the Road
Luke 24:13-35
Main Idea: The crucifixion and resurrection of Christ fulfills Scripture, secures hope, and ignites faith.
I. Burdened Hearts (24:13-24)
We don’t know anything about these disciples; they weren’t famous, they weren’t members of the Twelve, they weren’t leaders – they were just common, garden-variety disciples like you and me… This little scene is remarkably ordinary and lacking in distinction; it is not a dramatic setting for a great event. There is no angel, no empty tomb. It is just two friends, clinging together in common misery, trying to comfort each other, going over and over the events as if the mere repetition of them would bring relief, seeking desperately to understand and accept, but dazed and numb with shock and grief. ~ Fleming Rutledge, The Undoing of Death, “Recognizing Jesus”
1 Corinthians 15:17–19: And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
II. Unbelieving Hearts (24:25-27)
Jesus responds to these sad and burdened disciples in three ways:
The Source of their Unbelief: ‘O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe…”
The Necessity of Suffering: “.. all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?”
The Key to Everything: “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.”
1 Corinthians 15:3–4: “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures…”
2 Corinthians 1:20: “For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.”
III. Burning Hearts (24:28-35)
As the two disciples are enthralled in conversation with the risen Christ, they convince him to stay for dinner as evening approaches. At the table, Jesus took the bread, blessed it, and broke it, and suddenly they “recognized” him. Their burdened, slow, and dull hearts had been melted and warmed by God’s grace as Jesus opened up the Scriptures to them.
Ephesians 1:18-20a: “...having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead...”
