Luke 24:13-35 13Now, on that same day, two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14They were talking with each other about all of these things that had happened. 15While they were talking and discussing this, Jesus himself approached and began to walk along with them. 16But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17He said to them, “What are you talking about as you walk along?” Saddened, they stopped.
18One of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”
19“What things?” he asked them.
They replied, “The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet, mighty in deed and word before God and all the people. 20The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be condemned to death. And they crucified him. 21But we were hoping that he was going to redeem Israel. Not only that, but besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. 22Also some women of our group amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning. 23When 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. 24Some of those who were with us went to the tomb. They found it just as the women had said, but they did not see him.”
25He said to them, “How foolish you are and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and to enter his glory?” 27Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
28As they approached the village where they were going, he acted as if he were going to travel farther. 29But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, since it is almost evening, and the day is almost over.”
So he went in to stay with them. 30When he reclined at the table with them, he took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and began giving it to them. 31Suddenly their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. Then he vanished from their sight. 32They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was speaking to us along the road and while he was explaining the Scriptures to us?” 33They got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem. They found the Eleven and those who were with them assembled together. 34They were saying, “The Lord really has been raised! He has appeared to Simon.” 35They themselves described what had happened along the road, and how they recognized him when he broke the bread.
Abide with me; fast falls the eventide. The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide. When other helpers fail and comforts flee, Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me! (CW: 588 v1)
A thick fog has settled along the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus. It is difficult for the two disciples to move with any kind of urgency. Every step is slow and plodding as they head home.
The minds of these two disciples are clouded with disappointment and dashed hopes. Their vision is hazy with fear and uncertainty. The road to Emmaus is a grim place to be on this spring Sunday afternoon.
As they are shuffling down the road, they talk about what happened the past week in Jerusalem. The arrest, trials, crucifixion and burial of Jesus. They are in mourning. This wasn’t just a teacher or a friend who was killed. This was the One they believed to be their Savior.
They had staked their lives on Jesus from Nazareth. They followed him and were sent out by him. They had heard his powerful sermons. They had seen his marvelous miracles. They had believed he would be the one to redeem Israel to its former glory.
Then, in one short week, Jesus was dead. Their plans dashed. Their hopes buried with Jesus in the tomb.
Moreover, they had heard stories about Jesus’ resurrection. About the tomb being open, Jesus’ body missing and even angels at the gravesite.
It seemed as if all their plans had fallen through. So, what could they do? The only thing they could do – go for a walk.
While they are walking and talking, out of the gray fog appears a stranger. They didn’t see him coming at all. It’s as if he is an alien who materializes out of the mist.
The stranger asks them, “What are you talking about” (Luke 24:17)?
The disciples are mystified and answer, “Are you the only visitor in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days” (Luke 24:18)?
Together, the two disciples explain that their Rabbi had been crucified and buried, but some women said he had been resurrected from the grave. They emphasize that they had hoped Jesus would redeem Israel (Luke 24:19-24).
This stranger is pretty bold when he accuses, “How foolish you are and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and to enter his glory” (Luke 24:25-26)? Then the stranger leads a Bible study along the road to Emmaus. He does catechesis with these two students.
When they arrive in Emmaus, they ask the stranger, “Abide with us for it is almost evening” (Luke 24:29; CW 588:1).
As they are reclining at the table, the stranger takes the bread, blesses and breaks it. He gives it to them. (This is not the Sacrament, but it is the actions of the Sacrament.) Suddenly their eyes are opened! The fog is burned away. The mist is blown from their sight. After several hours of walking, they finally recognize the stranger. It’s Jesus! Their crucified and resurrected Lord!
Then he vanishes from their sight.
The two disciples skip dinner and quickly return to Jerusalem. No longer slow and dirge-like. They sprint up the road to tell the other disciples they have seen the risen Christ. Their spiritual fog is burned away by the Light of the Son. Their spiritual mist is blown away by the wind of the Holy Spirit. The two disciples can now see clearly on their walk.
When I go biking in the morning, there is a good chance it will be foggy as the warm and cold air meet to create fog. There are two things that are needed for the fog to dissipate – sunlight and wind. As the sun burns brightly, it burns away the fog. When the wind starts blowing, it blows away the fog.
What happens naturally with fog is the same thing that happens spiritually with the fog that clouds our minds.
We are living in very confusing and anxious times right now. We are unsure of what to do and who to listen to. Stay at home or go out. Listen and obey or question and protest. Practice social distancing because the virus may spike or come together because the virus has already gone through.
Whatever we are going to do, we know it is not what we planned on doing. So, what do we do now when our plans have fallen through? For some of us, all we can do is go for a walk. A walk around the house. A walk in the neighborhood. A walk along the trail.
Walking is good exercise. It gets the blood moving and the mind thinking. But, we can often feel like we are walking in a thick, depressing emotional fog. There is death and sadness in the darkness behind us. There is anxiety and uncertainty in the mist around us. There are good things ahead of us hidden in the fog.
What God does naturally with sunlight and wind to disperse the fog, God does spiritually for us when we are walking in the fog of uncertainty and unbelief. The light of the Son of God burns away the fog. The wind of the Holy Spirit blows away the mist. We find both the Son-light and the Holy Spirit’s wind in the Scriptures. These are the Scriptures Jesus opened for his two disciples on the foggy walk to Emmaus. These are the Scriptures Jesus opens for us. We only need to take a walk into the pages of Scriptures, because they testify to the crucified and resurrected Christ.
These two Emmaus disciples had been part of Jesus’ larger group of 70 disciples. But they just didn’t get it. They said, “We were hoping that he was going to redeem Israel.” But they had just explained how Jesus was going to redeem Israel. He was a prophet mighty in word and deed. He was handed over to the chief priests and crucified. This was now the third day since these things happened. And his body was gone from the tomb.
They thought the cross ruined everything!
But that’s exactly how Jesus redeemed the nation of Israel! And all nations of the earth! Through the cross!
The two Emmaus disciples looked at what happened and compared it to what they were hoping for. They came to the conclusion that the cross ruined everything! If it hadn’t been for the cross, everything would have been great.
We just don’t get it! Jesus tells us to take up our crosses and follow him. At our confirmation, we made vows to take up our crosses daily to suffer all, even death, rather than fall away as we follow him. But what happens when the crosses we are called to carry become too heavy? The cross might come in the form of unemployment, an empty pantry, homebound by illness, shut-in by old age or sequestered by disease.
We have asked for this cross and promised to bear the cross in Christ’s name. It does us no good, then, to complain about it or snipe at other people on social media about it.
Jesus came to these two disappointed and doubting disciples to show them how the cross was not a surprise. It was not life spinning out of control. The cross was necessary. Jesus’ death was a necessity. Not for ruin, but for good. Not to shatter hope, but to give hope. The cross was not the defeat it appeared to be! It was the plan to defeat sin, death and the devil. It had always been God’s plan. God had been speaking of it throughout the Old Testament. God’s eternal plan of salvation was completed that very Easter morning.
The cross we are bearing right now as a result of Covid-19 is necessary. It is part of God’s plan and purpose. We can only guess at what God is accomplishing. But we know this cross always points to Christ’s cross. We may ask questions now. All our answers are formed at the cross of Christ.
Like the Emmaus disciples, we just don’t get it. When we are on that foggy road of uncertainty and unbelief, it is easy to hear the words, but hard to believe. That’s because we have put our faith in leaders, the economy, vaccines and everything else except our crucified and resurrected Savior.
Jesus has gone to hell and back for us. And we – like the two Emmaus disciples – don’t get it.
So, what does Jesus do? He could have walked up beside them, introduced himself and pulled his hands out of his pockets and slipped the sandals off his feet.
He didn’t do that. He let them struggle with their faith. He wanted them to exert themselves. To think everything through – the promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the prophecies given through Isaiah, Jeremiah and the minor prophets; the crucifixion, ravings of the women and the rumors of his body being stolen. He let them struggle so that their faith would rest where it needs to be – in the resurrected Christ and his Spirit-inspired Word.
Jesus can very easily make all of this go away. He can heal the disease. He can restore the economy. He can ease the burden. He can remove the cross.
But Jesus wants us to struggle with our faith so that we rest in him. Jesus takes his time going to visit Lazarus, so by the time he arrives, his friend has been dead four days. So Jesus can raise him to life! God makes Jacob wrestle with him all night long before giving him his blessing in the morning. Jesus seems to ignore the pleas of the Canaanite woman so she begs for mercy from the Son of God. Then he heals her demon-possessed daughter at that very moment.
When things are going well, it is easy for us to become complacent and lax in our faith. When we struggle, that’s when we get up and exercise our faith. We go for a walk … through the pages of Scripture. We see that what we are going through is neither new nor unexpected. It is common. It is a cross. It is a blessing.
Jesus wants us to realize that we are sick and we look to him for healing. We are weak and look to him for divine strength. We are guilty and we need his forgiveness.
Jesus invites us to go for a walk. Walk around your house to count the blessings you already have. Walk through your neighborhood to see the beauty that God provides in nature. Those walks are good. But you will not encounter God there. He is not in the trees, wind or sunlight.
To encounter God, you need to walk with him through the pages of Scripture. There your eyes are opened. You encounter the alien who came from heaven to be your Savior. You see the stranger who entered our world so we could know him. He is God in disguise – waiting patiently for his people to seek him. He is the Savior who was not surprised by the cross. He was always looking ahead to the cross. He knew that was the way to win salvation.
Though Jesus has vanished from sight, we are not sad. Like the Emmaus disciples, we know Jesus is not gone. The fog has lifted. We can see our Savior in the light of the Son and by the blowing wind of the Holy Spirit.
Our eyes are opened. Though we cannot see him, he is not gone. Our faith is not in seeing or in glory, but in his Word. In his promises. In his Church.
For the time being, church is streaming online and video devotions and private communion. But soon we will return to normal. Get ready to stretch your legs. We will soon walk together in church. Scripture and Supper. Teaching and Table. Word and Sacrament.
Your plans have fallen through. So what are you going to do? Do every day what we are doing today. Go for a walk. Meet Jesus there. He will clear up your spiritual fog. Exercise in the Word. Bask in the warmth of his Son-light. Enjoy the warm wind of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Hold thou thy cross before my closing eyes; Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies. Heav’n’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee; In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me! (CW: 588 v7)