The Road Back to Faith
This week in worship, Pastor Doug will be sharing from Luke 24:13-35. While this passage is often called, “The Road to Emmaus,” maybe a better title is, “The Road Back to Faith” because that’s what it’s about.
It’s about how we find our way back to faith when our faith and obedience are wavering.
Most of us have had times when our faith or obedience was wavering or shaky. The good news is, if you ask Jesus to walk with you and stay with you, he gladly will.
Thank you for worshiping with us.
If you would like to give toward the work we are doing to share God’s mission at Brewster Baptist Church, please follow this link to our secure online donation page or you can text BrewsterGive to 77977.
If you would like to connect with us at BBC, please follow this link to our connection card.
This first video is just the sermon
This video is the whole 8:30 service
The Road Back to Faith
I know there were a lot of folks on the road last week with it being April school vacation week. We had a crew from BBC go up to Maine and thanks to the excellent organizing of Michelle Scott and Tim Kautz’s expert knowledge, guidance, and direction, and wonderful contributions from many people including some of our children and students, the group got a lot accomplished. Jill and I went up to Maine for 48 hours and were glad to share in a small way at Oceanwood on Monday afternoon.
On the way home on Tuesday, we stopped at When Pigs Fly Bakery in Kittery and then stopped at a restaurant to have dinner before continuing our journey home. It was a leisurely drive. We enjoyed watching the sky and listening to the Red Sox game.
I can tell you that when our sons were younger, and we did longer drives we often took another approach. When we’d go on a long trip, we’d try to do it with as few stops as possible. When we’d stop, we do it like we were on the NASCAR circuit. We pull in, jump out, do what we had to do, try not to take too long, or spend too much, and get back on the road again.
Our way of looking at a rest stop is similar to how some people view going to worship. For some folks, worshipping God resembles pulling into a rest area on the highway of life. You pull in, do what you have to do, hope it doesn’t take too long, try not to spend too much, and continue on your journey as quickly as you can.
One year when we were heading south from the Washington DC area on the Monday of school vacation week, Jill, Greg, and I got caught in a horrible traffic jam. It was just crawling, with no end in sight and it was getting toward dinner time, so I said: “This is crazy. We can sit in this going nowhere or get off, have dinner somewhere and see what it’s like after that.” So, we got off the highway, went to a nearby Cracker Barrel for dinner, had a relaxing meal, and when we returned to the road, we all felt better. Not only that but we drove over 95 first to see how bad it was before committing to getting on, saw it was still bad, so we just kept going, got on Route 1 south, which had virtually no traffic, and had a lovely drive going through small towns and past the US Marine Corps center at Quantico, VA. We talked about friends of ours who spent time there and had a good time as we traveled.
Worship should be more like that experience than a NASCAR pit stop – a break from the stress of the road of life, a chance to relax, feed and nurture our soul and our relationships, and perhaps to go forward with a new outlook and aware of new paths we hadn’t noticed before.
I share this with you because today’s Gospel is about people on a journey. It begins with two disciples walking, slowly, dejectedly, hopelessly from Jerusalem to Emmaus on the Sunday after Jesus’ crucifixion. One of them is named Cleopas (klayʹoh-puhs), who is not mentioned anywhere else in the New Testament although a Clopas is referenced in John 19:25, where it says that “Mary, the wife of Clopas” was one of the women at the cross. We don’t know whether this is referring to the same person or not. Listen to Luke 24:13-35.
13 Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14 and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15 While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, 16 but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17 And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. 18 Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” 19 He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. 22 Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, 23 and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.” 25 Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! 26 Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” 27 Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.
28 As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. 29 But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. 32 They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” 33 That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. 34 They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” 35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.”
In Luke’s Gospel all the resurrection stories happen “on the same day.” Scholars argue about the exact location of Emmaus which had a Roman garrison, was it seven miles away to the northwest, was it 20 miles to the east. Regardless of its exact location, the symbolic significance of moving toward Emmaus is that moving toward Emmaus is a movement away from Jerusalem and Jesus – these disciples are deserters. They’re walking away from Jerusalem and Jesus and toward Roman power.
In Luke’s gospel avoiding Jerusalem is avoiding the true path of Jesus.
The whole Gospel of Luke is a journey toward Jerusalem, the revealing of Jesus’ identity takes place in Jerusalem, the story of Jesus ends in Jerusalem.
In the book of Acts of the gospel will go forward from Jerusalem to the world.
In walking away from Jerusalem and toward Emmaus the disciples are abandoning Jesus and his teaching and their mission.
While this passage is often called, “The Road to Emmaus,” maybe a better title is, “The Road Back to Faith” because that’s what it’s about. It’s about how we find our way back to faith when our faith and obedience are wavering. Most of us have had times when our faith or obedience was wavering or shaky.
Taking the road back to Jerusalem after Passover, after the crucifixion of Jesus, is like swimming upstream. It’s not the direction most people are moving in. But before Cleopas and his companion change direction and return to the city, something must happen to turn them around.
What happens to them gives hope to anyone who is feeling confused, lost, bewildered, anxious, afraid, or just plain empty inside. What happens is that Jesus, unrecognized, comes alongside them and travels with them in their pain, hurt, and loss. In your life, you’ll encounter times like Cleopas when you’re confused and despairing; when you need the help or guidance of a friend, mentor, or coach to instruct you, refresh your spirit and get you moving back in the right direction on the road of faith.
While Cleopas and the other disciples are talking about everything that has happened to Jesus and trying to make sense of it all, the risen Christ draws near and walks with them.
Luke says their eyes were kept from recognizing him. Their inability to recognize Jesus is evidently not because they don’t know what he looks like (although it’s interesting that even though the early church thought Jesus was the most important person who ever lived, there is no physical description of Jesus in the New Testament). Their failure to recognize Jesus at this moment is because they’re spiritually blind.
The unknown traveler asks, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” (In the days before videos and streaming services you actually talked with other people when you were traveling). They stood still looking sad.
We’re never given the name of Cleopas’ companion, perhaps because you are the second traveler.
You’re being asked to journey from an understanding of the death of Jesus that causes sadness to a deeper understanding of his death that brings joy.
Perhaps this is a story about the temptation we all confront in the face of suffering and death to want to escape to a more secure place.
Cleopas’ question is deeply ironic, “Are you the only one who travels in Jerusalem and does not know the things that happened in it in these days?”
The irony is Jesus is the only one who does know what happened to him in Jerusalem and what it means!
Cleopas has no idea what has happened, he has all of the facts and none of the meaning.
Not only that, but he also calls Jesus a “stranger” in Jerusalem.
In one sense Jesus is a stranger because the ruling elite does not recognize him, and he’s crucified outside the city walls.
In another sense, Jesus is the truest son of Jerusalem, Luke tells us in chapter 2 that Jesus is most at home in his father’s house, the Temple, where his parents found him when he stayed behind in the city when he was 12 years old.
Jesus asks, “what things?” and invites Cleopas to tell him what happened to him in Jerusalem. They said to him, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people…”
This is true as far as it goes but it doesn’t go far enough. Jesus was a prophet, but more importantly he is the Son of God. What happened to Jesus was not just the murder of one more prophet like John the Baptist. Their description of Jesus runs the risk of reducing Jesus to a reputation in the past. They’re not remembering him correctly. “And how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him.”
They remember Jesus as a victim. They say the chief priests and rulers did something to him, as if Jesus had no active choice or part in his death on the cross. They remember him as a passive recipient of the condemnation of others.
“We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.”
They remember him as a nationalistic Messiah. But Jesus was not sent only to Israel. He was sent through Israel to all people of every nation.
Now we know they’re sad because their hopes have been dashed, however, what they hoped for was not what Jesus was sent for. His mission and their expectations were not the same. This is still a problem for disciples of Jesus.
Our expectations and understanding of Jesus are often not broad enough, deep enough, or open enough to include all the mystery and paradox that is Jesus. We don’t know who he truly is. The disciples are sad because they thought Jesus would redeem Israel. He has done exactly that only they don’t see it, recognize it, or understand it. They are baffled by what has taken place.
Cleopas and the other disciple have trouble recognizing Jesus in part because they have misunderstood him. They have remembered him as a reputation, a victim, and a failure. They have all of the facts and none of the meaning.
When we only think of Jesus as a reputation, a victim, and a failure who died and that was it, then like Cleopas, “him we will not see.”
Jesus doesn’t appreciate how they have remembered him, and he calls them foolish, which is a strong term because the Bible states that the fool says in his heart there is no God. The foolish person interprets life without considering the spiritual dimension. Cleopas has interpreted Jesus only in social and political terms; he has neglected the spiritual dimension. Jesus also says they are “slow of heart.” In biblical spirituality the heart is connected to the eyes. When our heart burns or is on fire spiritually it is seen in the eyes. When we are not in touch with our deepest center (the heart); we cannot see the events of life from a spiritual perspective.
So, Jesus treats these two to a personal tour of the scriptures. What is frustrating is Luke tells us that Jesus told them, but he doesn’t tell us what Jesus told them.
Cleopas and his companion are near their destination, they’re ready to stop, eat and relax, but Jesus appears to be traveling farther. Jesus is always prepared to go farther than you are.
However, once he’s asked to stay, he immediately agrees because when you invite Jesus to stay with you it shows openness to him, even when you’re confused, or fleeing from the problems of life.
It’s around supper time and we’re not surprised that Jesus repeats what he did at the supper before he suffered. The act of taking, blessing, breaking, and giving bread after Jesus has reinterpreted the scriptures for them is understood by Cleopas and the other disciple. Their eyes are opened, and they recognize him. They see him because their hearts, their spiritual centers were awakened, and they could see the world of the spirit. Jesus opened the scriptures so they could see things they hadn’t seen before. It is only on the level of the Spirit that the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus can be understood. This understanding takes place on a journey, as you attempt to follow Jesus and to walk with him.
Jesus is the one who can help you find meaning in the midst of confusion.
He can make your heart burn with spiritual fire and give you eyes to see the truth.
As an author wrote, “One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.”[1]
As Jesus walks and talks with Cleopas and the other disciple, they receive a new way of seeing things and their confusion turns to clarity and their despair to joy.
The hope for you in Cleopas’ story is that you can experience a companionship with Jesus that will guide you in difficult times.
Luke says, “That same hour they rose up and returned to Jerusalem.” “They rose up,” means that the disciples who had been spiritually dead now share in the resurrection of Jesus. Resurrection is not just an event in the life of Jesus. It’s an event in the life of his followers. The risen Jesus has done his job. He has brought his followers to a deeper experience of himself and taught them to see and remember him for who he truly is – the Son of God. What they had seen as the end of hope was in truth its beginning.
Cleopas and his companion had been so sad and confused as they journeyed away from Jerusalem and Jesus. Now they’re changed. They get back on the road to Jerusalem, back toward the mission and the witness to which they’re called. With the long and eager strides of those who have good news, they take the road back to Jerusalem to tell others of their life changing experience with Jesus.
This is what disciples do.
We share with others the good news of our experiences with Jesus on the road of life.
How Jesus walks with us and stays with us even when we’re disobedient, running away, confused, and spiritually blind.
How Jesus teaches us the meaning of the scriptures, helping us to understand them and giving us spiritual sight.
How Jesus is known among friends through the breaking and sharing of bread.
Their excitement moves them naturally to share their story with the brothers and sisters who are in the midst of a similar state of despair and confusion.
If you’re confused or despairing, if you need a guide to help you, instruct you or renew your spirit and get you moving in the right direction on the journey of life, then you need to invite Jesus to journey with you. Jesus will never take you where you’re not supposed to go.
The good news is, if you ask Jesus to walk with you and stay with you, he gladly will.
[1] Henry Miller, Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch (1957).
Questions for Discussion or Reflection
When have you been surprised by God in moment or season of grief or disappointment? What happened? How did it impact the way that you related to God?
Put yourselves in the sandals of the disciples on the road to Emmaus. How do you think you would feel as you walk and reflect on the death of Jesus? What might you be saying?
In Luke 24.27, Jesus says shares with Cleopas and the other disciple all that is said about him in the Old Testament. We don’t know what passages he opened to them, but Jesus did say in Matthew 5:17 that he came to “fulfill the law and the prophets.” How does this idea impact your view of the Old Testament?
Jesus is present with us even when we don’t realize it. How have you found that to be true in your life? Are you in a season right now where it’s easier or harder to recognize Christ’s presence? Why do you think that is?
What was wrong about how the disciples on the road were thinking of Jesus? How does Luke 24.13-35 encourage us to think of Christ? An author wrote, “One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.”[1]How is this true in the encounter on the road to Emmaus which becomes the road back to faith? How do the disciples come to “a new way of seeing things?” How has this been true for you?