LG Trip Message: Road to Emmaus
Luke 24:13-35
Three points: Relentlessly attacks hopelessness / Return to the Word / Revive our hearts
1. Relentlessly Attacks Hopelessness
Luke 24:20-21 ā The two disciples are sharing with Jesus their perspective of the horrific events that just occurred. Verse 21 says, ābut we had hopedā which conveys the disciplesā disillusionment with Jesus. They admit they have heard the good news of his resurrection from the women witnesses. They knew the facts but were still slow to believe. Given this state of their heart, we see Godās heart. He relentlessly attacks hopelessness.
But God can only heal the hopelessness in our hearts if our hope is in Him. If I put my hope in my self-sufficiency, Iāll soon realize these inescapable truths: my future is unsettled, and Iām going to die.
Having God as my sole hope doesnāt minimize those two previous propositions. But it does declare this: God has already made the final word. He loves me and will give me what I need.
What happened on the Road to Emmaus served as a catalyst to the founding of the church in Acts 2.
However, the goal is not to stay on the road to Emmaus.
- Road to Emmaus = path to hopelessness. Results in a safe numbness and half-heartedness.
- Road to Jerusalem = path of return to the Lord. Results in a life that demands dying to self and whole-heartedness.
What road have you been walking lately?
The Road to Emmaus isnāt the road Iām on anymore but itās the road where I met Jesus and he turned me around.
2. Return to the Word
Luke 24:25-27 ā Jesusā go-to method was to conduct a survey of the Old Testament to prove that the recent events were necessary for the promised Messiah to undergo. To Jesus, understanding the OT was vital for the disciples to understand the big picture and to cure their hopelessness.
On Marcion: In the 2nd century, a heretic named Marcion believed that the benevolent God of the NT was the true Supreme being, instead of the malevolent Creator God of the OT. He made his list of books that should be in the Bible, including no OT books ā and even edited the NT to exclude references to the OT. A crucial verse Marcion took out: Luke 24:27.
Why emphasize the necessity of the OT? Without the Old Testament, we have no basis for our hope. Not knowing OT makes us lose record of Godās faithfulness. Reading NT informs us of what to hope for. But OT displays Godās faithfulness over the ages in spite of Israelās sin.
Only studying Scripture is like obsessing over a dating profile. You must meet the person yourself. The profile helps you verify youāre meeting the right person. But it doesnāt guarantee intimacy.
3. Revive Our Hearts
The two disciplesā hearts were dormant, and after offering to Jesus their hopelessness and returning to the word, they find their hearts burning within them.
But not all dormant hearts get awakened. The un-awakenable heart is the complacent, the self-obsessed, the self-sufficient. Why? Because our hearts can only burn when it burns for His glory and not ours.
Augustine ā āGod has made us for Himself and our hearts are restless until they rest in Him!ā
We all need a fresh touch from the Lord, daily. Make that your prayer: Revive my heart, God. Stir my affections afresh for you.
After hearing the Road to Emmaus story, our LG name is actually quite a humbling statement. Saying Iām on the road to Emmaus means admitting that Iām prone to falling into hopelessness. Iām prone to wander. Iām prone to backsliding.
This story is for the ones who say āI didnāt know following you would be this hard.ā For the broken, the hopeless, the weak, the self-abased. Itās for the ones on the road to Emmaus.
Road to Emmaus disciples return to apostles to await the Holy Spirit. We return to the church to await the Second Coming of Christ.
A life well lived is not founded upon climactic life events. It is founded upon the climax of all history: the resurrection.