In the walk to Emmaus story, we recognize the promise that Jesus is with us on our own journeys through life, coming to meet us especially when we are grieving or overwhelmed. The sacraments of baptism and holy communion offer us a tangible reminder of God’s promise as Jesus promises to be present through the ordinary elements of bread, wine, and water. And of course, we encounter the risen Jesus in his body, the Church.
Here’s my sermon for April 23, 2023, focusing on the walk to Emmaus story in Luke 24:13-35. I found helpful this (PDF) sermon by Will Willimon, as well as Pr. Tim Brown’s reflection in this week’s ELCA World Hunger Sermon Starters email. There also some similarities to my sermon from 2017 on this story.
Here’s the worship livestream from Living Hope and sermon audio from Christ the King.
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Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Risen Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen
For the third week in a row today, our Gospel story takes place on that first Easter Sunday. Two weeks ago, on Easter, we heard about the two Mary’s going early in the morning to Jesus’ tomb, finding it empty, and hearing from an angel that Jesus has been raised.
Then last week, we heard about that evening. 10 of the 11 disciples were hiding in a locked upper room, and Jesus came and stood among them saying, “Peace be with you.”
But remember, Jesus had a lot more than 11 followers. Crowds of people had been following him and listening to his teachings. Back in Luke chapter 10, Jesus had sent out seventy disciples in pairs to go spread the good news.
The 11 disciples in that upper room are the core group, but there are many others who believe in Jesus, and like the eleven, they’re experiencing grief and trauma after his death.
One of those others is named Cleopas, and on this Sunday afternoon, Cleopas and a companion are on their way out of town. Luke doesn’t give us the companion’s name, but there’s a good chance it’s Mrs. Cleopas, his wife.
And we don’t know exactly why they’re traveling, but I suspect they’re trying to get away. After Jesus their teacher is arrested and killed, some of his followers go into hiding, while others flee.
On their lonely trek out of Jerusalem, down the seven-mile road to Emmaus, they’re processing what’s happened. On their way, Luke tells us, Jesus comes to walk and talk with them, but they don’t recognize him.
Have you ever had the experience of running into someone and not recognizing them, because they’re out of context? It seems to happen to me a lot.
A few months ago, Christin and I were at a Cedar Grove-Belgium band concert at the high school, and I had a really awkward conversation with Ms. Melissa, Micah’s Here We Grow teacher. I’d seen her and spoken to her multiple times a week, but in a different context, I had no idea who I was talking to.
So it’s strange that Cleopas and Mrs. Cleopas don’t recognize Jesus, but I believe it. This is not a context where they expected to meet Jesus. After you witness someone dying, you don’t expect them to run into them on the road two days later.
And Jesus might have looked a little different too. Maybe he got a haircut in the tomb. At the very least, he’s not beaten and bloody, like last time they saw him.
I wonder how often you and I miss seeing Jesus around us, because he doesn’t look like what we expect. How often do we miss seeing Jesus at work in the world around us, because he’s in places where we don’t even think of looking for him?
Anyway, Jesus comes up to these two disciples on the road, and he asks them what they’re discussing, and their response includes some of the saddest words in the Bible.
Three words: “We had hoped.”
You know what that’s like, don’t you? You know what it’s like to have your hopes dashed, your plans disrupted, to discover you’ve misunderstood, to be overwhelmed by forces beyond your control? Maybe you’re experiencing that right now.
We had hoped he would be the one to redeem Israel. You can imagine the grief and isolation these two travelers are feeling.
They must feel so foolish for planning and dreaming, for thinking this Jesus guy was actually the Son of God, the savior who would redeem Israel. The irony, of course, is that not only is he the one to redeem Israel and the whole world, that’s exactly what he’s been doing! That’s why he died!
As they walk, Jesus engages them in what has to be the ultimate Bible study, interpreting to them the things about himself in all the scriptures. What I appreciate is that before he gives them answers, he lets them dwell in their questions and their grief. Jesus doesn’t just come and fix everything with quick answers; he journeys alongside them.
I don’t know about you, but I find it tremendously encouraging that Jesus meets them as they’re questioning and wondering. These two are really good proof that you don’t need to have all the answers for Jesus to come meet you.
When they finally realize who Jesus is, when they recognize him in the breaking of the bread, Jesus disappears, and Cleopas and his companion immediately turn around and race the seven miles back to Jerusalem to share the good news with the other disciples.
And as Luke tells it, these two who had met him on the road are still there in the upper room when Jesus appears saying “Peace be with you.”
This is the last we hear of Cleopas and his wife, but I wonder what happened to them, because even after all this, the hopes and plans they’d had before are still disrupted.
They won’t get to spend much time in-person with Jesus before he ascends back to the Father. There’s even a decent chance they end up getting killed for their faith. Certainly, nothing will ever be the same again for them.
But they have a new hope. They have a whole new understanding of God’s promise. They understand the good news Peter is trying to explain to the crowds in his sermon on Pentecost.
Let’s talk about that sermon Peter gives for a moment. This is on Pentecost, 50 days after Easter, 50 days after Peter has learned Jesus is alive. In that time, he and the other disciples have moved from hiding in fear to public proclamation, and here he is speaking openly to a huge crowd, giving a sermon.
And as Will Willimon, one of the best preaching teachers in the country says, “This is one of history’s worst sermons. Short, ridiculously so. No illustrations, culturally insensitive, accusatory, without intellectual foundation, no connections, no bridge from there to here.”
But God is at work. The Holy Spirit somehow takes Peter’s words and using them to change hearts and lives. The Holy Spirit takes the little that Peter has to offer and uses it to make an eternal difference.
Willimon says, “I have no explanation for why, with this short, poorly illustrated sermon Peter’s sermon transformed a mocking mob into the first mass baptism in church history.”
But in that sermon, Peter tells us how to respond to the good news of Easter. He tells us what to do when we encounter Jesus, when our eyes are opened to the truth that Jesus is alive and present with us, walking alongside us. He says, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
That’s why we’re here today. That’s why we’re baptizing Brooklyn today, because we have heard the good news, and we want her to grow up knowing that promise.
Peter continues, “For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.” This promise is for you. Not just for the people in that first group of disciples on that first Easter Sunday, but for you and me. This is what we do in response to the good news of Easter. Because Jesus is alive, your sins are forgiven. You and I are included in God’s promise.
The sacrament of Baptism gives us something to cling to, a means of God’s grace to point to when it seems that our hopes have been dashed, when it seems like everything has fallen apart.
That’s what sacraments are all about, right? They are sacred moments where Jesus promises to be present, means of God’s grace refreshing us in faith, in the promise of the resurrection.
We look for Jesus to meet us in the water and the word of baptism, washing us clean, joining us to Christ’s body.
Like the disciples, we recognize Jesus present with us in the breaking of the bread, in the sacrament of communion, giving himself for us, nourishing us for the journey.
The promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls. In the church, the body of Christ, Jesus is present.
Our risen Lord is here with us, and walking with you wherever you go.
As you reflect on this awesome love of the God who comes to be present with us on the road, may the peace of God’s promise to be with you, the joy and peace of the resurrection, the peace that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our risen Lord. Amen.