The Risen Christ Meets Us

Introduction

On the road to Emmaus, two despairing disciples discover that the risen Christ meets us wherever we are. In this Easter sermon on Luke 24:13-35, Mark Fletcher explores how faith in the face of despair is renewed through word and sacrament — through Scripture and the breaking of bread — as Christ walks alongside the ordinary ones.

So, happy Easter to all of you. I hope that the joy of this season is at work in you. It is life-giving and heart-warming and hope-inspiring. But if that’s not quite where you are at this point, if you find yourself standing slightly on the edge, slightly at a distance this evening, then this story is especially for you. Because the risen Christ meets us wherever we are.

This is a story, did you see, from the evening of Easter Day, of that first Easter. And it is a wonderful story to be treasured and to be meditated on. It’s another one of these lovely details that Luke seems to have uncovered in his research. And it is a story about faith in the face of despair. And the resurrection, not only of Jesus, but of the faith of his disciples.

It begins with two disciples walking away. Verse 13, now that same day, two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. Which two? We don’t really know. Which I think is probably significant in itself. They are disciples, but they’re not members of the Twelve. And they’re clearly not the sort of significant ones. One we discover is called Cleopas, but this is the only time that that name is mentioned.

And isn’t that just typical of Jesus? That on the evening of literally the biggest day of his life, he is found talking to the ordinary ones. And his kingdom has never really been about the grand spectacle. It is about these personal encounters with ordinary people. It’s as if what Luke is saying, that the thing which changes everything, isn’t the dramatic proof, but this personal encounter with Jesus.

Why are they going to Emmaus? Well, because that’s where they’re from. That’s where they live. But the undercurrent of that is it’s because they’ve had enough. That this story begins in the despair that follows the crucifixion. They are clearly desolate and disappointed. They had such high hopes of Jesus, but in the end he was just another good man crushed by evil.

And then intriguingly, did you hear that they sort of heard these rumours of the resurrection, but they’re leaving Jerusalem anyway. That seems like a strange thing to do. But it’s helpful for us to realise the impossibility of all of this. Not least, the impossibility of a Messiah, a Christ who is crucified. And so they walk away because what else is there to do? And the thing that changes everything is this remarkable encounter on the road.

Next thing to observe, I think, is this lovely thing that this encounter occurs outside the city, on the wilderness road, on a journey. We are reminded that we may walk away from God, but we are never beyond his reach.

I also noticed that walking is a great way to think. Anybody else find that? Our mind is clearer. We have space to reflect. And often it’s when we go for a walk that things start to make sense. I don’t know if you’ve ever done that in a really intentional way, like going on a pilgrimage or a retreat. That when we take some time, it is often when we encounter God.

And this figure, who they don’t, they’re kept from recognising, did you see? And he comes alongside them and he says, what are you discussing while you are walking along? Note that. Note that despite their despair and their disappointment, they are still talking about what happened, still trying to make sense of it. Despair is never quite final while you are still talking about it.

You know, often our doubts and our fears mean that, well, we don’t talk about it because we’re a little bit ashamed or we think there are no answers. And then faith ossifies and becomes brittle. But no. These disciples, they talk with one another. And we should do the same in our struggles. Find people that we trust and talk and question and wrestle with things.

Next. They encounter Christ, first of all, in the Scriptures. So, did you see that the mysterious figure doesn’t point them to himself? He points them to what they know. To the Bible. It is the Scriptures which help us to make sense of things and point us to Jesus. I know that lots of us find the Bible hard, but that is no reason to give up on it. Because without it, we are all at sea.

And there’s a lovely reflection at the end of the story where they remember this greatest Bible study of all with Jesus. And they say, were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us and opened the Scriptures to us? And so that’s why in church and in our small groups and individually, we persist with the Bible. We wrestle with it because consistently through it, God’s voice is heard.

And those Scriptures help them to see the big picture. They make sense of the things that they haven’t been able to understand. Verse 25, this strange figure says 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? Beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them what was said in the Scriptures concerning himself. From Genesis to Malachi. All of those Old Testament Scriptures point to Jesus. And the cross is not plan B. It was always plan A. It was always the plan of God for the redemption of the world. The suffering servant of Isaiah 53 is the promised Messiah.

I also think that one of the really important things that Scripture does is it helps us to see our place in the big picture. Often when we’re struggling, our perspective closes in. We seem to sort of turn in on ourselves. When we are struggling, we find that it’s very hard to believe that we’re part of God’s purposes. But the Scriptures show us that the purposes of God go through the storm and through the darkness and through the wilderness and even through the grave. Because if that’s true of Jesus, then it’s true of us too.

So can you imagine them at this point? They’ve been walking along. They’ve had this incredible conversation with this mysterious figure. And they must be thinking, who on earth is this person?

And then there’s a lovely, lovely moment where they essentially are asked to make a choice. Verse 28, as they came near to the village where they were going, he walked ahead as if he was going on. Can you see that? Jesus sort of, what does he do? He sort of strolls on a little bit. He’s like, all right, then, see ya. And they are invited to make a choice.

Faith is the choice that we make. It is never forced upon us. We need to make that choice each day to choose Scripture and prayer and silence and walking with Jesus. We need to choose where we turn when life is hard. We need to remember where we encounter God.

And so they invite him for dinner and he sits down with them. And then this most fabulous moment. Verse 30, while he was at table with them, he took bread, blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to them. And then their eyes were opened and Christ was revealed before them as he broke bread.

Do you get the significance of that? That what Jesus chooses to do is make himself known as bread is broken. Just as the Last Supper spoke of the cross, this encounter with Christ is focused on communion. That our encounters with Christ are not just intellectual, not just head, but they’re head and heart and soul and sight and touch and taste. That the Word, the Scriptures, and the sacraments go together.

You know, sadly, so often church is kind of divided along those lines, sacrament or word. But here in Luke’s Gospel, the two are beautifully intertwined. It’s echoed again right at the end of the passage in verse 35. They told what had happened on the road and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

Do you see how significant this is? Luke is telling the story of a resurrection encounter with Christ that we all can share in. Christ points them and therefore us to the encounters with him that he has put in place for all of us. Word and sacrament. Scripture and communion.

Faith is hard. There will always be times when we lose our way. When we are tempted to despair. But knowing where to go when we are struggling is half the battle. We learn to keep talking. To keep questioning. To keep walking. To return to Scripture and sacrament.

And in this encounter with the resurrected Christ, our minds can be opened. Our hearts enlivened. And our perspective transformed. Do you see that whoever you are, wherever you are on your journey, this is a story for you? Christ comes walking down the road and invites you to walk with him. He invites you to make a choice.

It is a story to be treasured and meditated on. Because these disciples are all of us. And Christ is encountered in the Word and in the sacraments. In the Scriptures and in the breaking of bread. May we know the presence of Christ this Easter day. Hallelujah. Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Hallelujah.