Easter Morning Bible Study

April 12, 2009

Lost Boy Promo – This Thursday Night.

Luke 24:13-35

Set the scene:

Back on Thursday night, the disciples had spent the evening with Jesus in the Upper Room celebrating the Passover.  Jesus had spent the evening teaching them things, though to tell you the truth, they didn’t really understand all that He was talking about.

Later that evening, Jesus took His disciples with Him across the little Kidron Valley where they would spend the night in the Garden of Gethsemane, an olive orchard on the Mount of Olives that overlooks the Temple Mount.

Jesus spent the night praying while His disciples spent the night sleeping.

And then it happened, one of Jesus’ friends, Judas Iscariot, showed up in the garden with a group of soldiers.  They arrested Jesus and took Him away.  Later that evening and early the next morning Jesus would be put on trial before the chief priests, the Sanhedrin, Pontius Pilate, and Herod.  In the end, Jesus was condemned, brutally whipped, and sent to a horrible, painful death, crucifixion by the Romans.

The disciples themselves had fled when Jesus had been arrested.  Some of them showed up to the public execution, but it was horrible to watch.  This one they had hoped would be the answer to all their problems was dead.  This one who did miracles and taught wonderful things, was dead.

It’s now Sunday morning.  A quiet despair has settled in on the disciples.  Their world has been crushed.

Illustration

It’s probably a bit like what the family of Nick Adenhart is feeling about now.  Here was this tremendous, talented young man, 22 years old, having reached the pinnacle of his career, even pitched six shutout innings against the Oakland A’s.  Suddenly, unexpectedly dead from a tragic, senseless accident, killed by a drunk driver.

What must his family and friends be feeling right about now?

This is the state of the disciples as we meet up with two of them on Sunday morning.  They are leaving Jerusalem, leaving from the place of sorrow.

:13  Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem. {14} And they talked together of all these things which had happened. {15} So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. {16} But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.

As far as these disciples are concerned, this stranger that starts walking with them is just another ordinary fellow.  For some reason they just don’t recognize who Jesus is.

{17} And He said to them, "What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?" {18} Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, "Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?"

Cleopas can’t imagine that anyone would not know what has happened with Jesus.

{19} And He said to them, "What things?" So they said to Him, "The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, {20} "and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him. {21} "But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened.

They were hoping.

They had certain ideas of what was supposed to happen, and things didn’t turn out the way they expected.

{22} "Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us. {23} "When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive. {24} "And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see."

At this point, it seems that only the women believed that Jesus had risen.

{25} Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! {26} "Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?" {27} And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.

I think that every Bible student wished they could have heard that Bible study – Jesus Himself opening up all the Scriptures that spoke of His coming, His death, and resurrection.

Is there a purpose to this mess?

The disciples just couldn’t fathom why Jesus had to suffer like He did.

It didn’t seem right.

And yet Jesus showed them through the Scriptures that these things were necessary.

Jesus died for a reason.

He died to pay for our sins.

(Isa 53:5-6 NKJV)  But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. {6} All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

This is the simple truth of the gospel.

Jesus died for my sin. 

He paid a debt He didn’t owe because we owed a debt we couldn’t pay.

This was the reason for His death.

Could there be a reason for my difficulty as well?

{28} Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther. {29} But they constrained Him, saying, "Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent." And He went in to stay with them. {30} Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. {31} Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight. {32} And they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?" {33} So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, {34} saying, "The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!"

When they get back to Jerusalem, they find that they weren’t the only ones that Jesus had appeared to.  Simon Peter had also seen Jesus.  All the disciples would see Jesus.

{35} And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.

Life doesn’t always turn out the way you hoped it would.

Illustration

Jacob lived a difficult life, though some of it was his own doing.

When he tricked his father Isaac into giving him the blessing instead of Esau, he found himself having to leave his home and live with his uncle Laban, who continually took advantage of him.

When he finally got back to his hometown, his beloved wife Rachel dies giving childbirth to baby Benjamin.

And then the day came when his beloved son Joseph went missing, presumably killed by wild animals.

And then when he sends his sons to Egypt to get food for the famine, they come home without Simeon, who has been jailed by the prince in Egypt.

(Gen 42:36 NKJV)  And Jacob their father said to them, "You have bereaved me: Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and you want to take Benjamin. All these things are against me."

Jacob is in despair.  He doesn’t understand why he’s had so much trouble.

But the problem is, this isn’t the end of the story.

In fact, his beloved Joseph isn’t dead.  In fact, Joseph is the prince of Egypt.

In fact, Joseph will be used to save the entire family from death by bringing them to Egypt to survive the famine.

Sunday’s Coming – play video

If I can help you think of one thing today because of Easter, it’s the word “Hope”.

You may feel like it’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming.

The Resurrection is all about “Hope”.

This isn’t all there is.  The messy life that you live in isn’t all there is.

God is not done.  The story isn’t finished.  Don’t give up.  It ain’t over.

It’s Not Over – video

Don’t misunderstand me.

I don’t want you to think that if you walked in here today with a problem that God is necessarily going to take away your problem.

Too often we have the wrong idea about what we need to feel better.

We get “comfort” from all the wrong things

The person in “AA” will call this “self-medicating”.

Things aren’t going well in my life and so I try to feel better by having a drink, doing drugs, or having a sexual encounter.

Other’s might “self-medicate” by going to the mall, watching a movie, or playing sports.  I’m not saying all these things are wrong, but are they the things we should find our comfort in?

Sometimes we tell ourselves that we won’t feel better until our circumstances turn out a certain way.

I won’t feel better unless I get that raise.

I’m not going to be happy unless I’m completely healed.

We put our hope in the wrong things.

The other day a verse jumped out at me while reading through the book of Acts.

(Acts 9:31 NKJV)  Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied.

We get “comfort” in a lot of things.  The problem comes when we get addicted to comfort from the wrong things.

The early church walked in the comfort from God.

Don’t settle for the cheap, immediate fixes.  Settle for the work that God wants to do.

When we look at the resurrection of Christ, we need to keep our eyes on the ultimate “fix”, not the immediate one.

The truth is, one day we will be raised with Him.

We will one day be in heaven.  That’s the best fix.

We might get a physical healing.  We might get our finances fixed.

But the ultimate hope we look for is the solid, real truth that one day we will be with Jesus.

Back to our passage in Luke …

Did you notice that it was in the “breaking of bread” that their eyes were opened?  It’s almost like they “remembered” something when the bread was broken.

(1 Cor 11:24 NKJV)  and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me."

Is it a coincidence that the “broken bread” reminded them of Jesus after Jesus had taught them about how the Christ must suffer?

The broken bread reminded them that Jesus had to be broken.  Jesus knew He would be broken.

I wonder if there isn’t a sense in which we get to know Him better through brokenness, when bread is broken, perhaps even when we are broken?  After all, we are the “body” of Christ.

(2 Cor 4:6-11 NKJV)  For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

God has put His light in our lives.

{7} But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.

We are “earthen vessels”, clay pots.  We have an incredible treasure inside of us, God’s “light”.  Incredible light inside clay pots.

{8} We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; {9} persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; {10} always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. {11} For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

Do you think that light can shine through a clay pot?  It can’t.

It’s almost as if the clay pots need to be broken in order for the light to come out.

It’s like the story of Gideon and his little band of 300 men.

They were going to take on an army of 150,000 Midianites.  The plan was that each man was given a torch, a trumpet, and a clay pot.

They were to put the torches inside the clay pots.

That night these men surrounded the army of the Midianites.  When the signal was given, each man broke his clay pot, blew his trumpet, and shouted. 

Instantly the torches shined in the darkness as the clay pots were broken. The enemy was so confused, they all killed each other.

It’s like Paul’s passage – the clay pots need to be broken for the light to be seen.

Sometimes for us to truly know Christ, we have to experience brokenness, perhaps so we will truly and fully trust in Him.

Sometimes for others to see Jesus in us, they will have to see us broken.

Perfect or Real?  People have a hard time relating to a person who is always perfect.  But when they see a Christian struggling with difficulty and still able to keep their head above water, they want to know why.

I’m not sure Paul’s life EVER got any easier.  But he didn’t lose heart.  He didn’t give up.  He looked to the ultimate goal:

(2 Cor 4:16-18 NKJV)  Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. {17} For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, {18} while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Do you need hope today?

Then you need Jesus.

For some of you this might be the first time you put your life in Jesus’ hands.

God is longing for you to realize that you need Him.

For some of you it might be putting your life back in His hands.

Let your “comfort” come from Him.