After Jesus was raised from the tomb, he appeared to two men on the road to Emmaus, two men who followed Him when He was alive, but didn't recognize Him now. Why didn't they recognize Him? More importantly, why are there times that we don't recognize Him? This message is based on Luke 24:13-35. To read now, click here.
I recently read an old legend about a king who decided to set aside a special day to honor his greatest subject. When the big day arrived, there was a large gathering in the palace courtyard. Four finalists were brought forward, and from these four, the king would select the greatest, and that person would be honored. The first person presented was a wealthy philanthropist. The king was told that this man was highly deserving of the honor because of he was such a great humanitarian. He had given much of his wealth to the poor. The second person was a celebrated doctor. The king was told that this doctor deserved the honor because he had faithfully served the sick for many years. The third person was a distinguished judge. The king was told that the judge was worthy because he was noted for his wisdom, his fairness, and his brilliant decisions. The fourth person presented was a frail looking, elderly woman. Everyone was quite surprised to see her there, because she appeared very humble, and she dressed very simple. She hardly looked like someone who might be honored as the greatest person in the whole kingdom. What chance could she possibly have, when compared to the other three, who had accomplished so much? But still, there was something about her - the look of love in her face, the understanding in her eyes, her quiet confidence. The king was intrigued, but somewhat puzzled by her presence. He asked who she was. The answer came: "You see the philanthropist, the doctor, and the judge? Well, she was their teacher!" That woman had no wealth, no fortune, and no title, but she had unselfishly given her life to produce great people. She really was a great person, because of her ability to teach people and bring out their potential. The king couldn’t see that in her. He missed the greatness in her. He didn’t see who she really was. In our reading this morning, we see two men who had probably spent considerable time with Jesus when he was alive, but they couldn’t see who Jesus really was now. He is walking with them, talking with them, even teaching them, yet they didn’t see it was him – they didn’t recognize him. We’re his believers, Do you see Him? Do you see Jesus in your life? I have to admit that there are times in my life when I see Christ’s work after the fact. I have to admit, I don’t always notice it when it happens. But circumstances work out just right, and great things happen, and afterwards, I realize it was one of those “God things.” I’m probably not alone, I suspect most of us don’t recognize him. Susan Andrews wrote, “On Sunday morning in contemporary America, modern disciples come straggling through the church door weighed down by cynicism, stress, and strife. We are too busy, too suspicious to recognize the risen Christ.” That’s true, isn’t it? We get so weighed down by the events of the week that when Christ drops by, we don’t recognize Him. And if we miss Him long enough and often enough, and we don’t think He is with us, we might even give up on Him. I think that’s what happened with these two. The reading starts out by saying, “that same day, two of them were going...” Two of who? Who were these men? We have to backtrack to see this, but they were followers of Jesus. When the women came back from the tomb to report that it was empty, they appeared to Eleven, and all the others. These were probably two of the others gathered with the disciples. They weren’t two disciples, but they had been following Jesus too! They were Jesus’ followers. They had spent a lot of time with Him. So these are people who had been following Him for some time. Yet on the day of the resurrection, the day of the greatest miracle of all, they left Jerusalem. They had given up. You see the Jews were expecting a military and political Messiah, somebody who would set them free from the Romans. So when Jesus was killed, they were disappointed. He couldn’t have been who they thought He was. They didn’t understand. So they left the other followers still gathered in Jerusalem, and they went home. They gave up on the believers. Walked away from their new faith. They even knew Jesus wasn’t in the tomb, but they didn’t know where He was. So they gave up and went home. Jesus appears to them on the highway, explaining everything from Scripture, showing them that this had to happen, just this way. And even though they began to understand what He was saying, they still missed who He was. How easy it is to miss Jesus. And all of us do. But He is with us. In Mathew, just as He is taken up into heaven, He says, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Yet we don’t often see Him, do we? So we try to lives our lives on our own, without Him. Former President Jimmy Carter, in his book, Sources of Strength, wrote, “it’s easy, even for dedicated Christians, to put off opening the door to Jesus. We want to be good Christians, but when it’s more convenient, at least not today. “Just wait,” we say, “until we reach retirement age—or our kids get out of college—or we make the last house payment. Then we’ll try to put into our lives the kinds of things we would want to do if Christ were here.” Carter goes on to say, “But Christ is here, right now. And when we open our hearts to other people, particularly those who are different from us, we are opening the door to him. This is a practical way that Christians can take a major step toward realizing the constant presence of our Savior. He says so specifically: “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me”. Jimmy Carter is talking about service to others as a way we can be reminded of Christ’s presence with us. I think its very interesting in our story that the two men didn’t recognize Him – it says their eyes were kept from recognizing Him - until they offered hospitality to a stranger, then they could see who He really was. Did you notice that? I had missed that before. They opened their house to him for the night, “it’s getting late, you won’t get their tonight, spend the night here and go on in the morning”. They even invited him in for dinner. Now they could begin to see what He was saying on the highway. They understood, but that understanding didn’t open their eyes. It wasn’t until after the dinner that they were allowed to recognize him. It wasn’t until they showed hospitality to this stranger that they met on the highway. In Superman: The Movie, Superman first reveals his powers with a really dramatic rescue. Lois Lane is dangling from a cable high above the building she works at. She is screaming at the top of her lungs for help. But her grip slips, she begins to fall. As Superman sees her begin to fall, he dashes off the nearest phone booth, changes into his suit, and flies up to catch her in midair. "Don't worry, Miss," he says. I've got you." Just then a helicopter that was on the edge of the building starts to fall, coming straight toward them and the crowd that had gathered below. They’re all going to die. But Superman simply reaches out and grabs it with his free arm and flies up to the roof of the building, setting down the helicopter and Miss. Lane on the landing pad. He was her hero, he saved the day. That’s how we expect Christ to come, isn’t it. That’s how the Jew’s expected him. And, really, we expect the same thing, don’t we. We expect him in the great big things of life – the really dramatic things, so that’s where we look for him. But He usually comes to us in simple ways, as a stranger walking down the sidewalk with us, as someone needing help, or someone offering comfort. That's why we’re not paying attention when we see Him. We’re expecting something much bigger, so we miss Him. But the lesson He wants us to take away from this, is don’t give up, don’t walk away from your faith, as these two started to do, because He is here with you. If you’ve ever been tempted to walk away. Or if you have walked away, perhaps you were closer in your faith before, but maybe you’ve gotten discouraged and drawn back, don’t – He is with you. If you’re frustrated because you don’t understand what God wants from you, or what your supposed to do, that’s okay, we can’t understand it all – just know that He is with you. If you’re struggling with difficult people, or you’re just to busy, or you’re struggling with financial problems – know that He is with you. If you’ve lost your health, and are struggling to just maintain – know that He is with you. Just as He was with the two followers on that road to Emmaus – know that He is with you. They were confused, they didn’t understand what was happening around them, maybe even angry, at the very least depressed – maybe you’re feeling the same way. Maybe you’re confused. Maybe you don’t understand what’s going on. Maybe you’re angry. Maybe you’re depressed. Cling to Jesus, don’t ever give up on Him, and know that he is with you.
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