Eyes Opened on Emmaus Road

This morning, we're going to look at these disciples on the Emmaus Road once again. And remember, this is our introduction to Christ in the Old Testament, the shadows of the Messiah. Last week, though, I just had a sermon on my heart that I could not get away from, and I felt like that was a message for Jessup Grove. Other people can get application from it, but sometimes I feel like the Lord has a message for his particular local congregation, and so that's what that was. But we have left the two disciples with Jesus on the road. They're traveling to Emmaus, tired and hungry. They didn't know they would have to wait another week to reach the village. Here they are anyway, and we're going to get them there and something to eat in just a minute.

Two weeks ago, we asked the question: How do we read the Old Testament? We talked about some approaches to biblical interpretation, where some people see the Old Testament as simply stories, mythology, legends, or just good examples to follow. Sometimes we ask the question, "What does this particular passage of Scripture mean to me?" We learned that's the wrong question. We need to be asking: What has God clearly communicated to me in His Word? So we ask questions like: Who wrote the book? Who was the original audience? What's the context of the passage? What's the plain reading of the text? What does this text teach me about God? And what does it teach me about Christ? How does it point to His person and His finished work?

Then we talked about reading the Bible through a Gospel lens. Are you all wearing your "Jesus Gospel glasses" this morning? Where do you see Jesus? How does it glorify Him? We talked about Jesus being a greater Moses, a greater David, a greater Daniel. Where do we look to see Jesus? Jesus began with Moses, walked all the way through the prophets, and expounded to these disciples all things in the Scriptures concerning Himself. We talked about how the Scriptures reveal our false assumptions about Jesus and give us a clear view of who He truly is.

This morning, to set the context, let's start in Luke 24, verse 13. This is after Jesus' resurrection. He appears to two disciples traveling to the village called Emmaus. Verse 14 says about these two disciples: "They talked together of all these things which had happened." So while they conversed and reasoned, Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. Remember verse 16: Their eyes were restrained, so they did not know Him. They didn't recognize who they were talking to. And He said to them, "What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another, that you walk and are sad?"

Then Cleopas answered and said, "Are you only a stranger here in Jerusalem? Have you not known the things which happened there in these days?" Once again, I love Jesus; He has a sense of humor. He's like, "What things? Tell me about it. What really happened?" They said to Him, "The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death and crucified Him." This is why they're sad. "We were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today's the third day since these things happened. And certain women of our company who arrived at the tomb early astonished us. When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had seen a vision of angels. He said He was alive. And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said. But Him they didn't see." He's talking about Peter and John. "And we're just confused. We don't know what to believe. We don't know where to go. We don't know who to turn to. We thought He was the one. Maybe we were wrong."

Then verse 25. Jesus says, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken. Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter His glory?" And beginning at Moses, and then through the prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. Verse 28. Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone further. But they constrained Him, saying, "Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent." And He went in to stay with them.

And it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Listen to what happens. Then their eyes were opened, and they knew Him, and He vanished from their sight. And they said one to another, "Did not our hearts burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?" How powerful that is.

Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Lord, we thank You that You are with us here just as You were with the two disciples on the Emmaus Road, and that You desire to do the same thing for us this morning, Lord. You desire to open up our eyes to see You in all the Scriptures. You desire, Lord, to open our understanding. And You desire that the Word of God would burn within us the same way it burned within Cleopas and his friend. So, Father, we pray that You give us gospel vision. Let us see Jesus. Let us glorify Him in Jesus' name. Amen.

All right, guys. The question this morning: how do we see Christ in the Old Testament? And I want to present this case to you. We need to reread the story from the beginning. We need to reread the story from the beginning. Anybody here like watching movies? Who here are avid readers? Who likes reading books? I'm a book guy. I love books. I love whodunnits. I love thrillers, especially. I love those that have twists and turns and books that keep you on the edge of your seat. And maybe you've read a book like that. It's full of plot twists, and you can't figure out the ending until it's there. And you're like, "I never in a million years would have seen that coming. I would have never come to that conclusion."

But then something magical happens. Once you get to the end of the book, what do you want to do? At least I do—I want to go back to the beginning and reread the book and pick up on all the clues I missed along the way. Let me present this before you: reading the Old Testament is a lot like that, isn't it? We read the Scriptures—creation in Genesis, the Pentateuch. And then we get to the book of Numbers. Hallelujah! Everybody loves Numbers. This one begat this one, and so-and-so begat that one. Let me tell you—this is a surefire way to start a revival in the church. Who wants to go through the book of Numbers? Then we get to Leviticus, and we're like, "Sacrifice this sheep on this day of the month and do this and do that." And I'm like, "What on earth does this have to do with me? What on earth does this have to do with Christ?" And then we skip ahead and we read the history and we see this king failed and this king failed and this king failed. And we're like, "How on earth does that point me to Christ?"

Then we come to the prophecies, and some prophecies, like Isaiah 53, are so crystal clear. You know that's talking about the suffering of the Messiah. Then you read others, and it's like, I haven't the slightest clue what he's even talking about. Am I alone? Or you all feel that way sometimes too?

Then we get to the New Testament. Then we see Jesus. Then we see the gospel writers, particularly Matthew, who goes back to the Old Testament and he starts drawing these prophecies together, saying, "That was talking about Christ. That was talking about Christ." We go to the book of Hebrews and it talks so much about what we skipped over in Leviticus—how Christ is the ultimate temple, the ultimate priest, the ultimate sacrifice. And we're like, it was talking about Jesus all along. So what do I want to do? I want to go back to the beginning and reread it and pick up on all these clues. I want to follow the trail of breadcrumbs, and it will lead me naturally to the Lord Jesus Christ. Then I will see that every genealogy, every law, every king, every prophecy points me in some way to Jesus. And then I realize the entire narrative is the story of God's redemption through Christ from Genesis to Revelation.

And by the way, that's exactly what Jesus did for these sad disciples on the road to Emmaus. Look back in verse 28. They were nearing the village, and Jesus said, "I must be going on my way." And they replied, "No, no, you're coming with us." Now, they were wanting to be hospitable—that was the custom in the East, a practice still observed today. But can you imagine what had been going through their minds as these disciples listened to Jesus? They would have wondered at the depth of knowledge and insight he possessed. His understanding of the Torah, his mastery of the wisdom literature, and his clear interpretation of the prophets were unprecedented. And you know what they were saying? "Jesus, we want to know more. Come home with us. Come eat supper with us. We want to hear you explain these scriptures some more."

Now think about that. As Jesus walked them to Emmaus, he was walking them through the scriptures. He was walking them through the Old Testament. And their hearts were broken. And their hearts were burning with awe and wonder. No doubt they asked themselves, "Who is this guy? How does he know so much? How has he pointed out so many things in the scriptures they just glanced over?" And then they reached their destination. They invited him in for supper. They wanted to know more. And unbeknownst to them, they began to share a meal with the risen Christ, the one who is the fulfillment of all these scriptures that they had known and studied for years.

Let's look in verse 30. It says, "Now it came to pass, as he sat at the table with them, that he took bread, blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them." That sounds familiar, doesn't it? That's not the first time Jesus had done that with these disciples. And then something wonderful happens. Verse 31: "Then their eyes were opened, and they knew him." And then he vanished from their sight. He was there all along.

So what on earth caused them at this moment to finally recognize that this was Jesus they had been talking to for hours? Let me throw some things out. Maybe it was because they had been with Jesus on the hillside before when he fed the 5,000. Maybe it wasn't the way he blessed the food. Or maybe it was because God was doing a work in their hearts and minds. And God opened their eyes. And now they were able to see Jesus clearly.

Point number one. If we are to see Jesus, God must open our eyes. God must open our eyes. Friends, can I tell you that every one of us is born sinners? It means every one of us is born blind and deaf. We cannot see. We cannot hear. We cannot appreciate or understand the things of God unless God opens our eyes. Now we may see physically, but we need spiritual eyes. Proverbs says that "the seeing of the eye and the hearing of the ear" comes from God.

Have you ever talked to someone, witnessed to someone, and it's just like everything you say is right over their head? It's like you lay out the evidence, you tell them what the Bible says, and they're blind. You argue your case, and it's just like they can't hear. They're deaf. Well, that's true. They're spiritually blind and spiritually deaf. And they will remain so until God opens their eyes, until God opens their ears, so they can receive the truth. So how does He do that? He does that through the Holy Spirit who convicts of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He does it through the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit who brings a dead, cold, callous, lifeless heart to life and grants us spiritual understanding.

Friends, don't we want our eyes opened to see Jesus clearly? Now let's apply it to Christians. How often do we as believers settle for quick devotionals or random Bible verses here and there? Most of the time it's taken out of context—we just want something to make us feel good, right? "I've done my Christian duty for the day. I can check that box. I've read the Bible." Anybody just play Bible roulette? You open it up wherever it falls. That's your study plan for the day. And you probably find yourself not getting much out of it, if we're being serious. Or we read a little *chicken soup for the Christian soul* and that's as deep as we go. And we wonder why we're weak and frail as believers. And we wonder why we wander around in confusion. What we need, friend, is the Scriptures. What we need is expository preaching. What we need is expository studying of the Word of God in our own homes. Because nothing else will satisfy us except the food that was made for us, the Word of God. And God must open our eyes to see His truth through the entire counsel of Scripture.

But not only that, we should know the Scriptures so that we can see Jesus for who He truly is, right? Our deepest longing as believers should be to behold His glory, to know Him intimately. Friends, let me challenge you. Many people in church today, they know stories about Jesus, but they don't know Jesus personally. I need you to get that. Maybe they've been raised in church and they heard the story about Noah's Ark in Sunday school, but they can't tell you who Jesus is because they're not walking with Him. They're still spiritually blinded to the realities of salvation. Friend, I want to ask you, do you know Jesus personally this morning? Have your eyes been opened to see Him as He truly is? Because, friends, the purpose of all our Bible study, the purpose of my preaching, is not simply to gather facts about Him or hear stories about Him. It's to know Him. It's to love Him. It's to have a relationship with Him. The goal, friends, is not information alone. It is a relationship. It is to see and savor Jesus for who He is. Friends, when we read the Bible, we need to say, "I see my Savior there. I see His glory. I see the work that He's done for me." And it should cause us to love Him, to long for Him, to see and savor Him all the more.

Point number two comes in verse 32. After Jesus vanishes from their sight, they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road and while He opened the Scriptures to us?" Just imagine that. Here they are chowing down, shoveling it in, like my kids do. And they're just talking, shooting the breeze. "Tell us more. Tell us more, Jesus." And all of a sudden, ding, the light comes on. And they drop their fork. And their mouths fly open. And they look at each other and they're like, "It's Him." And then, poof, He's gone. "Where did He go?" And then they look at each other and it's like, "I knew something was different about Him. My heart was on fire when He was opening the Scriptures to us."

Point number two. God must set our hearts ablaze. God must set our hearts ablaze. And friends, these disciples' hearts were set ablaze more than ever before. Jesus met them sad, discouraged, despondent. That ember was flickering and fading. But now the flames were being fanned as they talked to Jesus about the Scriptures. And then when they saw Jesus for who He truly is, that little flame became a burning inferno in their chest. And they said, "It's Him. It's Him." Their hearts that were once dull and dim were now ignited with a passion for Jesus that they had never known before. They had encountered the truth in its fullness, and it transformed them completely. Friends, is that not what we want this morning? Do we not want God's Word to burn within us?

Friends, I don't know about you, but I don't want to settle for dry doctrinal facts. Now let me say this. I love systematic theology. I love doctrine. They were my favorite classes in seminary. I love it. But the point of theology is not just to increase my intelligence. It is to set my heart ablaze with a love for Jesus and a passion for the glory of God. As the saying goes, and this is one of my favorite quotes: Deep theology produces high doxology. Theology is the study of God. Doxology is the glory of God. Friends, when we truly grasp how great God is as He's revealed Himself to us in the Scriptures, how can we not lift our hearts, our hands, and our lives in praise and adoration to this God who's revealed Himself to us through Scripture? Deep theology produces high doxology.

Friends, the deeper we go in God's Word, the higher our prayers and praise will go. Friends, we don't want to settle for Bible trivia. We don't want simple, dead, cold religion. I want God's Word to burn within me like it did Jeremiah. Remember Jeremiah? He was discouraged. He said, "Lord, you tricked me when you called me to be a prophet." He tried to remain silent, but God's Word was a fire in his bones, and he could not be quiet. Friends, that should be characteristic of every believer. God's Word is burning within us, and we cannot keep it contained. We cannot keep it hidden. Deep theology produces high doxology. The Word of God produces adoration. It produces worship. It produces a love for Jesus. Also, as the Word burns within us, it burns away sin and fleshly desires. Friends, if you struggle with sin, you know what you need to do? Get in the Word of God. And the Word of God is a fire, and you will find it burning out old habits and old passions. You will find your love renewed for Jesus. It ignites us with a new passion for the glory of God. It brings new life. It brings reformation and revival in our souls.

So my prayer for us, friends, is that God would stoke the fire. As Paul told Timothy, fan the flames. Don't let it burn out. Put the Word of God in you. Let it burn in you. Let it stoke the fires for evangelism. Let it make you long to experience the warmth of fellowship and worship. And maybe this morning you struggle with your love for the Lord and your love for other believers. That fire is going out. Remember Jesus' word to the churches in the book of Revelation? Remember Laodicea? They were neither cold nor hot. They were just lukewarm. Friends, God's Word can bring revival. God's Word can fan that flame.

And you might say, "Well, I've been trying. I've been going to church. I've been trying to read the Bible. I've been trying to pray. And I just feel nothing." Keep fanning the flame. Keep fanning the flame. You ever watch the blacksmith work? They'll pump that air, pump that oxygen. The more airflow goes to those embers, the more it just ignites. That's what you have to do. Keep praying. Keep reading. Keep pressing on. Keep gathering with other believers. And let the Holy Spirit of God take His Word and bring refreshment to you. Let it melt a cold heart with the love of Jesus. Maybe you struggle with bitterness and indifference. His love can melt a cold heart. Maybe you struggle with intimidation. Guess what? The fire of the Word of God can produce a zeal in your heart that can overcome fear and intimidation. Maybe you struggle with indifference and you feel like, "Man, I'm just on cruise control." Anybody ever just feel like you're on cruise control going through your spiritual life? Let me tell you, the Word of God can produce a new passion in your heart where you're no longer just apathetic and indifferent, but you want to burn out for Jesus. You want to be consumed with Him. That's what Jesus' life was characterized by, wasn't it? "The zeal for your house has consumed me." God's Word will burn within us. The Bible is meant to show us the glory of Christ and it is meant to stir greater affections for Him.

My friends, my third and final point, verse 45. But we need to pick up in verse 33. Here's what happened. After Jesus vanished, after their hearts burned within them, they did what all people do who truly meet Jesus. They went and told others about Him. So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, "The Lord is risen indeed and has appeared to Simon." And they told about these things that had happened on the road and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.

Now get this. As they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them and said to them, "Peace be to you." But they were terrified and frightened. No doubt. I would have been too. And Jesus shows up and He's like, "It's okay. Don't die. Don't be afraid." They supposed that they had seen a spirit. "He's a ghost!" And He said to them, "Why are you troubled? Why do doubts arise in your hearts? Behold My hands and My feet. It is I Myself. Handle Me and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have." Jesus is saying, "It's really Me. I'm not a ghost, a phantom. I'm not a figment of your imagination. Touch Me. Handle Me. See that I am truly alive." Friends, we have the evidence right before us. Jesus is who He claimed to be because He rose from the dead. And there is visible, tangible evidence right in front of these disciples. And when He said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. But while they still did not believe for joy and marveled. Get this, I love this. He said to them, "Have you any food here?" I love Jesus, don't you? He could have said something so spiritual and blown them away. What does He ask? "Hey guys, you all got anything to eat?" Maybe that's the reason Baptists like to eat. Remember, just following our Savior. But why? Why did He ask this? Verse 42. So they gave Him a piece of broiled fish and some honeycomb. And He took it and ate in their presence. He was proving beyond a shadow of a doubt. It's Me. This is a real resurrected body. "Guys, you didn't imagine it. You didn't just make it up. Here I am."

Verse 44: He says. Then He said to them, "These are the words I spoke to you while I was still with you. That all these things must be fulfilled, which was written in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms concerning Me." Jesus is saying, "Everything had to be fulfilled. Everything had to go according to plan." Friends, one thing we need to realize: The cross was no accident. That was God's plan of redemption from before creation. Everything was going according to plan. His death, burial, and resurrection happened just as He had planned. Just as He predicted in the scriptures.

And notice what Jesus says. He refers to the law of Moses—the Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament. The prophets and the Psalms. Now this is the three-fold division of the Hebrew Bible known as the Tanakh—in which we find the Torah, the Pentateuch; the Nevi’im, the prophets; and the Ketuvim, the writings. That’s the umbrella term "Psalms," which includes the wisdom literature and the historical books. What is Jesus saying? He is stating that all three divisions of the Old Testament talk about Me. I’m the only hero in the story. By the way, Jesus was an expositional preacher, wasn't He? He went book by book, chapter by chapter, verse by verse. And if you read the writings of the apostles and their preaching, guess what they did? Expositional preaching. Avoiding topical sermons, skipping verses, or omitting hard truths. No taking verses out of context. They went book by book, chapter by chapter, verse by verse.

So my third and final point, friends. God must open our understanding. Look in verse 45. "And He opened their understanding that they might comprehend the Scriptures." That's also what we want God to do for us. We want our eyes first to be opened so that we may see Jesus. We want to be informed by the Bible concerning His person and His work. And then we want our hearts to be emblazed, don't we? We want the Word of God not only to inform the mind, but also to inflame the heart. And thirdly and lastly, we want God to open our understanding. That we may know Him. That we may grasp the fullness of Jesus. Now we can't do that without the Holy Spirit because Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 2:14 that we cannot understand the things of God as a natural man because they are spiritually discerned. We must have the Holy Spirit. To the natural, unregenerate man, the Bible seems boring, lifeless. Its truths are foolishness to him. Go home and read 1 Corinthians 1:18. But friends, those who have been enlightened by the Spirit, the words of Scripture are life-giving and they are transformative. The Spirit breathes life into God's Word and He makes it real and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword. And it's through the Spirit that we can hear God's voice calling clearly to us through the Scripture. It's through the Spirit that we can experience and know the fullness of His truth. It's through the Spirit that we are drawn to Christ unto salvation. It's through the Spirit that our spiritual eyes and ears are opened and our hearts are ready to receive this truth. God opens the eyes. God inflames the heart. And God opens the understanding.

So I'm going to ask you this morning, do you have spiritual understanding? I'm not asking you, do you have mental understanding? You may know who Jesus is. You may have heard the Bible stories. I'm going to ask you, do you have spiritual understanding this morning? Is Jesus dwelling in your heart by faith? Are you walking with Him? Are you following Him? Are you in a relationship with Him? I'm going to leave you with this fact. Friends, the Bible is not just a collection of disconnected stories. It's the unified story of God's redemption. It's 66 books written across three continents over a span of approximately 1500 years by over 40 different authors who had 20 different occupations, all telling one story without contradiction, pointing to the Lord Jesus Christ.

As they prepare to sing a song of invitation, I want to ask you this morning, do you know Jesus? Has God opened your eyes to see? Do you desire the passion for God's glory to burn within you? Has God opened your understanding so that you see you're a sinner in need of salvation? Have you seen the beauty and the wonder and the glory of Christ? And do you want to know Him more? Friends, we can go through the whole Old Testament and we can see Jesus in Genesis as our Creator, the seed of the woman; in Exodus, He is the Passover Lamb; in Leviticus, He is the great high priest, the ultimate sacrifice; in Numbers, He is the bronze serpent lifted up in the wilderness. In Deuteronomy, He is the greater prophet than Moses. We see Him in the historical books as the captain of the Lord's armies in Joshua. In Judges, He is the greater deliverer. We see Him as the Redeemer in Ruth. In Kings and Chronicles, He is the King who will reign in righteousness. In Ezra and Nehemiah, He is the great restorer and rebuilder of that which is broken. In Esther, we see Christ as the unseen sovereign who protects and intercedes for His people. In Job, He is the mediator between God and man. In Psalms, He is the good shepherd, the exalted King. In Proverbs, He is the wisdom of God. In Ecclesiastes, He is the purpose for life. In Song of Solomon, He is the bridegroom who loves His bride. Throughout the prophets, we see Him as the suffering servant, the righteous branch, the man of sorrows, the good shepherd, the Son of Man. The Son of righteousness. We see Him in all of His glory. And each book of the Bible is like a side of a diamond. And as we turn that diamond, we see its beauty in all its various facets. And the light of truth shines through that diamond of Scripture and it shows us the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

So this morning, if you want to know Him more deeply, if you want to know Him as your Savior, you can pray where you are or come to the altar, and I'll be glad to pray with you. Or you can grab a deacon, one of your friends, and just come and spend some time with your Savior. Page 413. Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Would you stand, please?

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