4-16-2022 Miami Seventh Day BAPTIST Pastor Andrew S. “From Buried Hopes to Burning Hearts” Luke 24;13-35

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4-16-2022 Miami Seventh Day BAPTIST Pastor Andrew S. “From Buried Hopes to Burning Hearts” Luke 24;13-35

 

All four gospels say that no one believed in the resurrection of Jesus the first time they heard of it. And this included Jesus’s own disciples, the ones who were the closest to Him. The disbelief actually started with the disciples. In the verses before our text, Luke says the disciples rolled their eyes and dismissed what the women were saying; these women who were the first to see Jesus resurrected. The disciples thought it was an idle tale and that the women were out of their minds.

Later that day two disciples are walking and talking about what happened to Jesus, the arrest and the horrible crucifixion and the crazy story that Jesus had risen from the dead. As they walked Jesus joined them on the road. This is a perfect picture of God’s grace in action. Even in the midst of our doubts, even in the midst of our unbelief, Jesus comes and walks with us. Those are the times when we need Him the most; when we are in doubt and unbelief. Jesus comes and speaks to us and even the ability to believe is a gift from God. Not only did Jesus Christ die so that thru Him we can live, He even provides us with the Faith itself. There are many people that can say that when they least expected it, they came to believe. Somehow the faith came when it seemed like they didn’t have it. God is sooo…Good! He loves us sooo…much! God spoon feeds us like newborn babes and sticks the spoon of Faith in our mouths. Many times we spit out this spoon of Faith and we are really without excuse.

Jesus is walking along with the two disciples and they don’t recognize Him. He asks them what they are talking about and they tell Him what happened with the arrest and crucifixion. Then they say “we had hoped He was the one who would redeem Israel”. We had hoped-these three words have much meaning. Some say these are the most heart breaking words in the entire Bible because these words speak of a future that is not to be. These words speak of a dream that created energy and enthusiasm but did not come to pass. These words represent a promise that proved to be false. They speak of a future that is now closed off and a future that is now dead. It’s heard to think of anything worse than a dead future. The dejected disciples tell Jesus all of this. They tell it to Jesus who is the resurrection and the life. They tell it to Jesus who is the way, the truth and the life. They say we had hoped that He was the one to redeem Israel. That’s the point my friends, these two disciples are hoping no more. Their hope has gone and when you don’t hope it is pretty hard to summon up any enthusiasm. You can’t bear to be disappointed again. When the women said Jesus was risen, they just couldn’t take it anymore. They dared not believe it because they didn’t want to be disappointed again.

My friends I am here to tell you that hopeful people don’t leave town and hopeful people don’t leave the scene. Hopeful people don’t run away, hopeful people don’t walk away. Even when we are without hope, Jesus doesn’t leave us. Jesus said to these two disciples “Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and enter into His glory?” Beginning at Moses and the prophets, Jesus began to teach them and explain the scriptures concerning Himself. When we read about Moses and the prophets, we see their hope in the Lord. God hears the cries of the people and brings Good News to the poor. The entire Bible is about Hope in the midst of despair. The entire Bible points to the resurrection, to the reconciled relationship between God and human beings. To a future when there seems that there is none. To Love and Light in a world of darkness and fear. All the scriptures point to Jesus Christ. He is God come in the flesh. He is Love, Salvation and Hope.

Jesus is found in every book of the Bible. In Genesis He is the seed of the woman and in Exodus He is the Passover lamb. In Leviticus He is our high priest and in Numbers He is the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. In Deuteronomy He is the prophet like unto Moses and in Joshua He is the commander of the Lord’s army. In Judges He is our judge and lawgiver. In Ruth He is our kinsmen redeemer and in 1^st and 2^nd Samuel He is the seed of David. In Kings and Chronicles He is our reigning King and in Ezra He is our faithful scribe. In Nehemiah He is the rebuilder of everything broken and in Esther He is Mordecai, an advocate. In Job He is our ever living redeemer and in Psalms He is our shepherd. In Proverbs He is our wisdom and in Ecclesiastes He is the meaning of life. In the Song of Solomon He is the loving bridegroom and in Isaiah He is the Prince of Peace. In Jeremiah and Lamentations He is our weeping prophet and in Ezekiel He is the glorious Lord. In Daniel He is the fourth man in the fiery furnace and in Hosea He is the faithful husband.

Jesus is found in every book of the Bible. In Joel He is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and in Amos He is our burden bearer. In Obadiah He is our judge and savior and in Jonah He is the risen prophet. In Micah He is the ruler of the world from Bethlehem and in Nahum He is our stronghold. In Habakkuk He is the watchman and in Zephaniah He is the mighty to save. In Haggai He is the restorer and in Zechariah He is the branch of David, the one pierced for us. In Malachi He is the son of righteousness and in Matthew He is the king of the Jews, the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of the living God. In Mark He is the servant and the miracle worker. In Luke He is the baby in the manger and the Son of man. In John He is the Son of God, the living word and the way, the truth and the life. Jesus is in every book of the Bible which continues from Acts to the end in Revelation where Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Everyone needs to know that Jesus is everything that we need Him to be and more. Those two disciples needed to hear this that day. They needed to remember all that Jesus had told them and how He had prophesized that He would be killed and rise again on the third day When Jesus and the two disciples get to Emmaus, He was going on but the disciples invited Him to stay at their house. Jesus went in to stay with them. This is how it works, Jesus meets us where we are. He walks with us and tells us the truth about His resurrection and then He leaves it up to us as to whether we will invite Him into our lives or not. Once inside Jesus took bread, blessed and brake it and gave it to the disciples. Their eyes were opened and knew it was Jesus and then He disappeared from their sight. Then they said how their hearts had been burning while Jesus had opened up the scriptures to them while walking on the road.

Have you ever felt your heart burning within you with the truth of Jesus Christ? With the truth of the scriptures? With the presence of God? It is a truly amazing thing and there is nothing like it in the whole world. If we only would be more intentional with our reading of God’s word and our worshipping the Lord on a regular basis. We should witness thru our words to all of those that need to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ. The Good News of the forgiveness of our sins and the eternal life God offers to those that believe and follow Jesus Christ.

AMEN