Gospel of Luke

Chapter Twenty-four

Day 24 of 24
...but...
One of the greatest three-letter words in scripture is “but.” Of course, the greatest three-letter word is God. So many times in scripture those two words go together. In a split second, God can turn the door of His plan and purpose on the hinge of the word “but” and open a passageway leading to a pathway that would be impossible for human beings to even begin to imagine.
After the crucifixion, those women at the end of Luke 23 quickly prepared their spices and perfumes to wash and anoint the body of Jesus BUT they had to wait until the Sabbath was complete for The Son had gone down with the sun.
Jesus had been removed from the cross just before sunset on Friday. From Friday evening at sunset to Saturday evening at sunset they would observe the Sabbath...their beloved Passover Sabbath. Not until the first day of the week, that Sunday morning after the crucifixion, would they be able to go to the tomb where they had just seen Jesus be carried and wrapped and tenderly laid in the tomb belonging to Joseph of Arimathea.
...BUT...
When they arrived at the tomb just after dawn, they found the stone had been rolled away and there was NoBody. All four gospels tell us that angels were present. Their message (angels always deliver messages from God...that’s the meaning of their name and that’s their job) was the same: “He is not here for He is risen.” I’m sure the angels would have loved to have added a “Duh” to that sentence for the dull lack of human understanding but angels only say what God sends them to say.
Remember the words of Jesus as He storied the disciples all along the way from Galilee to Jerusalem: He would be arrested, tried, crucified and on the third day He would rise again. This was one of the greatest “AHA” moments in all of history: they remembered His words and they knew Jesus was alive.
The women went back and told the Eleven disciples (Doctor Luke never omits a vital detail in word or number) this great good news. See Luke 18:31-34. Yes, they had heard Jesus say these things over and over again BUT still they did not understand. Then for an epilogue to Luke 18, Jesus healed a blind man to grab the attention of their blind ears and blind hearts. Personally, I believe that either they could not BEAR to hear those words or they did not WANT to understand for they had their own plan for Jesus.
Then, Doctor Luke records my favorite story about the resurrection day of Jesus. Cleopas and Mister No Name had been in Jerusalem for Passover. In horror they had watched Jesus die. They had stayed to observe Sabbath and grieve with all the other followers of Jesus. Then that Sunday morning, they had heard that the women had been to the tomb and found it empty and that there were angels BUT no Jesus. For some reason, these two men from Emmaus took their toys and walked home.
Emmaus was a seven mile journey from Jerusalem. They had been walking and talking most of the day. TAL, our guide in Israel in May 2018 said it this way, “Clippus and another were walking on dee road to A-mouse.” Jesus Himself approached them and continued to walk with them. This thought slays me. Jesus has talked with the women at the tomb and now He tenderly joins a couple of dejected followers on their road back home. He knows exactly where we are on our journey and He comes to where we are and He has a Word for us, even in our disbelief. Wow.
They didn’t recognize Jesus. Confusion? Grief? Disbelief? Disillusionment? Exhaustion? Scripture says here that their eyes were “prevented” from recognizing Jesus. I think Jesus had a message they needed to hear first. I think this “blindness” of theirs was another picture of how He knows that we must first believe, then see.
Jesus spoke first. “What were you boys talking about on the road?” His words stopped them in their tracks.
Cleopas said, “Mister, you ain’t from around here or you would have never asked that question. You musta crawled out from under some rock. (My words and my smile fit here). Haven’t you heard about the things that have been happening?”
Jesus asked, “What things?” My smile fits here, too, because I can just see the light of joy that must have been surely dancing in the eyes of Jesus as He made preparation to delight their wounded souls. The full story tumbled out as they both tried to talk at the same time to this stranger on the road leading from Jerusalem.
“Jesus the Nazarene. Prophet. Mighty in word and in deed. God’s choice. People’s choice. Our choice! Jewish chief priests. Roman rulers. Pilate. Herod. Death sentence. Crucifixion. Tomb. All our hopes dashed. Now this is the third day ...silly women... early this morning...talking about seeing visions of angels and the empty tomb...dead OR alive?!?!? Some of the guys said the tomb was empty, BUT Him, they did not see...US?...we just decided to walk on back home...”
They were about to see Jesus unforgettably.
Jesus preached to them what I call the Unrecorded Sermon. Oh, how I wish the words of this sermon could be in the text! Luke only records the outline of the sermon. Since the Holy Spirit inspired the Bible, I’m sure He wanted us to search out this Old Testament sermon for ourselves in our own study time.
As they continued walking together, Jesus began with the ministry of Moses and moved through every prophetic passage in the Old Testament concerning Himself and gave full explanation of each Messianic reference. How in the world these two guys did not realize exactly Who they were listening to is still a mystery to me. BUT they did not. Not until the blessing at supper.
It was toward evening as the sermon came to a close. No hospitable Jew would send even a stranger into the darkness without offering shelter. At the evening meal, Jesus became the host instead of the guest as they reclined at the table. He took the bread in His own hands. He blessed the bread. Then He broke the bread and began giving the bread to them.
It was in the breaking of the bread that they finally recognized the true identity of their precious Guest. At that moment, Jesus vanished from their sight. As they stared at that empty place at the table and then at each other, they said, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?” Vance Havner, evangelist, would say, “The words of Jesus gave those boys a good case of holy heartburn.”
Cleopas and Mister No Name left their supper on the table and ran back to Jerusalem to share their news with the Eleven. They had walked seven miles and now I am certain that they made up for lost time on the return trip...fourteen miles in one day!
When they entered the room, they heard the disciples saying to each other that Jesus had truly risen from the dead and had indeed appeared to Simon. The Emmaus Duo interrupted the committee meeting to share their story about the road and the stranger and the sermon and the breaking of the bread.
So. I think when Jesus grabbed that loaf and blessed it and then began to break it and share it with them that there were two other undeniable physical clues as to His true identity.
I believe that Cleopas and Mister No Name saw His nail scars.
As they were all talking there together, suddenly, Jesus joined the group. To quote that same evangelist Vance Havner who said of this moment, “First, Jesus was nowhere and then He was Now Here!”
Jesus encouraged them to put away all of their doubts and fears. He showed them His hands and His feet and offered to let them touch Him. While they were still dealing with their own joy-filled case of shock and awe, Jesus said, “You boys got anything to eat?” He had missed supper in Emmaus...had to leave just after the blessing! They gave Jesus a piece of fish and He took it and ate it while they watched in worshipful wonder.
After supper, Jesus taught the same message to the Eleven and the boys from Emmaus. He spoke of the Law of Moses and the words of the Prophets and the poetry of the Psalms and how He had come to fulfill all of scripture. The gospel in its infancy was all of that and more. His sinless life, substitutionary death by crucifixion, bodily resurrection, soon to come ascension and ultimate return had now become the jet fuel for the telling of the story.
Each gospel as well as the first chapter of the Book of Acts all share the Great GO-Mission of Jesus to believers. God sent Jesus. Jesus sent The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit calls and sends us. Repentance toward the forgiveness of sins was now to begin to be proclaimed in Jerusalem and reach from there to all nations. For now, they must stay in the city and wait for the promise of The Father. Jesus remained with them for forty days. They would remain in Jerusalem for the fifty days from the festival of Passover to the festival of Pentecost. On that day, The Holy Spirit indeed did fill them for service in the kingdom. 
And serve, they did! 
Jesus always comes with a GO...