St. Paul Lutheran Church
Sermon by Pastor Balogh

APR 6, 2008 - listen to this sermon in mp3!

Luke 24:32 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?"

As we gathered for our Pastors' conference on Monday our chaplain for the
day, Pastor Randy Johnson made some interesting observations about the
disciples and their lack of faith. For instance, he asked of Peter,
"Since Peter claimed that Jesus was the Son of the living God why wasn't
Peter hiding among the tombs on Sunday waiting for Jesus to appear?" I
thought that a great observation. Jesus had been telling his disciples
that he was going to rise from the dead, had been telling them this for
the last 6-9 months. I can understand Peter's fear in not showing up at
the cross even though he said he would die with Jesus. But even more to
the point, would it be fair to say that Peter had such a lack of faith
that he wasn't at all anticipating the resurrection of Jesus? Didn't he
pay attention?
Or of the women, Pastor Johnson said, "Evidently the women had the same
kind of faith that Peter had, little to none. On that Sunday morning
they weren't heading to the tomb in anticipation of greeting the risen
Savior, they were heading to the tomb with spices in order to give Jesus
a "better" quality burial." If you just think about that you are again
moved to shake your head and say, "Weren't they listening to what Jesus
said?"
Yet I would give a strong message of caution here? Don't disparage these
disciples of Jesus too much or you may find your own face filled with the
pie of shame. Why do I say that? Because in today's religious world,
disciples haven't changed all that much! I see people all the time do
things that God's Word speaks clearly about. They do what God forbids
and they fail to do what God commands. Weren't they listening? Don't
they believe what Jesus said? And in case you are wondering, I am not
talking about your neighbor, I am talking about us! I am talking about
the sins that you and I do that are clearly contrary to Jesus and his
Word. The truth of the matter is that we all behave just like these
disciples, we behave in a way that makes people wonder "Where is their
faith?"
Thank goodness that the faith we believe isn't about us. It is about
Jesus and what He has done. It is about the victory that Jesus has won
on our behalf. Let's look at this wonderful history before us and learn
some valuable lessons. Our theme will be: A MESSAGE OF HOPE. 1st. Jesus
delivers it. 2nd. The Word proclaims it.
Again it would have been so interesting to have been with those disciples
who were on their way to Emmaus. You do know why they are gong there,
don't you? They are returning home because they have lost hope. Oh,
it's true that they were busy discussing Jesus and I'm sure their words
were animated, but in truth their words were ones without hope. We
understand in two separate ways. For instance when Jesus finally arrives
on the scene and asks his first question did you catch their reaction?
The text said, "They stood still, their faces downcast." Those words say
a lot. They were not neutral in their feelings, a couple of guys just
waiting to see what might be. They were downcast. They were sad. What
they were sad about is also expressed in our text.
As the conversation with Jesus progresses you find these words, "But we
had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel." Please
note the tense of that verb. That verb says that they had no hope left.
These two guys had come to the conclusion that Jesus was not the redeemer
of Israel. These two guys were bummed out, lacking in hope and that's
why they were headed to Emmaus. This is even after they heard the report
of the women and the angels. They did not believe the women. Nor were
they impressed with report of the disciples who went to the grave and
reported that it was empty. They were headed home, downcast and
hopeless. If any two disciples needed Jesus it is these two guys.
The grace of Jesus to deal with these men is so awesome. Please note
that while Jesus does chide them he does not reject and spurn them in
this time of weakness. Look at what the text says Jesus did: "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?' And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he
explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning
himself."
You know, I think those words some of the most important words of the
Gospels. Please note that Jesus, who has kept these men from identifying
him, does not reveal Himself and then brow beat them all the more for
their lack of faith. What Jesus does, and this seems to have been his
intention all long, what Jesus does is lead them into Scripture. He
leads them to see how the entire Scripture pointed to Jesus, his
suffering and his glory!
Now, from my foolish human point of view, I want this history to be
different. I want Jesus to show up, reveal himself, turn a couple of
trees into piles of ash, move gigantic boulders to block off the road and
in general come with so much flash, dash and power that no one could
ever, ever think or deny his position as the victorious Savior! Not
Jesus! He comes with God's wisdom. He comes to direct us to the word.
He comes to actually direct us to that which is inherently more majestic
and powerful than any miracle he could have done right then. The Word of
God, through the Prophets of God had accurately and precisely laid out
the life of the Christ so that centuries later there would be no doubt as
to who and what the Christ was. Centuries of prophets, centuries of time
and yet one common thread in all of it. The marvel, wonder and awe of
Christ Jesus is revealed.
How I wish I could have been there or that the Holy Spirit would have
recorded the passages that Jesus used to explain how the Old Testament
spoke of Him! We do know that many of the passages of the Prophets
indeed speak of Jesus. If you have been in our Sunday morning Bible
class you have heard time and again how the Psalms speak of Jesus. The
fact of the matter is, that the Old Testament, from beginning to end, is
about Jesus, about the Christ of God.
And you'll forgive how I once again will tell you that simple wonderful
message of Jesus. Jesus the Son of God, born of a virgin, born the
perfect holy child of God, born under the law of God to keep that law
perfectly for us. Jesus the Son of God who at the age of thirty began an
active ministry filled with miracles and marvels unknown and
unprecedented in all the world. Those miracles were done just so could
know and identify him. You see, the OT had told us that's what we should
look for. Jesus the Son of God, in perfect harmony with God's Word,
ended up arrested, falsely tried and accused, condemned to die and then
hung on the cross. On that cross Jesus was paying for our sins. On that
cross God the Father took his wrath and hatred against the sin of the
world, out on Jesus.
And then on the third day after that crucifixion, just as God's word had
said, Jesus rose from the dead. It is this resurrection that declares
him our savior. We dare not overlook the words of the Apostle Peter. In
Acts what is it that Peter said of Jesus? He said, "Therefore, let all
Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified,
both Lord and Christ." Peter drew that conclusion because Christ Jesus
in accord with God's word rose from the dead. And what is it that Peter
wrote in 1 Peter? He said, "For you know that it was not with perishable
things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way
of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious
blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect." It was the death of
Jesus, his shedding of blood on that cross that redeemed us from our
sins. It is these words that stand in direct contrast to what the Emmaus
men thought. They had lost hope that Jesus was the redeemer of Israel.
Clearly when it was all said and done they, like Peter were no longer
hopeless! When it was all said and done, when Jesus had shown them in
the Scripture that it was the way it was supposed to be that's when
things kicked in.
By the way there are a few different ways for you to understand that
their faith did indeed kick in. The first thing I'll point to is the
fact that once Jesus had disappeared from their sight, after they had had
their eyes opened they got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. It was
at or near nighttime. Nighttime was the time of thieves and robbers.
Nighttime was a dangerous time to travel and still they went. They
couldn't wait to get back and tell the other disciples that they had seen
Jesus. But I think there was something else of greater importance that
they wanted to share than just the "We've seen Jesus," thing.
That other thing is reflected in the words of our text. "Were not our
hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened
the Scriptures to us?" Here is the true impact of Jesus. Jesus sets
hearts on fire. Not a raging fire that destroys but rather a fire that
gives warmth, heat and just the light one needs. Remember that when
Jesus was talking with them they didn't know it was Jesus! Yet what was
said, what was being taught and shared, what was being explained and
pointed to in the Scripture as the necessities of Jesus life, death and
life was lighting 'em up. That simply means they were excited and
stirred by the revelation of God's Word. I believe that's what they
couldn't wait to get back and tell the others. It was all according to
God's Word. God's Word was the key.
By the way, I am sometimes amazed at how the Lord just works things.
Here we have this lesson that really does remind us of the importance of
God's Word, yes, Jesus fulfilling God's Word. We had a lesson of the
same nature in Bible Class on Wednesday.
We were in the book of Numbers and there is the history of the people not
having any water to drink. Of course, the Israelites came and gripped
and mumbled against the Lord rather than coming and saying, "Hey, Moses,
God has been so great to us so far. Please go ask him if He would help
us out in this need for water?" Nope, they grumble and complain. Yet
this is for the most part the new generation of Israelites. So God
desires to teach them something. God tells Moses and Aaron to go the
rock and speak to the rock to get water. Just speak to the rock. God
wanted the people to understand the importance of His word. However
Moses, upset that once again these people would rail against God, in a
fit of anger, struck the rock instead of speaking to it. Because of
this, Moses was told by the Lord that he and Aaron would now not enter
the promised land. The Lord puts it this way, "Because you did not trust
in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will
not bring this community into the land I give them." Just because Moses
didn't honor the Lord by speaking to the rock he was kept from the
promised land. Believing the word, trusting the word, honoring the word
was already the heart and core of faith in Moses day. It still continues
today.
For you and I, the word is the heart and core of our faith. We trust the
Word. The word says that Jesus grants forgiveness. It is so. The word
tells us that Jesus rose from the dead. It is so. The Word says that
Jesus is the Son of God and our Savior from sin. It is so. The word
tells us that heaven is our home and that we are going to heaven by grace
through faith. It is so. Trusting, honoring, hearing the Word is still
at the heart and core of the faith. We realize all the more the
importance of the Word because we understand that Jesus is the Word.
Don't your hearts just burn with Jesus? Doesn't the marvel, the grace of
God just fill your heart and cause that warm feeling? If so, then you
grasp the message of hope shared with the Emmaus disciples. They were no
longer downcast and without hope. They were excited and filled with the
hope of Jesus the Savior. Me too! And I pray that you heart also burn
with the wonder and awe of Jesus, our Gracious and risen Savior from sin.
Amen.