it isn’t our word but God’s Word. We are just humble messengers and ambassadors. Testimony of this kind isn’t about crossing the oceans or even the country, but might even just be a matter of crossing the street or even your room, to someone who needs to hear and to know the Word of Christ.
The Word might not seem to do anything at first. But that’s God’s job and God’s responsibility, not ours. Ours is simply to be faithful to that Word we have received and to live our lives in thought, word, and deed according to it. Our catechism has what is called the “Table of Duties” in it. You might wish to use this to help you consider what God’s Word has to say about your own station or vocation in life and how you can serve Christ and live the Word in that vocation.
Finally, rejoice! For the road to Emmaus is a reminder that Christ is risen, and is no longer dead! He died for you and lives for you, that you might be His own and live under Him in His kingdom. In the things of His kingdom–the Word, Baptism, Absolution, the Lord’s Supper, He continues to strengthen and keep you safe along the road of life, until your eyes of faith are fully opened in the great resurrection, and you too will dine at the table with our Lord and Saviour—and on that day He won’t vanish when we recognize Him, but will instead be our gracious host, sharing with us the bounties of His eternal kingdom which has no end. Until that day, walk by faith, not by sight, and, whatever you may do, keep on walking and listening to the Word. For faith is a road, “the straight and narrow road”–and God has drawn us by His Word into this congregation so that we may walk together, encouraging and supporting each other, calling others to come join us, until our own evenings fall and we too sit at His eternal table. God grant that we keep on the road until that day! Amen.
Last updated April 2008 by the webmaster.