“Walking
with Jesus on the Road of Life”
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen. Even secular historians agree that the Gospel of Luke is one of the
most masterfully crafted works of literature in the Greek language. From a
literary standpoint, today’s Gospel Reading is a marvelous, engaging story. don’t get me wrong; it is not fiction, it is factual history. These events
really did happen exactly as Luke reports. But, under the guidance of the
Holy Spirit, Luke reports these events in the form of a masterfully told story.
You are invited to follow along today’s Gospel Reading we look at “The Mystery
of the Empty Tomb.” Scene I—The Mysterious Stranger The story opens on the afternoon of Easter Sunday. Two disciples
of Jesus are walking home from Jerusalem to an outlying suburb, Emmaus.
“Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about
seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about
everything that had happened.” So much had transpired at Jerusalem that past week, from Jesus’
triumphal entry into the city on Palm Sunday, to his crucifixion on Good Friday,
to “The Mystery of the Empty Tomb” that very Sunday morning. These two disciples
of Jesus are talking back and forth about all these things, questioning,
debating, trying to come up with some answers, some explanation for it all. Now, a new character is introduced, the mysterious stranger. “As
they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up
and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him.” We
in Luke’s audience are in on the secret, but in some way the Lord clouds the two
disciples’ recognition so that they do not realize it is Jesus himself walking
with them. Scene II—Flashback “He asked them, ‘What are you discussing together as you walk along?’
They stood still, their faces downcast.” These two disciples are
devastated because they think they are on their way home from a funeral, Jesus’
funeral. “One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, ‘Are you only a visitor
to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in these days?’
‘What things?’ he asked.” Now comes a flashback to the previous week: “‘About Jesus of Nazareth,’
they replied. ‘He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all
the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be
sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one
who was going to redeem Israel.’” Their utter hopelessness is sadly
reflected in the past tense: “we had hoped.” They thought all their hopes
were dead and buried with Jesus. “And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place.”
What is so significant about the third day? Several decades ago a famous
rabbi in New York City, whose followers considered him to be the messiah, died.
I remember seeing a spokesman for this rabbi’s followers on the evening news
saying quite confidently, “We expect him to rise from the dead on the third
day.” They did not get that idea from the New Testament or Christianity,
but from various prophesies of the Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament.
In the same way, the two disciples assume the mysterious stranger will realize
the significance of it being the third day. “In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early
this morning but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen
a vision of angels, who said he was alive.” Maybe the prophesies have come
true; maybe Jesus really is the Messiah; maybe he really did rise from the dead
on the third day! But in that culture, the women’s testimony by itself wouldn’t be
trusted. Greek-Roman society was very chauvinistic, and women were not
allowed to testify in court because their witness was considered unreliable.
That is not at all God’s attitude, or the Bible’s teaching, but simply the
attitude of that day and age, just as there are many things in our own culture
and society that aren’t necessarily the way God wants them to be. Well,
the disciples are products of their time, and so they think that the women’s
report of the empty tomb is simply hysteria, and they send Peter and John to
check their story out. By the way, the fact that all four Gospels record that it was women who
discovered the empty tomb is a strong testimony to the Gospel’s authenticity.
In the Greek-Roman world, if you were going to make up a story like that,
because of the chauvinistic attitude of that society you would never cast women
as the first witnesses. “They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said
he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it
just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” There had been a
glimmer of hope, but the flashback ends on another note of utter hopelessness:
“him they did not see.” Scene III—The Scriptures Are Opened “He said to them, ‘How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to
believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to
suffer these things and then enter his glory?’” Jesus says they should
have known their Bible better, and they should have believed it. Then they
would have understood the events of Holy Week. “And beginning with Moses
and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures
concerning himself.” Scene IV—The Mystery Solved “As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted
as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, ‘Stay with us,
for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.’ So he went in to stay with
them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks,
broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and
they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each
other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the
road and opened the Scriptures to us?’” The mysterious stranger is revealed; it is none other than the Lord
himself. And that solves “The Mystery of the Empty Tomb.” Jesus of
Nazareth really is the Messiah. His suffering, crucifixion, death and
resurrection were all foretold by Moses and the prophets. He is the One
who did redeem Israel, and not only Israel, but the whole world. As Peter says in Today’s Epistle Reading, “For you know that it was not
with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed . . . but
with the precious blood of Christ.” You are included in that Good News;
your sins are all forgiven because your Savior gave his life and shed his
precious blood for you. “They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the
Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, ‘It is true! The Lord
has risen and has appeared to Simon.’ Then they told what had happened on
the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.” What is the moral of the story of “The Mystery of the Empty Tomb”?
Our lives are often like the experience of those two disciples on the road to
Emmaus. We walk through life with disappointment, pain, grief, confusion.
By ourselves we can’t come up with any answers to explain it all. But then
the Lord joins us on our way through life, joins us to him through the Sacrament
of Holy Baptism. He listens to us as we pour out to him our troubles and
sorrows in prayer. Then he speaks to us through his Word and opens the
Scriptures to us. He reveals himself to us in the Breaking of Bread, the
Sacrament of Holy Communion. And, like the two disciples on the road to
Emmaus, through our encounter with him in the Word and Sacraments and prayer,
our hearts burn within us with the fire of faith, and our despair and
hopelessness is lifted. It is interesting that the name of only one of the two disciples in
this story is given, Cleopas. Who is the other? Perhaps it is you.
For the experience of the two disciples walking on the road to Emmaus is
symbolic of you, “Walking with Jesus on the Road of Life.” Return to Top | Return to Sermons | Home | Email Church Office
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