EASTER SUNDAY: Seeing Jesus

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Because

He lives, all fear is gone. Because I know He

holds the future and life is good. because he

lives. The Resurrection Life Sunday sermon is

brought to you by Resurrection Life Church in

Apex, North Carolina. A congregation of the Presbyterian

Church in America. Resurrection Life Church is

pastored by Dr. Mark Ganesh and the Reverend

Jeff Smith. This week for Easter, Pastor Mark

takes a brief pause from the book of Hebrews.

but not from one of Hebrews' author's central

themes, seeing Jesus. So I want to invite you

to follow Luke chapter 24. If you have your Bibles,

Luke 24 · chapter mention

it should be actually in the bulletin as well.

Luke's gospel is fascinating because Luke's gospel

records the resurrection story. So we have this

amazing resurrection story, and then we're getting

transported to this totally seemingly random

story about two people. walking away from Jerusalem

and walking back home. And I'd never preached

on this passage before for Easter, and I'm very

excited to do that this morning. This comes in

the context of Hebrews, the book of Hebrews that

we're working through right now. And throughout

the book of Hebrews, we are focusing on how to

look... at Jesus, how to keep our eyes fixed

on Jesus. And today we're going to focus on that.

What does it mean to see Jesus? What does it

mean to actually see Jesus? What do you actually

need to do to see him? So Luke 24, starting verse

13, we're going to read to 35. That very day,

two of them were going to a village named Emmaus.

about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were

talking with each other about all these things

that had happened. And while they were talking

and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near

and went with them, but their eyes were kept

from recognizing him. And he said to them, what

is this conversation that you're holding with

each other as you walk? And they stood still

looking sad. And then one of them named Cloepas

answered him. are you the only visitor to Jerusalem

who does not know the things that have happened

there in these days? And he said to them, what

things? And they said to him, and then there's

this kind of long quote. Concerning Jesus of

Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed

and word before God and all the people. And how

our chief priests and rulers delivered him up

to be condemned to death and crucified him. And

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. Moreover, some

women of our company amazed us. They were at

the tomb early in the morning. And when they

did not find his body, they came back saying

that they had seen a vision of angels. who said

he was alive. Some of those who were with us

went to the tomb and found it just as the woman

had said, but him they did not see. And he said

to them, that is Jesus, O foolish ones, and slow

of heart to believe all that the prophets have

spoken. Was it not necessary that the Christ

should suffer these things and enter into his

glory? And beginning with Moses and all the prophets,

he interpreted to them in all the scriptures

the things concerning himself. So they drew near

to the village to which they were going. He acted

as if he were going further, 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. When he was at table with

them, he took bread and blessed and broke it

and gave it to them and their eyes were opened

and they recognized him and he vanished from

their sight. 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?

And they rose that same hour and returned to

Jerusalem. And they found the eleven, and those

who were with them gathered together, saying,

the Lord has risen indeed and has appeared to

Simon. And they told what had happened on the

road and how he was known to them in the breaking

of the bread. So, brothers and sisters in Jesus

Christ. It was about five years ago when people

started posting all these random green blocks

on Facebook because they were playing a game

called Wordle. Super annoying. I had no idea

what it meant. To this day, I really actually,

as of this week, I had no idea what these green

boxes were about. Anyway, Heather said, hey,

you want to play Wordle this week? You want to

play Wordle? I'm like, you know what? I don't

know how to play it. And so she went to where

there's all these empty boxes. And she said,

okay, pick any five -letter word. And I was like,

okay. Phased. And then the second word came out.

And she said, okay, pick a word with an F and

a Z in it. And I said, fizzy. And I got it. I

was like, and she's like. you got it. I can't

believe you got it in two. And I was like, what

did I do? I just picked two words that came to

my head right away and I wrote them down. And

it was one of those things where I was experiencing

a victory of sorts, but I had no idea what was

going on. No idea. It took a while for Heather

to explain exactly how she plays the game and

how she always starts with the word earth or

something like that. Oh, did I give it away?

Sorry, Heather. Didn't mean to. That's her secret.

Shoot. Anyway, the point I'm trying to make here

with this introduction is that we have these

two guys who are walking and they're seeing victory

right in their face. And they don't have a clue

what's going on. Why? Because in verse 16, it

says that their eyes were kept from seeing Jesus.

Their eyes were kept from seeing Jesus. They

couldn't see him. And we're going to talk about

that this morning. We're going to talk about

the tension that's built up in this text. Will

they see Jesus when he walks alongside them?

Will they see Jesus? When they explain scriptures,

when he explains scriptures to them, will they

see Jesus when their hearts are warmed and they

feel something important? Will they feel, see

Jesus when they want him to stay, when they're

desiring for him to stay? Will they see Jesus?

So let's begin with this first one. Will they

see Jesus while walking beside him? These are

two exhausted travelers. They've been in Jerusalem.

They're tired. They're weary. They're worn. Their

rabbi, who they believed at some level was a

really important man, died. We crucified on Friday.

And so they're walking back, and Jesus comes

up to them. And he asks them, okay, so what are

you guys talking about? And they say in verse

18, are you the only visitor in Jerusalem who

does not know the things that have happened there

in these days? I've heard this question posed

with a more modern translation. Where were you?

Under a rock somewhere? Jesus is like, well,

maybe not under a rock per se. Behind a rock

perhaps, but Jesus doesn't get into it. Indulge

me, Jesus says. What things? And you get this

really impressive response. Concerning Jesus

of Nazareth, they say, a man who was a prophet

mighty in deed and word. Now, to be mighty in

word doesn't mean he would have been really good

at wordle, although I'm sure he was. It means

that what he did and what he said were like the

prophets of old. Powerful, effective, miraculous.

They go on. But we had hoped that he was the

one to redeem Israel. They had hoped that they

would redeem their... people group from under

Roman occupation. And then you have this eyewitness

account of the resurrection. Women who saw the

angels and said that he was alive. But then in

verse 24 it says, some of those who were with

us went to the tomb and found it just as the

woman had said, but they did not see. But him

they did not see. Because they did not see, the

obvious conclusion was that he was dead. Him

they did not see. So you can be literally walking

beside Jesus. Your proximity could be like right

here and still not see him. Let's move on. They're

hearing from Jesus. So Jesus says to them, oh,

foolish ones. That's a bit harsh of a response.

But basically it says, you guys don't have a

brain right now. So the word here, they're kind

of mindless. They're not thinking straight. It's

like, you guys just, you're not thinking straight.

One translation interprets it as, oh, inconsiderate.

Like they're not considering in their brain what

this moment is about. They're kind of like thick

-headed in this moment. And he explains, was

it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these

things? And then what does he do? He opens up

the Bible. He starts explaining to the Moses

and the prophets. Now, for those of you who may

not know who Moses is, Moses is a very important

Old Testament figure who lived many centuries

before Jesus. But he was more like a Jesus figure

of the Old Testament. He's the one who led Israel

out of slavery, out of Egypt, through the wilderness

and brought them right to the edge of the promised

land. And so Jesus is opening scripture. He explains

to them all of these things are pointing to him.

That Exodus, that's me. That's like a foreshadowing

of me, what's happening in this moment. That

lamb that they had to sacrifice at Passover,

that's me. That's me. Now, he doesn't say that's

me. He's just explained to them that this Christ

must suffer and must. Die. He doesn't reveal

himself yet. He doesn't say that it's himself

that Psalm 22 is talking about. My God, my God,

why have you forsaken me? That Jesus said on

the cross was his own personal words to his father.

Or from Isaiah 53, explaining to them. By his

stripes we are healed. And like sheep led to

the slaughter, he bore the iniquities of our

sin. Cursed is the man who is hung on a tree.

So all these old, old, ancient documents, ancient

to us, but also ancient to them in the first

century, all pointing to this Christ, this Messiah.

Jesus would have been an amazing Bible teacher.

Can you imagine sitting there? and he's explaining

all these things to you, you could have the very

best Bible teacher on planet Earth out of all

the cosmos, out of all heaven and earth, and

you can still not see Jesus. Amazing. Let's jump

to the end of the story where Jesus is walking

with these two, and they're at home, and they're

wanting Jesus to stay. They're desiring Jesus.

You know, we sing songs, I need Jesus, I need

Jesus. You could sing I need Jesus a million

times, and yet this is saying you could still

not see him. You could want him, but still not

see him. Amazing, right? Or even after Jesus

reveals himself, they say to him, wasn't our

hearts burning? Weren't our hearts burning? That's

an incredible statement. Jesus, it says that

Jesus taught them. He also interpreted the scriptures,

which means that Jesus was preaching to them.

So Jesus wasn't only a really good teacher, sharing

logic and knowledge to them, which did not get

them to see Jesus. Jesus was also interpreting

the scripture. He was preaching in the moment.

Can you imagine how good of a preacher Jesus

would have been? If we just had all his sermons

recorded, just listening on one of our podcasts

over and over and over again, just listening

to Jesus preach, and we get out of that sermon

super inspired, our hearts would be moved. We

could be brought to tears. And still not see

Jesus? How is this possible? For those of you

who know me, you know I'm a feeler. I took the

Myers -Briggs test years ago. Every time I take

the Myers -Briggs test, it reveals I'm a very

strong F. And feelers, there's only like 30,

35 % of men are feelers. The rest of them are

thinkers. And so sometimes it's a little lonely

world. But anyway, fortunately, a lot of us pastors

are feelers. And so it's an interesting kind

of thing, you know, when you're moved by the

Spirit. You know, there's been times in my life,

I remember when I watched a meme, a mime, sorry,

not a meme, a mime, a mime. You know those mimers,

you know, that do the thing and the face paint

and all that stuff. So when I was about 15 years

old, there was a mime. who did Watch the Lamb

by Ray Bolts. This beautiful mime depicting kind

of an imaginary story of the man who bore the

cross that Jesus had to bore, telling him he

had to carry the cross. And so it's a very powerful

song. And I remember just watching that and thinking,

Lord, I think I want to serve you. I think I

want to serve you for the rest of my life. It

was a real emotional moment for me. But is that

the moment, is that how I was able to see Jesus?

In that moment? Do we need to feel something?

Do we need to think something? Do we need to

desire something? Is that what gets us faith?

If it's not logic and knowledge, and if it's

not emotion and feeling, and if it's not our

desire, then what gets us to see Jesus? What

is it? Our text says it. But it's hidden. So

I want to reread 28 to 31. So they drew near

to the village to which they were going. He acted

as if they were going further. And 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 and was at the table with

them. He took bread and blessed them, broke it

and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened.

Their eyes were opened. That's the answer. Their

eyes were opened. This is a passive voice, which

means the action is done to the subject, which

is important. When we read in Scripture that

Jesus was raised from the dead, that action is

happening to the subject. That is, the resurrection,

was a Father, Son, and Holy Spirit event. The

Father, through the power of the Holy Spirit,

I'm not sure exactly how that all works, raised

Jesus from the dead. The action was happening

to the subject. Theologians like to call this

phrase the divine passive. It's all over the

place in the New Testament. And this divine passage

is revealed to us when their eyes are kept shut

and when their eyes are opened. Why is this so

important? Why is this so important? The divine

passive helps us understand how we get faith.

You don't get faith through your proximity to

Jesus. You don't get faith by learning enough.

You don't get faith by feeling enough. And you

don't get faith by desiring enough. Because these

are things that are... activities that we push

up towards God. That's not how faith works. Faith

is something that's given to you. Faith is a

gift. And I know this is hard for some of us.

Some of us thinkers, you know, we really want

to logically understand faith. And so we'll be

really good at apologetics. We'll know exactly

how to make the right argument at the right time.

We could out -debate anybody. Or some of us really

just want to feel. And so they go Sunday after

Sunday trying to feel some type of emotional

attachment. Saying, I've got to feel something.

Some of you may be going through a really hard

time right now. And you're desiring. You're like,

I just need Jesus. I want Jesus to be near me.

And these things are not what get you faith.

God gives you faith. It is a gift. It is a gift.

And that's the point. Faith doesn't come from

Bible knowledge. Faith doesn't come from really

feeling it. Singing with your arms stretched

out. With tears in your eyes. Speak in tongues.

Say the sinner's prayer a million times. It's

not what gets you faith. Faith doesn't come from

church attendance. Faith doesn't come from Bible

study. Or listening to sermons throughout the

week. Faith is not something you get. It's something

that is given. Faith is something that happens

to you. Your smarts and guts do not contribute

one ounce towards your faith. You can't think

yourself into faith and you can't emotionalize

enough into it. Faith is given to you. It's pressed

upon you. It's pressed upon our broken hearts,

our stone hearts. Ephesians 1, 18 -19 says, I

pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened.

There's that passive again. May be enlightened

in order that you may know the hope in which

He has called you. 2 Corinthians 3. When one

turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the

Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the

Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled

face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being

transformed into the same image from one degree

of glory to another. For this comes from the

Lord, who is the Spirit. The challenge of faith

in this passage is that you don't have to feel

so much pressure to think the right thing. And

you don't have to keep searching for that emotional

high for you to experience and see Jesus. Stop

it. It's too much work. It's an endless, endless

search. There's no special technique. Some of

you may have been going to church your whole

life. And you feel like you're still searching

for Jesus. Some of you have gone the logic route.

You're still looking for Jesus. Some of you are

going the emotional route. You're still looking

for Jesus. Stop looking so hard. Rest and receive

the gift of faith. Rest and receive. Have you

seen those videos online where they've created

these types of glasses with technology in them

that allows people to see color for the first

time? If they were colorblind, it allows them

to see color. It's an overwhelming experience

for them. They just break down. They could hardly

wear them. The visual stimulation is just too

big, too great. Have you ever seen those children

who, even very small, like infants, four months

old, four months old, are given these glasses

to wear for the first time? And all of a sudden,

they just stop and stare at mom's face for the

very first time, clearly, in definition. And

all these videos have these kids kind of like

not wanting this mechanism over their head. So

they're kind of pushing and they're prodding.

They're like, I don't want this thing. All of

a sudden, they lock in and they see it clearly.

Now you can tell these children, you can tell

these people with colorblindness, just figure

it out. Just like look differently. Like try

to like cross your eyes or try to make it work.

You can do it. Just think yourself into it. Or

feel yourself into it. You can do it. Like how

ridiculous is that, right? You need that external

mechanism for you to see clearly. And the same

is true with faith. Faith is something that's

given to you. And we go into it kicking and screaming.

But yet once we're locked in, we see Jesus. We

see Jesus from a spiritual perspective. who is

sitting on the throne and is ruling in heaven

forever. Ephesians 2 .8, for by grace you have

been saved through faith. And this is not your

own doing. It is the gift of God. It is the gift

of God. Some of us don't believe that this is

a gift. Some of us continue to work. We continue

to perform. We continue to feel like we need

to... To justify our own righteousness, we feel

like we have to keep doing the right things for

God to be pleased with us. We feel like we need

to go through certain motions or rituals. We

think we need to go through the rhythms and habits

of certain things to get faith. And this scripture

is saying, no, no, no. Die to all that. This

is a gift. But I'm going to land this plane now.

And I'm actually going to use everything I just

said and kind of flip it on its head. Because

I don't want you walking out of here. Hearing

something I have not said. I'm like, you hear

Pastor Mark this morning? He told me I never

have to go to church again because I'm just going

to believe and be okay forever. Or I never have

to go to a Bible study again. Or I never have

to go to a youth conference again. Or I never

have to feel emotional high again. Or I never

have to read that book on Christianity again.

Like I don't have to do anything because I got

faith. That's not what I'm saying at all. What

I'm saying is that these things don't produce

faith. God can use them to mature you as a Christian.

Like that experience of me as a 15 -year -old,

you know, when I'm like being impressed by this

mime, I was never a big mime person. I'm still

not a big mime person. But the Lord used that

moment to develop my faith, right? To shape me

and to prod me and to push me, to get me going.

So don't leave here thinking that I'm giving

you a ticket to ride. It's not what I'm saying

here at all. For certain, proximity, logic, and

emotion don't give you faith. God gives you faith.

But proximity, logic, and emotion are means to

get there. They're means. Just as the road to

Emmaus was a means to get to Emmaus. God uses

these conversations. Jesus is teaching them.

He's preaching to them. He stays in their house.

He is patient with them. I'm not saying these

were a waste of time. These are ways in which

Jesus was preparing for that moment. For when

their eyes are open, they're ready to be preachers

themselves. They're ready to go. With all this

knowledge and all this emotion and all this joy.

He's preparing them for faith. And that's why

this is so important for us to understand on

Easter Sunday. And so for those of you who are

looking for a home church, you need to go to

a home church. And you need to invest there and

you need to grow in faith there. The church is

the body of Christ. The church is God's plan

A for humanity. And he wants you to grow. He

wants you to take the seed of faith and see it

grow and to develop and mature. So you can walk

closer with Jesus. And you can learn all this

great stuff. And you can feel all the feels.

All for his glory. And for our good. Get plugged

in. Get plugged into Res Life. Get plugged into

some other church. I don't know where it is,

but God has a plan for you. And if you do not

have faith here this morning, this is an encouragement

for you to stop working so hard. Rest and receive.

Receive this gift and grow in grace. I want to

read for us Hebrews 1 .3. A way in which we could

see. Who Jesus is. Right here and right now.

He writes. That Jesus is the radiance. Of the

glory of God. And the exact imprint of his nature.

And he upholds the universe. By the word of his

power. After making purification for sins. He

sat down at the right hand. Of the majesty on

high. Gracious Lord, we are so thankful that

the scriptures invites us to look at this passage

this morning. And we thank you so much for just

the reminder, the great good reminder that we

don't need to achieve something to get us faith.

We don't need to feel something. We don't need

to even desire something. It's something that

is given to us. And that our learning and our

emotion and our desires. It's something that

you shepherd us through in faith. We pray, Lord,

that anybody here who's convicted by this sermon,

Lord, will be moved right here on the spot. Your

Holy Spirit is moving in them and reminding them

of the grace that we have in Jesus Christ. Lord,

if there's anyone here who's been going to church

for a very long time and they feel like they've

been just running by performance only, remind

them, give them rest. Help them to receive, too.

The gift of faith without performance. And Lord,

we do thank you for the gift that we have to

grow in our faith and to read scripture and to

hear sermons and to desire you. We thank you,

Lord, for the joy that we have in Jesus and the

freedom that we have in Jesus every day and that

we believe in a savior who is. the radiance of

your glory and who is sitting at your right hand,

right here, right now, and also present with

us through the power of the Spirit as we worship

you. This is what we believe. We believe so in

faith. We pray this all in Christ's name alone.

Amen. You have been listening to the Resurrection

Life Sunday Sermon from Resurrection Life Church

in Apex, North Carolina. Resurrection Life currently

meets in the Apex Middle School Auditorium at

400 East Moore Street near downtown Apex with

additional parking off of Highway 55, East Williams

Street. Resurrection Life Church is pastored

by Dr. Mark Kanesh of Apex and Associate Pastor

Jeff Smith of Cary. Resurrection Life meets for

worship every Sunday morning at 10 a .m. Join

us this Sunday. And if you found this podcast

to be a blessing to you, share it with a friend.

And be sure to subscribe so you don't miss next

week's Resurrection Life Sunday Sermon. I confess

tomorrow because he lives. All fear is gone because

I know. Just...