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.
— Luke 24:13-35, ESV

In about thirty minutes, or the time it takes to hear this sermon, we will be sharing the Lord’s Supper.  We do it every Sunday, every Lord’s Day, which makes us peculiar for Baptists.  It puts us more in the company of Catholics, Episcopalians, and the Church of Christ, though our theology differs significantly and our reason is expressly simple.  It was best expressed by the Greeks who approached the Apostle Philip at the last Passover and said, “We want to see Jesus” (ref. John 12:21).  

We want to see the Lord every Lord’s Day, and we can.  Take the first three and last eleven words of this beautiful text, the longest post-resurrection narrative in the Gospels.  “That very day … He was know to them in the breaking of the bread.”  Even if the hymns sound strange or the sermon strikes out, we can still see the Lord in the sharing of the Lord’s Supper.

That Sunday

“That very day” was no ordinary day.  It was a Sunday, and not just any Sunday.  It was Resurrection Sunday, the day Jesus Christ rose from the dead, just as He had promised.

Jesus was seen first by Mary Magdalene, then by the women with her that dawn.  Peter and John were summoned and ran to see, but just missed Him.  Shortly afterward, we are told, Jesus “appeared to Simon,” Peter, that is (ref. vs. 34; 1 Corinthians 15:5).  The rest of the Apostles would get a peek later that evening, but not until Christ appeared to “two of them” on the road outside of Jerusalem going to “a village named Emmaus.”  

The text specifies the two but spells out only one of their names, “Cleopas.”  He is most likely the same man referred to as “Clopas” in John’s Gospel (ref. John 19:35).  There his name was used to distinguish his wife, “Mary,” from other women with the same first name.  It is highly likely that the “two of them” on the road to “Emmaus” were Clopas and Mary, husband and wife, both deeply devoted disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Disciples by any other names would have smelled as sweet, But God chose these two to bask in the fragrance of a very special Lord’s Day.  Like Mary Magdalene, they did not recognize Jesus at first.  His resurrected body must have have looked like a strange combination of the ordinary (Magdalene thought He was the gardener) and the extraordinary (after all, this was Jesus in His glorified body).  To bring Him into focus, certain things had to happen, for only then could the Lord’s disciples see the Lord on that Lord’s Day.

They walked with Jesus.

Before they could fix their eyes, the disciples had to move their feet.  They walked with Jesus, literally, on that seven mile route between Jerusalem and Emmaus.  Jesus took the initiative to join them in the journey, as our sovereign God always does with His people.  

Children normally learn to walk first before they can talk.  The first steps towards growth and maturity are those first steps.  This is the way it was for these Emmaus Road disciples, who were taking their first steps in post-resurrection, New Testament Christianity.  They were just walking with Jesus.  You will never see Him if you are not walking with Him.

“When we walk with the Lord, in the light of His word, what a glory He sheds on our way” (John Sammis).  Jesus would shed His glory on them momentarily, but first they had to walk with Him, then talk with Him.

They talked to Jesus.

To talk with Jesus you must speak in His language … truth.  He already knows, cares, loves, and has a plan for your life.  To get in you must learn to talk with Him, openly and honestly.  These two did just that.  

Frankly, they shared their disappointment with the events that transpired between Palm Sunday and Resurrection Sunday.  They thought Jesus had come the first time to “redeem Israel,” to be an earthly, political, and military messiah.  Apparently, to them, Jesus had died trying.

Furthermore, they confessed their unbelief about the resurrection by admitting the testimonies from the empty tomb left them “amazed” (ESV), which could be more accurately translated “confused” (KJV gets close with “astonished”).  At this point they could not say with certainty that “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (ref. 1 Corinthians 15:3-4).  

Soon they would be singing a different tune, one written by God, but they had to listen to Him sing it first.

They listened to Jesus.

Jesus started singing a gospel song that gave them a case of holy heartburn.  “Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.”  The Old Testament is the sheet music for the lyrics of the New Testament.

In the Law (Genesis-Deuteronomy), Jesus is the first note of the good news that delivers us from bondage of sin and sends us to the promised land.  In the Writings (Joshua-Song of Solomon), Jesus is the Prophet, Priest, and King who brings God’s word, satisfies God’s wrath, and benevolently governs God’s people.  In the Prophets (Isaiah-Malachi), Jesus is the baby from Bethlehem, the triumphal entrant into Jerusalem, the suffering servant who bore our sins, and the risen and glorious King of kings and Lord of lords.  

These two disciples would live on to hear the beautiful music of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection (Matthew-John), participate in the spread of that gospel sound (Acts), study deeply the doctrines of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone (Romans-Jude), and listen to the rapturous sounds of the return of Christ to earth at the end of the age (Revelation).  

We have what they did not, a complete, two volume set of all these songs in one glorious book, the Bible, the word of God.  But they had what we don’t exactly have right now, a front row seat to see in glorified flesh the author and finisher of our faith, the risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  

They saw Jesus.  

By now their feet were dragging, their tongues were tired, and their ears overwhelmed.  And they still did not know it was the Lord they were walking with, talking to, and listening and learning from.  Something else had to happen before “they recognized Him.”  

You know what happened.  Go back to the text and take those first three and last eleven words together again:  “That very day … He was know to them in the breaking of the bread.”

This was much more than an ordinary communal meal.  It was an extraordinary observance of the Lord’s Supper, the new, New Testament ordinance and sacrament.  Jesus has taken bread and broken it with the eleven disciples on the way to the cross.  Risen from the cross, Jesus broke bread with these two disciples.  When Jesus emptied His hands, the two could see the scars.

The marks of death
That God chose never to erase
The wounds of love’s eternal war
When the Kingdom comes
With its perfected sons
He will be known by the scars!
— Michael Card

It was only a matter of seconds, but in that sacred moment, they saw the Lord in the sharing of the Lord’s upper.  Today, in a symbolic and memorial way, so can we.  

This Sunday

Let’s jump from that Sunday to this Sunday.  Here we are, assembled before the Lord, on a day, but not just any day, a Sunday, the Lord’s Day.  You know what we are about to do, when the sermon is over, when brief confessions are made and prayers are offered, when the Deacons come to the table to serve.  We are about to see the Lord, on the Lord’s Day, by sharing the Lord’s Supper.

Before you can partake, however, you must ask yourself some serious questions.  All of them are relatable to the experience of the Emmaus Road disciples, who walked with, talked with, listened to, and saw the Lord on their fateful Lord’s Day.

Are you walking with Jesus?

The only way to walk with the Lord is by faith.  It is a grace-based faith in the perfect person and finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ.  We affirm our faith each week with the use of various confessions and creeds.  The oldest is probably the best, and we love what it says about the Lord:

… I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.  On the third day He rose again; He ascended into heaven, He is seated at the right hand of the Father, and He will come to judge the living and the dead … Amen!

Belief takes two steps, repentance and faith, then you find yourself walking with the Lord.  

Are you talking with Jesus?

If you believe Jesus Christ is real, you will really talk to Him in His language, truth, in honest prayer.  No one has to hear it but Him.  Tell Him you love Him, believe in Him, and will follow Him.  Share with Him the needs you need met and the sins you need forgiven.  

Give us each day our daily bread,
and forgive us our sins.”
— Luke 11:3-4

Then, listen for God’s still, small, voice.  

Are you listening to Jesus?

“And He walks with me and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own” (C. Austin Miles).  Is this your experience?  If Christ has told you, you are His own, then it is time to meet Him at the table.  

Come to the table and see in His eyes,
The love that the Father has spoken.
And know you are welcome, whatever your crime,
For every commandment you’ve broken.
For He’s come to love you and not to condemn,
And He offers a pardon of peace.
If you’ll come to the table, you’ll feel in your heart,
The greatest forgiveness, the greatest release.
— Michael Card

Come to the table, the Lord’s Supper, and ask yourself one more question.  

Can you see Jesus?  

Let’s break bread … and see.