Luke 24:13-35
“Meeting Jesus On The
INTRO: My preaching professor in seminary, Dr. Chapell, would often remind us
that sermons aimed
at a general audience reach very few people.
He told us that we should
write and preach sermons with one or two people in mind.
And if a sermon is focused on a few specific
people, then it will reach many.
So this morning, Easter
morning—going to preach to one or two of you—
who are
disappointed with God.
You feel as if God has let
you down.
You hoped he would do something, but he
didn’t do it.
You prayed for something and the opposite
happened.
God didn’t come through has
you had hoped.
It may have been the untimely
death of a loved one.
Maybe it was a painful divorce that took
place in spite of prayers against it.
Maybe it was a financial or health
problem that hasn’t worked out.
It could be certain plans you hoped would
succeed that didn’t.
It seems that God has not
answered and you are disappointed—hopes failing.
You may not have even identified it as
disappointment with God.
It may surface in your life as depression or
irritation.
But underneath, it’s
disappointment with God himself.
That may seem a strange
audience to preach to on Easter—
But that’s exactly where these two disciples
were as they walked the seven miles
to
Their hopes and prayers were that
Jesus the one who was going to redeem
As we saw in the Triumphal Entry last week,
their expectation
was that Jesus would restore the political fortunes of
That he would unite
and that
This was the hope of all good
Jews—and it was based on promises in the Bible.
And it seemed to them that Jesus was the one
who was going to do these things.
But all of their hopes had been dashed by
his death.
A dead
Messiah. A crucified Messiah. The end of their hopes.
But as they walked along,
talking about these things—
Jesus himself came and walked with
them.
They were kept from recognizing him.
But later, at the table,
their eyes were opened. Recognized Jesus.
They knew that he was alive. They knew he had risen from the dead.
When that happened, what did
they ask each other?
“Were not our hearts burning within us while
he talked with us on the road?”
What did they mean? “Were not our hearts burning within us?”
It means their hope had been restored.
Their disappointment was replaced with hope.
The burning heart was hope
again in God’s good plan.
This great disappointment, the death of
Jesus was not the end.
God was at work even in what seemed to be
the end of their hopes.
God was at work doing something bigger and
better than they imagined.
And what restored their
hopes? Was it a technique? Was it positive thinking?
It was Jesus. Jesus Christ.
They had an encounter with
the risen, living Lord Jesus Christ on
And who initiated that encounter? Jesus did.
He came to them in their lowest moment and
restored their hope.
The only way that your hope
is going to be restored is
when Jesus Christ
himself, alive, risen from the dead, comes to you,
meets you where you
are in your disappointment, and gives you hope again.
How does it happen? This story shows us.
So let’s look at this marvelous Easter
story.
For those of you who like to take notes—two
headings:
The causes
and the cure for disappointment with God.
MP#1
The causes of disappointment with God
1. You may be
disappointed with God because He has kept you from seeing spiritual truth for a
time.
Right at the beginning of
this story there is that strange and troubling remark:
Jesus himself came up and walked along with
them but they were kept from recognizing him.
God kept them from
recognizing Jesus.
He prolonged their disappointment and
discouragement by keeping them
from seeing the
thing that would have given them hope right away.
Is that right? Is the Bible really saying that?
This is not the only place in
the Gospels where Jesus’ disciples were kept from
seeing and
understanding spiritual truth. Luke 18
says:
Jesus took the Twelve aside
and told them, “We are going up to
Clear enough. Right? No doubt what
Jesus is saying. It’s plain as day.
But the very next verse says:
The disciples
did not understand any of this. Its
meaning was hidden from them,
and they did not know what he was talking about.
The truth was hidden from
them by God. Why? Why would God do such a thing?
Here’s why.
They didn’t want to hear the truth right then. Weren’t ready for it.
They preferred to live in the
fantasy world where they were the great heroes of
Israel, they preferred imagining the political
glory that they deserved for
following Jesus.
They didn’t want to hear that
Jesus had come to deal with their sin by his death.
So God hid it from them for a time. So that when their idolatrous fantasies
would be thoroughly
crushed.
He still works that way with
us today sometimes. He hides the truth
in the sense
that he lets us,
for a time, live in the fantasy world we have created.
He lets us live with our self-pity
and self-justification and discontent is real.
He closes our minds to plain teaching of
Bible for a time
so that we will
learn hard lessons we could learn no other way.
Right now some of you have
Christian friends who have been telling you things.
You went to them with your problems and
complaints and they have been telling
you the same things
for weeks, months, maybe even years.
They are telling you things
like, “Wait on the Lord.”
“Trust the Lord, your life is
in his hands.”
“Be patient, be content, humble
yourself under God’s hand.”
“The Lord is going to bring good things out
of this.”
And you think to yourself, They just don’t get it.
They don’t understand what I’ve had to deal
with.
But no, you don’t get
it. God is doing something deeper. He’s le
When the perfect time comes, he is going to
show you Jesus in an amazing way.
2. You may be
disappointed with God because your expectations do not match his sovereign purpose.
What were their
expectations?
“We had hoped he was the one who was going
to redeem Israel.”
Were their expectations
met? Did Jesus redeem
At that moment they would have said No.
Because for them redemption was
one-dimensional. It was political.
Freedom from Rome’s
oppression. An
independent Jewish nation.
But the fact is that Jesus
had redeemed Israel beyond their wildest dreams.
He redeemed his chosen people from the
oppression of guilt, death, and sin.
He expanded
But he did all of this in a
way disciples could not understand at first—the cross.
That was God’s plan, and it had to happen
that way.
Jesus said on Emmaus road,
“Did not the Christ HAVE TO suffer these things.”
Jesus meant that this had to happen in the
ultimate sense.
God has his sovereign ways of doing things
and accomplishing his purposes.
We think God can only bless
us one way. The way mapped out in our
plans.
Told you last week about the
pastor who was talking to a woman who was
disappointed never
gotten married. He reminded her great
blessings in Christ.
And she replied, “I don’t want Jesus, want a
husband.”
We’ve all said the very same
thing.
We have our expectations for
what God’s blessing should look like in our lives.
But God has a sovereign plan that must
happen.
There are things in that plan
that are definitely not on our agenda, hard things.
But His plan will bring about blessings
beyond anything we can imagine.
Now, this raises lots of
questions. Lots of
hard theological questions.
But this is how it works practically in our
lives:
If the crucifixion of Jesus
Christ, was the essential part of God’s sovereign plan
for our blessing—then
no sin, no trouble, no loss, no pain can thwart His
sovereign purpose
for your good.
In fact, the very opposite is
true:
God works out everything in accordance with
the council of His will.
You might say, I’m not disappointed with God. I’m fine with God.
I’m disappointed with my
life.
I’m disappointed with the way things have
worked out for me.
What is that, but
disappointment with God once removed?
He gave you your life. He worked things out to bring you where you
are.
He brought both good and bad people into
your life.
God’s sovereign plan for your
redemption and the expectations you have for life
are not always the
same. But his plan is best, and the
cross proves it.
3. You may be
disappointed with God because you have focused on part of the Bible but not the
whole.
These two disciples were
Jews, they knew the Bible, the knew the prophecies.
But it seems that they had focused entirely
on those prophecies and promises
that spoke of the
glory and victory of the Messiah.
But what part of the Bible
did they completely overlook?
All of those prophecies that
spoke of the suffering that the Messiah had to face
before he was
glorified. Isaiah 53
passages. Suffering
servant.
Missing that was huge,
because they failed to see the central thing—
the death of Christ
as sacrifice for sins of his people.
Missed that Jesus would
redeem
Did you notice the emphasis
on the word “all” in Jesus’ words to them?
How foolish you are and slow of heart to
believe ALL that the prophets have spoken.
And beginning with Moses and ALL the
Prophets, he explained to them what was said in
ALL the Scriptures
concerning himself.
Reason they were so
disappointed was because they had focused on parts of the
Bible they liked, and ignored the parts they
didn’t like, so ended up having a
completely
unrealistic view of the work of Jesus Christ.
Don’t we do the same thing? We have favorite promises—nothing wrong with
that.
But when is the last time you
thought about these promises:
“Everyone who wants to live a godly life in
Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”
“We must go through many hardships to enter
the
“The Lord disciplines those he love and punishes everyone he accepts as a son.”
And that is just a
taste.
So much in the Bible about
the struggle and warfare of Christian life.
Of course we are disappointed
with God when he brings to pass the things
in the Bible that
we just didn’t want to focus on.
No wonder the disciples were
disappointed and discouraged.
No wonder we are sometimes disappointed and
discouraged.
But God doesn’t leave his people here.
MP#2
Let’s consider now: The
cure for disappointment with God
Jesus met them on the
God’s plan for their
salvation through the death of the Messiah.
The cure for your
disappointment with God comes when Jesus
meets you on your
own
things God has done
for you through Him.
Jesus has to come to
you. He came up and walked with them.
All you can do is go to the places where he
often walks with his people.
Two places in particular. Two old places you have to walk often.
1. Jesus meets
you in the Word.
What did he talk about on the
road?
“And beginning with Moses and all the
Prophets, he explained to them what was said in
all the Scriptures
concerning himself.”
“Moses and all the Prophets”
was a Jewish way of saying the whole Old Testament,
He went from Genesis through
Malachi showing them that God had to send a
Savior who would die as a substitute for the
sins of his people
so that they could
be forgiven and live forever.
Jesus was teaching these two
disciples something—recorded here for all Christians.
This is where the risen Lord comes and gives
hope.
The resurrected Jesus meets his people in
the Word.
Dr. Robert Rayburn tells the
story of a young Vietnamese man named Hien Pham.
He was a Christian, served as an American
military as a translator during the war.
When
He was not allowed to read
anything in English, only propaganda in Vietnamese.
After months, began to take it’s toll. Began to doubt that there was a God.
He began to doubt that Christ was real. Finally, he decided to abandon his faith.
He decided to quit praying.
His work in the prison was to
clean the latrines.
That day as he was empting cans full of used toilet paper, saw crumpled sheet
with English words,
wiped it off, stuck in pocket.
Against rules, but being
fluent in English, couldn’t contain his curiosity.
That night, quietly got out—very first thing
saw written across top—Romans 8.
He literally began to tremble. And he read:
Who
shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or
famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No,
in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor
life...will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus
our Lord.
And
he wept. This was the day he was going
to quit praying.
Give up on believing in God and Christ.
Risen, living Lord Jesus met him in the
Word—even in that dark time.
When you are disappointed
with God, how do you read the Bible?
So often we read it looking not for Jesus,
but for advice.
Perhaps you are discouraged
because your marriage is troubled.
So read the Bible looking for marriage
advice. 7 steps to a
better marriage.
Perhaps you are struggling
with finances, work—disappointed things aren’t better.
So read the Bible looking for principles and
advice in these areas.
The Bible is full of good
advice about life. Even if an unbeliever
follows the
Bible’s advice about marriage and money—will
have a better chance of success.
But that’s not how you meet
Jesus Christ in the Bible—reading as advice book.
Have to read it to meet Him. Have to want to see Jesus in all the parts.
As you open the Bible your
prayer shouldn’t be: “Lord solve my problems.”
Should be: “Lord, I’m on an
And usually softly,
quietly—but sometimes dramatically—
Jesus himself, alive, risen,
will meet you in the word.
And you will know that he is walking with
you.
And when that happens, your
disappointment with God disappears—
your heart burns
with hope. You can say about the
problems of life—
“Bring it on.” I’m right with God through Christ and nothing
can destroy me.
2. Jesus meets
you at the Table.
When did these disciples
recognize Jesus? Urged
this stranger to stay with them.
When he was at the table with them, he took
bread, gave thanks, broke it, and began to give
it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they
recognized him.
God opened their eyes. The time was right. And then they recognized him.
What did they recognize in
particular that made them realize it was Jesus?
This is speculation, but maybe
these two disciples recognized Jesus
when the saw the
nail prints in his hands as he gave them the bread.
Those wounds that had caused
them to lose all hope and become disappointed
with God were transformed by the resurrection into an
occasion to hope in Christ.
When Christians gather
together to worship on the Lord’s Day
each one brings
with him wounds suffered during the previous week.
Here is someone who has
buried a parent.
Here is another person who
has lost his job.
Here is someone who has been
cut to the heart by a cruelty or mean words.
All these wounds, big and
small, can cause us to become discouraged.
They can even make us disappointed with God.
So we come to the Table.
At the Table we hear these
old familiar words—
On the night he was betrayed, Jesus took
bread, broke it, and gave it to his disciples
saying, “Take, eat,
this is my body broken for you.”
And then you receive in your hands
the symbols of Christ’s wounds—
his broken body and
his shed blood.
Think of what terrible and
wonderful things you are holding in your hands—
the wounds of Jesus
Christ, for you.
But then Jesus rose from the
grave on Easter and what happened to his wounds?
They were transformed into glorious hope for
believers.
And if you eat the bread and
drink the cup with faith in Jesus Christ,
then Jesus himself,
alive, risen, will meet you, and take the wounds you have
suffered, and transform
them into occasions for hope in God and not despair.
This is certainly instructive
for us as we take Communion.
Every time we come to the Lord’s Table we
ought to look for and hope for
and Emmaus Road
encounter with Jesus Christ.
But this isn’t just for
taking communion in church.
This is for all of life. This is for when you are hurting at home or
school or work.
This is for when you are at the bedside of
aging parents, or when you’ve gotten
bad news from the
doctor, or after a conflict with our teenage child.
You bring those wounds to
Jesus, those disappointments.
And you believe that if God
could take the terrible wounds of Jesus
and turn them into
your salvation though the Resurrection—
then he can
certainly take your little wounds and redeem them as well.
Do you believe that? Do you believe your worst wounds can be
redeemed?
They can.
The resurrection is proof. As you
believe, you meet Jesus.
CONC:
I know you have heard of the
Trail of Tears.
Throughout the 1830s, all the Indians in the
South, Chickasaws, Choctaws,
Cherokees, and
Creeks were rounded up and marched to reservations in Okla.
One of
their routes was right though North Alabama.
The Trail of Tears was a
historical event. It really happened.
You can trace the route.
But it’s more than history—it’s a parable of
Native American experience.
In a way all Indians have
walked the Trail of Tears.
The
You can go to
But it is more than
history—it’s a parable of the Christian life.
Even though it was just Cleopas
and another disciple—
in a sense, all
Christians have walked the
Those times of discouragement,
even disappointment with God—
brought on for
various reasons—but then Jesus Christ comes along.
Through His Word and Table—
sometimes gently,
and sometimes dramatically—
he reminds you that
he rose from the dead that first Easter—
That he is alive today. And that because he is alive and with you—
you have reason to
hope.
And so, my
friends. If you are disappointed, disappointed with
life,
disappointed with
God himself. Look to Jesus Christ.
Pray to him, and He will answer.