A WALK WITH JESUS
Luke 24:13-31
13 And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was threescore furlongs from Jerusalem.
14 And they communed with each other of all these things which had happened.
15 And it came to pass, while they communed and questioned together, that Jesus himself drew near, and went with them.
16 But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.
17 And he said unto them, What communications are these that ye have one with another, as ye walk? And they stood still, looking sad.
18 And one of them, named Cleopas, answering said unto him, Dost thou alone sojourn in Jerusalem and not know the things which are come to pass there in these days?
19 And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, The things concerning Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people:
20 and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him.
21 But we hoped that it was he who should redeem Israel. Yea and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things came to pass.
22 Moreover certain women of our company amazed us, having been early at the tomb;
23 and when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive.
24 And certain of them that were with us went to the tomb, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not.
25 And he said unto them, O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!
26 Behooved it not the Christ to suffer these things, and to enter into his glory?
27 And beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
28 And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they were going: and he made as though he would go further.
29 And they constrained him, saying, Abide with us; for it is toward evening, and the day is now far spent. And he went in to abide with them.
30 And it came to pass, when he had sat down with them to meat, he took the bread and blessed; and breaking (it) he gave to them.
31 And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight.
ASV
BACKGROUND
When you look at this situation, you will see history repeating itself in America today. These disciples had had a horrible weekend. They went to the Passover festival in Jerusalem and witnessed their beloved Jesus crucified. They knew Jesus was innocent of the crimes He was accused of. They knew the Jewish religious leaders had some how convinced the Roman government that Jesus committed crimes because they hated Him.
Jesus was innocent. He was guilty of telling the truth. He was guilty of casting out demons, healing the blind, the lame and all kinds of diseases. He was guilty of doing good on the Sabbath and breaking Jewish traditions.
He was a popular figure with a large following. Crowds followed him
Because of the miracles He performed and He was guilty of His divine influence.
The Jewish religious leaders did not want the Jewish population to know the truth because it threatens their authority over them.
THE PLOT TO KILL JESUS
John 11:49 But a certain one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all, 50 nor do ye take account that it is expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.
The Jewish religious leaders were worried about keeping their traditions in place which allowed them control over their mistruths of the scriptures.
Matt 15:2-3
2 Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. And he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?
The week of the Passover festival was an excellent time to kill Jesus because the Jewish leaders knew He would be there.
Matt 26:3-5
3 At that same time the leading priests and elders were meeting at the residence of Caiaphas, the high priest, 4 plotting how to capture Jesus secretly and kill him. 5 "But not during the Passover celebration," they agreed, "or the people may riot."
THE CONTROL OF WICKNESS IN HIGH PLACES
You and I need to understand that we are not equipped to handle wickedness in high places. God is in control of all wickedness so that it will work out for our good. Jesus had told His disciples several times that He would be killed, but they would not hear it.
Matt 20:18 Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests and scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, 19 and shall deliver him unto the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify: and the third day he shall be raised up.
These disciples like all the rest heard the Word, but did not listen to understand. It is my belief that they did not ask Jesus to explain His
Statement. Had they listened there would have been no need for their distress. They were sad and had lost hope because of their own lack of faith in Jesus.
LESSONS FROM THE TEXT
This text proves that there are some pain we cause ourselves. It is like the old gospel hymn, O WHAT PEACE WE OFTEN FORFIT ALL BECAUSE WE DO NOT CARRY EVERYTHING TO JESUS IN PRAYER. You and I are victims of our own beliefs of unbeliefs.
There are a number of lessons we can learn from this text.
JESUS IS IN THE MIDST OF YOUR TROUBLES
13 That same day two of Jesus' followers were walking to the village of Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 As they walked along they were talking about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things, Jesus himself suddenly came and began walking with them.
If the Word says it, take time to get an understanding of it. Believe if
it makes sense to you or not. These two disciples were walking back home sad, frustrated and confused by what had happen, Why?
Jesus is in the midst and concern about everything pertaining to you,
Luke 24:13-16
When two are more are gathered in Jesus name He is in the midst; believe it. You can’t see Him but He is HERE. Notice it said and suddenly He was with them. Jesus is not ready to council with you
When you are driven by thoughts of the world, If you want the world’s advice, don’t call God. If you want God help, leave world out of it.
ASK YOURSELF QUESTIONS ABOUT SCRIPTURE
Jesus does not always give you an answer immediately.
“Their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him “. It is my belief
That God wants us to spend time researching and meditating on the Word. We must do the work of studying the scripture. The Holy Spirit is our teacher of The Word of God. But the Spirit can’t give us an understanding of the Word we do not consider. If there is nothing in your memory bank, He can’t explain a zero.
We must ask ourselves questions about scripture. It is the questions that excites the research. It is the questions that Jesus is prepared to
Help us get an understanding.
*What are these words you are exchanging with one another?”
Why are you sad? What is troubling you?
Luke 24:18
Then one of them, Cleopas, replied, "You must be the only person in Jerusalem who hasn't heard about all the things that have happened there the last few days.
Sometimes we have so much going on, we can’t identify what is the source of our sorrow. Jesus continues His investigation to help us understand our state of mind
Luke 24:19-20
19 "What things?" Jesus asked. "The things that happened to Jesus, the man from Nazareth," they said. "He was a prophet who did powerful miracles, and he was a mighty teacher in the eyes of God and all the people.
You can help anyone unless you know what they are dealing with.
It is what happen today, yesterday, or 10 years ago? What specifically is making you sad?
Layout in your mind everything that troubles you about the main source of your sorrow.
Luke 24:20-21
But our leading priests and other religious leaders handed him over to be condemned to death, and they crucified him. 21 We had hoped he was the Messiah who had come to rescue Israel. This all happened three days ago.
The Jewish priest may have thought they were doing this evil secretly, but God made it known.
They were troubled that Jesus, an innocent man was crucified
They were troubled that their religious leader had it done
They were troubled because their hope for a Messiah was gone.
They were troubled because their hope for a rescue died
They were trouble because the bad guys won again
Look for the good news in every situation.
They had the good news, but they would not believe it.
They had the good news, but they would believe the report because it came from the mouth of women.
Luke 24:22-24
"Then some women from our group of his followers were at his tomb early this morning, and they came back with an amazing report. 23 They said his body was missing, and they had seen angels who told them Jesus is alive! 24 Some of our men ran out to see, and sure enough, his body was gone, just as the women had said."
The two disciples only reflected on the part of the story that the men reported. There was more ,the men said women were foolish.
Luke 24:5-7
Then the men( angels) asked, "Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? 6 He isn't here! He is risen from the dead! Remember what he told you back in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and that he would rise again on the third day.
They had the good news, they would believe it because the women were the first to report it. They made a choice to be sad. They made a choice to ignore the women's report which confirmed what Jesus said would happen that did happen. They made a choice to not believe that Jesus was God and nothing was impossible for Him.
How many times have we made the choice not to believe scripture?
Once you have done your research, take time and listen to the Lord.
Let the Lord enlighten you in the Word,
Luke 24:25-27
25 Then Jesus said to them, "You foolish people! You find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures. 26 Wasn't it clearly predicted that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his glory?"
Notice, Jesus call us foolish not to believe the Word of God we have in all the Scriptures of the Bible. It is foolish to make your own interpretation of events when you don’t know the whole story.
The Bible is not a hard book to read. It is a hard book to believe because we have all the lies of Satan. It is easy to believe what you can see and explain. It is easy to believe what your experience says
Can’t happen. The Bible is a book of extraordinary events written by an extraordinary God. As believers we ought to expect extraordinary events to happen in our lives.
Spend considerable time studying the whole Bible. The Old Testament is the history of Israel, God’s commands and the prophecies to come. The New Testament confirms the Old Testament along with good news of Jesus Christ
Luke 24:27
Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the
prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning
Himself.
There are no Words in the Bible that are not good for us to study.
2 Tim 3:16-17
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true
and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when
we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 17 God uses it to
prepare and equip his people to do every good work.
Each verse in the Bible speaks directly to you
Invite Jesus into your Home.
We ought to make it a point to invite Jesus to come sit with us and eat the fresh fruits of grace and mercy He gives
Luke 24:28-31
28 By this time they were nearing Emmaus and the end of their journey. Jesus acted as if he were going on, 29 but they begged him, "Stay the night with us, since it is getting late." So he went home with them. 30 As they sat down to eat, he took the bread and blessed it. Then he broke it and gave it to them. 31 Suddenly, their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And at that moment he disappeared!
Jesus came in and visit with you anytime you open the door for Him.
Jesus will sat down and eat with you anytime you ask.
Jesus is the blessing of your food
When Jesus blesses your household your eyes will be open to His goodness and His presence
Why did Jesus disappear? I think is is because they saw him with their hearts
Luke 24:32-33
32 They said to each other, "Didn't our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?"
10. Share the good news about Jesus to others.
Your testimony is important to others
Luke 24:33-34
And within the hour they were on their way back to Jerusalem. There
they found the eleven disciples and the others who had gathered with
them, 34 who said, "The Lord has really risen! He appeared to Peter."
You never know what people are going through. Sometimes they just
need a word of encouragement. All the disciples were suffering from
the same issues. They needed a reason to renew their hope and faith.
JESUS IS IN THE MIDST OF YOUR TROUBLES
JESUS WILL COME ALONG SIDE YOU
WHEN TWO ARE MORE ARE GATHERED IN JESUS NAME, hE IS IN THE MIDST
JESUS LISTENS TO YOUR CONCERNS
JESUS WITH POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT REVIEW SCRIPTURE WITH YOU
WITH THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT HELP YOU GET AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE SCRIPTURE
