The LCA provides this sermon edited for lay-reading, with thanks to the original author.
Easter 3
Luke 24:25-35
Three Mysteries
Today we look at three mysteries.
1. There is Jesus who walks with his two disciples and talks with them, and they don’t recognise him.
2. Jesus explains the Scriptures to the two disciples who don’t recognise him, and it is like a fire burning
inside them.
3. There is the mystery of the breaking of the bread, the moment when the two disciples recognise Jesus,
and he disappears.
A. The first mystery
Jesus comes to his disciples as a stranger. It happens on the beach, early one morning after the disciples
had fished all night and caught nothing. The Scripture says,
“but all that night they did not catch a thing. As the sun was rising, Jesus stood at the water’s edge,
but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.”
It happens again in the locked room, when his disciples think they are seeing a ghost. They are scared out
of their wits, and Jesus keeps assuring them “Don’t be afraid! Peace be with you!” Jesus shows them his
hands and his side and asks them to touch him to be assured it is he, and not some scary phantom from
Hades or wherever ghosts come from.
It is important to note that Jesus comes to people whether they recognise him, or not. He comes whether
they are ready for him or not. Jesus comes when he is ready. When he comes, he shows himself to be fully
and completely alive. It is really him. Ask Thomas! But his risen body has also been made new in a way
that goes beyond the laws of nature and physics that rule us and our bodies. Jesus is able to enter and
leave the disciples presence in an instant – even when they are in a locked room. This is a mystery of the
risen Lord. We have difficulty grasping the miracles we see in nature. A flower, for example, opening into
a beautiful bloom or a tiny bird hatching out of an egg. Our world is full of delightful miracles. How much
more are we in awe of the mystery of Jesus alive again, gloriously raised from the tomb?
It blows our minds to see the Creator of all miracles walking around as a human being, obeying the laws
he put into nature. It is even more fascinating when he is greater than the laws of nature and physics. He
who works miracles in nature, turning water into wine, walking on water, appears back from the dead
after three days. Jesus is God at work. We can’t explain his work in mere scientific terms. We leave the
mystery at that.
When Jesus appears to us he might still come as a stranger, and we might not recognise him. In Matthew
25 we read how Jesus might come and visit us dressed down as a beggar in dire need of help, desperately
needing a glass of water, or a bite of food to eat, or needing some of our clothes to wear. He might even
come to our home as a stranger who needs a place to rest.
Jesus is thankful for our care for him when he comes to us as a stranger. Jesus says,
“I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me a drink; I was a stranger and you received
me in your homes, naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you took care of me, in prison and you
visited me”.
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Jesus still comes and visits his people as a stranger. That thought is rather scary! Jesus still needs to come
to us and say, “Don’t be afraid. Peace be with you. Your sins are forgiven”. We need to hear these words
from Jesus again and again, “Your sins are forgiven. Don’t be afraid. Go in peace.”
B. The second mystery
Jesus comes and explains the Scriptures to the two disciples.
If there was ever a conversation that we would love to overhear, it would have to be when Jesus opened
up the Scriptures to his two disciples as they walked along together. Of course the Scriptures he used are
what we now call the Old Testament. We might think of it has a book. In those days it was a collection of
scrolls, all written in Hebrew. How does one fathom the meaning and main purpose of the Scriptures?
Again, the Word comes to us in human form and words. This in itself can be a mystery to us. We might
prefer that God would sit in heaven, write it all down, and hand it down to us. But it comes to us in human
form! What do we make of it?
Some people treat the Bible as a magic book, with secret numbers and hidden messages about the future
of people on our earth. Some people like to kiss it, and bow down to the Scriptures. Are we meant to
worship it, or do Christians only worship the living God who comes to us in the Scriptures?
Is there a secret to the Scriptures? Yes. There is a secret key to understanding the Scriptures. In verse 27
of our text we read, “And Jesus explained to them what was said about himself in all the Scriptures,
beginning with the book of Moses and the writings of all the prophets.”
Right from the beginning, and right through to the end, these Scriptures are all pointing to Jesus. The key
to understanding the Scriptures is Jesus. If we are to understand the Scriptures, then we need to look for
Jesus in the words and paragraphs. Jesus is the key who opens up the mysteries of the Scriptures.
It would great to know which passages Jesus took from the Old Testament and said, “This refers to me,”
but we aren’t told. Maybe it was Isaiah 53? There is a hint in Jesus’ words when he says, “Was it not
necessary for the Messiah to suffer these things …”? Did Jesus tell them about the Passover Lamb, and
how the lamb was taken in its prime, and sacrificed, and the flesh eaten with the unleavened bread? It’s
probable the Passover Lamb was included, but again we are not told. It remains a mystery which passages
of Scripture Jesus said pointed to him.
If we want to know which passages of Scripture are more important than others, then we know to look for
Jesus there. He is the key for us to understand the Scriptures. There is much we don’t fully grasp about
the Scriptures, and we don’t need to. What we know is that Jesus is the key to God’s central message of
Scripture – the same one who suffered the worst on the cross for us.
It is interesting that the two disciples still didn’t recognise it was Jesus himself who was explaining the
Scriptures to them. It is significant that their hearts burned within them – a pointer to the Holy Spirit and
the fires that would burn at Pentecost.
C. The third mystery is the breaking of the bread.
We cannot explain in scientific terms how this happened. When Christians try and explain what happens
in Holy Communion they can easily empty it of its real blessings.
There is ordinary bread and wine. Jesus takes the bread, as God’s people had been doing for several
thousand years. Jesus then breaks the bread, and gives it to them, saying, “Take and eat, this is my body,
given for you.” And then he took the cup – we know the words!
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Saint Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 11,
“Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be
guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he
eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognising the
body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.”
The two disciples at Emmaus immediately recognise the risen Jesus in the breaking of the bread. There is
a deep mystery here that we can’t explain in scientific terms. The two disciples are so excited and
overcome with emotion and joy,
“They got up at once and went back to Jerusalem, where they found the eleven disciples gathered
together. The two then explained to them what had happened on the road, and how they had
recognised the Lord when he broke the bread.”
Holy Communion is our celebration of Easter, when the risen Lord Jesus comes to us, bringing victory and
forgiveness in the bread and the wine. The risen Jesus who suffered and died for us comes to visit us in
the bread and wine every time we join in the Lord’s Supper. He comes as the Lamb of God who was
offered up in sacrifice for us. He comes bringing forgiveness, with the message, “Don’t be afraid. Peace be
with you. Your sins are forgiven.”
The risen Jesus comes to us again and again as we travel through this life. We never travel alone. He walks
with us. He talks with us.
The risen Jesus, the same one who was sacrificed for us on the cross, visits each one of us personally in
the breaking of the bread. A profound and wonderful mystery. Thanks be to God!
Amen.
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