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Love
Teaching Text: Luke 24: 13-35
Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him.
He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”
They stood still, their faces downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”
“What things?” he asked.
“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulershanded him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”
He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah 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.
As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.
When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 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?”
They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.
Themes
Consider these themes and ask your group what else they see in the passage:
Road to Emmaus
Formation
Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:
A story about hope that seems to have failed.
Jesus had died.
Nothing is more permanent. More final. We had hoped
Have you been there before? In the “we had hoped” space.
Something you were longing for?
Something you needed to receive from God?
Something you were sure would be in your life by this point?
Something you were certain would not happen to you?
Something you thought if I follow Jesus I can count on this and your expectation was not met?
Maybe you have even had the horror of watching your hopes and dreams die in front of you.
Nothing is more permanent than death.
“but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.”
They hoped, and they had their hopes dashed.
Emmaus was their home. It was also a place of legend. A place of renown. A place where imagination collected about what is possible if God raised up a new leader. A Messiah to drive out Israel’s enemy.
Judas maccabees, mighty in word and deed. Cleansed the temple.
He is able to establish a Jewish kingdom for 100 years.
Then the Romans come and you are conquered.
Send us a leader, this was their culture narrative
Jesus’ first great act was to cleanse the temple
Does all kinds of miracles
Then He dies.
They had hoped. Now they are walking home.
Do remember the first tragedy in the Scriptures?
It takes place over a meal of recognition
In the Garden in Genesis, they go their own way against God, they deceived and tempted and they choose their own way and eat the fruit and they share it and they recognize each other as naked.
The recognize each other as afraid. As alone in a new way. As insecure. As separate. As exposed.
They eat and recognize the glimpse of death for the first time.
Here we have a reversal. Here they eat and recognize life. They recognize victory. Good news. Life after death. The possibility of reunion. Of a new kind of life. Of the Kingdom of God in a way they couldn’t have imagined it.
Luke is helping us see the story that holds all stories.
“[This story contains a] great deal of what being a Christian, from that day to this, is all about. The slow, sad dismay at the failure of human hopes; the turning to someone who might or might not help; the discovery that in scripture, all unexpected, there lay keys which might unlock the central mysteries and enable us to find the truth; the sudden realization of Jesus himself, present with us, warming our hearts with his truth, showing us himself as bread is broken.” – NT Wright
Jesus walked with them and showed them how their story fit inside the larger story, inside all the stories.
This is what Jesus does for you as well. Pulls together the threads and weaves with love a tapestry of meaning and belonging.
But this story says God has come to us. Through everything that would keep us apart
Sin - going our own way, seeking to meet the deep needs of our lives out of our own resources.
But also empires - places of power and violence that impose a million different stories on us to live out of
A disappointment - all the ways we have felt let down by the world and by God and by our friends and even by ourselves
When we are seen our hopes die in front of our face and been convinced that we know the scope of what is possible in this small place.
Recognize the Savior as a Friend
“The real slave-master, keeping the human race in bondage, is death itself. Earthly tyrants borrow power from death to boost their rule; that’s why crucifixion was such a symbol of Roman authority. Victory over death robs the powers of their main threat. Sin, which means humans rebelling against God and so conspiring with death to deface God’s good creation, is likewise defeated. Jesus has led God’s new people out of slavery, and now invites them to accompany him on the new journey to the promised land. The road to Emmaus is just the beginning. Hearing Jesus’ voice in scripture, knowing him in the breaking of bread, is the way. Welcome to God’s new world.” – NT WRIGHT
Join the friendship of the burning hearts
Where today are you beat down by disappointment?
Where today are you carrying questions with no answers?
Where has your story lost the plot?
Where do you need to recognize the Rescuer is your Friend?
Bring your pain
Bring you questions
Bring you confusion
Bring your separation
Bring your lack of faith
The miracle of Easter is not merely a empty tomb centuries ago, but the presence of the Risen Jesus here with us.
Ask God to meet with Him. Ask Him to show you where He is at work.
Ask Him to show you Himself, history and how your story and the particular moment you are in fits into the larger story.
