4-12-09
-Journey with Jesus-
Easter Sunday

Text: Luke 24: 13-32

 ● To attempt to un-package the implications of the resurrection in (20) minutes would be both “ambitious” and “naïve”. But the response it evoked in everyone involved was one of “discovery”; a search from the place of their own expectations and understanding, but with an openness toward                                               re-interpretation… a larger perspective [a God’s-eye view, if you will].

 ● The setting is the road which would take this couple back home to Emmaus. Those involved include Cleopas, a friend (or his wife) and an unexpected and obviously ‘clueless’ stranger.

It’s approximately 7 miles from Jerusalem to Emmaus (@ 20 min. mile about 2.5 hours) with the long walk home providing the chance to clear their heads, to process all that just happened; to somehow attempt to make sense of it all.

 ● This was an emotionally charged time of the year for the Jewish people. The level of ethnic pride was at a “fevered-pitch” as they gathered to celebrate the controlling/centering story of their faith… Passover.

As the faithful converged on Jerusalem, I imagine that it was their way of celebrating that things would not always be this way--- eventually, their fortunes would change: they would no longer live in subservience to foreign powers--- their God would be King, they would be ruling with him. The balance of power would be reversed.

            Now, the Romans, in a display of power and mockery of their celebration, take their newly celebrated “Messiah” and arrest, torture and crucify him. “Better luck next year, huh?!”

 “We had hoped he was the one to save Israel…” (this one phrase captures the mood of the environment)

All they wanted was a happy ending for their story. We’re not so different, are we? We all construct our lives in such a way which envisions the best possible scenario. More often than not, those stories collapse. Our marriage doesn’t last, our position is eliminated, our 401K evaporates, our health fails. Our hopes are crushed.

“…had hoped”. But not anymore! They had seemingly not lost faith in the story, but in Jesus as the fulfillment of that story. They are not ready to abandon the story altogether, they were just not sure where Jesus fit in the story.

 ●  So, Jesus engages these individuals at the peak of their disappointment and feelings of disillusionment. But, he doesn’t make up a new story, he re-tells it in light of their expectations. He re-affirms their hope (expectancy), but redirects their vision toward a God-story where love conquers even death. They are ‘guarded’, but open; ‘disturbed’, yet somehow ‘settled’.

 ● Now, if you believed in the resurrection at all, you knew that it is what happens to the faithful at the end of this life (as we know it) and takes us into the next. But, Jesus’ resurrection happened right here on the earth. Nothing in their story had prepared them for this. No wonder they are described as being slow to believe, amazed, perplexed, confused, frightened.  

● Only Jesus could tell the story in such a way that would allow them to realize that what they had experienced was not an ending, but a beginning; that it was not the ‘end of the world’, but the birth of a ‘whole new world’.  

►Jesus knew that in order for the resurrection to have any lasting effect on their lives, it had to be rooted in the story.

            Without the story, all you have is a random and complex series of events with no way to connect them; no way to make sense of them. 

Jesus never used his presence to overwhelm people. He was always presenting himself in such a way that people could either recognize him and respond, or be with him and remain oblivious to him.

Notice, Jesus just walks with them. Comes alongside them. He probes, he listens. He doesn’t try to lessen their pain or lighten the mood with a good “How many Romans does it take to roll away a stone” joke.  

● Jesus tells them the story: from Genesis to Abraham to Moses and the prophets and how God would save Israel (and the world by dealing with their “sin”) not by eliminating their suffering, but by taking the world’s suffering upon himself, dying for and to it, and walk out the other side into God’s new world, God’s new creation.

            It’s the only story that orients us; that takes the circumstantial evidence and fits it into what God has been up to all along. It can only happen in the God-story!  

►Resurrection was not just something that happened to Jesus, but something that was happening all around Jesus.

This healing, this restoration, this reversal of fortunes (where the outcasts are welcomed, where the first are last, etc.) were indicators that the ‘resurrection’ was coming into being--- that the new world has arrived.

So, “repent, for the Kingdom of the heavens is here”.

Repentance is not just an imperative (command), it’s an invitation. In order to participate in this ‘resurrection life’--- this new way of life, one must change the way they view God, view life; allow this story to be their story.  

►There is something about the resurrection that usually captures our heart before it accommodates our reasoning.

Human logic and rationale cannot account for what happened on that first Easter morning. We can’t deal with the resurrection like we do other events in our lives. We can’t take it and fit it into what we already know or have experienced.

When we attempt that, we actually strip the resurrection of its power, of its mystery. When we break it down into bite-sized portions that are more easily swallowed, we are attempting to rationalize the illogical, to make sense of the foolish. To “domesticate” God!  

● “Heads spinning and hearts burning”(A little slow on the uptake, but with a burning heart). That’s precisely the way the story should leave us. It’s what characterizes our journey: dull, slow belief and heart-burn.  

“their eyes were opened and they recognized him”… As he took the bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it to them, they recognized him. Truth in bodily form had been with them and they failed to recognize it. And, when it happened, they could only describe it as “burning hearts”.  

● We’re not always sure what will trigger that moment of awakening. A lyric, a scripture, the loving response of another Christ-follower toward you. It’s as if God himself must make it known to you (“….flesh and blood has not revealed this to you…”) It’s unpredictable, but when it happens, though your mind hasn’t caught up, your heart will be burning.  

►Interestingly, often when it all comes true (when that for which we long/hope the most), it’s the hardest to believe!

            They had celebrated Passovers since their childhood. It was their identity---it’s who they were, the story the told. Imagine, God, right within plain sight and in their presence was doing everything he had promised… and they didn’t get it.  

►I can live with doubt, but not without hope.

Jesus never had any issue with those who really wanted to believe, but were just struggling to do so. He seemed to appear quietly and confidentially to those who chose to believe--- even those whose belief was riddled with doubt.      

I doubt because I want to know the truth; it’s what leads me to authentic faith. I have discovered that what I doubt is not so much God, but my ability to know for sure. 

● As soon as they recognize him, he was gone. Following would now require a new approach: faith---trusting the story, entering the story.

“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe”. There’s something strangely comforting about that.

Apparently, even seeing is not always enough. In the end, you either believe or you abandon hope. When he turns to you and says, “Who do you say I am?”, you either abandon him altogether or spend the rest of your life trying to answer that question. 

►Don’t let Jesus walk away.

            If you are from the vantage point of being in front of Jesus as he is walking away, what do you imagine his expression might have been?

            It won’t take much to convince him to stay; a simple invitation and the stranger becomes the welcomed guest. 

“Too good to be true”… is the phrase we use to describe such events. Somehow, the resurrection is overwhelmed by everything else that we deem ‘real’.

            But this event, the resurrection of Jesus, is meant to overwhelm our version of reality; to leave us appearing foolish for having believed. Maybe it’s so good it’s got to be true!