New Testament
Lesson
Luke 24:13-35
13 Now on that same day two
of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles[a] from Jerusalem , 14 and talking with each
other about all these things that had happened. 15 While they were talking
and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, 16 but their eyes were kept
from recognizing him. 17 And he said to them,
“What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood
still, looking sad.[b] 18 Then one of them, whose
name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that
have taken place there in these days?” 19 He asked them, “What
things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth,[c] who was a prophet mighty
in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief
priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he
was the one to redeem Israel.[d] Yes, and besides all
this, it is now the third day since these things took place. 22 Moreover, some women of
our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, 23 and when they did not
find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a
vision of angels who said that he was alive. 24 Some of those who were
with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did
not see him.” 25 Then he said to them,
“Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the
prophets have declared! 26 Was it not necessary
that the Messiah[e]should suffer these things and then enter into his
glory?” 27 Then beginning with
Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in
all the scriptures.
28 As they came near the
village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. 29 But they urged him
strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is
now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at the table
with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were
opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. 32 They said to each other,
“Were not our hearts burning within us[f] while he was talking to
us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” 33 That same hour they got
up and returned to Jerusalem ;
and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. 34 They were saying, “The
Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” 35 Then they told what had
happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of
the bread.
I was in a grocery store one day. I
have to admit I was looking rather grungy. I had been working in the yard
all day, and I was a bit dirty, but I wanted to go to the store to buy some
bread for lunch, and in the store I saw someone I knew. It was a church
member. I went up to say hello, and I could tell she did not recognize
me, and that she was even a bit nervous with me speaking to her. I
quickly said, “It’s me. Maynard. Your pastor.”
She admitted that she didn’t recognize me
without my pulpit robe.
Sometimes we recognize people, and
sometimes we don’t.
This text from the New Testament is a
strange text.
Jesus Christ is in the midst of these
folks who are walking along the road. They are talking about the events
of Jesus’ death and the report of his resurrection.
They all chat together, and they do not
recognize him.
This story is interesting on several
levels. On one level it is a dramatic presentation of what the world is
like today.
So many people are on a journey through
life, and even with Jesus in their midst, they do not recognize him.
There are times when we all feel like the
Lord has left us.
We struggle with cancer, and the days are
dark. There is pain and despair. Bills pile high. And it
seems Jesus has deserted us.
We go into work one day, only to learn
that we’ve been fired. We feel overwhelmed, wondering how we will make
ends meet. We feel our self confidence sag. And it seems Jesus is
nowhere near us.
Our spouse dies. We feel
alone. We are confused. And it seems that Jesus is nowhere near us.
Part of the wonder of this New Testament
reading is that these people who are walking along the way are in deep
grief. They had hope that Jesus was the Messiah, and now he is
dead. Even though they have heard some news about a possible
resurrection, their grief is overwhelming. And it seems to them that
Jesus is nowhere near them. Jesus is distant. Jesus is absent.
And yet, in this story, Jesus is there all
along!
We often think that Mother Teresa was a
great saint who never had any doubts at all. She walked with God and
lived a life of such sacrifice and devotion.
And yet, for nearly the last half century
of her life, she felt absolutely nothing of the presence of God. In
letters that she wrote to some of her spiritual leaders and mentors, she
confessed that she often felt God as absent. This began when she began
tending to the poor and the sick of Calcutta .
It continued for the rest of her life, except for a brief period in 1959.
Imagine – she remained faithful to God and obedient to God even though she did
not feel the presence of God in her life.
That is a tremendous faith.
It was faith that was NOT dependent on
feeling. It was a faith that was dependent on God alone.
What she felt was not unusual.
In the Old Testament, Job was a man who
lost so much. He lost his property, his financial resources, his family
and even his children. In chapter 23 of the Old Testament Book of Job, it
says,
If I go forward, God is
not there;
If I go backward, I cannot
perceive him;
If I go left he hides, and I cannot behold him;
I turn to the right, but I cannot see him.
Why are you so far from helping me, from the
words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;
and by night, but find no rest.
If I go left he hides, and I cannot behold him;
I turn to the right, but I cannot see him.
2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;
and by night, but find no rest.
The psalmist felt the absence of God.
In the 22nd Psalm
the writer cried out in desperate prayer,
My God, my God, why have
you forsaken me?
It is this very psalm
that Jesus quoted from the cross as he hung there in pain and agony, close to
death, “My God, why have you forsaken me?”
Every week we stand and
recite the Apostles’ Creed, and in that confession of faith there is this great
line – perhaps the most important line about what we believe about Christ.
“He descended into hell.”
In Ephesians, chapter 4,
the writer talks about how Christ both descended into the lower realms, AND
that he ascended into heaven. We like to remember Christ ascending into
heaven, but we don’t often give much thought to his descent into hell.
If we give any thought at
all to Christ’s descent into hell, we might consider what St. Peter said in his
first New Testament book, chapter 3, in which there is an explanation as to why
Christ went into hell, which was to minister and preach the Gospel to those who
died before his earthly ministry, and therefore had never known about the
salvation offered by Christ.
Now those passages alone
make the doctrine of Christ’s descent into hell important, but what makes this
line so very meaningful in the Apostles’ Creed is to stop and consider what
hell is.
Traditionally, hell is
defined as the absence of God.
Of course, hell is not literally
the absence of God because there is no place that can exist without the
presence of God. But it is the perceived absence of God.
And the Apostles Creed,
when it says that we believe that Jesus descended into hell, it is a reminder
that Christ descended into the place of absolute perceived absence of God.
When he hung on the cross
and cried out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me,” he was in hell at
that moment.
So remember – when you
are in the your pain of cancer treatments,
When you are in your
darkness of grieving over a loved one,
When you are struggling
with divorce,
When walk out of your
work place after being told you have been fired…
When you feel that God is
not present in your life and that he has disappeared from your world, remember,
Christ has been there. He has descended into hell and felt the total
absence of God.
You are not alone,
although you may feel that you are.
And in this text from the
Gospel, these folks are going about their journey. They are grieving and
hurting. Christ died on Friday, and now it is the evening of the third
day, and while they have heard that Christ has risen, they don’t really know
what to make of it.
They feel alone and
isolated from God.
And yet, there is Jesus
Christ, right there in their midst.
They do not feel the
divine presence, but the divine presence is not dependent on what WE feel – it
is dependent on the promise of God.
Now, in this Scripture lesson, they get to
the point at which they become aware of God.
Open eyes!
That is the way the Scripture puts
it. “Their eyes were opened and they recognized him.”
So how did that happen? How did they
have these open eyes so they could see the Lord was with them?
Three things happened.
First, they listen to the Word.
Luke says that as
they walked on the road, Jesus, “beginning with Moses and all the prophets,
interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.”
If you don’t feel
God in your life, start reading the Bible. Listen to God’s Word.
Second, in their
time of despair, they came together. When you feel God is absent, do not
make the mistake of isolating yourself from others. You need others in
your life. You need the company of family and friends and the
church. That is what they did in Luke. They walked together.
They ate together. They stayed together, and that helped them sense the
presence of the Lord.
Third,
worship. In Luke they ate together, but it was more than a simple
meal. Listen to how Luke describes it.
28 As they came near the village to which
they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. 29 But
they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening
and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 When
he was at the table with them,
he took bread,
blessed
and broke it,
and gave it to them. 31 Then
their eyes were opened, and they recognized him.
What does that sound like? He took
bread, blessed and broke it and gave it to them. That’s Communion.
That’s the Lord’s Supper. That’s worship.
So when we feel God has left us, we don’t
leave God. Because God has NOT deserted us. God is still with us,
so whether we feel God’s presence or not, we continue to come to God in worship.
So these three things help us when we feel
the absence of God.
Listening to the Word of God in Scripture.
Keeping fellowship with other Christians.
And continuing to Worship.
In Hebrews 13:5 there is a powerful
promise. “I will never leave you or forsake you.”
The presence of God is
not dependent on whether we feel it or not – it is dependent on the
faithfulness of God.
And now unto
God the Father,
God the Son,
And God the
Holy Spirit be ascribed all might, power, dominion and glory, today and
forever, Amen.
Copyright
2017.
Dr. W.
Maynard Pittendreigh
All
rights reserved
Ministers
may feel free to use some or all of this sermon in their own ministries as long
as they do not publish in print or on the Internet without ascribing credit to
the author.