The Gospel of Luke #4
“I Think I’ll Go For A Walk Outside”
Pastor Kris Freeman
Revolution Church
The Walk to Emmaus
13 That same day two of Jesus’ followers were walking to the village of Emmaus, seven miles[c] from Jerusalem. 14 As they walked along they were talking about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things, Jesus himself suddenly came and began walking with them. 16 But God kept them from recognizing him.
17 He asked them, “What are you discussing so intently as you walk along?”
They stopped short, sadness written across their faces. 18 Then one of them, Cleopas, replied, “You must be the only person in Jerusalem who hasn’t heard about all the things that have happened there the last few days.”
19 “What things?” Jesus asked.
“The things that happened to Jesus, the man from Nazareth,” they said. “He was a prophet who did powerful miracles, and he was a mighty teacher in the eyes of God and all the people. 20 But our leading priests and other religious leaders handed him over to be condemned to death, and they crucified him. 21 We had hoped he was the Messiah who had come to rescue Israel. This all happened three days ago.
22 “Then some women from our group of his followers were at his tomb early this morning, and they came back with an amazing report. 23 They said his body was missing, and they had seen angels who told them Jesus is alive! 24 Some of our men ran out to see, and sure enough, his body was gone, just as the women had said.”
25 Then Jesus said to them, “You foolish people! You find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures. 26 Wasn’t it clearly predicted that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his glory?” 27 Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
28 By this time they were nearing Emmaus and the end of their journey. Jesus acted as if he were going on, 29 but they begged him, “Stay the night with us, since it is getting late.” So he went home with them. 30 As they sat down to eat,[d] he took the bread and blessed it. Then he broke it and gave it to them. 31 Suddenly, their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And at that moment he disappeared!
32 They said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?” 33 And within the hour they were on their way back to Jerusalem. There they found the eleven disciples and the others who had gathered with them, 34 who said, “The Lord has really risen! He appeared to Peter.[e]”
This story happened on the same day as the RESURRECTION .
You can learn a lot about a person how they enter conversation, engage conversation and exit conversation.
This walk was a CONVERSATION about their EXPERIENCE.
1. It was a HEARTBREAKING EXPERIENCE.
“Human hope is a fragile thing, and when it withers, it is difficult to revive. Hopelessness as a disease of the human spirit is desperately hard to cure.”
Imagine being a follower of Jesus – even casually – and hearing he was gone. I’m sure their hearts were broken. But then…
2. It was a HEART SEARCHING EXPERIENCE.
Cleopas – what a name, right? – wonders why this stranger is the ONLY ONE who hasn’t heard about what happened to Jesus!
Judah Smith: “The Gospel works best when we let the Gospel do the work.” It is GOOD NEWS! But how was it this man had not heard of what happened with Jesus? They were AMAZED!
3. It was a HEART BURNING EXPERIENCE.
The two-hour journey must have seemed like five minutes. But Jesus acted as if he were going further, before they invited him in.
- Jesus is a gentleman
- He will not force himself in
"... Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me" (Revelation 3:19,20)
Then Jesus disappeared as he was recognized!
Why?
1. The Gospel LIVES because of Jesus
2. The Gospel SPREADS because of you.
3. The Gospel WORKS because of both together.
The greatest failure of the church would be for the church to survive without the Gospel story being the center of it! We should pray the church fail is Jesus NOT IN IT! Because the church is ALIVE when it is the BODY OF CHRIST not just the FAIRY TALE about him!
“If Christ does not draw near, the church of Jesus Christ is doomed. But God throughout all generations continues to draw near to a church full of His people with the good news of all creation!”
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