string(7) "m-66998" Burnt Hickory Baptist Church

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Apr 16, 2023

Opened Eyes and Opened Hearts

Opened Eyes and Opened Hearts

Passage: Luke 24:13-32

Speaker: Matt Petty

Series: Stand Alone Message

Category: Sunday Sermons

Keywords: truth, church, worship, prayer, faith, jesus, sin, god, sermon, evidence, cross, christian, bible, christ, luke, gospel, luke 24, hope, new testament, salvation, once saved always saved, peace, word of god, good news, revelation, believe, jesus christ, the bible, lord, christianity, restoration, savior, bible study, blessed, son of god, gods plan, bible verses, transformed life, follow god, prophetic word, jesus loves me, jesus as savior, burnt hickory worship, burnt hickory baptist church live stream

In today’s bible study, we explore Luke chapter 24, and we learn some powerful lessons about Jesus. One of the greatest gifts given to mankind is the powerful, personal, live-giving, and complete word of God that points to Jesus, the loving Savior. We also serve a God that personally cares about every individual in the world, including you. If you truly search for Jesus, he will show himself to you. These are amazing aspects of our savior and a powerful part of our faith in him as our savior. All you have to do is call on the name of the Lord to be saved! Where are you in your faith journey? Do you just know about Jesus, but don’t actually know him? Today can be the beginning of a secure eternity for you. If you’ve got questions about Jesus, or want to make a decision to follow him, then reach out today. You can always take the next step by visiting burnthickory.com/next.

Well, good morning, Church. It is a good day to be here today and it isn't raining. Amen. It is an awesome day to be in God's house. Before we jump into the message. Let me just give a quick shout out to all of the people, all of you guys, as well as all of the production teams and parking teams and greeting teams and childhood ministries workers. Last week we had an incredible Easter. Can we just give all of those volunteers a shout out this week? Man, it was good, man. I don't know. Kind of outside looking in, but there are so many pieces to doing three different worship services in two different locations with three online streaming, with kids everywhere, with weather going crazy. But man, thousands of people last week here gathered together, heard the gospel, felt the power of the Holy Spirit. And it was an incredible morning this week. Well, last week we jumped into the Gospel of Luke. We jumped into Luke's account of the resurrection in Luke, chapter 24. We looked at verses one through 12 last week, and we watched the ladies go to the tomb. We watched them experience the empty tomb. We watched them explain the story of the angel. We watched John and Peter head to the tomb and we watched their same account. And we went all around this idea last week at The Resurrection that at first no one could believe it. At first they thought it was too good to be true. There was a story that you couldn't even make up, and they were frustrated. They didn't know what to think, they didn't know what to say because Jesus wasn't there. He had risen and wasn't around them. I mentioned last week that we were going to kind of take up where we left off this week in John 24. And we're going to do that.

We're going to be back in John 24 if you've got a copy of scriptures this morning. And we're going to walk this week into this account where Jesus shows himself to these two people on this road to Emmaus. You know, as much as people couldn't believe what was going on, Jesus knew through his sovereignty that he had a plan, that he was going to begin to reveal himself to people, to show himself to almost 500 people that he had indeed risen. We're going to walk with these two guys this morning that are walking home after the death of Jesus to this little town called Emmaus. Now, this is one of my favorite New Testament accounts. I love this story. I know I say that a lot, but this is one of my favorites. I love the emotion in it and the clarity in it. I love how this one event has the ability to speak to all of us. No matter where we are in our faith journey. It shows us who Jesus is, and ultimately it gives us this incredible picture of what Jesus wants to do in you, no matter where you are in your faith journey. So what we're going to do this morning, we're just going to read it together. We're going to stop along the way here and there, going to point out a couple of things, and we're going to watch Jesus do what he does best. He opens eyes and he opens hearts. And we're going to put a few applications around it this morning just to help us and to encourage us on how we can walk out our faith.

Now, Jesus, in this scene, let me set the scene just for a minute. He's about to literally walk with these guys up to seven miles. You're about to see that in a minute. And these guys, they need to have their hearts changed. They need to have their eyes open. And they need to have their soul replenished because of what is going on in their minds. And Jesus is about to set them free. Now, I know if you are a church person, you know the story. You've been walking in this story a long time. When I say Emmaus, you're like, Boom, got it. Trivial Pursuit. I can name the event, but here's what I want you to do for me this morning. I want you to put yourself in the scene. Don't just read this as history. Read it as you're there. Read it as you're experiencing it, and watch what Jesus does to these two guys and ultimately what his heart is for you. All right. Here we go. That should have given you plenty of time to find Luke 24. Here we go. Luke 24, verse 13, We're going to jump into the text and walk through it slowly. It says this verse 13 says, Now. That same day now we're talking about resurrection afternoon here. It's not a year later. It's not ten years later. This is Resurrection Day. Now, that same day, two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. Now, a little side note here. Just got to point out that this is a real place. 60 furlongs from Jerusalem is a town called Emmaus. A little bitty city called Emmaus. Now, we're not exactly sure which one of the two that it is. Church history has kind of shown us that it could be one or it could be the other. There's about as much evidence of both. We really are not sure because it was so small, it was so insignificant. It didn't really have any history about it. It's just the fact that this is just where these two guys grew up in this podunk little city in south Georgia. Right. That is what we are seeing. And these guys actually, both of these towns, you can go visit them today. They're just little ruins of a place. You can walk the road partially from Jerusalem to these places.

That's kind of cool. Look at verse 14 though. It says this, they were talking with each other about everything that had happened. Now, that's a big “everything”. Because you've got to think in your mind over the last week for these two guys, the last week in their lives has blown them away, right. They had to have been talking because this “everything” includes just for a little bit of a glimpse. It includes the triumphal entry right into Jerusalem, where Jesus rode into Jerusalem and thousands of people singing his praises. It includes the cleansing of the temple. Remember that one where Jesus went into the temple, threw the tables over and proclaimed that this is a house of prayer. It includes the “everything”, it includes Jesus's daily teachings in the temple. When he went in to teach, sometimes in parables, sometimes he just got up in the faces a little bit of the Pharisees and the Sadducees and rebuked them and taught on his coming. That includes when it says that they're talking about everything. They would have had to have talked over Jesus's betrayal by Judas. They would have had to talk through the shoddy trials of Jesus on all of these levels. They would have had to talk through Jesus being thrown into prison, Jesus being flogged, Jesus being put on the cross. They would have had to have talked earlier about the Last Supper. They would have had to talk about Jesus dying on the cross and everything going dark. They had to speak about the death of Jesus and Jesus being put in a borrowed tomb. All of this is what they're talking about from the last week of their life. They would have even had to talk through this missing body business. Right. They're still not sure what happened to Jesus. Now, I say all that, not to just kind of go, here's the passing week, but I say it all because I want you to see the point that these were not pagan worshipers. These are not people that weren't familiar with Jesus. These were not people that were just kind of trying out this faith thing. These two guys in some way had spent time and traveled with him as disciples of Jesus. Now, they were little “d” disciples, right? They weren't part of the 12. All right. Don't want to ruin the story. But in verse 33, if you want to read ahead, you'll see that they weren't part of the 12 because they're going to go back and talk to them. But they would have been part of what the scholars most of the time called the 70. The larger group of disciples. So these guys had walked with Jesus, had talked with Jesus, had heard Jesus had seen Jesus perform miracles. They had a firsthand knowledge of Jesus. They had been around him. And I want you to keep that in your mind.

All right. That Jesus wasn't a stranger to them. But as we kind of alluded to last week, they were defeated. They were defeated at this moment because they knew that Jesus had died. You see, they thought in their mind that Jesus was coming with this huge plan to save all the Jews. Right? That's what they thought. But Jesus's plan, it had been shot. It was gone. Right? Why? Because Jesus died. You see, they didn't know at this point that Jesus had resurrected. And so what were they doing? They were doing what anybody does when they think their plans had been shot or somebody failed us. They're venting, right? They're walking the seven miles and they're thinking back to what had happened and who Jesus was. And they're just venting over these ideas. They thought that they had a conquering Messiah, but really they just got a crucified man. They thought that they had an incredible politician to save all of the world. But all they had was a prophet. They thought that they had the Lion of Judah. Right. But they had the humble lamb of God. So they're walking home to close this chapter in their lives. And I just want you to feel what's going on in the story. And they've been talking, right? They've been talking over this idea of man, how could they have been so wrong? How could they have let Jesus kind of talk them into giving up all of this stuff and follow them? How could they have listened to Jesus talk about all of this stuff, about being the Messiah, but yet Jesus let himself be executed? I mean, really? And you know, if they're like any of us, you know, they're just mad about all the wasted time, right? You know, they're walking back in their families at this point going, Yeah, you told us not to go, and you told us it was a fool's errand. But here it is. That's all happening in their minds. Which, by the way, there's probably been a season of your life that you've lived in just like that, isn't it? There's probably been a season in your life where you have walked a journey in your life, where you felt like Jesus just went silent in your life. Where you felt like you felt like God had just maybe turned his back on you, where God in your prayers had just kind of hit the ceiling a little bit. Or Jesus had just kind of gone silent. You know that's right where they are. They're mad that it didn't go according to their plans. But just hold on because the story's not over.

Now, let's get back to the story, but let me ask you a question first. Have you ever been in a conversation with a person where you are just railing on another person? You know what I'm talking about just a little bit. Maybe not you, but maybe you got in a flash for just a minute, maybe have a friend this happened to. And you were just talking about another person and you were going at it and you were calling them everything that you thought you could call them. You were complaining, you were giving it to them. And all of a sudden the person in front of you, their countenance changes, like, oh, something's going on, right? Something's happening, and they're giving you the shhhhh, don't say it anymore. And then all of a sudden you look on your shoulder and you realize the person is right behind you. Has that ever happened to you before? Maybe not you, all right? Maybe it's a friend that's happened to. Well, look, this is even worse, what's about to happen. Watch this in the story. All right. Verse 15 says this, as they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them. Now, if you stop right there, you're like, oh, y'all are busted. All right, right. That's what you're thinking, right? That's what the story says. But keep going. Let me read verse 15 and 16 together and say as they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus came up and walked along with them, but they were kept from recognizing him.

Now, there's two things I want to point out here real quickly. First, I need you to hear this. If I were Jesus, which I think we can all agree, would not be a good idea, right? If I were Jesus, I am not sure that I would have walked my resurrection victory lap with Cleopas and the “no name” going to the little town in the middle of nowhere. All right. I'm just going to be honest. I'm going to be transparent for a minute. If I were Jesus, like I said again, not a good idea. If I were Jesus, I would have gone straight to the temple. I mean, I would have found the biggest crowd. I would have gone straight up to Caiaphas the priest, and been like, Boo yah, take that. I am alive. Right. That's me. Okay, that's me. Once again, it's a good thing I'm not Jesus. That's what I would have done if I were Jesus. And I'm waking up after three days of being in a grave because these sinners crucified me, I mean, I would have announced at that moment to all the world and stuck it to the man. That's what I would have done. But you know, the difference between me and you and Jesus, it's a good thing that he's God and we're not. Amen. Isn't this what we're seeing? We're seeing that his plans are always best. Always best. And wouldn't it just help us in our walk with the Lord if we could just understand that His plans are always better than our plans? His way is always better than our ways. And why is it that we push so much going, I've got a better idea? I've got a better plan. This feels a whole lot better. Jesus, I know you're saying this. Man that would save us so much grief and heartache. His plans are always better. So what does Jesus do? Jesus doesn't go to the temple. What does he do? We're looking at the story. Jesus decides to go and spend the afternoon or a lot of the day with these two. Almost no name guys. But here's what he's showing us in this. And I want you to write this down because this is important. Jesus is showing us that we serve a God that personally cares about every single individual in the world, including you. Including you.

Do you see this in the story just for a minute? Do you see in the story, could Jesus have done all of this grandiose to the crowds? Yeah, he's going to do that later. But what is he showing us straight out of the grave? He is showing us that he loves people. That he loves you. Yes, we serve a global King that died for the sins of all humanity. That is the gospel. But also, yes, we have a personal Jesus that knows the number of hairs on your head and fully cares about you, fully loves you, fully wants to walk with you. Could Jesus have hovered over the Temple Mount with a spotlight on him, with big speakers, with angels all around him? Sure, he could have, but he didn't. Why? He's teaching this right here that he cares about you. Don't get lost in the fact that we have a global God and forget the fact that He loves you. He loves you. He wants to walk right up beside you. It's what we're seeing in the story. Secondly, I just want to point out this idea in this business of them not recognizing Jesus. Now, anytime somebody studies this, I get this question about once a year. Somebody will be studying this, somebody will read this, and then they'll go, Hey, whoa Matt. What do you mean, Jesus was incognito? I mean, what do you mean that they were kept from recognizing Jesus? Let me explain it real quickly. So we just saw that Jesus came up seemingly out of nowhere. Right. We just kind of read that these guys are walking. Jesus kind of comes up behind them. But in this time, you gotta put yourself in the context. In this time, everybody walked. I mean, it wasn't like you were hopping in the Uber and heading home. I mean, you weren't jumping in a chariot unless you were super rich. You walked the seven miles home every day or whenever you went somewhere. And because context is key, because the course of what the Passover had just finished, there would have been hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people on this road. Why? Because there were always so many routes out of Jerusalem. You go there, you'll see it. You'll begin to kind of get an idea of how this works. A million plus people in this small little city. Passover is over there dispersing back into their little towns. So you're then walking down this road to get to your little village, your little city. There would have been people all around you. And it was not uncommon for somebody to just walk up to you and begin to talk, you're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, stranger danger. We don't do that. I get it. We don't. But they did. And this was culture. It's kind of like taking your grandparents to the grocery store. Amen. Do you know how this goes when you take your grandparents to the grocery store? You never get out of that place because they will talk to everybody. I mean, Lord forbid you take them to the fair. You're never getting out of there. They will talk to every soul they meet. This was the culture. This was the culture. They weren't scrolling the Gram walking down the road. They didn't have those distractions. It was a hospitable culture, a people culture. People talked to people. Lord forbid we talk to everyone, right? I mean, that's what they did.

They had a conversation. So they're walking down the road and a stranger comes up behind them. Now, notice in the scene, Jesus is not dazzling, right? He's not glowing. That's kind of what our mindset of the resurrected Jesus is. He just hovers around all the time and a light shines on him all the time. It's not what's happening. He's not blazing right. He's not like he was when he first came out of the tomb and the guards fell on the ground. Right. These guys aren't in shock. We're seeing the earthly resurrected in earthly, glorified Jesus. So during the 40 days after Jesus rose, we're looking at this idea that he could just mix in with humanity. He was fully human, remember? He was fully human. He was risen. He had the aspects of a human. But also he could perform miracles. He could kind of come through walls. If you keep reading the story you'll see that. And do all of those things. And then one day I do have to kind of mention this, one day he will turn on the razzle dazzle in heaven because he is the light of heaven, but not right here. So how were they kept from recognizing Jesus? That's the question, right? Kind of got off a little change there. That's the question, right. Well, first, if you're not looking for somebody, you miss them a lot of the times. I went to a restaurant last night and it was like, you know, when you go in and the sun it's kind of in your face? And you go into a dark restaurant, you kind of really, you can see a little bit, but you can't really see a little bit. I walked into a restaurant with Melissa last night. And my first thing when I walk in a restaurant, is I try to scan the room because, Lord forbid, if I don't talk to somebody, I'm a terrible pastor. So I try to scan the room. Right. And I walk in and I'm with my family and I'm like, Oh, I'll walk right past a church member. And I don't even see them. I mean, I was like a beeline past him and he was like, Oh, hey, Pastor. I was like, Oh. I was like, Oh, hey, sorry. Didn't see you. I'm kind of. I really didn't promise you if you're here. I really didn't see him. And then but think about it, that's kind of what could have happened to those guys.

But more kind of contextual, what happened to them is that the point and the text points to that Jesus prevented them from knowing who he was. Now, so do you have a little bit of a problem with that. You're like, Well, how could Jesus do that? He created the world, right? I mean, I think that this is an easy one, right? Jesus, in a sense. Now, maybe you've never thought about this. In a sense, Jesus disguised himself to hold back their recognition of him until he wanted them to see him. Now I know that's big boy and big girl theology right there. But he did. And it's at this point that Jesus wanted to teach them something. He wasn't just doing it to play parlor games with them, right? No. He wanted to teach them something and he wanted to teach them that scripture has all the authority. It has all the answers that they'll ever need. You see, if Jesus would have popped into these guys live on this road and man like, boom, look at me, right? I mean, yes, they would have worshiped him. Yes, they would have crowned him as king.

Yes, they would have fallen at his feet. But then when he ascended to heaven, when he sent it back to the father later on, they would have not had the lesson that Jesus teaches them about the power of what Scripture can do in our lives, because that's what He's about to teach them. They would have never heard the lesson about the whole of Scripture. Jesus fulfilled all the prophecies about being able to see Him and be with Him even when he's not physically with them. So Jesus is about to teach the power of Scripture to them as a stranger and then as icing on the cake. Don't want to ruin the story, but it's icing on the cake, later he's going to reveal himself. Watch the story. Verse 17. Watch Jesus ask these questions. Jesus asked them, What are you discussing together as you walk along? They stood still with their faces downcast. Now I mention this a lot. Jesus never asks a question he doesn't know the answer to. He's omniscient, he's all knowing, he's omnipresent. He knows the answer, right? He asks questions on our behalf. Verse 18. One of them is named Cleopas, old Cleopas right. One of them named Cleopas asked him, Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there these days? I can just in my mind, picture Jesus. You know, he's smiling at this point, right? You know, because watch what comes out of his mouth. What things? Jesus asks. Right? About Jesus of Nazareth they replied. He was a prophet. Powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. These guys are presenting the gospel to Jesus. Right. Watch this. The chief priests and our rulers handed them over to be sentenced to death. They crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but did not find his body. They came and they told us that they had seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Verse 24, then some of our companions, he's talking about Peter and John. They went to the tomb and they found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.

Can you feel the tension right here? Can you feel this idea that it's like, Come on, Jesus, just tell him who you are. Come on, Jesus, tell him who you are. Keep reading. Watch this in verse 25. He, Jesus, that's him. He said to them, How foolish to you, how slow to believe all that the prophets had spoken. Verse 26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and enter His glory? And beginning with Moses and the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. Now I want you to see what Jesus did right here, man, this is so incredible. Jesus doesn't unchain himself from any Old Testament and New Testament. Jesus leans on the Old Testament when Jesus says. Then He says right here that He begins with Moses. It means that Jesus went all the way back to the Book of Genesis. So Jesus in front of these people as a stranger, they don't know who He is, walks through Genesis and Exodus and Leviticus in numbers and Deuteronomy, and then he moves into the prophetic language about himself and you know, he's got a little bit of smirk on his mind and he's like, This is me. I'm not going to show you yet. This is me. I'm telling you about me. And listen, I just want to encourage you that if you have never made it a discipline of yours, at least every couple of years to read through the whole Bible, I encourage you to do that, to watch how you see this consistent thread and foreshadowing of the person, the Messiah, the King, Jesus that's raised from the dead. That's what He's doing with these guys. He is walking them through all Scripture, starting in Genesis and walking to the current moment, verse 27, and beginning with Moses and all the prophets. He explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself, what's happening right here? They're getting a personal, exegetical, complete Bible study from Jesus about Jesus.

This is profound. This is incredible. In fact, this is the first lengthy discourse that we see after the resurrection. What is this telling us? It's telling us that, yes, the resurrection is of profound importance, but Jesus is looking at them and telling them the gospel. Jesus is presenting the gospel about himself and Jesus is teaching them, and He's teaching us the Scripture is powerful and it's true. It's transforming, it's telling, it's life giving, it's complete. It has the power to change us. It has the power to transform us. Here's the principle that Jesus is teaching them and us before He shows them who He is. He's teaching this, write this down. One of the greatest gifts given to mankind is the powerful, personal, life-giving, and complete word of God that totally points to Jesus the loving Savior. That's what Jesus is doing here. That's why Jesus is doing this. Jesus is saying, Hey, are there going to be tough times in your life? Oh, yeah, there's going to be tough times. Are there going to be times where you feel like I'm not here? Yeah, there's going to be times where you feel like I'm not here. Are there going to be times when I have to ascend back to heaven and I'm no longer in bodily form with you? Yes, but you listen to me, church. You have God's words. You have the eternal truths, the life-giving principles. But you've got to study them and you've got to know them. You've got to plant them in your lives and commit them to your memories so that when you're distraught, when you're walking down the road, when you're going home, when you can't make sense of life, your first go to is not what culture tells you, but it's what God has already told you. That's what He's telling them right here, because if you do, you will see Jesus move. You will see Jesus work, you will see Jesus work in your life. Let me ask you a question. Why did they miss the resurrection in the first place? Why did they miss it? Well, was it because the Old Testament wasn't clear? Was it because Jesus didn't do his job when he walked on this earth to tell them what happened? No, they missed it because they forgot what God's word said. And I'm thinking that that's a whole big old reason why we missed Jesus in our lives. A lot, because we forget what He's saying. We forget what the Word of God has said about the Messiah.

Let me ask you a question. How serious of a student are you about the word of God? You see, because before Jesus reveals who He is in the moment, He shows them who He is throughout all time. That's what he's doing right here. And that's what the Bible does, as Bible believing people we got to see be serious about the Bible. These guys get a Bible study about Jesus for Jesus. But then the seven miles are over. All right. Let's get back to the story. They're walking down the road. Jesus, he's got to be smiling. In my mind, he's smiling. He's got to be walking down the road. They don't know who he is, still. They just know that they have just been thrown down about what the Bible is. But they still have no idea who Jesus is. Verse 28 As they approached the village where they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther, but they urged him strongly, stay with us. Circle that in your Bibles. For it is nearly evening. The day is almost over so Jesus went in to stay with them. So what happened? They invited Jesus in. He stayed with them. Jesus said Yes. In fact, I want you to write this down because it can help some of you that are struggling today. Here's the principle. Jesus will always come where He's invited. Jesus will always come where He's in body. Any moment that our heart truly reaches out, says, I need you to stay with me. Jesus will always do it. You can say it like this. Jesus will always say, Here I am when he's totally asked. Romans 10:13 says, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. You see, Jesus wants to give hope and power. He wants to give promise. He's the originator of all these things. But listen to me closely, there is a human responsibility side that we have to invite him into the scene. We have to invite him.

So what did these guys do? They invited Jesus. They go to their house, they're sitting down at supper and watch this in verse 30. Oh, man, it's not good. It's about to get good. Watch this. It says when he was at the table with them, Jesus, he gave thanks. He broke it. He gave it. When he's at the table with them, he took the bread, he gave thanks, he broke it and began to give it to them. Then verse 31, then their eyes were opened and they recognized him. And he disappeared from their sight. Now, look, we ain't got time for that one today. You want to have coffee? We can do it later. All right. He disappeared. There's a poof - gone. Right? Verse 32. They ask each other. We're not our hearts burning within us when he talked with us on the road and opened the scriptures to us? Then they got up and they returned at once to Jerusalem and they found the 11 and those with them they assembled together saying It is true, the Lord has risen and He's appeared to Simon and the two told what had happened on the way and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.

Now, look, this is an incredible transformation post resurrection story that we are just scratching the surface on. You got to read this thing like 50 times this week. You just let God speak to you over. But I want to point out a couple of things, because God, what he does in this Jesus, he opens eyes and he opens hearts. Eyes are open. Hearts are burning, and that's how God works. God is the one who has to open our blind eyes to His love. God is the one who is to open our hard hearts to His grace. But church, listen, we're the ones to have to respond. This is not automatic. It's not something we're born with. It's not something you're born into. It's not something that just because you have a Bible or you've been to church. The point of this whole event is that Jesus, in His mercy and grace, wanted these two guys that were open to him to experience him, to know his love, know his grace, know his mercy. And as we said, Jesus had popped into the Pharisees and Sadducees meeting earlier that day and been like, Here I am? Could Jesus have stood on the Temple Mount and called the Angels in? Could Jesus have gone to Rome and just stuck it to Caesar? Yes, he could have. He had authority to do any of this, but he didn't, because instead of showing off his global authority, which is rightfully his, he shows off his personal pursuit of who we are.

Listen, I've been doing this for 27 years, and here's what I can tell you. I have watched and have seen Jesus do this in people's lives day after day after day after day. And he's doing it today. He's doing it today. What does Jesus do? He opens our minds. He opens our hearts. He sets us free. But the question is, has he opened yours? Has he opened yours? Has Jesus stepped in? Because I want you to write this principle down. This is showing us the next principle. Talking about Jesus does not mean that you know Jesus. That's what these guys are in. That's the boat that they're in, right? They're in this boat they've been talking about Jesus for seven miles. I don't know if I could talk about anything for seven miles. Right. Well, probably I could. It’s just a lot. Right. But these guys for seven miles have talked about Jesus, but yet they still had not experienced the resurrected Jesus. Church, this is a scary verse. You know why? Because some of us have been walking and talking about Jesus for a long time. But we have never surrendered to the risen Jesus. We've never had him break bread at our table and experienced who He is. But Jesus gave them a chance. They're walking with Jesus, they meet Jesus. They bring Jesus into their home. Do you know why? Because, write this principle down. If you're really looking for Jesus, he'll show himself to you. He'll show himself to you. He'll do it. In salvation, he'll show himself to you or he'll show himself to you in how to walk in his power. Listen, I can guarantee you this. If you are at a point in your life where you're looking at your life going, Look, I don't have any other hope. I don't have any other promises. I don't have any other worth. I don't have anywhere else to go.

And listen to me closely. If you honestly look at the savior of the world, Jesus, and say, I need you, will you reveal yourself to me? Listen, here's what I know about Jesus and the promise of Scripture. And through what I've seen in my life over and over again, he will always do it. He'll always do it. If You will let your heart go there. I give you my word. Why? Because that's what Jesus does. That's what we're seeing in this story. That's what we see throughout all the biblical accounts. It's what we've seen through all of history. And we see it today. I've been reading this week, I got off on a little tangent I'm not going to lie. I got off on a tangent this week reading stories of how God is moving across our globe. And I've been watching this week, these incredible events this week. Man, I read this story this week about this Muslim country, this Muslim village that had no Christian beliefs in it, in a closed country. And this guy, this influencer, or this leader of their community woke up one night with this clear as day vision, a dream in their mind that there was a man named Jesus that was offering to save his soul. He didn't know what to do with it. He told his wife, he told his family. And then all of a sudden, a week later, a man walked into their village that they did not know. Nobody knew who he was. This guy was a believer, and the guy looked at him as a believer and he said, and I quote, Are you the man that's coming to tell me about Jesus? And he did. He did it. He shared the gospel with this guy and God through his grace, saved this man. Saved him. And I read another story this week about a Tibetan Buddhist monk way up in the Himalayan Mountains. This week I read this story. Last year, this monk could not sleep for day after day after day after day. He just could not sleep. All of a sudden, one night he finally fell asleep and he had a dream of a savior of the world, savior of the world. He didn't know what to do with it, but he slept all night. Later, the next night he went to sleep. He had a dream about a savior of the world and people that would tell him about him. Three weeks later, a backpacking crew from the International Mission Board stepped into this little village and this monk looked at this crew and said, Why are you here? And they said, and I quote, We're here to tell you about a man named Jesus, the man right there on the scene said, I need him. And he gave his life, to this, to Jesus.

I read a story this week about this tribe deep in the Amazon jungle. This tribe had no outside influence, no outside anything. Four of their leaders had a dream one night. I know. I keep saying dream. Man, God's working. He's pursuing. They had a dream. Four leaders in their village had the exact same dream one night. They got together, told each other about it, and started writing this dream down from all of their accounts. It was exactly the same. The next week, a merchant ship showed up on their bank and they looked at this guy like, Listen, we don't know what to do. We just feel like we need to ask you about this. Have you ever heard about this guy named Jesus? The merchant was a believer in Jesus. Pulled a Bible out and the whole village got saved last month. Listen, that's what God does. Jesus pursues. If you want to know Jesus, he will save you. And here's the deal. Don't send me an email this week. It's not that Jesus is lost and we're finding him because he's not lost. It's that I'm lost and he found me. That's the gospel. That's what we're seeing.

But here's the problem. I'm just not sure we're doing much inviting. I'm not sure how much we're inviting Jesus into the scene. You see, verse 29 says. But they urged him strongly. Stay with us. When's the last time you urged Jesus to stay with you strongly? What if he took the next 40 days of your life and that was the top moment in your prayer life? God, stay with me. Jesus, stay with me. Rule in everything in my life. Show yourself to me. That's what Jesus wants out of us. All I could think of this week was Revelation 3:20, when Jesus said, Here I am, I stand at the door and knock, if anyone hears my voice and opens the door. I will come in and eat with that person and them with me. That's the gospel. That's the gospel. They invite Jesus in. Right.

Let's get back to the story. Jesus always says yes to the invitation. Jesus sits at the table as a sign of trust and intimacy and fellowship. And here's where it gets interesting real quick. Look at verse 30. When he was at the table with them, he took the bread, he gave thanks. He broke it and began to give it to them. Now, have you been in church land for a while, does that sound familiar to you? Does that ring a bell? Last Supper? Lord's supper? He took the bread, gave thanks, and broke it. And then what happened in their lives? Their eyes were open. Their hearts were open. Now, look, I don't know when this happened to you, but I can remember when it happened to me. I was eight years old on a Tuesday night at a revival at Glen Forest Baptist Church, and I knew every single answer to every single spiritual question you would have asked me. I could order that flannel board like nobody. I knew all the verses. But that night Jesus opened my mind. He opened my soul. Maybe for you that was 30 years ago. Maybe for you. That was last week at Easter Services. Maybe, possibly, that needs to be right now for you. But for these two guys, it starts to be clear. Jesus shows himself. Now, look, I can't prove this next point, but here's how I think this next thing went down. All right. Stay with me in the story. The Bread of Life, that's Jesus, takes the bread at the table in front of them. And this is incredible in itself. So go with me for just a minute. If you're at a small table with candles on the table and you're sitting there, Jesus is not the host of this party. In this time period at this place, the host, the person whose home it is, should have been the person to pick up the bread.

Now if you don't know the context, you don't get that. Jesus should have never touched the bread. Everybody in the room was looking at him going, Why are you touching my bread? Right? Why are you stirring my pot? That's what your grandma would say, right? Why are you doing this? Jesus takes the bread at the table. And what does the text say that he does? Stay with me. At the small table. You're looking at it because you're kind of flabbergasted that this guy just took the bread and Jesus begins to break the bread. Now, what are you looking at when Jesus broke the bread? You were looking at the bread, you were looking at his hands. And what did these guys see the moment he broke the bread? The nail scarred hands of Jesus. Now, again, I can't prove it, but you could just see it happening. He breaks the bread in front of them and they went, Oh, my goodness, it makes sense. Listen, some of you, you're not in your head right now because how it happened in your life, Jesus didn't sit and break bread over you, but everything was a little bit foggy. And then it became clear everything was a little bit weird. And then it became like, That's my God, he did this for me. They're looking at his hands. They saw the scars of the cross, the spikes that have been driven through his hands, the same scars that Thomas was invited to touch, the same scars that John would later talk about. In First John one, when he says that, which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at with our hands and touched, we proclaim this concerning the word of life. Look, I believe, but I can't prove it. But when I saw the scars, it was like, boom, I'm God. And I have saved you. Their hearts were open, their eyes were open. And then what did they do? They realized that this is the Messiah, that he is alive, and then poof, Jesus, he's out of there another day. Like I said, he's out of there. And then what do they do? They do the only thing that happens in any of our lives when we truly meet Jesus. And that is that they have to tell someone else.

Listen, if there's not a burning desire in you to share your story and your salvation message and the fact that the Messiah has saved your soul, if that is not in your life, then you need to consider Am I really a follower of the resurrected Jesus? Because what did these guys do? They do the only thing they can do. They leave the table, they run out the door. They run the seven miles back to Jerusalem saying we have seen him. The women were right. Peter and John. They were right. Jesus lives and Jesus is the Savior. Look, I love this event. Like I said earlier, I love it for the emotion. I love it for all of that. But I love it because this is exactly what Jesus wants to do in your life. This is what Jesus wants. And I believe that there are people listening to this message that this is happening in your heart right now. Jesus is clearing things up. Jesus is calling Jesus showing Himself to you. The question is, will you respond? Will you respond? Please don't dismiss this moment. Jesus is tracking you down. Jesus walking up in your rearview mirror. Jesus is coming up beside you, side by side. And He's making things that used to not be clear, clear again. He's making things that used to not make sense. They're making sense now.

And listen, he wants to save you. He's not recalling these guys up and going, Man, how do you not believe? How do you not trust? I've given you all the evidence. He's like, No, no, let me show it to you again. Let me go to your house and let me say, Yeah, that's what Jesus wants. Listen, if you've ever given your life to Jesus, this morning, maybe, just maybe, today is the day that he is tracking you down. And you need to give your heart to Jesus. You Jesus, come into my life, be my Lord, save me. You are the resurrected King. Listen, I don't know if that's you today, but I think it's some of you today. But I think there's also another category of people here, and that's the people that Jesus wants to just bring you back into his power. That you know him. you've trusted him, you've given him your life. But man, it's been a long time since he has sat down at your table and broke bread with you. That's what Jesus wants.

Lord Jesus, today, in these next couple of minutes, God we just want you to move. We just want you to move in people's lives, people's hearts. Lord Jesus today, God with our heads bowed and our eyes closed as a symbol of what life is before you open our eyes. God show yourself to us, save us. God, if there's people in this room that need to meet you for the first time today, I pray God, as soon as I'm done praying. Lord, this is going to be bold. I pray they stand up when everybody else stands and they just come over here to the next steps banner to the front of the room on their right, and just look at a counselor. They would say, hey listen, I need Jesus today, just how it's happened in the services already today. I need Jesus. You say Matt, that's that's a long way. It ain't seven miles. I need Jesus. Maybe today Lord, there's also some people that you just hadn't been sitting at the table for a long time because that invitation has been pushed away. Maybe today's the day for them to say, stay with us. Stay with us. Stay in my marriage, stay in my family, stay in my job, stay in my sport, stay in my school, stay in my life Jesus. Lord, walk with us in these next couple of minutes, Lord Jesus, and do work in our hearts. It's in your holy holy name. We pray.

Amen.

Let's stand and sing.

Follow Along with the Message

Opened Eyes and Opened Hearts

April 16, 2023

Luke 24:13
Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem.
Luke 24:14
They were talking with each other about everything that had happened.
Luke 24:15
As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them.
Luke 24:15–16
15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him.

PRINCIPLE: We serve a God that personally cares about every single in the world — including you.

Luke 24:17
He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?” They stood still, their faces downcast.
Luke 24:18–24
18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” 19 “What things?” he asked. “About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”
Luke 24:25–27
25 He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
Luke 24:27
And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

PRINCIPLE: One of the greatest gifts given to mankind is the powerful, personal, life-giving, and word of God that totally points to Jesus, the loving Savior.

Luke 24:28–29
28 As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. 29 But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.

PRINCIPLE: Jesus will always come where He is .

Romans 10:13
Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Luke 24:30–35
30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” 33 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34 and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” 35 Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.

PRINCIPLE: Talking about Jesus does mean you know Jesus.

PRINCIPLE: If you’re really looking for Jesus, He will Himself to you.

Luke 24:29
But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.
Revelation 3:20
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
Luke 24:30
When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them.
Luke 24:32
“Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
1 John 1:1–2
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched — this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life…
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