Sermon Cloud

Luke 24:13-32: "That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem,  14 and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened.  15 While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them.  16 But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.  17 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.  18 Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, ‘Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?'  19 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,  20  and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up 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 happened.  22 Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning,  23 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.  24 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.'  25 And he said to them, ‘O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!  26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?'  27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.  28 So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther,  29 but they urged him strongly, saying, ‘Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.' So he went in to stay with them.  30 When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them.  31 And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight.  32 They said to each other, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?'"

 

INTRODUCTION

 

There is an amazing painting by the Baroque artist Caravaggio which gives us a view into this scene. 

 

Painting #1- 1601

 

 

Notice the rich, deep colors and shading around the characters so that their expressions are brought into focus.  This painting depicts the slowness of the disciples to recognize Jesus and the shock when He comes home with them to eat and reveals Himself through the breaking of bread.

 

The man closest to us is so astonished that he's pushing his chair away from the table.  He's in such a hurry to do so that his sleeve at the elbow has torn.  He's also inviting us in as he pushes the chair away to make room for us to see what he sees.  Jesus' arms are moving to bless them, but also to invite the viewer in.  The man on the right has his arms outstretched in a dramatic gesture.  The light cast upon the table also calls our attention to the scene.  The feast at the table is intended to cause us to desire to come closer still.  And if that weren't enough, the bowl of fruit that is at the front edge of the table is teetering as if the artist were asking us to leap into the picture and sit at the table with Jesus.  Caravaggio is showing us that Jesus comes into our lives in the most unexpected ways, in the everydayness of our lives-on the road, at a table, over a meal-turning the mundane nature of our daily routine into an encounter with Him which makes all our actions significant because of His presence.  He paints Cleopas and what he interpreted as Peter in laborers clothes, showing that this feast was welcome, not to the rich and pompous, but to the humble of humble means.       

 

Painting #2- 1606

 

Now let's look at the same scene painted by Caravaggio five years later.  Notice the colors have become dull with the richness and beauty of the first painting in 1601.  Instead of Jesus' face bare with light upon it so that you can see Him clearly, there is a shadow that covers half of His face and His head is down.  The best light is upon the two standing which shows their expressions of skepticism  and disinterest.  The men at the table are still surprised, but it is much more understated than before.  The person on the left almost closes off the table to the viewer as his back is turned.  Instead of Jesus' hand open to welcome in, it's almost in a posture of saying something more somber with less joy.  And, the feast that was once at the table is now replaced with some dry bread and a pitcher of water.  It's as if Caravaggio is doing the exact opposite from his first painting.  He seems to be telling us not to bother coming closer.  He seems to be purposely making this scene unattractive and dull so that you keep your distance.

 

Also, the inclusion of the maid makes the scene unbalanced.  The first painting is perfectly balanced.  She has been the cause of great speculation from art historians, so much so that many believe she could be taken out without doing any damage to the second painting.  But why did Caravaggio include her?  The lines on her face from age and her expression show us that she's going about her tiresome work with much on her mind and without much interest in Jesus.  She doesn't seem to care who this man is at the table because she has to get on with life.  In fact, she's not even looking at Him.    

 

What happened?

 

These two paintings are at two different periods of Caravaggio's life.  The first was painted when he was 28 and the second at 33.

 

The first painting was created at a time when Caravaggio was first being commissioned to paint for various religious leaders.  He began to develop an interest in Jesus and in theology.  He started to inquire about the person of Christ and what He was like.  He studied his subject well from the Scriptures so that he could accurately portray Him in his paintings. 

 

But after being wined and dined by the religious leaders, and after being introduced to their version of Christianity, Caravaggio's vision of Jesus changed.  His experience with the Christians of his day turned him off to Jesus.  He began to rethink the idea of Jesus' table and who it was open for. 

 

In a particularly tumultuous time in his life, instead of being welcomed by the church, he was ostracized and cast away from them.  Instead of Jesus' table being open and inviting to the broken, it now felt closed off and reserved for the somber and religious.  Instead of being excited and interested in Jesus' welcome of grace, he began to see Jesus as more of a teacher who was willing to lecture, but not willing to befriend you over a feast. 

 

Instead of being excited over the prospect of Jesus' resurrection and what it meant for him, he became distant to the event and lost hope that the table was set for him.

 

On the journey of Caravaggio's life, when the resurrection should have meant the most, he slipped into despair and hopelessness.  When he should have looked to Jesus through His word, he lost sight of Him and no longer recognized Jesus.  Within four years of painting the second painting, he was dead.   

 

We're brought to another journey in our study this morning, the journey of Cleopas and his companion in Luke 24.

 

Like Caravaggio, these two men have lost hope.  When the promise of the resurrection should mean the most to them, they slip into despair.  When these two disciples should have been looking for their friend, their Savior, they become blind to Him and can no longer see Jesus.

 

Despair and Spiritual Blindness   

 

Verses 13-17: "That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14 and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15 While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them.  16 But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.  17 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." 

 

This is an amazing scene.  These two men are walking away from Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified.  The crucifixion happened on Friday and it was Sunday.  Perhaps they hung around Jerusalem to see if Jesus would rise from the dead.  After waiting, the lose hope that their Messiah would rise.  So they start the seven mile walk to Emmaus when suddenly the footsteps of a stranger join them on their journey and this stranger starts to ask them questions. 

 

Don't you love how Jesus draws us out by asking questions?  Instead of showing up and doing a giant Tada!, Jesus just walks alongside them and begins to talk with them about their conversation.  Verse 17 ends with "they stood still, looking sad."

But what caused them to be so downcast, so gloomy and saddened?  Why were they in despair?    

 

Despair

 

They began to lose hope because they began to see themselves without Jesus and without a resurrection.  They began to miss Him as they started to think through life without Him.    

 

And if Jesus didn't rise from the dead, if His death was final, we should all join them in their despair.  We should all hang our heads and look downcast at the prospect of life without Jesus.  If this is all there is, then we're undone.  It makes our suffering, our trials, and all our tears meaningless.  If this is all there is, then there is nothing but a massive void of nothingness.  If there is no resurrection, no continuation of our existence, we should have the courage to admit that human dignity, human rights, social justice, and human flourishing are meaningless.

 

Some of you here this morning are in despair because you miss Jesus, because you've allowed the circumstances of your life to overcome the power of the resurrection.  Like Caravaggio, like Cleopas and his companion, another man, an unlikely man, also missed Jesus.

 

The Story of Charles Templeton

There is a story in the book Case for Faith by Lee Strobel, where Lee interviews a man who was an evangelist and contemporary of Billy Graham. This man actually gathered larger crowds and was considered a better preacher than Mr. Graham. But after a few years preaching, he was still looking for an inescapable, infallible, water-tight argument for the claims Jesus made. He didn't get the answers he was seeking, so he eventually quit the ministry and became an agnostic. 

He then spent the rest of his years attacking Christianity as an implausible faith. He wanted to chip away at the arguments of Christianity, so he devoted his life, until his recent death from Alzheimer's, try to disprove the arguments of Christianity. 

Yet, when Lee Strobel, who was a Chicago Tribune writer and past atheist, came to interview him for the book and to ask why he was no longer a Christian, something happened in the interview with this 83-year-old man that caught Lee off guard. As Lee was asking Mr. Templeton about his intellectual reasons for disbelief in God, the response he received from this man was startling:

 

"The atheist says there is no God," he replied. "The Christian and Jew say there is a God. The agnostic says, 'I cannot know.' Not do not know, but cannot know.  I never would presume to say flatly that there is no God.  I don't know everything; I'm not the embodiment of wisdom. But it is not possible for me to believe in God."

 

I hesitated to ask the next question. "As you get older," I began in a tentative tone, "and you're facing a disease that's always fatal, do you - "

 

"Worry about being wrong?" he interjected. He smiled. "No, I don't."

 

"Why not?"

 

"Because I have spent a lifetime thinking about it. If this were a simplistic conclusion reached on a whim, that would be different. But it's impossible for me - impossible - to believe that there is any thing, or person, or being that could be described as a loving God who could allow what happens in our world daily."

 

"Would you like to believe?" I asked.

 

"Of course!" he exclaimed. "If I could, I would. I'm eighty-three years old. I've got Alzheimer's. I'm dying, for goodness sake. But I've spent my life thinking about it and I'm not going to change now.

 

And what about Jesus? I wanted to know what Templeton thought of the cornerstone of Christianity. "Do you believe Jesus ever lived?" I asked.

 

"No question," came the quick reply.

 

"Did he think he was God?"

 

He shook his head. "That would have been the last thought that would have entered his mind."

 

"And his teaching - did you admire what he taught?"

 

"Well, he wasn't a very good preacher. What he said was too simple. He hadn't thought about it. He hadn't agonized over the biggest question there is to ask."

 

"Which is . . ."

 

"Is there a God? How could anyone believe in a God who does, or allows, what goes on in the world?"

 

"And so how do you assess this Jesus?" It seemed like the next logical question - but I wasn't ready for the response it would evoke.

 

Templeton's body language softened. It was as if he suddenly felt relaxed and comfortable in talking about an old and dear friend. His voice, which at times had displayed such a sharp and insistent edge, now took on a melancholy and reflective tone. His guard seemingly down, he spoke in an unhurried pace, almost nostalgically, carefully choosing his words as he talked about Jesus.

 

"He was," Templeton began, "the greatest human being who has ever lived. He was a moral genius. His ethical sense was unique. He was the intrinsically wisest person that I've ever encountered in my life or in my readings. His commitment was total and led to his own death, much to the detriment of the world. What could one say about him except that this was a form of greatness?"

 

I was taken aback. "You sound like you really care about him," I said.

 

"Well, yes, he's the most important thing in my life," came his reply. "I . . . I . . . I," he stuttered, searching for the right word, "I know it may sound strange, but I have to say. . . I adore him."

 

I wasn't sure how to respond. "You say that with some emotion," I said.

 

"Well, yes. Everything good I know, everything decent I know, everything pure I know, I learned from Jesus. Yes . . . yes. And tough! Just look at Jesus. He castigated people. He was angry. People don't think of him that way, but they don't read the Bible. He had a righteous anger. He cared for the oppressed and exploited. There's no question that he had the highest moral standard, the least duplicity, the greatest compassion, of any human being in history. There have been many other wonderful people, but Jesus is Jesus."

 

"And so the world would do well to emulate him?"

 

"Oh, my goodness, yes! I have tried - and try is as far as I can go - to act as I have believed he would act. That doesn't mean I could read his mind, because one of the most fascinating things about him was that he often did the opposite thing you'd expect - "

 

Abruptly, Templeton cut short his thoughts. There was a pause. He glanced up, he looked across the room, he seemed to want to focus anywhere but on me. He was suddenly self-conscious, almost embarrassed, apparently uncertain whether he should continue.

 

He sighed. "But, no," he said slowly, "in my view. . . ."

 

Now there was a catch in his voice; he inhaled deeply to try to stop from crying. But as he turned toward me, I watched as tears flooded his eyes.

 

"In my view," he struggled to say, "he is the most important human being who has ever existed." His voice cracking, he uttered the words I never expected to hear him say: "And if I may put it this way - I . . . miss . . . him." With that, he broke down sobbing. He turned his head and looked downward, raising his left hand to shield his face from me. His shoulders bobbed; his right hand wiped away tears.

 

What was going on? Was this an unguarded glimpse into his soul? I felt drawn to him and wanted to comfort him; at the same time, the journalist in me wanted to dig to the core of what was prompting this reaction. Missed him why? Missed him how? In a gentle voice, I asked, "In what way?"

 

Templeton fought to compose himself. I could tell it wasn't like him to lose control in front of a stranger. He breathed deeply. After a few more awkward moments, he waved his hand dismissively.

 

"Well," he whispered, as much to himself as to me. Again he halted, then drew a deep breath. "Enough of that."

 

He sniffed and cleared his throat, then leaned forward to pick up his coffee. More quietly and yet more adamantly, he murmured again: "Enough of that."

 

He took a sip, holding the cup tightly in both hands as if drawing warmth from it. It was clear that he wanted to pretend this unvarnished look into his soul had never happened.

 

Do you miss Jesus?  Have you begun to lose sight of Him as the circumstances of your journey obscure Him from your view?  Have you forgotten about the resurrection?  Does the fact that He has risen flood your mind? 

 

You see, it all hinges upon whether or not Jesus rose from the dead.  If He didn't, then we, too, drop our heads.  This is what happened to Caravaggio, it's what happened to the Cleopas and his friend, and it's what happened to Charles Templeton.  Life without Jesus' resurrection means we no longer have Jesus.

 

But there is a more specific reason these two disciples were in despair.  It was not only their hopelessness that caused despair, but also their blindness to Jesus.

 

Blindness 

 

Verse 16: "But their eyes were kept from recognizing him."

 

Now, most commentators are split on the cause for this.  Some say it is God hiding their eyes from Jesus while others say it is their despair and disbelief that causes their blindness.

 

I would say, from the context of the entire passage, it seems like both.  Jesus could have come and opened their eyes in that moment as He does at the meal and for the disciples at the end of this chapter, but He doesn't.  Jesus is content with being a stranger for now to draw them out.

 

However, Jesus also rebukes them for their foolishness and slowness of heart, which indicates that had they been wise to the gospel and had hearts that were quick to trust God, they would have seen Him. 

 

Jesus does need to reveal Himself to us in His word, and we do have to come to trust in this word and have a heart that is warm to Him or He simply won't be seen.  We'll miss Him.  Instead of waiting for Jesus to put on a pyrotechnics show like we're at a Metallica concert, we should see that Jesus might be drawing near to us even now.  Through our circumstances, through His word even now, Jesus might be drawing near to us and drawing us out by asking us questions. 

 

In Luke, Jesus loves to show himself over a meal, in the ordinary.  Do you want to see Him in this way or are you still waiting for Richard Burton's voice to speak directly to you. 

 

They missed Him because they didn't expect Him in this way.

 

But the bigger reason they missed Jesus was that weren't looking for the kind of redemption that Jesus was bringing.  They got the facts right, but they didn't understand the meaning of Jesus coming. 

 

Verses 18-24: "Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, ‘Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?'  19 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,  20  and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up 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 happened.  22 Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning,  23 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.  24 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.'"   

 

Look at this.  They nail the basic outline of Jesus... 

 

          v. 19- Jesus of Nazareth

          v. 19- A prophet might in deeds and word before God and all the people

          v. 20- The chief priests and rulers condemned him to death

          v. 20- They crucified him

          v. 22-24- His tomb was found empty

 

But they miss the purpose of all of this.

 

Verse 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 happened." 

 

Do you see this?  They crucified Him, but we hoped that He would be the one to redeem Israel. 

 

They didn't realize how deep this redemption went.  Cleopas and his friend, like many of his followers had a redemption in mind, but it was a redemption from outside circumstances. 

 

They wanted Jesus to be their general and wipe out Rome and to destroy all of their enemies.  They wanted a national, political, or military redemption. 

 

In other words, they didn't realize that the redemption that Jesus was bringing was going to have to redeem them first before it could move out into the world.  It had to transform them! 

 

They were thinking of God's enemies and the judgment they deserved.  But the gospel Jesus brought was to show them they were the enemies of God and under His judgment and in need of redemption.

 

The word redeem has a variety of connotations, but in this passage it means to be free from slavery or bondage.  To release from slavery.  But Cleopas thought he only needed to be free from political slavery. 

 

Cleopas thought if his outward circumstances changed, everything would be better.

 

But Jesus came to release us from a much deeper bondage than that.  The Scriptures teach us that we are all in bondage, we are all enslaved.  This is why Jesus came!  Because Cleopas missed this, he couldn't understand why Jesus had to die.  He didn't understand what all these facts about Jesus meant.  He didn't see himself in need of spiritual redemption from the bondage of His sin. 

 

What about you, do you see you need the kind of redemption that Jesus was bringing?  Or are you still hoping that Jesus will bring you redemption from your circumstances?  Are you still looking for your vision of redemption?