Eyes opened to the Jesus
One time in college I went to see a friend in his dorm room. I got there and we chit chatted a bit and then his roommate came in. He said, “Ben, tell Keith what happened at wallmart.” Sensing something funny about to be spoken I started to ask and pry about what happened. Ben sat and sheepishly began to say he wasnt sure if he should. I pried and he conceded.
He said, I was in the checkout line and the lady in front of me kept staring at me. When I would look at her she would look away quickly. Finally I had to ask her if she was ok. She said she was but after a fewminutes she said, “You just look a lot like my son. He passed away a few weeks ago.” Ben offered his condolences and there was a bit of an awkward silence. The cahsier began ringing up her grocieries and that is when she leaned over to him and said, “I know this is strange, but I never got to say goodbye to my son. Do you think taht you wave to me and say good bye mom.” Ben didnt know what to do so he agreed. She finished checking out, and he looked at her and said “bye mom.” She then turned and went out the door. He felt a relief and started checking out. He had just a few thing in his cart so it didnt take long, then the cashier said that will be $400. Perplexed he asked how it was so much. The cashier said, “Well your mom said that you would pay for hers.” Ben freaked out and went running out the door. He chased after the lady who was frantically throwing bags in her car and jumping to drive away. Ben said “I ran up to the door and started pulling her leg and she started kicking me.But I kept pulling her leg to get her out just like I am pulling your leg… My mouth dropped and my eye wide open.
He got me. Hook line and sinker. I was mad. Couldnt believe he would do that to me. I resolved to never believe another word he said. Would never trust him again.
Then a funny thing happened. My friend Dave showed up and after a few minutes, Ben said, “Hey Keith, tell Dave what happened to you at walmart the other day.” I thought and then said, “I was standing in line and ….
We all love to pull each others leg. It human nature. And some times you may wonder if the resurrection is another leg pulling or if it is something that you can really trust. Maybe you believe but things happen in life that cause you to question the resurrection or even your faith in God.
Three things that anchor your hope in the resurrection.
- The Witnesses
To witness is to give an account of what you have seen. Witnesses are called into testify in court. This book is an account of Jesus’s resurrection from the people that encountered him. It is their experience.
And we need to talk about this account. Its from two disciples of Jesus. People who knew him and should be in the know. But this account also raises questions. Why should we believe these witnesses? Are they making it up? Do they know what they are talking about? 5th graders could lie better than these people.
[15 While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. 16 But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.
I have to tell my wallmart joke very carefully because if i mess up even one part of it the whole thing fall apart. How much more so if I fabricated a story of a dead man rising to life.
This seems a terrible way to begin a witness. He appeared but you didn’t recognize him?? That discredits you, so if it did happen, it does not seem advantageous to include.
But lets also think about if you are fabricating the resurrection to dupe people into believing in a false resurrection, there is no way you include this. You don’t even include this if you are lying but you are trying to get people to think you are not lying. This isnt material to get them off the trail.
Luke, the person writing this gospel account is a doctor. He is smart. He writes this gospel to provide an accounting of the things that happened. He is also known as one of the greatest historians in world history.
This line seems to be there with the fact that women first discovered the empty tomb. In this society women were not held in equal status and their testimony was not even accepted in court. If you are fabricating gospels you would not have ordinary women as the first to discover the tomb. But it is written because that is the way it happened.
So if this is the way that it happened why don’t they recognize Jesus. Perhaps Jesus had a hoodie and sunglasses on. After all his work is complete. He could be on vacation. That is possible. Another reason could be that he now has a glorified body. His suffering is over.
We sometimes dont recognize friends who have gone on a diet, grown a bear, (family picture). How much more so someone who has been clothed in immortality! So this tells us things will be different with the resurrection.
That is significant to think about. But ultimately the text tells us that they were kept from recognizing him.
[16 But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.
God is doing something with these people. They are in process. And we are going to see this more clearly as we go through the account.
But its also important to know the witness. Cleopas' (Κλεόπας) is an abbreviated form of Cleopatros, a Greek name meaning "glory of the father" (feminine form Cleopatra). He is referenced in other parts of the Bible
[but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. John 19:25
This says that Mary is the wife of Clopas, and that she is the sister of Jesus’ mother. Now according to tradition, the historian, Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea, quotes the earlier chronicler, Hegesippus, who wrote, c. AD 180, that he had years before interviewed the grandsons of Jude the Apostle and learned that Clopas was the brother of Joseph, husband of the Virgin Mary. If that is the case then it is certainly plausible for her to be referred to simply as a sister.
Its also recorded that Clopas son Simeon became the second bishop of Jerusalem around 70ad.
"After the martyrdom of James, it was unanimously decided that Simeon, son of Clopas, was worthy to occupy the see of Jerusalem. He was, it is said, a cousin of the Saviour." Hegesippus noted that Clopas was a brother of Joseph.
So Clopas is an insider to all that went on with Jesus. He is a family member and close confidant. Tradition also tells us that he was martyred in his home for his belief in Jesus as the messiah. So as unusual as this account may be, the person telling it was a close follower of Jesus, also a close relative, who’s son became a bishop of Jerusalem and who also died for his faith.
The Christian philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal had a saying: "I [believe] those witnesses that get their throats cut." He meant that people who are willing to die for their beliefs are more likely to be telling the truth.
The are discussing things that were not done in a closet. They were done in view of everyone. Everyone in the place knew what had happened with Jesus.
Trust these witnesses.
- The Scriptures
These disciples are “discussing” something on their 7 mile journey. Polite. They were arguing. 'what were you discussing as you walked along?' (literally 'what were the sayings you argued about with one another as you walked along?') Lk 24.17.
These two disciples are likely Clopas and his wife. They are heading home after a devastating weekend. Their friend, their relative, their candidate for president, their Lord, has not just lost the election, he has been killed before their very eyes. In a matter of one night. Arrested, tried, condemned, nailed to a cross, and buried. Their heads were spinning. May contribute to why they didn’t recognize Jesus.
They are confused on who Jesus was. They were convinced he was from God and a prophet but they also hoped he was something else. The one to redeem Israel, is a significant figure in the Bible. But he cant be the redeemer if he died.
[19 And he said to them, "What things?" And they said to him, "Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.
They thought the messiah would come and rescue their nation out of the hands of other nations. But God’s goal was bigger than redeeming one nation. He was going to redeem all nations through the Savior. He would be not just the Savior of israel but the Savior of the world. God had something much bigger. And to save the world the common problem of sin had to be atone for. Sin is to go against God’s purpose, and just like when people don’t do what you tell them, God also had a reason to be angry at us. Sin must be punished and that is why Jesus died. He took the death we deserved, and so it is through him we are healed. We are redeemed in him.
The opposite of being redeemed is to be lost. Good will-save this shirt or lose it. We see a world where people do wrong things, where they crucify innocent people. Click on the news and you will see a world of people running from God and on the verge of being lost.
[25 And he said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
The whole old testament is about him. It points to his coming. It points to the need for him. Adam and Eve are separated from God and ashamed of their nakedness. They made garments of fig leaves and when that feel apart God clothed them with skins of animals. Animals were sacrificed to take away their shame and nakedness. When the nation of Israel rejected God punished them. And yet the prophet Isaiah spoke of a great return and he spoke of one who would come and take away their sins and punishment. Moses spoke of a prophet who would come and be greater than he. Isaiah, which we read earlier, spoke of the messiah coming and suffering for the people, and then being victorious.
Would suffer and then enter into his glory. Jesus came and suffered for sin. It was necessary for him to suffer. But then he entered into his glory.
They knew the Scripture, and as they hear him explain the scripture their hearts are burning. This isn’t heartburn like, oh man, I should not have eaten that 60 count of chicken wings. This is a burning of excitement, a burning of everything could be right, this makes sense of what we have just witnessed. He died for our sins, God said he would do this, and God said he would rise again, so perhaps he is risen, and so is our hope!
[32 They said to each other, "Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?"
Scriptures are being fulfilled. Jesus death didnt come out of nowhere but rather is the fulfillment of a plan, a plan to redeem and restore all that is broken in the world. This is the hope of the resurrection. If he is resurrected then God has acted to take care of all of our problems.
A final thing to anchor hope in the resurrection is the
- The Peculiar Work of Jesus.
Peculiar means strange or unusual. God doesn’t usually work the way we think he should.
There is an empty tomb. Jesus appears to his disciples but doesnt let them recognize them. He instructs them from the Scriptures. He also does not intrude upon them.
[28 So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, 29 but they urged him strongly, saying, "Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent." So he went in to stay with them.
This couple had been through a lot. They are devastated and crushed because what they expected didnt happen. They are disappointed and arguing, emotionally done. Jesus engages with them. They have to be open and honest. They didnt just say I m fine leave me alone. In your hurt with God you have to be honest. And you have to find answers in the word of God. you have to apply yourself. They invited him to their home. They were burning to know more.
This appearance sets a trajectory for how Jesus will work in the hearts of people. He doesnt force his way in. He gives people a chance to accept or deny. It is when he takes bread and breaks it that their eyes are opened. He had done that at the last super. Christians observe the Lords Super. God works in and through these.
(2)open figuratively, of the eyes, ears, heart, or mind in enabling someone to perceive or understand open (LU 24.45); (3) of what has been hidden or obscure explain, interpret, open up (LU 24.32)
I am a father of four and I take that very seriously. I want to be a good dad, and know that involves teaching my kids the word of God. But I also have to look out for them in other ways. Teach them never to load up on the stuff at the beginning of a buffet line. …
I also feel the need to teach them about good movies and tv shows. So we recently got into the original transformers. I m not talking about the 2004 movie, I am talking 1984 and the OG’s. It has been fantastic. Optimus Prime, Megatron, Star Screem, Ironhide. The whole gang. We watched the transformer movie. It was highly disappointing. All the people who I had figure of were killed in the first five minutes of the movie. Didn’t see that coming. But there is one point in the movie that the evil and narcisitic Megatron is conquored by Omnicron, a planet devouring bad guy. He does this mind control thing to force Megatron to do what he wants him to do. People like to force and compel. Jesus is gentle. He does not force you. He wants to gain your heart.
Jesus does not compel his people by force. He woos them in ordinary ways. He slowly and carefully leads them to connect the dots.
What happens on the Emmaus road, is a regular thing in your journey with God. You think he is going to do one thing and he does another. And you wrestle, debate, search his word, to understand what he is doing. You can be teachable. Or in your pride you can pull away and ignore him. Are you honest with God and others about your hurt and disappointment with God. These people were. They didn’t hide it. They didn’t saying, “nothing its fine.”
The great 19th century evangelist Charles Wesley had a great account of his conversion. He went to a church meeting in which someone taught the Scriptures and he says, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death."
Clopas completely changed after his encounter with Jesus. Begin with discouragement and end risking all for Jesus.
His despair turned to hope, his doubt to certainty, his numbness to life. He was a new man because he now possessed a true understanding of Jesus. If Jesus is raised from the dead, and he offers us new life, it doesnt matter what your loss is it will be fixed.
[33 And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, 34 saying, "The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!" 35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.
This couple got up and went back from the way they had come. The roads were dangerous at night. Thieves and robbers would have been there. They had just come from there and were tired. But they went back. And they went back and the thing they had to say was:
Peter had come back from the tomb saying he had risen. Cleopas now says he is risen indeed. They confirmed it. They were certain of it.
[34 saying, "The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!"
They were convinced of the resurrection. Through the work of Jesus in opening their eyes to the Scriptures. They believed in the resurrection. And what the Scriptures point to is that the messiah would rise on the third day and he would reign for eternity. They believe in the resurrection of the Son of God, the Savior of the world, the ruler of the universe. They submitted to Jesus as their Lord. Convinced of what God had done in Jesus. There was no other way.
Today, you can hear about the resurrection and you keep on going with your life. Uninterested in Jesus. Uninterested in what he says and calls you to do. Is there a burning?
God works in ordinary people and ways to pronounce the life altering message of the resurrection.