DATE: 26th April 2020
THEME: LORD STAY WITH US.
SCRIPTURE READINGS
Acts 2:36-41
1 Peter 1:17-23
Luke 24:13-35
PSALTER: Psalms 116:12-19
INTRODUCTION
Today is the second Sunday after Easter. Today, we are given the opportunity to hear the “rest of the story” of Easter.
On the Sunday after the Crucifixion the Disciples were disillusioned. The two dejected disciples were on their seven mile walk home. It was over they were saying to themselves. They knew life would never be the same. They watched their dreams, their hope for a new Israel with the famous prophet Jesus destroyed, when the great stone sealed His grave.
When they talked about Jesus, their words come slowly. Their faces carried the sadness of grief and loss. Eyes down cast. Shoulders carried the weight of lost hope. Everything they said was in the past tense. They still loved him. They still believed in him as best they could. They clung to every cherished memory.
The third day was almost gone and Jesus was nowhere to be found. Bring down the curtain, it’s all over now.
Remember, they did not know “the rest of the story”. It had not yet been written. A few more steps and they would be home. Just then a stranger comes up behind them and says, “I’m sorry, but I could not help over hearing you. What things are you talking about?”
This Stranger begins to explain “the rest of the story”: He tells them plainly that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and die on the cross.
What seemed like the ultimate miscarriage of justice turns out to be the Creator of the Universe’s plan from eternity so that we who have broken His commandments would have peace and harmony with our Creator restored.
To complete “The Rest of the story” we find that the two disciples had invited this visitor into their home.
BODY
I. THE DISCIPLES FAILED TO RECOGNIZE HIM
Although the disciples knew who Jesus was, they did not recognize Him.
There were several reasons they did not recognize Jesus:
a. God did not want them to recognize Him- Jesus is not being cruel here. His gradual revelation of Himself allows them to learn certain lessons about trusting God’s promises.
b. Events had not happened as expected- They had a preconceived idea of who Jesus was, what He had come to do, and how He should do it. But when things did not turn out like they thought they should, they dismissed the whole thing as a mere failure, as misplaced hope and trust.
c. They had little faith
They had heard the reports of the women who went to the tomb. They had seen the empty tomb for themselves and yet they had not believed. They had never seriously considered who Jesus was.
II. JESUS OPENS OUR EYES
While we do not know the specific passages Jesus used, we know He opened to them the Scriptures with a view toward showing them how all the Old Testament pointed to Him as its fulfilment.
▪Jesus walked them through the entirety of the Bible to show how it gave witness to who He was, why He had come, and why it was necessary.
Jesus still uses scripture today to open the eyes of those who do not know Him.
III. JESUS REVEALS HIMSELF
It was only as they had fellowship with Jesus that He disclosed Himself to them. Jesus reveals Himself to those whose eyes He has opened through the truths of His Word.
In the intimacy of fellowship Jesus reveals Himself to us.
His working in our lives becomes clearer, and His provision and protection come into focus.
IV. JESUS MOVES US TO SHARE
When your eyes have been opened, you will want others to have their eyes opened. Can you imagine the excitement they must have felt? They said to one another, “Did not our hearts burn within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?”
Their encounter with Jesus had been emotional.
▪It had stirred them on the inside.
▪It had moved their very hearts.
And once moved they could not help but share.
V. LORD STAY WITH US!”
The two disciples wanted Jesus to stay with them because it was almost evening. For Him to travel on that night would have been dangerous.
They asked Him to stay because of the challenges of the day. We also need Him now, more than ever, to stay with us!
👉🏽We need Him to Stay with us to Protect, Safe and Deliver us from the COVID 19.
👉🏽We need Him to Heal our Nation.
👉🏽We need Him to STAY with our Homes, Churches and Nation.
“STAY with us, dear Jesus! For our lives are far spent and it is toward the evening of our lives and this world. The days are evil and dangerous! We need you to STAY with us every passing hour!”.
APPLICATION
▪If your life has ever been shattered then this is your story. If your life has ever been restored then this is your story.
▪Within this story is a pattern or template that describes the journey from Jerusalem to Emmaus and back to Jerusalem.
▪It’s a journey Cleopas and his companion take and it’s a journey each of us has taken, is taking, or will take.
It’s not, however, a onetime journey. It’s a journey we take again and again.
👉🏽Have you ever felt like you just had to get away? Or felt like life had given you more than you could handle? Have you ever run away from life?
It’s Easter morning and the two disciples are leaving Jerusalem. Who can blame them?
👉🏽I don’t know why they chose to go to Emmaus, but I’ve known times when I just wanted to get away, when any place was better than where I was. Any place would be better than Jerusalem.
▪Emmaus is our escape from life. Or so we think.
What we don’t know at the time, and what Cleopas and his companion did not know, is that it is also the way back to life,
▪It wasn’t an escape from life that took them to Emmaus, but a hunger for life.
▪It wasn’t brokenness that took them to Emmaus but a hunger for wholeness.
▪It wasn’t a shattering that took them to Emmaus, but a hunger for restoration.
“When [Jesus] was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him.”
👉🏽They recognized him as the one they had left for dead in Jerusalem.
👉🏽They recognized him as the one who had accompanied them on the road to Emmaus.
👉🏽They recognized him as the one they had hoped he would be.
CONCLUSION
Precious One! Do you know Jesus this morning? Have your eyes ever been opened to who He is and what He has done for you? Do you know that He walks with you and talks with you? Can you testify to His presence in your life? What will you do with Jesus this morning? LORD STAY WITH US!. Stay BLESSED Stay SAFE.
PREPARED BY
VERY REV. DR. SAMUEL YAW DUA DODD
CALVARY METHODIST CHURCH
ADABRAKA-ACCRA
