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Good morning and Happy Easter, everyone! You all look so wonderful today. We’re going to look at a passage in Luke together. If you’re joining us online and using the bulletin, or have it in your hands, you can find it in the back. If you have a device, please turn to Luke 24. We’ll start reading at verse 13 as we consider this experience on the day of the resurrection.

Luke 24:13-35 (ESV):

13 That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14 and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15 While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. 16 But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17 And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. 18 Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” 19 And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up 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 happened. 22 Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, 23 and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even 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 him they did not see.” 25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

28 So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, 29 but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. 31 And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. 32 They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” 33 And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, 34 saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” 35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.

This is God’s word. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of God will stand forever. Let’s pray.

Father, I pray that You would be with us this morning. Open our eyes, even as You opened the eyes of Cleopas and his friend. I pray that You would open our thinking, our sensing, our feeling, and our yielding. Open our will and our stubborn motivations to You as well. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

I was talking with my kids who are in town for the holiday, and my youngest daughter was commenting about an experience she had. She wondered, given how energized everyone was at a particular event, why she wasn’t as energized. She wondered if something was wrong with her because she wasn’t experiencing that same sense of engagement.

We talked about how that relates to personal thoughts and ideas, but it made me think. This time last year, there was a ton of energy about actresses like Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande in the production of Wicked. For those not into musical theater, that may not mean anything. But for someone like me—a huge fan since childhood—the idea of turning that Broadway musical into a film with someone as amazing as Cynthia Erivo is exciting!

But if you don’t vibe with that, you’re thinking, “What’s the big deal? Why is all this energy being exerted for two women I’ve never heard of and a play that sounds bad?”

I think of that in terms of today. There is a lot of energy being exerted today. For many church people, today is the “Super Bowl.” It’s the Christian Daytona 500, the Kentucky Derby, the Final Four. There’s loud music, flashing lights, and smoke billowing from stages across American churches. Yet, if you come here this morning, maybe you’re wondering, “What’s the big deal?”

There is a huge spectrum of how people experience the resurrection of Jesus. Here is where I think the American church sometimes gets in the way. As much as we try to pump up the volume so people get excited, you can’t get someone there just by telling them to be there.

While the modern church tries to make the resurrection “larger than life,” Jesus seems to want to saturate it into our lives. Most of the resurrection experiences in Scripture happen in low-key, quiet moments. Most of the time, people were convinced of the resurrection through relationships, not large services.

In the book of Acts and the Gospels, the first expressions of the resurrection happened almost quietly in the early morning. Jesus tapped into those who culture viewed as “outsiders”—the women and children. When Mary first saw Him, she didn’t recognize Him.

Then, on that same day, Jesus shows up while two guys are having a conversation on a seven-mile walk. It probably took them three hours to get from Jerusalem to Emmaus. Jesus shows up, and they don’t recognize Him.

What encourages me is that you don’t have to be part of the pomp and circumstance to “get” Jesus or the value of the resurrection. More often than not, Jesus is trying to ingrain the resurrection into your everyday life rather than a special ceremony.

How many of you are walking around, and Jesus is right there in your life, but you don’t recognize Him?

When I talk to people in my office about life issues, most of the time I’m just trying to help them see Jesus in their experience. I’m not bringing some new methodological change or psychological understanding—though those are valuable. Usually, when people end up in my office, they are at the end of their rope. Part of what I try to help them see is that Jesus is already there. The grace of God is already in your experience. Can you see it? Can your eyes be opened to the reality of it?

Cleopas and his friend didn’t get it at first. And look at how Jesus shows up—not like most “church people” do. Most church people show up with, “You know what you’re doing wrong? I’ve got an answer to a question you aren’t asking!”

Jesus doesn’t do that. He says, “Hey, what are you guys talking about?”

They ask Him, “Are you new in town? Have you not been here for the last three days? There have been riots, crucifixions, kangaroo courts, and women with crazy dreams!”

Jesus just says, “Tell me about it.” He uses questions to uncover them, to open their eyes, and to see where they are.

My dad used to say, “Boy, you’ve got two ears and one mouth. That means you should do twice as much listening as talking.” Jesus has more truth to offer than anyone on the planet, yet He enters the situation asking honest, thoughtful, engaging questions: “Where have you been for the last three days? What do you know about this? Where are you finding your hope?”

When He asked what they were discussing, they “stood still, looking sad.” If He hadn’t asked, He might not have discovered how downcast they were. When you come with more words than questions, you don’t uncover a person’s struggle. Jesus wants to elevate the struggle they are experiencing.

The travelers answered, “We had hoped He was going to be the Redeemer.” In their minds, “Redeemer” meant setting them free from their Roman lords. They wanted a government, a culture, and a level of privilege that they desired. They wanted redemption from their circumstances.

If you come to Easter with that same sense, you’re going to miss Jesus every time. Jesus isn’t primarily trying to set us free from our circumstances because that’s not the biggest problem we have. He’s trying to set us free from our internal slavery—the slavery of self, of self-salvation, and the coping mechanisms we become enslaved to.

Whether it’s an addiction the world condemns or one the world applauds (like being a high achiever), these are often ways we avoid the “downcastness” of our hearts. Jesus asks, “How do you understand the resurrection? What’s been going on the last three days?”

He then spent three hours describing Himself from the Bible, starting with Moses and the Prophets. He used the Scriptures to show that the biggest problem we have is an internal one. Until you and I understand the depth of our need for freedom from the slavery of self, the cross and the resurrection make no sense.

I can’t get you excited on the outside about Easter if you aren’t passionate on the inside about what Jesus did for you.

There’s a great word I learned as a kid from John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

The root of “perish” is peril. Jesus, by His death, saves us from the peril we are in. If you don’t have an internal sense that you are in peril, salvation means nothing. If you aren’t drowning, why do you need a lifeguard?

Jesus’ sacrifice can seem noble or “oddly crazy” until you realize you were the one in the way of the truck. If someone snatched you from peril and was placed under peril themselves in the process, now the cross means something completely different. Now, internal passion is greater than external force.

That’s why the resurrection experiences are personal. Jesus enters a personal conversation with two guys on a road. They spent three hours talking, and they invited Him to stay because it was getting dark. Jesus acted “as if” He were going further because He wanted to stay—He wanted to engage them more deeply until their eyes were opened.

The moment that clicked for them was a natural, ordinary, memorable moment. They sat down, He gave thanks, took the bread, broke it, and gave it to them. And they remembered Him.

That’s why He gave us the Supper. It’s why we have a big breakfast on Easter—to remember. Memories, drama, and storytelling are powerful; they are how God made us.

When we see the bread broken and the wine spilled, we are reminded of spilled blood and broken humanity. For humanity to find salvation, someone had to be broken. Freedom is not free; it is costly.

God isn’t simply merciful because it’s His character; He is merciful because the price has been paid. He told Adam and Eve that sin brings death, but rather than rejecting humanity, He took the peril Himself so we could take the freedom.

If you “get” that—if your spiritual eyes are opened—then come and receive the grace of God. If you’re still puzzled or it feels purely external, then wait and watch. Keep walking; maybe you haven’t finished your seven-mile walk yet.

But if today it makes sense, and you see Jesus sitting there offering the bread and the wine, then take Jesus. Trust Jesus. He is as powerful and resurrected today as He was that very first day.

Let’s pray.

Father, thank You for Your grace and the drama of Your word. These simple elements—bread and wine—reflect that You nourish us and change us from the inside out. Life comes to us through Your brokenness. We thank You that our records are cleared and replaced with the record of Jesus. Show up again, walk on the road with us, and make Yourself known through the message and the relationships. In Jesus’ name, Amen.