He Was Made Known to Them

Christ is risen! Alleluia!

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

As the two disciples walked along the road from Emmaus, they discussed between themselves the events that had happened in Jerusalem in the past few days. They had seen and heard of all the things that Jesus had said and done, and yet they did not understand what had happened, and why it had happened. Furthermore, Luke has not recorded a sighting of Jesus yet, so these two had reason to be perplexed and despairing.

The two disciples walked along the road, discussing all these things, when Jesus came up alongside them and asked what they were debating. They were amazed that He did not know what had happened, because the whole of Jerusalem was atwitter with the news. Luke records that their eyes were held back from recognizing Jesus, so they must have marveled at His supposed ignorance.

Why were their eyes held back from recognizing Jesus? They certainly wanted to see Him. Cleopas indicates that they were sorely disappointed because they had hoped that Jesus would be the one to redeem Israel. Of course, Jesus is the one who redeemed Israel, but not in the way most people expected.

The people probably expected a Messiah who would liberate them from their political oppressors. All of Israel would have liked a deliverer who would have overthrown the Romans and their oppressive, offensive pagan ways. Nothing would have been better than to cleanse the land of foreign interlopers and persecutors.

Then, of course, the common masses would have rejoiced if Jesus had thrashed the chief priests and teachers of the Law as well. If only He would have broken the yoke of all the ceremonial rituals and prescriptions, things would have been wonderful. He could have leveled the playing field, and made everyone equal in the land. If Jesus wanted to re-establish the throne of David, that would be alright.

But that is not why Jesus came. Our Lord is not a political liberator, nor a rebel against “the man”. Our Lord came to upset Satan's apple-cart, not Caesar's.

And so these disciples were held back from recognizing Jesus, because their faith in Him was not yet complete. They believed in His words because of the signs they had seen throughout His ministry, but they as yet failed to believe in the God who performed the signs. They saw, but their faith was missing something.

Like these two disciples, sometimes we want to see everything right away. You and I, like many of Jesus' followers, have a tendency to jump to conclusions about our Lord's work. In John 6, Jesus fed the 5,000 miraculously with the five loaves and two fish, and they believed in Him because of that sign. The people believed in Him so that they wanted to lay hands on Him and make Jesus a king, all because He filled their bellies. However, when Jesus tried to explain the significance of this feeding, many fell away.

And again, in John 14, Jesus tells the Twelve that He is going to prepare a place for them, and they will follow Him. Thomas complains that they do not know where He is going, so how can they know the way? Thomas is the poster boy for failing to see past the end of your nose.

Like the apostles and the disciples, we are often tempted by our own senses. If I do not see it happen, I will not believe it. Unless someone rises from the dead in front of me, I will not believe in God, no matter what anyone tells me. The scientists of the nineteenth century made this line of thinking into a religion all of its own, and Christianity has suffered since. The miracles of Jesus must simply be myths, since they cannot be recreated. Sin is really just a psychological construct, and can be treated with drugs and therapy. The forgiveness of sins is not the business of some overstuffed clergyperson, but the property of a little pill or a shrink's couch. After all, who needs forgiveness when there is no sin, only correctable dysfunction?

But sin is real, and it clouds us from seeing what is right in front of us, no matter how hard we squint or how intensely we stare. Jesus was right there in front of Cleopas and his companion, and yet they failed to recognize Him. They could not grasp the One they had followed for such a length of days because their unbelief blinded their sight. Even when Jesus interpreted for them Moses and the Prophets, they still did not understand and they did not recognize Him.

Likewise, you and I often are wont to look for God in places where He has not promised to be, through means He has not promised to use. One favorite location many try to plumb in the search for God is the human heart. If you open your heart and look deep inside, you will find God within you, so they say. The place to find God is within yourself, because we all have that little spark of goodness smoldering within. However, that is not where God has promised that we can find Him. He has promised to speak to us through His Word, revealed in the pages of Holy Scripture. There, and in the preaching that expounds that Word, is where we find the God who speaks to us.

Another of the spiritual traps into which we tend to fall is the habit of orienting our spiritual weather-vanes with our emotions. God is there to make me feel good, and to make me feel good about myself above all else, or so we would like to think. The highest good, and the goal of every spiritual exercise is to generate some sort of warmth in our hearts. Sin is what makes us feel yucky, and forgiveness is the pink goop that makes the yuckiness go away. However, God has not promised to be your spiritual Pepto-Bismol. He comes to you not in emotionally charged mountain-top experiences, but in His great acts of salvation that He has done and continues to do upon you from outside yourself. Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave not in your heart, but on Calvary. He does not forgive your sins by making them feel better, but by washing them away and drowning the sinful man who commits them. Jesus does not answer your confession with “It's okay” but with “I forgive you all your sins”. The bread and wine are not mere symbols of obedience, but the true, physical Body and Blood of our Lord given and shed for you, for the forgiveness of your sins.

Moreover, today's society is obsessed with so-called “spirituality”. This sort of navel-gazing turns one inward, looking for God in your own innards, instead of outside, creating and sustaining you. Contemporary spirituality sees ultimately no difference between any journey of faith, as long as you are sincere about whatever you espouse. You can find the god of your choosing inside yourself, in the tree in your yard, in the love of your neighbor, or in nothing at all – whatever suits your whimsy. Sin is merely fault or foible, which can be fixed or explained away. Of course, this is not how the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel has revealed Himself. He has not given us to probe the dark corners with our own faculties, but has sent His Son to make Himself known to us. Furthermore, the Son of God has established for us the Office of the Holy Ministry, that you may be certain that what your pastor says to you is true and valid, as much in heaven as on earth. When such a man, in the stead and by the command of Christ, and by His authority forgives your sins, they really and truly are forgiven. When such a man proclaims to you that Christ has died for you, specifically, it is the Word of God. When such a man, and no woman, brings you through the waters into the Body of Christ, he is betrothing you to the Bridegroom as surely as though Christ Himself were here in the body.

So, to combat the insecurity and despair of the disciples, what does Jesus do? He points them to the Law and the Prophets. Jesus is nothing new to the people of God, because the Word of God from the beginning has spoken of Him. And so, He shows from Moses onward how it was necessary that the Christ suffer and die to enter into His glory.

Why was it necessary for the Christ to suffer and die to enter into His glory? Many people wonder, why did God need to enact such violence and cruelty in order to effect our salvation. Could not the creator of heaven and earth simply have declared it so, as a judge who vacates a previous sentence? As Moses says, there is no forgiveness of sins without the shedding of blood. God is just, and justice demands payment for wrongdoing. If God were to have simply vacated our sentence, He would cease to be God and we would cease to be.

And so, Jesus came and lived and died. He died and shed His blood so that you and I can have the forgiveness of sins in His name. It was necessary for Him to suffer and die to enter into His glory because His glory consists chiefly in showing mercy through the forgiveness of sin. It was necessary for the Christ to die so that His Christians might live. It was necessary for the Christ to rise so that we too might rise with Him to life everlasting.

At last, the day being far spent, Cleopas and his companion arrived at their destination, and they asked the yet-unknown Jesus to stay with them. Reclining at table, He took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to them. And in the breaking of bread, He became known to them. Having heard the Law and the Prophets, they believed fully, and their eyes were opened by the Holy Gifts.

The prophet Isaiah exhorts the faithful, then and now, “seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.” (55:6). Seek the Lord when and where He may be found. Call upon the Christ who suffered and died to enter into His glory for you. Receive His gifts as He gives them. Hear the preaching and teaching of His Word, and live according to it. Be plunged into the waters of Holy Baptism, arise anew, and remember that gift each and every day. Draw near and take the Body and Blood of the Lord, given and shed for you, for the forgiveness of your sins. Confess your sins, and receive the absolution that obliterates them forever.

Your eyes are no longer held fast, but are open, and they see the God who has suffered and died to forgive your sins. Your eyes see God while He is near to you. Your heart burns within you because the Holy Spirit has worked faith in you, and continues to fan it to flame. See and believe.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Christ is risen! Alleluia!