Latest / HBCWestminster / 4.24.22 Luke 24:13-32 Pastor Danny Gardner

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4.24.22 Luke 24:13-32 Pastor Danny Gardner · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  Luke 24, verse 13 is our text. If you're able to stand in honor of God's word as I read, I would ask you to do that now. I'll read our passage through the verse 32, and then we'll pray and begin. It says that very day, two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. And they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.
• 0:31
  And he said to them, what is this conversation that you're holding with each other as you walk? And they stood still looking sad. Then one of them named Cleopas answered him, are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days? And he said to them, what things? And they said to him, concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet, mighty indeed, and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death and crucified him.
• 1:01
  But we had hoped that He was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, and when they did not find His body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but Him they did not see. And He said to them, O foolish ones,
• 1:30
  and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken was it not necessary that the christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory and beginning with moses and all the prophets he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself so they drew near to the village to which they were going he acted as if he were going further but they urged him strongly saying stay with us for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent so he went in to stay with him
• 1:56
  When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broken and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognized him and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures? Would you pray with me? Father God, you are in heaven and we are on earth. And so we choose our words carefully.
• 2:26
  You are enthroned above the heavens, and so we raise our eyes to you in humble recognition. As we hold your word open and read from it, Lord, we pray that you would soften our hearts, open our minds to know and to do what you command. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Thank you, church. You can be seated. We said last Sunday that Christ is not the accuser of the brethren. Amen? He's rather our defender. Christ is not against us.
• 2:58
  Rather, he is for us. He could have chosen all those years ago to throw the rock. He could have been the first to cast judgment. He could have let us pay the penalty for our sin, but instead he dropped the rock and in condemning himself allowed us to receive forgiveness. I was having lunch this week with a pastor from Laramie.
• 3:26
  He's in his 70s. He's been in ministry for decades. And he said, you know, Danny, do you want to know the secret to good preaching? Yeah, there's a secret. I've been doing it all these years. I would love to know. This is a man who is a generation ahead of me. He's been doing it 25 years longer than me. I would love to know the secret to good preaching. And he said, Danny, the key to good preaching is good.
• 3:59
  listeners. And then he said this, he said, the longer I do this, the more I realize how little it has to do with me. After all, he said, people walked out of the metropolitan tabernacle unmoved. Now that was Charles Hayden Spurgeon's church, and Spurgeon has been deemed the prince of preachers, maybe the greatest, most eloquent preacher.
• 4:25
  all time since the Apostles in Jesus himself I mean it was Spurgeon he is number one on the list and many people's lists and Metropolitan Tabernacle was his church and he says don't forget there were people who week after week after week heard Spurgeon preach who left the church unmoved and he said don't forget Danny people even walked out on Jesus it had gotten so bad at one church in Tricel England that in the year 1725 300 years ago
• 4:56
  A man named John Rudge hired another man full time to walk the aisles of the church every Sunday for the sole purpose of keeping parishioners awake during the sermon. This guy's full time job was to walk through the aisles and poke people while the pastor was preaching to keep them awake. Hallie and I were having a conversation a couple of years ago.
• 5:24
  on our back deck with a young woman in her 20s who fancied herself an expert in spiritual things she was asking about why i preach at highland the way i do she said danny why do you stand up there
• 5:38
  week after week why do you go verse by verse why are you so dedicated in fact she even asked why do you guys give so much time on sunday morning to the preaching of god's word i mean even in the time slot you give there's so much time in her mind and she even said formal preaching as is our custom she said is antiquated even unnecessary i asked her her thoughts
• 6:03
  about biblical preaching. I even asked her her thoughts about biblical authority. If the word of God says it, would you do it? And her exact words back to me were, you know, I see a lot of gray area there. My response to her was this, and I said it very gently. I said, you know, if you want to succeed spiritually, then stick to the script. If you want to succeed spiritually, then stick to the script. The word of God is a big,
• 6:36
  And so let me ask you, does good preaching matter? I hope everybody in here would say, well, yeah. I mean, more than just the guy that is forced to because I hired him, right? I hope that everybody in here is like, yeah, good preaching matters. Is good preaching valuable? And if it is, then why is it?
• 6:59
  Based on the current trend in many American churches, which I think probably in the last several decades, if you've been around and observant for that long, have diminished the expositional preaching of the word, would you say that the Bible across the board in American churches is held in high regard? C.S. Lewis said this in his book, Mere Christianity. He said, when I was a child,
• 7:27
  I often had toothaches, and I knew that if I went to my mother, she would give me something which would deaden the pain for that night and let me get to sleep. He says, but I didn't go to my mother, at least not until the pain became very bad. And the reason I didn't go was this. I didn't doubt that she would give me the aspirin, but I knew she would also do something else. I knew she would take me to the dentist the next morning.
• 7:55
  And he says, I couldn't get what I wanted out of her without getting something more, which I did not want. I wanted immediate relief from pain, but I could not get it without having my teeth set permanently right. And I knew those dentists. I knew they start fiddling about with all sorts of other teeth, which had not yet begun to ache. He says dentists would not let sleeping dogs lie. Good preaching.
• 8:27
  It's like a dentist. You want to know why good preaching is so valuable? Why biblical preaching, I think, has perhaps fallen on hard times? Because the Bible does not let sleeping dogs lie. It meddles. It prods. It pushes into uncomfortable places. It confronts us with things that we don't want to think about and that we don't want to talk about.
• 8:55
  What effect, church, brothers and sisters, does the Word of God have on you? What effect does the preaching of the Word of God have on you? Is the Word of God truly living and active in you? Does it dwell richly in you? This morning we learned that it is possible to be very knowledgeable of God's Word, to have the ability to quote it, to have the ability to explain it to others. In fact, we are confronted with two men who had that very attribute.
• 9:26
  They knew the word of God. In fact, they are going to preach a sermon to Jesus himself that is a fantastic and illumined sermon. The problem is the truth that they knew had not yet penetrated to their hearts. It wasn't until they had an encounter with Jesus himself that their eyes were opened and they realized what the scriptures they had been taught from their youth truly meant.
• 9:52
  it is we find possible to be constantly exposed to the word and yet remain unchanged by it you have your bibles open notice in verse 13 the very first word what does verse 13 begin with that you guys will have that you guys are all holding most of you probably holding esvs it begins with the word that anybody not have an esv you got something different what is your word now anybody else
• 10:22
  and okay so those are the other two alternatives now it probably says now behold king james or new king james or nas probably says and behold and behold esv does something kind of weird they leave off two greek words the greek sentence actually begins with one of the gospel writers favorite phrases it is a two-word greek phrase kai edu it means now behold or
• 10:49
  And behold, I don't know why the ESV translators left it off. They just ignored it. It begins with that very day. And behold is a significant phrase. Like I said, it is one of Luke's favorite phrases to use. He uses that little two-word phrase, kai-edu, 26 times in his gospel. He uses it another eight times in the book of Acts. It's translated, and behold, now behold.
• 11:18
  He always used it to introduce something new. But more important than that, He would use it to introduce something unexpected. Anytime you saw and behold or now behold, you should anticipate the Lord is going to do something unexpected. Certainly His resurrection was unexpected. This morning, His appearing to His disciples would be unexpected. It continues.
• 11:50
  That very day. Now, that is still Resurrection Sunday. Okay, so it's still Easter. That very day, it says two of them. That is, two of Christ's disciples. These are not two of Christ's apostles. Don't forget, there isn't a difference between a disciple and an apostle. At this point in the gospel story, there were how many apostles? Eleven. He chose twelve. Judas offed himself. There are eleven left.
• 12:20
  An apostle is one who is sent on behalf of another, but with the authority of the sender. There were, I believe, and this number varies depending on who you read and how apostle is defined, but I believe there were 15 total New Testament apostles. There were the 12, Judas Offs himself, Matthias in Acts chapter 1 has chosen to replace Judas. Matthias is number 13.
• 12:48
  The apostle Paul was called an apostle of Jesus Christ, that's 14. And then his traveling companion and encourager, Barnabas. In fact, the son of encouragement was also called an apostle of Jesus Christ, 15. Those are the apostles. But a disciple is different. A disciple is a follower or a student. In our text, we observe that one of these two apostles is named. His name is Cleopas.
• 13:18
  Another name that you're very familiar with, the female version of Cleopas is Cleopatra. Cleopatra, male form, Cleopas or Cleopatros. So two of these disciples begin a conversation on their way home. Notice verse 13 says they are going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. The city of Emmaus is only ever mentioned here in the New Testament. It's the only time.
• 13:45
  That city's ruins have been discovered. They've even been excavated. If you come with me to Israel next year, you'll get to see them. Emmaus, seven miles to Jerusalem, verse 14 says, and they're talking with each other. So as they're walking along that dirt road, they're talking as friends do. And it says specifically that they're talking about all the things that had happened. They had come to Jerusalem, no doubt for the Passover.
• 14:12
  They had stayed in anticipation of what Jesus the Messiah would do in their midst. They anticipated miracles and signs and maybe even the power to overthrow the Roman government. They had witnessed, no doubt, the triumphal entry. They had been too in the crowd, waving those palm branches and singing Hosanna and blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
• 14:35
  They knew that Jesus and the twelve were celebrating the Passover Seder somewhere together in the city. And these two guys, Cleopas and his friend, went to bed on Thursday evening excited for the coming day. You can imagine then how shaken they were when they awoke on Friday morning hearing reports that Jesus had been arrested. And then only moments later, hearing another report, more news that Jesus...
• 15:06
  had already been tried? He had already been convicted? And he'd already been crucified? I mean, they're still wiping away the sleep from their eyes. And Jesus, the man who they had followed there, was already dead? They were reeling all day Saturday. And because it was the Sabbath, they were stuck in the city. They weren't allowed to begin the long walk home. It had never occurred to them that the Messiah would be killed.
• 15:39
  And so maybe even further from their minds was the thought that he would rise from the dead. As they walked that dirt track from Jerusalem back to their homes and back to their families, they began discussing the hope that they had apparently misplaced in Jesus. He was not who they thought he was. In fact, he could not be who he claimed to be because after all, he was dead.
• 16:11
  Look at verse 15. While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and began walking with them. So the two turns into three, and the third is Jesus himself. It's one of those scenes I wish I could have witnessed. I wish I could have been there for this one. It would have been so fun to get to watch this exchange happen. It's like one of those movies.
• 16:35
  where everyone thinks that the hero is dead, because after all, you saw him fall off the cliff. Nobody saw that he grabbed the roots, the tree roots, right? So he's hanging there. And so everybody looking over the edge is thinking, oh, he's gone. And all of his friends are lamenting. They're saying all kinds of niceties about him. And while they're doing that, looking over the cliff, all the while he is climbing up that vine and working his way back around them, he works his way into their midst, and he says, what are you guys talking about? And they say, oh, you know how we're going to miss him.
• 17:06
  And he says, well, miss who? Well, you know, miss you. Oh, no, wait, it's you, right? All of a sudden they realize, oh, wait, he's here with us. He's been here all along. Look at verse 16. Their eyes were kept from recognizing him. He's in their midst. And he said to them, what is this conversation that you're holding with each other as you walk? And they stood still looking sad. What are you guys talking about? The disciples didn't recognize him. And Jesus here we find is playing dumb.
• 17:35
  Their world had been turned upside down. They were witnesses to the greatest act of love in human history, and they had no idea what they had seen. They didn't know what they knew. Jesus was a great teacher. He gently led them down the path of self-discovery with a simple question. What is it that you guys are talking about? Let me ask you, church, do you ever have a hard time remembering conversations?
• 18:06
  The conversations you've had with your friends, maybe your coworkers, maybe your boss, maybe even your spouse. For instance, have you ever had to have your wife remind you of a conversation you had with her not that long ago? And you don't recall any of it. You're like, I did not say that. I'm telling you, Danny, we literally just talked about this. Like, we don't have to talk about it. You already talked about it. And here's what you said. And I'm like, Hallie.
• 18:33
  Not only do I not remember saying that, I don't remember any of that conversation that happened. She says, yes. And you know, honestly, church, she's been right so many times that at this point in our marriage, I'm just like, well, all right, let me know what I said. You know, like, that sounds good. Let's do that. You know, like, I don't know if I agree with my own words, but if that's what I said. You know, sometimes I can't remember conversations I've had with people the day before, the week before. I can't remember.
• 19:02
  Some conversations, but I can tell you with absolute certainty what you were talking about in a certain conversation 20 years ago that we were all having. And I didn't know any of you 20 years ago, but 20 years ago, I don't know who you were with. I don't know who you were talking to. I don't know where you were or what you were wearing, but I guarantee I know what you were talking about at 3 p.m. on September 11th, 2001. No idea where you were.
• 19:35
  or who you were with but i know what you were talking about right everybody remember that day you're like listen i don't remember 3 p.m but i guarantee i know what i was talking about because everybody in the world was talking about the world trade center that afternoon it was a big deal again i didn't know some of you two years ago i don't know who you were with i don't know what you were talking i don't i don't know what you were wearing but i know what you were talking about on march 16 2020.
• 20:06
  When our president said, everybody stay home for two weeks, right? I know what everybody in the world was talking about. I said, I don't know who you were with, but I know exactly who you were with. Nobody, right? Because we all had to stay at home. And for two weeks, don't go outside. Don't go to the supermarket. We are shutting the world down for two weeks. It was a huge deal. Everyone was talking about the World Trade Center. Everyone was talking about...
• 20:35
  covid 19 those events were so huge that they captured the attention of every american and so the disciples question makes sense in verse 18 when one of them cleopas answered him are you the only visitor to jerusalem who doesn't know the things that have happened there in these days what are you talking about you don't know are you were you living under a rock where have you been how do you not know what's going on and again jesus because he's a good teacher
• 21:05
  led the men along. They said, do you not know about the things that have happened? And he just said in verse 19, like what? What things? Why don't you tell me about it? You tell me what happened. The explanation of the gospel that the disciples make is tremendous. You're going to find in this little sermon at five verses that their explanation of the Messiah and what he would accomplish is thorough. But as you read, you're going to find that it is also
• 21:35
  lifeless it is literally lifeless because they don't believe that jesus was alive they thought jesus was still dead and so in that regard it was lifeless but also figuratively lifeless because the gospel without a living jesus is really no gospel at all and so let's walk through their sermon kind of one piece at a time you're going to notice verse 19 that it begins by recognizing that jesus was a prophet
• 22:04
  Jesus says, what things? And they said to him concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet. The fact that another prophet would come was foretold by Moses in Deuteronomy chapter 18 and verse 18. God, it said in Deuteronomy 18, would raise up another prophet like you. That was Moses.
• 22:30
  from among your brothers. And God says, I will put my words in his mouth. He shall speak to them all the things that I command them. He will speak to them all. Another prophet would arise. Moses wrote that an even greater prophet than he would, would one day come. Now, Moses was considered the greatest prophet of all time. Moses was the archetype. He was the prototypical.
• 22:55
  prophet in Israel. And Moses himself said, another one even greater than me will come one day. And here we find in Luke 24 that those two disciples had figured out that Moses was talking about Jesus. No doubt he was talking about Jesus. But in addition to that, they said that he would be mighty indeed and mighty in word before God and all people. In other words, Jesus was the very mouthpiece of God. He was the spokesman.
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  For God. He not only preached the truth, but they believed he had miraculous power to back it up. John chapter 12 and verse 49, Jesus speaking, he says, for I have not spoken on my own authority. The father who sent me has himself given me a commandment. What to say, what to speak. I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the father has told me. In other words, Jesus himself said, I only say the things that God tells me to say.
• 23:55
  When I speak, you can assume that every word out of my mouth is the word of God. But not only that, not only did he speak the word of God, he also performed the works of God. Look at John 5, 19. Truly, truly, I say to you, the son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the father doing. For whatever the father does, that the son does likewise. Jesus spoke and did both the words and works.
• 24:25
  of god he was a powerful miraculous working miracle working prophet they said but not only that look at verse 20 our chief priests our rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death and they crucified him but we had hoped that he was the one to redeem israel they understood that he had been crucified but they erroneously thought that his crucifixion disqualified him from being the messiah
• 24:55
  rather than becoming one of his greatest credentials. I mean, in fact, if you were to walk down the street in Westminster, if you were to go to the mall and ask a stranger, who was Jesus and what did he do? They'd say, you mean that guy who died on the cross. It's like the one thing everybody knows. It is his credential. It's his leading credential. When we share the gospel with our kids, we will often word it as Jesus died on the cross for your sins. That's how we share.
• 25:25
  The good news, it's his greatest credential, but they believed it was his greatest disqualification. They doubted the truth of his claims because in their minds, he was no longer alive to defend them. But listen rather to Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53 says this familiar passage. Surely it says, he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted.
• 25:55
  But he was pierced for our transgression. He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned every one of us to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. And rather than embracing the crucifixion for what it is, and that is the slaying of the Son of God to satisfy the wrath of the Father in order to bring salvation to mankind, they viewed the crucifixion
• 26:25
  as his greatest failure. They had hoped he was their redeemer, but like verse 21 says, they concluded apparently he was not. John MacArthur words it this way, and I like it. It's simple. A dead Messiah had no place in their thinking. As soon as he breathed his last and spoke his last words, commending his spirit to the Father and declaring it is finished, as soon as he breathed his last, it was over.
• 26:57
  For them. They go on. Verse 21. Yes, and besides all this, they said, it is now the third day since these things happened. And I love that. They're literally speaking the gospel. There it is. The third day, right? For all of us who know the Lord and believe the gospel, we're like, wait, third day? I mean, that's kind of a big deal. It's a pretty big band. Maybe you've heard of them. Moreover, he says, some of our women amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning. When they didn't find his body, they came back saying, they'd seen all these crazy things.
• 27:28
  A vision of angels who said that he was alive. And some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it exactly as the women had said, but looking around for Jesus, they couldn't find him. So they finished by just saying, yeah, there's this mystery. I mean, there's this mysterious empty tomb. Nobody can find him. We don't know where he is. And he said to them, this is the first time he begins to speak directly at them. And he says, oh, foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. His words here are a little bit harsh.
• 27:59
  Foolish, slow of heart. The words that he uses are literally dumb and stupid. How dumb are you and how stupid can you be? I think, man, that might be a little strong. But church, is it not true that sometimes we are dumb and sometimes we act stupidly? Is that not true? I love that phrase from that song, We Sing Grace Alone, where he says, I've got a head full of rocks.
• 28:31
  and a heart made of stone my favorite line it's my favorite lyric in the song i got a head full of rocks and i've got a heart made of stone there's rocks in my head there's rocks in my chest sometimes i am dumb sometimes i am stupid and in those moments isn't it best to be told the truth because how else are we going to know that we are dumb and stupid and so he begins to explain he just says isn't it
• 28:58
  and necessary isn't it necessary that the christ would suffer and then enter into his glory and you may ask well why was it necessary for him to suffer and the answer is found in hebrews chapter 10 it's a great text hebrews 10 says this for since the law that is the sacrificial system has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities it can never by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year make perfect those
• 29:26
  In other words, the author of Hebrews says, listen, if the sacrifices of animals worked, then why do you have to go back every year and do the same thing? If it was really true forgiveness through the blood of the animal that you were receiving, if it worked,
• 29:52
  then you wouldn't have to go back and offer it again and again and again. And he continues, it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. But by the will of God, we have been sacrificed through the offering of the body of who? Jesus Christ. And how many times, church? Once for all. Once for all. How many times did Jesus die? One. And why did he only have to die once?
• 30:23
  because it worked because it worked and so he's saying you are indeed redeemed it was necessary for me to die you pick up in verse 27 and beginning with moses and all the prophets he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself it's yet another thing i wish he could i could have witnessed he launches into a sermon i wish i could have been there for beginning with moses and all the prophets that's the entire old
• 30:53
  testament he began to explain fully diarmanuo is the greek word to interpret we get it's a derivative of the word hermanuo where we get the english word hermeneutic which is bible interpretation and so what these few verses say is that christ beginning at the beginning beginning with in the beginning and going all the way through the creation story and the fall of mankind and the flood and the tower of babel
• 31:22
  hitting Abraham and the patriarchs and Joseph in Egypt and Moses in the wilderness, touching on Joshua and the conquest and the monarchy and the divided kingdom and the fall and dismantling of Israel to Assyria, the captivity in Babylon, the return of the Jews, the rebuilding of the temple, all of it down to the last detail, Jesus said, pointed to this moment.
• 31:47
  When the Son of God, the Messiah, would suffer and be crucified and be buried and on the third day rise. In all the scriptures, he begins to preach to them the things concerning himself. And notice verse 28, he took his time doing it. They drew near to the village to which they were going.
• 32:07
  he acted as if he were going further, but they urged him strongly. They're begging him, please stay. Stay with us. Toward evening, the day is now far spent. He went all day and into the evening teaching them every verse of the Old Testament. And so he went in to stay with them. And when he was at table, he took the bread, he blessed it, he broke it, he gave it to them, and suddenly their eyes were opened and they recognized him. Wait, it's you! It's you! And Jesus says, yes, it's me.
• 32:38
  And then poof, vanished from their sight. What a day that would have been. What a sermon to witness and to hear. And notice the text ends with, what is the result of good preaching? They said to each other, did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures? Good preaching results in holy heartburn.
• 33:08
  That's what they say, right? Did not our hearts burn within us? If you've ever struggled with physical heartburn, you know it is tormenting. It is unrelenting. It changes your behavior. It changes your ability to carry on with life as normal. It stops you in your tracks. It forces a change. It brings you to a crossroads. Something has to be done. And so should good preaching do. So should the word of God do if it is rightly divided.
• 33:40
  Because the word of God refuses to let sleeping dogs lie. This text, church, is a challenge to me to be a good preacher, to be good at my job. But it's also a challenge to you to be good listeners, to receive the scriptures for what they are, the very words of God and not the words of man. Lord, thank you for your word. And Lord, I pray that it would not fall on...
• 34:07
  deaf ears that it would fall not fall on hard hearts lord i pray that you would open our eyes to see who jesus is lord we already believe and we already love but we want to see him more clearly god we love you and we're thankful for holy heartburn in jesus name amen