The Road to Emmaus

Has anybody been to the optician recently? One or two hands. I remember the first time I went to the optician as an adult and I think I was probably in my mid 20s at the time and I went really reluctantly but I prided myself on kind of never I thought I had absolutely perfect vision and in fact I generally

did have pretty good eyesight but I kind of admitted that I was struggling a little bit but I so I wasn't that enthusiastic about going so anyway I sat down in the chair as you do and looked at the chart and started to read off and actually I was doing pretty well and then the optician took this you know this device I don't know what they call it but they put it on your head and I thought this is quite cool I feel like I'm in Star Wars

and suddenly I found myself looking at this chart and thinking okay so this is what eyesight is meant to be like

and then he said okay so that's lens one I'm just going to make a little tip so he pulled something out he said now lens two which is clearer

lens one or lens two

which is clearer lens one or lens two

and one of the things I wanted to make a little bit of a lens

and I thought I was going to make a little bit of a lens

and I thought oh my goodness this is what eyesight is meant to be like

and then went through as an and if you've had an eye test my apologies if you've never actually done this you're going to have to just bear with me for the next few minutes and just use your imagination here

but but then he did the thing you know where they put a lens in and then put another one in and says which is clearer lens one or lens two

which is clearer lens one or lens two I want you just to hold that image because we're going to come back to it

and I share that image with you because and there is so much in this passage this morning but the bit I want us to really kind of focus in on

is in verse 31

Jesus

who has been walking alongside

in his risen form

alongside these grieving

broken disciples

and they've been kept from recognizing him

and he's been walking

with them sometime

listening to them

and then explaining the scriptures

and then he breaks bread with them

and then we're told in verse 31

then their eyes

were opened

and they recognized Jesus

all of a sudden it comes into focus

all of a sudden they're seeing things through a different lens

and all the while they thought they got it

all the while they thought actually they had their vision was fine

and then it wasn't

now they see what it's meant to look like

now they see Jesus

now they're looking through the right lens

so here's a question

what was it that kept them

from recognizing Jesus

up to that point

now

we're not really explicitly told

the answer to that question

at least I don't think we are

but we can draw so many things

out of the narrative

which leads up to that point

where that lens is flipped round

which is clearer

lens one

or lens two

and all comes into focus

and they recognize Jesus

so what is it then

what is it about the lens

what was the lens problem

what was it that was stopping them

from seeing Jesus

I want to suggest

there are two things

for us to ponder

here

the first thing

they were broken

they were utterly devastated

there's a slight degree of comedy going on

here

because they were in that broken state

they're walking along

and Jesus comes up to them

they don't recognize him at this point

and says

what are you discussing

and they turn

to Jesus

and say

are you the only person

in Jerusalem

who hasn't heard

of the things that have been going on

and Jesus

of all the responses

that he could have made

says

what things

tell me

but at this point

they're devastated

they're broken

utterly

utterly

broken

they say

in verse 21

we had

hoped

for being in that situation

where you talk about

hope in a sense of

well it was

but it's not now

we had hoped

that this was the one

we had hoped

we'd seen all this going on

in the life of Jesus

but

we don't know what to think now

hope is relegated

to the past tense

you ever been in that situation

where there's a set of circumstances

that's facing you

and you cannot see beyond them

that your vision

is utterly impaired

because you cannot see

beyond those circumstances

maybe

maybe you're going through

a time of

physical pain

you're wrapped with pain

and you cannot see

beyond that pain

you can't imagine

ever being out of that pain

maybe it's a kind of

emotional pain

something

you've been given

a blow

this isn't just

mild disappointment

you're utterly

utterly devastated

and you cannot

see beyond it

maybe you're

wrapped with

depression

or wrapped with fear

or wrapped with anxiety

such that you just

can't see through

that cloud

you want to

but you can't

here's an experiment

which is

experiment

something that is

an analogy

which is

sometimes used

actually in

a form of

cognitive behavioural

therapy

you can all join in on this

in fact

if you're listening to this

on the podcast

later in the week

you can do this

at home

to begin with

you might not be able

to do this at home

if you're listening

but if you're sat here

right now

just look at the cross

if you're listening

to the sermon

just look at

it can be anything

that is in front of you

choose an object

but because we have

a cross here

I'm going to ask you

to look at the cross

and now

just hold your hand

and you're going to

need to bear with me

and even though

you're not going to

be able to see

very much

for the next few moments

just trust me on this

okay

I'm not going to

walk out

but put your hand

pretty much right

over your eyes

or really close

about an inch away

so basically

you're just looking

at your hand

you can't really

see anything else

that's what's going on

when you're so

keep your hands there

while I'm talking

because I'm going to

ask you to do

something else

in a moment

that's what's going on

when you're so

caught up

with whatever it is

that's weighing you

down

when you're overwhelmed

you're consumed

by whether it's fear

anxiety

something that you

cannot shake off

it dominates all

your thinking

from the moment

you wake up

to the moment

you hit the pillow

you struggle to get

to sleep

because you can't

see anything

that's it

it's right in your

face

whatever it is

that's dominating

your thinking

now ever so slowly

move your hand

away from your face

till it's about

eight inches away

just do this

slowly

do it slowly

and gradually

you'll notice

that your field

of vision will

expand

you'll see a few

things

my guess is

you may or you

may not be able

to see that cross

just yet

but keep your hand

in that position

don't let it go

down

and just

hold that image

for a few moments

that posture

because that's what's

going on

when we begin

to lay hold

of some hope

and we begin

to get some

perspective

and that issue

is still

blocking our

vision

we still can't

really live life

fully

but we begin

to see that

there is something

beyond that thing

that would otherwise

utterly utterly

consume us

and now slowly

slowly move

your hand away

from your face

until you're

holding your arm

out straight

and now

you'll be able

to see

quite clearly

of course

you'll still

notice that

hands in your

way

and in the same

way

that when you

put your faith

in Jesus

those problems

don't vanish

they are there

but they don't

dominate everything

put your hands

down

everyone

please

a sigh of relief

you see

the thing is

when you put

your faith

in Christ

it doesn't

necessarily mean

that everything

immediately stops

sometimes

praise God

miracles happen

and that experience

can be instant

but generally

speaking

most of the time

as we're walking

through our lives

things happen

and our lives

will be a

combination of

the good

and the bad

and the ugly

when Jesus

is with us

and we know

he's with us

we may know

those things

are still there

they haven't

stopped

but no longer

do they block

our vision

there's hope

there's that

wider perspective

I want to

suggest to you

that perhaps

the first thing

the biggest thing

that experiential

thing

for those

disciples

was that they

just could not

see beyond

their own

devastation

that's the reality

of what it is

to be a human

being

life throws

all sorts of

things at us

and our challenge

is how do we

actually live

with those

realities

Christ makes

all the difference

when you know

that you are

not on your

own

that he is

alive

that he is

with you

I said

that there

are two

things going

on here

and the

other thing

the second

thing that I

want to

suggest that

we see

here

is that

these

followers of

Jesus

the lens

that they

were looking

through

was such

that they

couldn't

grasp

the reality

the fullness

of God

because their

understanding

their concept

and their

leaning towards

God itself

was distorted

so Jesus

had to go

through

the scriptures

with them

and unpack

the scriptures

to them

gradually

setting out

before them

who God

really is

as he is

revealed to

us in

scripture

and I

want to

suggest

that this

is in

some ways

a lifelong

progress

because we're

still always

on that

journey

of learning

more and

more and

more about

him

but that

doesn't mean

to say

we can't

see him

at all

I think

it was

D.A.

Carson

that said

something

that just

because we

can't see

God

fully

doesn't

mean to

say we

can't

know him

truly

it was

A.W.

Tozer

that said

what comes

into our

minds

when we

think about

God

is the

most important

thing about

us

God's

not just

an abstract

idea

he's not

just a

philosophy

he's not

just a

set of

theological

propositions

the way

that we

hold that

picture of

who God

is what

God's

character

is like

will in

turn shape

and form

our

character

when you

think about

God

it's the

most important

thing about

you because

it will

shape

and determine

it will

define

the way

in which

you interact

with the

world

it will

determine

your values

your

decision

making

processes

your

character

your very

being

God

our

lives

as

individuals

as

a

church

and

as

society

will be

either

limited

or liberated

by the

way we

see

God

to

our

history

will

probably

show

that no

people

has ever

risen

above

its

religion

and

our

spiritual

history

will

positively

demonstrate

that no

religion

has ever

been

greater

than

its

idea

of

God

so

here's a question. Is your God too small? Because it would seem to the disciples on their journey,

walking alongside Jesus, their understanding of who God is, their understanding the bits that they

had taken from scripture, or rather the bits that they hadn't taken from scripture, was such

that when it came to the notion that Jesus could have been raised from the dead, it just wasn't there.

It wasn't in their thinking. And how impoverished our lives become when we don't grasp the height

and the depth of who God is, really is. Here's a story that will make you chuckle,

it may be chuckle anyway. It was a couple of years ago, the BBC reported a story about an airline

that keeps mistaking a 101 year old woman who continues to fly. They keep mistaking her for a baby.

American Airlines has a booking system, it seems, that only allows for the last two digits of the

year of your date of birth. Yeah? So when she was booking flights, and this has happened quite a lot,

it would seem, that she puts in her date of birth, which was 1922, but it only shows up as 22.

So she arrives at the airport, or she arrives at the gate, and they're expecting a baby that was born in

2022, and they're saying, where's the baby? You can't come on this flight, madam. Well,

it is me. Well, you can't be. You weren't born last year. I know I wasn't. I was born 101 years ago.

And apparently she's got herself into all kinds of trouble over and over and over again with this.

She's been stopped and held at the gate and questioned, holding everybody else up many, many times.

So you have a picture in your mind as to what this person's going to be, and then they appear,

and then you realise you totally got it wrong. You have completely a false idea of who this person was,

how old they were.

To a sense, in a sense, throughout our whole lives, we're coming to terms with the reality of who God is.

Yeah, when we come to faith in Jesus, that can be a very sudden and dramatic explosion,

whereby suddenly we see things in a new way. But let's not think it stops there,

because it goes on throughout our whole lives. This side of eternity, we're in this process

of that vision being more and more and more and more finely tuned.

Just when we think we've got it, then we realise, no, we haven't.

No, we haven't.

And for these disciples, walking alongside Jesus in his risen form,

you know, God can't have raised Jesus from the dead, because that doesn't happen.

God's not like that, is he?

I love the way that the disciples actually, again, at this point, they haven't recognised Jesus,

but they turn to Jesus and they say to Jesus,

they say this to Jesus,

some of our companions went to the tomb

and found it just as the women had said,

but they didn't see Jesus.

So again,

let me ask you that question.

How big is your God?

Let's go back into that optician's examination room.

See yourself in the chair.

Which lens are you looking through?

Lens one or lens two?

The lens of your own human perceptions.

The lens of your own human concept of God

and the limitations that you would impose on him.

The lens that sees things through your own human brokenness,

and that's all of us.

Or looking through the lens of Christ.

The God of resurrection.

The God who defeats

and walks away from death itself.

We're going to pray in just a moment,

and we're going to spend a few moments

holding that question in prayer.

So we hold that before God.

But before we do,

just one last thought,

and in fact,

I think it's my favourite part of this story,

and it's as simple as it is powerful.

All this while,

the disciples don't recognise Jesus.

He's walking alongside them.

They just didn't realise.

Let's pray.

Lord, thank you for the resurrection.

And thank you for this story.

Lord, thank you for the appearance of the risen Jesus

on that road to Emmaus.

As we reflect on this story now,

Lord, we think of our own vision or lack of.

And we think of those lenses

through which we look at our lives.

In the stillness of this moment,

let's just hold on to that question.

Which lens are you looking through?

Hold before God that lens.

Hold before God those realities of fear

or anxiety or brokenness

or whatever it may be

that you find preoccupies your thinking so often.

Just spend a few moments

asking God to break through those things

and to give you a different lens

for those things not to dominate your vision

but to see those things

through the lens of the risen Jesus.

Take a few moments now

to hold back the full blood.

Now still

holding that posture before God.

Ask what limitations perhaps

you have in that lens

that you look at things through.

And just ask God now

in the silence of this moment

in the power of his spirit

to open things up

to expand your view

of who he is.

To know more of his character.

To know him as the one

who not only raises Jesus

from the dead

but raises you too.

Lord in the power of his spirit

help us to see things

through your lens

through the lens

of resurrection hope.

Lord may we know

that you are always with us.

That you are alongside us

even when we haven't

been aware of that presence.

Fill us afresh

with your Holy Spirit

now and in the time to come.

In Jesus name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.