The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God, and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
Luke 24:13 And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 And they were conversing with each other about all these things which had taken place. 15 And it came about that while they were conversing and discussing, Jesus Himself approached, and began traveling with them. 16 But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him. 17 And He said to them, “What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?” And they stood still, looking sad. 18 And one of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to Him, “Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days?” 19 And He said to them, “What things?” And they said to Him, “The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, 20 and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him up to the sentence of death, and crucified Him. 21 “But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened. 22 “But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning, 23 and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels, who said that He was alive. 24 “And some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said; but Him they did not see.” 25 And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26 “Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures. 28 And they approached the village where they were going, and He acted as though He would go farther. 29 And they urged Him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is getting toward evening, and the day is now nearly over.” And He went in to stay with them. 30 And it came about that when He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them. 31 And their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight. 32 And they said to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?” 33 And they arose that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found gathered together the eleven and those who were with them, 34 saying, “The Lord has really risen, and has appeared to Simon.” 35 And they began to relate their experiences on the road and how He was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread. (NASB)
Christians are to be a people who live by faith rather than sight. We are to be a people who believe simply because God’s Word declares something to be so. That’s what Jesus meant when He said “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3-4) If God’s Word has declared something to be so, then it is so, even if we it doesn’t comport with our way of thinking or of seeing. That is the nature of Christian faith. Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
As sinners we are often blinded, or at least vision impaired when what God’s Word promises and teaches doesn’t match our expectations or perceptions of reality. This is a common weakness and it was the problem we see in the assigned Gospel lesson this morning.
The events recorded in Luke 24 took place on Easter Day. Here is the chronology of events.
In the dark of the morning a group of women, including Mary Magdalene walked to the tomb to prepare Jesus’s body as custom and the law dictated. Just before they arrived “a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it.” (Matthew 28:2) “his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men.” (Matthew 28:3-4)
The women arrived just shortly after the sun (and the Son) had risen. The tomb was open and empty. Immediately Mary Magdalene ran to tell Peter and John with news of likely grave robbers (John 20:2). Peter and John were not with the other disciples. They were staying someplace else.
The other women stay behind. They encounter an angel at the tomb who asks them, “Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee and that they should tell this to the brethren/” (Lk 24:4, Mk 16:5; Matt 28:5)
The women hurry back and tell the disciples what has happened. (Lk 24:9; Matt 28:8) The disciples dismiss the women’s report as hysteria and not credible.
But after hearing Mary’s report, Peter and John run to the tomb and find it empty. John believed, but did not understand. Peter doesn’t seem to have come to a conclusion about what had happened yet. But they tell the other disciples what they have found, an empty tomb.
Mary having arrived back at the tomb on the heals of Peter and John Mary stayed behind and wept. She still thinks someone has taken the body. Mary looks into the tomb and she sees two angels who wonder why she weeps. Just then Jesus approached her from behind. Her first reaction is to think that the man behind her is the gardener. “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” (John 20:15) Jesus calls her by name and when He does Mary recognizes Him. Jesus sends Mary back to the disciples and she tells them she has actually seen, touched, and talked to Jesus.
After giving the initial report to the disciples and after being dismissed and insulted by them as not credible, the women leave and head someplace. We don’t know where they were going for sure, but it seems likely they were headed back to the tomb. Jesus comes to them and sends them back to the disciples again and with the news that He had risen from the dead and He would see them soon. That is the same message He had given Mary to tell the disciples.
The guards to the chief priests and report what has happened. The chief priests hatches a plot to keep the resurrection secret.
Now I offer this review of the events of Easter morning so that you have an understanding and an appreciation of just how busy the morning was for the disciples and the women who followed Jesus. There were multiple reports of the resurrection and the circumstances were clear and well attested to.
So on Easter morning the resurrection of Jesus was not at the level of a vague rumor, or a passing statement of hope, or given by just a couple of grief ridden women. It certainly was not a case of grave robbing. Multiple sightings of angels. Two conversations with angels. Multiple visits to the tomb by multiple people. Multiple conversations with Jesus Himself.
And all of this took place during the morning hours of Easter. At this point in the day, Jesus had not yet appeared to the disciples in mass. He did that Easter night. After giving the women instructions to tell the disciples of His resurrection and He would see them soon, Jesus ascended to His Heavenly Father. Yet, Easter day was not yet over.
Later in the day, two disciples on their way to Emmaus. One of them was named, Cleopas. As the two made their way to Emmaus they were talking about Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter morning. 15 “And it came about that while they were conversing and discussing, Jesus Himself approached, and began traveling with them. 16 But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him.”
It is interesting how St. Luke wrote verse 16. He didn’t say that God prevented them from recognizing Him. We have that kind of thing in different places in the Bible, where God hides Himself or blinds someone from seeing the truth. For example, God hardened Pharaoh’s heart.
As St. Luke reports the events, their own eyes prevent them from recognizing the resurrected and glorified Jesus. They were so stuck in their own way of thinking and seeing, they could not see the Stranger for Who He was because Jesus was dead as far as they could see.
The way Jesus starts the conversation also tells us something about Jesus’s disposition toward their conversation. A more literal way of translating Jesus’s question in verse 17 goes like this. “What are these words you two are casting at one another?” The implication is that the two men are rambling on about what had happened (Good Friday) and what had been reported to have happened (Easter morning). There is no real substance or understanding of what had taken place.
They were talking about Jesus the Nazarene as a vanquished and dead Jesus, Whose body had gone missing. Listen to how they talk about what had happened. “The chief priests and our rulers delivered Him up to the sentence of death, and crucified Him. . . . besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened. But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning, 23 and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision or angels [notice the women “didn’t see angels, they saw “visions” of angels], who said that He was alive. 24 And some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said; but Him they did not see.”
They take Jesus’s crucifixion as a fact, even though they weren’t there, but talk about His resurrection as just a report of women that could not be verified by the men. Even today, very few deny Jesus’s crucifixion as a historic fact. But the resurrection . . . ?
Jesus rebuked the two disciples. “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?”
See where Jesus takes them? He takes to the preaching and teaching of the Old Testament prophets. He takes them to His Word as the basis for believing the resurrection. These men knew the Scriptures. They knew Jesus. They had heard Him teach. But they saw both the Old Testament Scripture and Jesus through eyes that were looking for a different kind of Messiah.
The two disciples told the Stranger that they had hoped that Jesus would be the one “to redeem Israel,” but instead He was crucified. They didn’t understand that the crucifixion was the redeeming act and a necessary part of redeeming all things.
The Stranger takes them back to the beginning. 27 “And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.”
I want you to notice something about these two disciples. They don’t ever tell Jesus to get lost or to be quiet, even after He rebukes them and calls them foolish. Jesus spends a few miles telling them that they are wrong and what is their response to being told they were wrong and schooled in Old Testament theology 101? When they arrive in Emmanus, they invite Him to stay with them. “Stay with us, for it is getting toward evening, and the day is now nearly over.”
These two disciples, as blind as they were as to the identity of the “Stranger” who was correcting them, listen to what the Stranger had to say and teach. They not only listen, they wanted to hear more.
Today if you tell people that they are wrong about religious and moral things, it is likely to get uncomfortable in a hurry. It has gotten so bad that some people are rioting in the streets because they don’t think people with different opinions and judgments ought to have the right to speak.
Church members are just as guilty. They take offense at the Law. They take offense when a pastor shows up and tells them what the Word teaches, what God says, rather than affirming the erring member’s feelings.
Some laity and sometimes entire congregations don’t like being told that what they had been doing is not in conformity with the Scripture and Confessions. Pastors of my ilk are often accused of driving away church members because we sought to correct a member who was in error.
All the disciples should have known what was going to happen on the third day. They didn’t. But they also should have been able to connect all the dots as Easter unfolded. The Old Testament teachings concerning the Christ, plus three years of Jesus teaching, plus the raising from the dead of three children and one adult during Jesus’s earthly ministry, plus the events of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, plus the reports of the women, plus an empty tomb, plus angels, plus missing guards, plus appearance and conversations with Jesus, equals Easter. Yet, they all, with the exception of St. John remain confused and in disbelief regarding the resurrection of Jesus.
“And it came about that when He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them. 31 And their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight.”
These two disciples spent a good part of Easter afternoon with Jesus, but didn’t recognizing Him because He was suppose to be dead and MIA. The disciples’ eyes finally opened as to the identity of the Stranger when He took the bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to them. At that Jesus vanishes.
A more literal translation reads, “He became hidden from them.” He couldn’t be seen anymore. That does not mean He was no longer with them or us. The text actually says Jesus became unseen. He became hidden. He hid Himself after He taking the bread, gaving thanks, breaking it, and giving it to them. Here Jesus teaches that He is found in His Word and sacraments. What did He say to Thomas later that evening? “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”
That brings us back to where we started. We believe something to be the case because God’s Word declares to be the case even though we cannot see it.
He is here. He abides with us, just as He has promised us He would be. “Lo I am with you always even to the end of the age.” He is, in His Word and Sacrament Ministry.
In the Epistle lesson Peter wrote of Jesus, His death, and His resurrection and finished that little section by reminding us that the things we see wither and fall away. 24 For, “All flesh is like grass, And all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, And the flower falls off, 25 But the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word which was preached to you.”
AMEN
May the Peace that surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.