Dead-End Road Trip
Luke 24:13 – 35
Have you ever heard a preacher proclaim that we’re celebrating just
like the disciples must have done on the very first Easter morning
-oh, really? we are?
--gee, pastor, what Bible are you reading?
-sure, we can and should sing happy, up-tempo songs this
morning, nearly 2000 years after the fact, but let’s not fool
ourselves into thinking that’s what happened that first
Resurrection Sunday
You see, when I read the four Gospel accounts of that first Easter
morning, celebration is not the word that comes to mind—ever
-remember, the only reason the women went to the tomb on
Sunday was to anoint Jesus’ very dead body with spices because
Jews didn’t embalm corpses...while an act of devotion...don’t for
one moment believe they were expecting a miracle of any kind
--Mark’s account of that morning tells us they were wondering
out loud, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of
the tomb?”...not exactly the words of Resurrection faith
--Luke’s Gospel reveals just how far the Resurrection was from
the realm of possibility in their minds...listen to Luke 24:2-4a
à They
found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but
when they entered, they did not
find the body of the Lord
Jesus. While they were wondering
about this...
---while they were wondering about this?!!
----are you kidding me? the huge rock, the empty grave
...that’s not enough to make it click? [evidently not!]
--John’s report is even more embarrassing...Mary Magdalene
sees the disturbance at the cemetery and tells two disciples,
“They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t
know where they have put Him!”
-their emotions that morning were right in line with their confusion
--listen to some of the descriptions
---Mary Magdalene stood at the tomb and wept
---several times we’re told the women were frightened/alarmed
---Mark 16:8
à Trembling
and bewildered, the women went
out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone,
because they
were afraid.
-most telling is how the 11 disciples reacted to these first reports
--Luke 24:9, 11 – 12 à When
they came back from the tomb,
they told all these things to the
Eleven and to all the others.
...But they did not believe the women,
because their words
seemed to them like nonsense. Peter, however, got up and
ran to the
tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of
linen lying
by themselves, and he went away,
wondering to himself what
had happened.
--John’s Gospel tells us that after he and Simon Peter saw the
empty tomb, they just went back to their homes
--later on in John, even after a report of someone seeing and
speaking with Jesus, we learn in John 20:19 à On the
evening of that first day of the
week...the disciples were
together, with the door locked
[because of] fear...
So the next time someone suggests having Easter just like they did
that first Resurrection Sunday...
-first, lock the doors...all of them
-secondly, everyone be afraid...be very afraid
-next, some of you need to be weeping...others trembling and
bewildered...a few running around the room telling everyone
what you’ve seen, but admitting you have no clue what it means
-and no one...no one should be able to explain what in the world
has happened, much less what’s going to happen as a result of
all these horrible, terrible, very bad last three days
If the inner circle of Christ’s disciples were this devastated, we can
only imagine the disappointment of those just a little further removed
from the action
-the middle of the 24th chapter of Luke’s Gospel sheds
considerable light on that subject...and it’s here that many of us
find ourselves in the story of Jesus
--I don’t know about you, but I don’t see myself as a John,
Andrew, or Simon Peter...I’m not rushing to the tomb to have
a ‘look-see’ for myself
---I’m a listener, a follower, a believer, but not one of the
main leaders...I’m probably more of a fringe kinda’ guy...
probably just like one of the guys making his way home
to Emmaus that Easter afternoon
Read Luke 24:13 – 24
Cleopas...hmm...’ever heard of him before?
-nope? just like his
mentioned before in Scripture, and if you keep reading to the end
of Revelation you’ll never run across the name again
-Cleopas isn’t in the big leagues when it comes to disciples
--he’s a minor-leaguer, a B-teamer, a bench-warmer
--he’s not a star...he’s just an ordinary man who had had, at
least, some faith in an extraordinary man named Jesus
-and he’s walking alongside another, unnamed Jesus follower...
perhaps his wife, a friend, or simply someone else from Emmaus
--I’m struck by these two...by how profoundly ordinary they are
---the one thing they have in common with the superstar
disciples is that they, too, are clueless about what’s just
happened...the week had begun with such promise but
somehow, very quickly, went horribly, terribly wrong
----and now it’s over...and despite some disturbing
rumors circulating about an empty tomb and some
angels...well, we gotta’ face the facts that Jesus of
get on with what’s left of our lives
And while they are kicking up dust on the dead-end road to Emmaus,
shuffling their feet as they go, dreading the litany of questions that
are sure to be waiting for them when they arrive...like
-“Hey, Cleopas, what happened to your Messiah?”
-“Hey, unnamed companion of Cleopas, when’s the revolution
against
-“Don’t you two realize how many would-be Messiahs have come
and gone like a comet in the winter’s sky? Sure, they make a
big splash, but then they’re gone, never to be heard from again.
Your Jesus is just another dead guy on a long list of Savior
wanna-be’s. Sorry, dudes, facts is facts. It is what it is...or
should I say, ‘It was what it was.’”
But then their little conversation is interrupted by a stranger who is
even more clueless than they are!
-not only can this guy not figure out what they’d be talking about,
he seems completely ignorant about Jesus!
--gee whiz, what planet did this guy come from?
-so they give this stranger a tidy little summary of Jesus’ life and
death...and they make it clear why they appear to be so lost
--Luke 24:21a à but we
had hoped that he was the one who
was going to redeem
But we had hoped...but we had hoped
-the words of someone who has been buried under the rubble of
despair...we had hoped, but we don’t, we can’t hope any longer
--there’s no consolation for someone like that...when your hope
is gone, you have nothing you can hold onto...nothing that will
hold onto you
This morning you may feel like the unnamed companion of Cleopas
-just another person who had hope, maybe...once
--you had hope your parents would work things out
--you had hope that you’d be able to get a fresh start
--you had hope that this new job, this marriage, this new house
would be the beginning of something good
--you had hope that the disease wouldn’t win
-but now you have simply gotten used to disappointment
--and now you are going home...home to Emmaus...there’s no
reason for
you to remain in
Jesus has been dead now for three days...you gave it a good
run, it was fun while it lasted...but even the best shows on
Broadway eventually close...maybe that’s all this was—a show
And as you and your road trip buddy turn around to continue toward
home, this stranger launches into a no-nonsense sermon that you’re
not exactly in the mood for
-Read Luke 24:25 – 27
I would imagine at first the stranger’s words are not really appreciated
-I mean, who likes being called “foolish” and “slow of heart”?
--but this man teaches with such authority and conviction...you’ve
never heard anyone by Jesus Himself have such a mastery of
the Scriptures
Suddenly, you find yourself home...and as evening overshadows the
day, you realize this stranger intends to keep traveling...but
something deep inside you knows you must convince him to stay
-Read Luke 24:28 – 29
Exhausted from the journey, hungry, and eager to hear more from
this mysterious stranger, you gather at the table
-Read
Luke 24:30 – 32
Luke relates this chapter in the story with the same words he used to
describe what had happened on
the previous Thursday evening...
and the same words believers
have used for two millennia since à
He took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and began to give it to them...
Then their eyes are opened so they can recognize this stranger is no
stranger, but is the Risen
Lord...and as soon as they do, *poof!*, He
is gone
-to us, 2000 years removed
from that first Easter, that whole “now
you see Him, now you don’t”
seems like little more than a
somewhat cruel magic trick
--but Jesus has been
doing something important
---to get them out
of their despondency, Jesus carefully
draws them
back to the Word...He invites them to
consider the
truth that has been proclaimed since the
time of Moses
----when
Jesus is physically gone, they will still have the
Scriptures to turn to
---to help focus
their faith, Jesus, the Guest becomes Jesus,
the Host...and He serves, reminding them of His sacrifice
---to remove the
temptation to rely on their fickle emotions,
Jesus leaves
them
----sure,
their hearts were burning within them, but that’s
not
the point
What is the point?
-the point is that this story is
so remarkable because it is, if we’re
honest, rather unremarkable
--if I were Jesus...I’d
make an unannounced visit to Pilate’s
house...and punish him
by making him listen to his wife say, “I
told you so!” for the
rest of his life
--I’d show up at the staff
meeting of the Roman execution squad,
“Hey, fellas, remember Me?”
--I’d appear at the
Then, I’d spend a lot of serious time with the 11 remaining disciples,
with the faithful women, and I’d
even bring Paul into the mix
-after all, there’s quite a
bit of stuff they need to understand
But Cleopas and Mr. No-Name are nobodies who
have no idea what
God is up to
-and their little chapter in
this big story is included, I’m convinced,
because they could be any
one of us
--their little road to
their little insignificant town is the road you
and I travel every
day
--you see, on the
who
walks alongside of us in our despair, pain, confusion...
who
walks alongside of us in the depths of our loss of faith...
who walks alongside
of us even when we no longer hope
--on the
finds us even when we aren’t particularly looking for Him
--and on the
who isn’t connected to us because of
our unshakeable faith
---He, instead, is a God who is connected with us because
of His unspeakable, amazing grace
-and look what happens à Read Luke 24:33 – 36
--huh...nothing much has changed...Jesus keeps showing up,
often when we least expect Him...speaking truth and
forgiveness...giving hope and life
Like these two disciples from Emmaus, I was on a dead-end road trip
-I was going somewhere, but nowhere...the path I had chosen was a
dead-end
--true, it was a popular path...many of my friends were on that
same path, so were some of my family
---it’s funny: even though I knew where I was, I was still lost
Read Matthew 7:13 – 14
Read John 3:16 – 18