[Outline for Overhead]
Emmaus Moments
Luke 24:13 – 16; & 28 – 35
Introduction:
Definitions:
Emmaus - to be hot; a day (as the warm hours)
- In short, A Normal Day of Life
Encounter – meet, come across, stumble upon
1. On The Road To Emmaus
A. The Two Disciples Tried To Escape To Emmaus. Luke 24:33
B. Things were not going the way they thought it should! Luke 24:21
C. Jesus Showed Up and they didn’t even recognize Him! Luke 24:27
2. In The House At Emmaus.
A. These disciples invited Jesus into their house
B. It’s amazing how God through Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit
will come right into our house….
3. While Breaking Bread
A. As He broke the bread – they recognized Him
Luke 24:30 & 31
B. In The times of “Breaking” God is most real to us:
C. Once you have been served by Him you’ll never forget!
Conclusion:
1. You may be here hurting today!
2. He is right Here if you will recognize Him!
3. You can have an Emmaus Encounter Today!
[Pastor’s Preaching notes follow]
Emmaus Encounters
Luke 24:13 – 16; & 28 – 35
13Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem.
14And they talked together of all these things which had happened.
15So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them.
16But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.
28Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther.
29But 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.
30Now 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.
31Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.
32And 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?”
33So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together,
34saying, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!”
35And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.
Some Probable Derivations of Emmaus:
From an unused root meaning to be hot; a day (as the warm hours), whether literally (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figuratively (a space of time defined by an associated term), presently, season, space, [In Short – A normal Day of Life]
Encounter – meet, come across, stumble upon
Emmaus Encounters will come in our lives. Emmaus is wherever in your life journey – at church, at home, at a nursing home, at the family dinner table, in your car, – wherever you meet the Risen Christ.
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Encounters of true revelation, those sacred times when we feel the presence of God so strongly. They are more often than not, ordinary moments, part of that 80% of life that just involves showing up.
If we look only with our eyes, or listen only with our ears:
Ø we see only a gardener,
Ø or a stranger on the shore who thinks he knows where all the fish are,
Ø or an intruder on the road to Emmaus.
But when we share a common life or a common meal, Emmaus Encounters happen again and again.
Three Elements Of This Emmaus Encounters:
1) On The Road; 2) In The House 3) While Breaking Bread
1. On The Road To Emmaus
A. The Two Disciples Tried To Escape To Emmaus.
1) Cleopas – only mentioned here –
some think he is the ‘Cleophas,’ the husband of
the Mary mentioned in John 19:25!
2) We know it was not one of the eleven because these two
disciples rose from the dinner table and went to Jerusalem
to find the eleven:
Luke 24:33 So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together,
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B. These Disciples were escaping from the disappointment,
hurt, confusion, and frustration of the past few days
C. Things were not going the way they thought it should!
Luke 24:21 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.
1) Jesus had been crucified,
2) Placed in a tomb,
3) Dead three days,
4) He was to redeem Israel, etc. etc.
Many Today Get On An Emmaus Road:
· Church is not the way it used to be.
· Services are not the way I like them.
· Not the right song.
· Wrong message.
· Someone else should have preached. Etc. etc.
D. Jesus Showed Up and they didn’t even recognize Him!
1) Jesus expounded on Scripture
Luke 24:27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.
· Isn’t it just like Jesus to show up right in the middle of our disappointment – hurt – and sorrow!
· Sometimes we don’t even recognize Him. He’s in the form of a caring man or woman, a preacher, staff member, etc
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The Emmaus story is the story of a God:
· who will not leave us alone,
· even when we are hurt and disappointed,
· even when it seems that the brightest and best in life has been destroyed
The two disciples tried to get away from it all
– But Jesus showed Up!
2. In The House At Emmaus.
A. These disciples invited Jesus into their house
B. It was customary - they washed - & refreshed themselves
C. It’s amazing how God through Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit
will come right into our house….
D. We may not recognize Him – But He is there!
3. While Breaking Bread
A. Bread was passed to the guest FIRST!
B. As He broke the bread – they recognized Him
Luke 24:30 & 31 And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, He took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. 31) And their eyes were opened, and they knew Him…
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When Did They see Him Breaking Bread before?
· They were not in the Upper Room with the 12?
· Maybe it was on the hillside when the 3,000 or 5,000 were fed?
· Maybe it was in another house?
C. In The times of “Breaking” God is most real to us:
§ Broken by Guilt
§ Broken by Hurt, Rejection, Hate
§ Broken by Divorce, Death, Sorrow
§ Broken by Weakness, Sickness, Inability
When we are BROKEN we recognize Him.
· Then we realize we are forgiven!
· We realize He has not forsaken Us!
· We know we are redeemed!
Just as these disciples recognized Him as the bread was broken, We recognize Him when we are broken.
D. Once you have been served by Him you’ll never forget!
1) These disciples remembered!
2) “Did not our hearts burn within us” they declared
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Conclusion:
4. You may be here hurting today!
5. He is right Here if you will recognize Him!
6. You’ll remember as He serves you!
7. With all that Jesus could have been doing, He chose to meet with TWO disbelieving, escaping, brokenhearted, hurting men – who were not even part of the original twelve…..
8. This, according to scripture, is the first encounter Jesus had with mankind after he had been glorified – returned to God the Father as he told the ladies at the tomb.
9. He rode with you to This HOUSE this morning….This Emmaus Day!
10. You can have an Emmaus Encounter Today!