Sermon Luke 24:13-35 - Opened Their Minds

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Sermon Luke 24:13-35 - Opened Their Minds
Pitts Creek and Beaver Dam Churches
May 8, 2011

Two weeks ago we saw that the primary emotion on the Easter was fear, fear of death and of an empty tomb, fear of the unknown and of all the monsters our imaginations can gather. We saw that God does not want us to be afraid, and so God sends messengers to tell us to fear not because in the resurrection of Jesus Christ death is no longer something to fear.

But as that early first Easter morning gave way to Easter afternoon and evening the fear they had been experiencing gave way to a profound sadness at losing such a great teacher and prophet as Jesus. Today we will drop in on two companions of Jesus returning to Galilee on that Easter afternoon. They are discussing the events of the past week. Let’s listen in to what they are saying:

Luke 24:13-34 13 Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles 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. 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, 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. 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 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 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!"

Cleopas and I were walking back home. We hoped to at least arrive at Emmaus before sunset and stay at the inn. As we slowly walked we talked about and all that had happened in the preceding week and during our time with Jesus.

We first met Jesus in Galilee. Everyone was talking about how Jesus had the power to heal. And how he had commissioned twelve of his disciples to go out and cast out demons. Two of these disciples came to our village and stayed in our house. They told us about Jesus and the next day we watched as they cured a young boy with a demonic spirit. When they left our village Cleopas and I wanted to follow them and meet this Jesus. We followed them and heard that Jesus was in Bethsaida; so went there. A large crowd had assembled and Jesus brought them to a hillside where he began to teach about the kingdom of God. A great many people were healed that day. We began to get hungry and started to worry about dinner; we were so far from home. And the whole crowd seemed to be as hungry as we. We could see that Jesus and his disciples had only about five loves of bread a couple of fish. Jesus blessed the bread and broke it and the disciples distributed it to everyone. Surprisingly there was enough for everyone and each disciple had a whole basket full of bread left over.

So Cleopas and I decided to keep following Jesus. One day we saw him alone and asked if we could be followers. He warned us that there would be hardships doing this, after all he frequently had no place to sleep at night as he traveled. One person in our group wanted to leave to bury his father, but Jesus told him that his work for the kingdom of God was more important.

Shortly after this Cleopas and I were commission in a group of seventy. He and I were to go to towns where Jesus was about to travel to prepare the people for his coming. He didn’t give us any money; rather we were to rely on the generosity of the people we would meet. Whenever a town welcomed us we told them about the kingdom of God. But if any town refused us we simply shook off the dust of our shoes and warned them that the kingdom of God had come near.

A week ago Jesus was preparing to enter Jerusalem for the Passover celebration. As usual Cleopas and I went ahead to make sure everything was ready. Our job was to find a young donkey for Jesus to ride. We found the colt, but its owner thought we were stealing it. But we told him that the Lord needed it and we brought it to Jesus. Some people were lining the road with branches and the cloaks. And I saw Jesus crying when he saw the Jerusalem.

Last Thursday we all had a cedar supper for Passover. Peter and John took care of the arrangements. During supper Jesus told us that this would be his last supper with us until the arrival of the kingdom of heaven. We were wondering what this meant when Jesus took some bread, broke it, and said: Luke 22:19 "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." Later, during the supper he did the same thing with a cup of wine and gave it to us saying: Luke 22:20 "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” Then Jesus surprised all of us by saying that someone was going to betray him to the authorities.

Cleopas and I went with Jesus that evening to the Mount of Olives. Jesus told us to pray and he went off by himself. I tried to pray, but I fell asleep. Jesus woke us up and was very angry when all of sudden a crowd showed up with one of the twelve, Judas. I was with Peter ready to fight when Peter raised his sword and cut off a soldier’s ear. But Jesus told us to stand back, healed the ear, and was led away by the temple police and elders. Cleopas and I ran as fast as we could back into the city and got lost in the crowd.

The next day we saw on old friend, Simon who had just arrived from Cyrene. We told him how Jesus had been arrested the night before and rumors in the city that he would be crucified. Just then we saw a group of soldiers leading prisoners to the city gate. Jesus was carrying a cross beam. Simon ran out and carried it for him. Cleopas and I were scared to death so we hid in the city.

Three days have passed. Today is the first day of the week. Jerusalem is getting back to normal. Visitors are going back home. Farmers are returning to their fields. Merchants are opening their stores. We were walking, just before sun rise, and saw a group of women from Galilee. They told us that they were going to Jesus’ tomb to prepare the body with spices as was their custom. A few moments later we saw them running. They were out of breath, but were trying to tell us something. They said the tomb was empty and that they had seen Jesus.

So Cleopas and I decided that it was time for us to go home our village in Galilee. Jerusalem was no place for foreigners whose leader had been crucified and now his body missing. So we set out on foot and hoped to arrive in Emmaus before sunset. The fear we had felt in Jerusalem had given way to sadness. While we were walking we suddenly noticed a stranger was walking with us. He asked about the things we had been talking about. Cleopas got angry with the stranger for not knowing what had been happening in Jerusalem those last few days. When Cleopas calmed down I told the stranger about Jesus the prophet and miracle worker. We told him how Jesus had been executed by the religious leaders and Roman authorities. We told him how we had hoped the Jesus would redeem us from slavery to Rome. And we told him how three days later some women had found his tomb to be empty and heard a angel say that Jesus was still alive!

That’s when the stranger got angry with us. He told us we were foolish and ignorant of what the prophets of Israel has said. He talked about the Hebrew Scripture and how it predicted that the Messiah would suffer before entering into glory.

Eventually we arrived at the Inn of Emmaus. The stranger wanted to keep going, but Cleopas and I persuaded him to stay with us. We wanted the conversation to continue, and the three of us entered the inn. Then the stranger took the bread blessed and broke it and gave it to us. We then realized that the risen Jesus was there with us, and suddenly Jesus vanished.

Although it was dark out and the road was very dangerous we decided to return to Jerusalem immediately to tell the others we had seen and heard. We arrived very late that night in Jerusalem and found the eleven. We told them about seeing Jesus who opened our minds to the scriptures and revealed himself to us in the bread and wine. After some discussion we all decided to meet every Sunday beginning next week to ask the risen Jesus in prayer to be with us as we remember the stories of Jesus, interpret scripture in the light of the resurrection, and in the breaking of bread. Amen.