So, this morning we turn in the Bible to Luke 24, Luke 24, and we are going to look at the well-known account of the men on the road to Emmaus. Luke 24, verses 13 through 31, 13 through 31 is what we'll consider together this morning. This is the word of the Lord, beginning of verse 13 of Luke 24. That very day, two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. And they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. and he said to them what is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk and they stood still looking sad then one of them and cleopas answered are you the only visitor in jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days 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 and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death and crucified him but we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel yes and besides all this it is now the third day since these things happened moreover some women of our company amazed us they were at the tomb early in the morning and when they did not find his body they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said but him they did not see and he said to them oh foolish ones and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken was it not necessary that the christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory and beginning with moses and all the prophets he interpreted to them in all the scriptures of things concerning himself so they drew near to the village to which they were going he acted as if he were going further but they urged him strongly saying stay with us for it toward evening the day is now far spent so he went in to stay with them when he was at the table with them he took bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them and their eyes were opened and they recognized him and he vanished from their sight may the lord bless the hearing of his word I was preaching two days ago Good Friday or a few days ago Good Friday and on the death of Christ and I don't know how you felt but as I walked away from the sermon I really felt the offense of it. I really felt the offense of it. This is the third day, by the way. Did you feel that as you listened? I'm telling a story on Good Friday of God commanding Abraham to take wood and to take fire and sacrifice his son to God. Telling that story. And we all know that God did not require that of us because no one could pay for his sin. But the message was that God did do that to His only begotten Son. He took Him. He took wood. It was laid upon His Son's back. He took the fire of His wrath and He split open His Son. The one we say, the Son of God, fully God, fully man. and there jesus suffered the extreme suffering and death of the cross i was thinking to myself after that sermon i don't know how you maybe we're so used to the message now that we don't really think about it in terms of if an unbeliever we're sitting and listening to that message but did you ever think about the perception of an unbeliever hearing that kind of message i would have asked who believes that stuff it's madness i mean this is a this is a great offense think about it you know christians run around proclaiming human sacrifice it's barbaric thinking as an unbeliever these christians are running around telling their their children about a gruesome death of a man on the cross. And they're telling everyone that this happened before the judgment seat, and that's not just what they're claiming. What they're claiming is, is that this Jesus is the Son of God. Anyone really believe that? You know, you look around, people believe that? I suppose that's exactly why the apostle would characterize the message as foolishness to the world. And not just foolishness, but he was saying over and over that this message of the cross was an absolute offense. And a total offense. And imagine the message Christians were called to preach in a Roman environment when they made their rulers God and they built big marble statues of them and put them out so that everyone could bow down to them. You're telling us to believe that the Son of God was crucified? That is a problem for Christianity. And it was a problem for Christianity. That message to the world was madness. And so, lo and behold, the early Christians were accused in their love feast, which was the supper of being cannibals. To some degree, this is the problem in the text this morning with the disciples. The disciples in front of us here, these two were not in the immediate 12, but general disciples of the Lord, they didn't understand or comprehend why Jesus had to die. And what an important message today, if somebody has walked in here and they really don't believe and they're wondering why these Christians do this, what an important message. Why did Jesus have to die? And we take that a step further, that even these followers of our Lord, who had been with him throughout the course of his earthly ministry, they didn't understand why he had to die. And because of that, lo and behold, they didn't understand what the resurrection meant. You can't understand the resurrection apart from understanding what the death of Christ meant. And so these things go hand in hand. And so this is the great concern today. How do you communicate this truth when at its root it is absolutely offensive to people think of the message you can't dress it up i wish i could make it nice but we just commemorated and gathered around the table to think about the bloody gruesome death of god's son and we have to think about splinters and all don't we the problem is we want this to be inspiring and we want this to be welcoming you know that's what we want but the message we believe is unthinkable to the world and that's why paul had to chide the corinthian church you can't dress it up it is what it is let the spirit change hearts just give the message and today we're saying that this message is a matter of life and death we're saying that this message we want you to understand because if you don't believe this the consequences are eternal and we don't hear that message much anymore today it's not just the unbeliever i'm concerned about i'm i'm also concerned about the followers of the lord who stumbled themselves over the message of the cross and all they would accept was a message of glory i mean that's that's what essentially we have before us this morning these disciples they didn't grasp the cross and now lo and behold because they didn't understand its meaning they've come to a crisis in their lives that has totally thrown them off because what they believed about jesus didn't correspond to the truth as it was in jesus in other words they had entirely different plan for the life of jesus than what it really was so the question this morning is as we consider this um is how does the knowledge of the life and the death and the resurrection of jesus become understanding and that's crucial having the knowledge of it doesn't mean that it's understood and i want you to notice that's the major focus of this text this morning how the knowledge of it becomes proper understanding and that's what jesus is teaching us in luke 24 why was his death necessary and what then does the resurrection declare to us about that death let's look at this this morning with these things in mind the scene before you is is really one of the most dramatic i think in the bible it's the kind of scene we love to study and you know it's full of suspense It's everything contrary to what we would think would happen. This is an amazing account after the resurrection. Look at verse 13. That very day, two of them were going to the village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. Now that may not strike you as odd, but it's telling us something important. These two men on the road to Emmaus were deeply troubled about something. They were overwhelmed with grief. They were overwhelmed with sorrow. And you'll notice it's over the issue that their Messiah has died. And the issue that Jesus is going to raise is that they are slow to believe. Slow to believe what? They're struggling. They're struggling with what faith in the Lord is and their fears. Because the reality in front of them seems that everything having to do with Jesus of Nazareth, think about from their perspective this morning, because the cross was a stumbling block, the reality about Jesus of Nazareth has turned into the worst possible outcome. They're leaving in sorrow. Should they be going to a mass? No. The imagery you have is they're walking away brokenhearted. the death of Christ, a complete stumbling block. And so as they're talking, they're confused. I think the conversation must have gone a lot like this. How did all of these powerful things that he did, he raised someone from the dead. We saw him raise Lazarus from the dead. We saw him do all of these miracles. He healed the sick. He raised people up. He did things we've never seen before. This was a prophet, mighty in word and in deed. But he got killed. You see, that bloody crucifixion that he had to endure, it makes no sense to us. He only helped people. He was full of peace. He promoted peace. He forgave. and here's the end of it. He's no more. It's gone. Feel the struggle? As they're having this discussion, remember, it's a misunderstanding of Jesus. We read in verse 14 that Jesus himself, the resurrected Lord, drew near and he walked with them. Can you imagine that? And the really important interjection of the Holy Spirit comes here in verse 16. crucial to understand the text this morning, when it says something that is completely surprising. Notice what the Lord did to these men. It says, but their eyes were restrained from recognizing him. God blinded them to see the sun. And you stand back and you say, well, why? Think of the drama here. He walks up to them. What is this conversation that you two are having on the road as you walk in our trouble, looking sad? Cleopas answers in shock. Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem? Are you the only guy that has no idea what has happened here in these days, the things that have happened? I love Jesus' question. What thing? There's a teacher, isn't he? He wants them to work it out. It's a wonderful, as a side note, principle of teaching. Jesus was questioning. Instead of immediately going after and correcting all the error, he wanted them to speak and to work it out. Work it out. What things? You tell me. What things happened in Jerusalem these days? I want to know. And so they do. What's their problem? They launch into it and it's full of words. It's full of concern. The things of Jesus of Nazareth. He was this mighty prophet in deed and word before God and all the people and our chief priests and our rulers. You know what they did to him? They delivered him up to death and they crucified him. They're in pain. They had invested their hope in this Jesus. And he was treated as a common criminal. The one doing all these mighty powers and signs was hung up on a cross next to thugs. And our leaders did this. And here comes the issue. Here's the big issue this morning. But we were hoping that He was going to redeem Israel. Now I want everyone to look up at verse 10 this morning in Luke 24. Mary has been to the tomb and she has seen the angels and so she runs back to the disciples and there's a lot of exchange going on here, but you read something shocking in verse 11 of Luke chapter 24, when they told Peter, when they told the disciples, you have a very interesting statement that it seemed to them to be an idle tale. This is nonsense. And then you read the little statement, and they did not believe. what a problem the disciples themselves didn't believe and that under that unbelief was a result that they didn't understand just like these two why jesus had to do this now this is a really crucial moment after uh the resurrection isn't it i mean we've seen this throughout the scriptures what what happens when faith doesn't correspond to reality what happens when the message doesn't seem to correspond to reality we see this all over the place and you'll notice the text raises that it's the third day he's not here listen to what they're telling jesus our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death they crucified him what what are you getting from that we know what you're getting from that is this whole thing what happened was the greatest tragedy ever and not a tragedy in the sense that sinners put to death just the the god's beloved son but a tragedy in the sense that this thing was a mistake it was completely out of the control of god and the whole thing got away from them and this is the easter tragedy that the disciples are wrestling through look what happened and you stand back from this you know reading in 2013 you say wait wait a minute didn't they understand this didn't they um didn't they get this the problem compounds when uh you go back and you look in the scriptures that jesus was constantly saying to them listen the son of man guess what's going to happen to him they will scorch him and they will kill him and then lo and behold on the third day he'll rise again over and over and over jesus said this you think what did they believe what didn't they listen to that what didn't they know the old testament you know what luke records right after jesus made that statement in luke uh 18 that they would scorch him they would kill him and then he would rise you know what it says right after that a very interesting inclusion that helps us this morning it says but they understood none of these things this saying was hidden from them and they did not know the things which were spoken what you have in front of you this morning are these disciples without understanding looking at the resurrection looking at the death and what problems this creates when there's no true understanding of it and the lord has come along and purposely blinded their understandings blinded their eyes to show us the great problem we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem israel we had some glimmer of hope that you know it's the third day he said he was going to rise but he's not here israel's not redeemed redeem israel in what way if they didn't understand why jesus had to die and rise again what were their expectations for jesus well you remember in zachariah's song at the beginning when he was born one of the things that zachariah's song said is that he would deliver them from all oppression to think that they should be under these romans this was the one whom god had sent to finally break the oppression this was him see the problem our leaders took god's messiah who would free us from oppression and they murdered him jesus was dealing with this ignorance all over the scriptures all over the place hey you are a wonderful sign worker listen moses gave us manna in the wilderness what are you going to give us? In fact, in John 6, they wanted to make him king because he did all of these wonderful signs. He was so powerful. They wanted national prosperity again. We're a lot like the Jews in the U.S., aren't we? We're a lot like them today. You know, we want the same thing from god freedom from oppression freedom from this and freedom from that i wonder today do we celebrate the resurrection of christ with no understanding does this go on and what does it look like when there's no understanding listen they believed in some sense that jesus would appear on the third day but with what kind of expectation an earthly answer to the problem that there is no peace the pope gave his easter address this morning didn't he always love to listen to the pope's easter address on every easter it's always the same let me sum it up what the pope's easter address was this morning his first easter address and this is how all the news articles summed it up Called for world peace, respect for the environment, and a diplomatic solution to the crisis on the Korean peninsula. That's what everyone gathered to hear the resurrection is about today. See a problem? Last year's Pope said, in heaven, all is peace and gladness, alas, it's not so on the earth. And he lamented hunger, disease, war, and violence. and he prayed that the light of peace and human dignity may overcome the darkness of division, hate, and violence. So now our message is that human dignity overcomes these things? It's the same misunderstanding. I wonder today how Jesus is being presented. Is the resurrection the ticket back to the good life? Is it? One of our political leaders said, It's about coming together to solve, listen, long-standing problems to ensure that our children will have the same chances, the same hope, and the freedoms that we've had. He said, these are the blessings we celebrate during the rites of Easter and the Passover. Unbelievable. It's time to unite in prayer and celebration, to renew traditions, to lift up our spirits, to tell old stories that remind us how trials and sufferings can be overcome with courage and resolve. You see, we were hoping that it was this Jesus who would restore the kingdom to Israel. So the disciples continue to struggle with this. And this is really important this morning because they've missed the purpose. They've missed the purpose all of these years of why Jesus had to come. What is Jesus dealing with? What good is it to go around showing himself the resurrected Lord in his glory? What good is it to run around to do this? Notice he wasn't out in the Roman Praetorium. He wasn't out where he was crucified. In other words, he wasn't before Caesar saying, ah, look, none of that. He comes to these two struggling little disciples who are confused. And what does he do? He blinds them. This is so important. You should be asking, well, why didn't he just show himself to them? I mean, just show yourself, Jesus. What's it going to take for them to see? And that's the question of the text. See what? What it all meant. And this is really important because when you miss the purpose of Jesus, there's going to be mass disillusionment because this world's not getting better. We're not seeing peace, are we? And because they didn't understand this, discouragement, fear, sadness, and this is so true that we often struggle with this life because our expectations of what Jesus should do for us are not the design of His gospel. And do we understand this morning what really we're blessed with? And this is just glorious and encouraging. He wants you to know what you're really blessed with. We struggle because we're slow to believe. And if that's the problem, you should ask, well, how are eyes opened? I mean, if you're an unbeliever coming in here today, how are your eyes going to be opened? That's where this goes. And that's why I love this text. I want everyone to look at verse 25. And he said to them, O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. This radical message, right, that we struggle with. He says in verse 26, was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them, he expounded to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. Did you see what Jesus just did? He didn't show them himself physically, did he? instead how did he open their eyes do you understand that this had to happen says jesus that christ did it was necessary for him to suffer and then enter into his glory do you understand that now remember they don't know him at this point they're blinded they don't know this is jesus and of all the things that jesus could have done to help them understand this and make it really clear what does he do he does something that is completely unexpected he does something that we today would never choose and what does he do to open their eyes he goes to the old testament and he begins to expound the scriptures he starts preaching it's his first sermon after the resurrection and he interprets for them he makes plain for them what moses and the prophets we're all about him now this is one of the most important passages to teach us this morning how the lord makes clear the mess and how the lord opens hearts isn't it something that the first thing he does after the resurrection is preach the gospel of his person and work from the old testament when you have under no understanding how do you look at the bible i'll tell you an unbeliever walks in today and he says these christians uh it's all christianity is all about being a good moral person you got to be good to be in christianity you got to be holy to be in christianity you got to got to be sinless to enter christianity that's the perception and you see when you have no understanding about this how do you view the bible you view the bible is just a bunch of nice stories that tell us how to become good moral people. To better ourselves. You know, Paul would later say about the Jews that he took a giant, there's a veil that lies over their hearts when the Old Testament's read. In other words, they're your best moral teachers out there, but they don't get it. And then he said, in jesus that veil comes down and now you see can you imagine standing there listening to the first resurrection sermon they don't even know it's him and all of a sudden he starts expounding the old testament and all of a sudden they think about genesis 3 and they think about the covering of adam not with his own fig leaves but the covering god gave him and then they start thinking about the promise and he goes through and he looks at joseph differently a man of a brother's who wore a robe who was stripped down of his clothing thrown in a pit raised up on high to the right hand of pharaoh that's the whole story of christ and then you're looking at genesis 22 and you're seeing that isaac is a type all of these stories that we knew are all telling us about him the sacrificial system the temple the whole testament was about him and he's expounding it the perfect passover lamb and after pentecost this emmaus event was so important to the disciples you know the first sermon in acts and maybe we need to listen to this today the first sermon in acts was not what they are today it's not a pastor getting up telling his nice stories from his own personal experience it was them stringing together old testament texts to do one thing to show that jesus is the savior totally unorthodox according to our preaching today and guess how many souls were brought in that day three thousand a mega church happened right there it was stringing together the gospel and showing how jesus is the fulfillment of history and here we're being shown that then they drew near to the village notice what happens and how this all becomes solidified and we'll close with this verse 28 then they drew near to the village where they were going and he indicated that he would have gone farther that's strange the word gives a sense that he acted like he was going to leave and they beg him don't leave us abide with us the day is far spent jesus tests them what did the preaching really do to them what did the gospel preach really do to them and here's where we see how the powerful resurrected lord breaks through blindness verse 29 says but they constrained him abide with us for it's toward evening the day is far spent they employed him by force stay here and then you read why did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road while he opened the scriptures? I absolutely love that. It's an interesting choice of words. Our hearts were set on fire by the preaching. Our hearts were set on fire by the gospel. Finally seeing what this is all about. You ever seen that happen in people? Oh, they want to be in church and hear the gospel. That's when you know something's happening to you. Your heart's set ablaze like Jeremiah when he says, that word was shut up in my bones like a burning fire. I had to get it out. So how does he translate burning hearts? How does he translate the preaching and the knowledge they receive into understanding? This is how he's doing it. And then he closes this way. Notice what happens. When he was at the table with them in verse 30, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And the eyes, and their eyes were opened and they recognized him and boom, he vanishes. Now that's a remarkable moment. Eyes were shut. He preaches the gospel in the Old Testament. And then he comes and he, what does he do? He takes bread, he blesses it and breaks it and gives it to them. Do you know what that formula is? It's the very same formula of the Lord's Supper. And that's really important because I believe right then and there they grasped what they proclaimed when they partook. They proclaimed his death. This is what it was all about. And now they're understanding why it had to be so. The risen Christ is recalling to their minds what they proclaimed when he instituted the supper. And I think that was the grand moment, the capstone of it all. He had taught them, he had fed them with his word, and then he opened their eyes after he had given them the bread. And you see, that's why the Christian church today is all about a word and sacrament ministry. Finally, they saw Jesus was the promised one. And why did he come? He came to die. Because our sins had so rendered us helpless before God. If he hadn't done it, you would all be headed right for the fires of hell. And the Lord wanted you to know from the beginning, and that's what makes the gospel so amazing, from the beginning, it was his purpose plan to send his son And the resurrection today is the guarantee that it was completed. That he overcame death. That God's wrath was satisfied and you get to share in that victory. That's the victory. When that message dominates your understanding, everything changes. I promise. Verse 46 tells us, Then he said to them, Notice that message is so contrary to the Pope's message today, by the way. You're going to take that message to the ends of the earth. you're going to take my death, you're going to proclaim it, and you're going to announce that all who believe, who repent and turn from themselves and believe in Jesus, believe in me, they are going to be forgiven and they're going to go to glory. It had to happen. For that's the purpose. That's the reason the Lord came. And as that is preached, the Lord told us today, that's how I'm going to open eyes. That's how I'm going to open eyes. And that's why you want to say to people, You say, well, I'm just going to come on Easter or I'm just going to come on Christmas. You're hurting yourself. I'm glad you're here today. But you're not pleasing the Lord. Be here to hear. This is the way he opens your eyes out of your darkness. Notice the joy that they end with here. Their sorrow was turned to joy. And as they waited in Jerusalem for the promise of the Holy Spirit to come, they would take that message of peace, the gospel message of peace, to the ends of the earth. And so I ask today, are there any who have not believed? Come. Why stay away? The Lord said, come. Receive this wonderful news and gospel of forgiveness. As Jesus said, peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Jesus Christ is risen indeed, and he has promised to you today, what a day to rejoice, that all who believe in him are forgiven, and you will enter into glory amen oh lord our god we are grateful and thankful that you opened our eyes today to see clearly what this is all about that you fulfilled all righteousness that our lord endured the cross and that this was the grand design of history this was the story of redemption all over the Bible and that you are freely announcing today that all who hear this message and believe as it is turned into understanding and they embrace the Savior trusting him and not themselves they will be saved from the wrath to come thank you that the resurrection declares to us today that our Lord Jesus has won the victory in Jesus name we pray all of these names. Amen.