4/3/16-Luke 24:13-35-God’s Viewpoint
So last Sunday was Easter, Now we sit here one week later but when we look at what we celebrated last week, we are left with a question.
…Is Easter just going to be a holiday or is there something more to it? Is the Resurrection of Jesus only going to be one-time event to celebrate. OR will it shape us and mold us as a church?
The Resurrection of Jesus is not only a fact, but a way of doing life for us as Christians.
It is through having a relationship with God that we have those “big questions” answered (“why am I here?” “Do I have a purpose?”). To answer those questions, we have to see the world the way God sees it.
When we spend time with God, in church, reading His Word, in prayer, in service to others, even in our work, schools, and homes, God is constantly shaping us and molding us to help us see as He sees. God shows us how life is meant to be, and through our lives, we show the world there is another way to live, the way of Jesus.
So with that said, let us look at our story. These two disciples of Jesus (not any of the Twelve) are walking to a village called Emmaus. They were probably going back and forth between each other, wondering if Jesus was who He claimed to be. (Remember, they did not know Jesus was raised from the dead yet).
If they were going on the road to Emmaus, they were probably going home, but Jesus has more in store for them then just returning to their old lives.
As they are walking along, this stranger comes along whom they do not recognize. Why don’t they know it is Jesus? Scripture does not really give an answer, but this stranger asks them, “So, what are you guys talking about?” and Jesus could see they were in deep thought and they were both sad and confused.
Like we sometimes are when we lose someone we love and cannot understand why. Well, after they had finished telling Jesus, I am sure they were still sad, and Jesus, wanting to reassure them that their faith wasn’t in vain, showed them the truth about who He was.
I love this because Jesus is having his own personal Bible study with them! He opens the true meaning of the Bible, and they start to understand. As they reach the village, they still don’t know it is Jesus, but they invite this wonderful stranger to stay with them. So then they sit to eat, and this stranger takes the bread, gives thanks, breaks it, and suddenly they recognize Him: IT’S JESUS!!
It is as if, by teaching them the Bible (the Word), and sharing the bread (communion), Jesus is saying “When you see me, you see truth, you see reality, you see that I am more real than anything else”
When we study God’s Word, we too have the Holy Spirit to help us understand, and we we come together during Lovefeast, we too are in the presence of Jesus when we eat.
After Jesus breaks the bread, He disappears. And the two start to say, “didn’t our hearts feel strangely warmed when He spoke to us?”
Then, they went straight back to Jerusalem where they came from, for they knew they could not return to their old life, and now they they knew Jesus was alive they didn’t want to return anyway!
They were no longer content to think this is the real world and that is all there is. Instead they had seen the One who is creating all things new, who is using His kingdom (you and me) to redeem the world!
In Jesus, we lack nothing, and we have everything.
These two were changed because their eyes were opened to see things as God sees them. And Jesus showed them as He does us, “don’t look at this situation as hopeless. Instead, look at this the way God looks at this, and when you do, you will see what I am talking about.”
Look at the world, look at your neighbor, look at reality the way God does. If God created all things, what is more real? The creation or the Creator? It is the Creator!
Our answer to those big questions comes from having a relationship with Him. When we spend time with God, He tells us how we got here and where we come from. When we read His Word, He shows us truth, how to live, and our eternal destiny.
Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Him. This is not complicated to understand. Think about the needs we have, and what we have to meet the needs. For we would not have hunger if God had not created food. So when we look around the world and the hurt and the pain and sadness, and say “Lord there must be something better than this” Guess what, there is!
Kings and Kingdoms may all pass away, but there is just something about that Name.
These disciples here were shown that there is something beyond all this, and they were to live that way everywhere they went, to be ambassadors of God’s kingdom.
When we spend time with God, reading His word, praying, gathering here for worship, serving, doing all we can in His name, when we do that, we get reminded that He is more real than anything else.
So the next time you feel hopeless, down, troubled, look at your situation through God’s eyes. And you will see there is nothing our Lord cannot handle. We don’t come to church to escape “the real world”. Instead we come to worship the One who is real, and then go and show the world He is real.