Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. 2 She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
3 Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb. 4 They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in. 6 Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, 7 while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings. 8 Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed— 9 for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead. 10 Then they went home. – John 20:1-10 (NLT)
After Jesus spoke his final word from the cross, he breathed his last. His body was removed from the cross and, with Pilate’s consent, he was buried. Finally … this man whose words had both angered and discomforted the religious elite … had been silenced. BUT, these words from the cross were not going to be Jesus’ final words; the powerful and joy-filled message of Easter is this: there were ‘words after that’…
Again, I love John for his ‘deeper meanings’ as he shares the Gospel story. Just as life in all its perfection began in a garden, so too life that humanity has managed to screw up was now reconciled in a garden. And it’s in the second garden that Jesus’ words after the cross continue. Listen (John 20:11-16, NLT)…
Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. 12 She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. 13 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her. “Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him. 15 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?” She thought he was the gardener [italics mine]. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.” 16 “Mary!” Jesus said. She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”).
No one was prepared for what happened next. As Mary stands beside the empty tomb, weeping, a man she thought was the gardener spoke to her and asked, “Why are you weeping?” She still did not recognize him (she wasn’t expecting him), until he called her name: “Mary!” So, folks, Jesus’ first words after the cross were typical Jesus; they were words of compassion. But take time to remind yourself to whom he was speaking:
Here was a woman the world had once given up on; she was possessed by seven demons (i.e. psychological disorders, etc.) and Jesus had healed her…
Here was a woman who others considered a hopeless cause, but not Jesus…
Here was a WOMAN, who in Jesus day was worth just a hair over the livestock…
BUT, Jesus chooses the one who people would least expect … to be the first to receive the GOOD NEWS that he had been raised from the dead. Then he says this (Matt. 28:10, NLT): “Don’t be afraid! Go tell my brothers to leave for Galilee, and they will see me there.” Jesus entrusted her (and ‘the other Mary’ in Matthew) to be the messengers as well—to share this GOOD NEWS with the other disciples who were afraid and currently in hiding. So, his first words were words of compassion… Then, we move to what I want to focus on today—The Emmaus Road experience…
If you continue reading in the Gospels, you’ll discover that when the women delivered the news to the other disciples, they didn’t believe them! Perhaps because of this disbelief, Jesus himself couldn’t wait 7 days to see his friends up in Galilee … so he began appearing to them. Let me share this (Luke 24:13-16, NLT):
That same day two of Jesus’ followers were walking to the village of Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 As they walked along they were talking about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things, Jesus himself suddenly came and began walking with them. 16 But God kept them from recognizing him.
So, after the women, the first to see Jesus post-resurrection were these two followers on the Road to Emmaus, one a man named Cleopas. Jesus had appeared first as a gardener to Mary, and now as a stranger to two other disciples … who were obviously grieving the loss of their Lord. So, let me focus now on a couple of Easter lessons we can learn from the Emmaus Road… First:
WE ALL WALK THE ROAD TO EMMAUS SOMETIMES. Luke 24:17 (NLT) goes on to say, “He asked them, ‘What are you discussing so intently as you walk along?’ They stopped short, sadness written across their faces.” The truth is … each of us will one day walk our own Road to Emmaus—a journey filled with grief, disappointment, and pain…
Folks, I’ve been on my own ‘Road to Emmaus’ during this past year. If you’ve ever been through a loss of health of any kind, you know that the process you’re going through is a process of GRIEF! BUT … in the midst of my grief and physical pain, this past year, I’ve experienced the Living Christ through many who came to my side during this time—many who were strangers or near-strangers!
Did you notice how Jesus came to these two grieving disciples? He came to these two men a fellow traveler and a stranger. And he did not get in their face and reveal himself to them right away, did he? He slowly let them discover who he was. And when they finally came to Emmaus, it’s as if Jesus were testing them. He was ready to say good-bye … but they remembered his teaching on hospitality … and invited him to eat with them, which he did! Folks, here’s the lesson I want you to hear today: In the midst of their grief and sorrow, Jesus came to them. And Jesus will do the same for us (and for others) as we walk our ‘Road to Emmaus’ someday… Next:
JESUS COMES AS A STRANGER. I know I mentioned this happened, but I just want to mention how significant this is that Jesus came to these two disciples in this way…
Jane Folmer-Zekoff is our chaplain in the Madison area. After my second surgery, as I was laying there in the I.C.U. and had just gotten the breathing tubes out of me shortly before, Jane came in to visit. I knew of her, but I had never really known Jane before this day. She was basically a stranger to me at this point. But, she came into my room, greeted Jane and I, and caught me right in the middle of a mental pity-party … wondering why I had to go through two major surgeries back-to-back, in less than a year’s time! Oh, folks, I can feel sorry for myself with the best of ‘em…
And then this stranger came to me … and she spoke to me … words that I needed to hear at that very moment. I cannot tell you how badly I needed to hear them right then! She looked at me (and I’ll never forget her words) and she said, “Rom, I thought you would have figured this out by now. There is no way you would have lived through this last surgery, unless you’d had the heart surgery first. God knew….”
And that was about it. But, they were words I needed to hear … at that moment in time … and, just as those disciples felt that day on the Road to Emmaus, as Jesus finally left them, I felt like turning to Jane and saying “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as she talked with us…?” It was Jesus, folks; no doubt about it! We experience Christ’s presence through others. And that should also inform you that others do, too. You may be a stranger to others who need a word of encouragement (in Christ’s name) … and you may be just that stranger who will speak to them… JESUS COMES AS A STRANGER … and many times, that’s through us! And the last thing to note in Luke’s Emmaus story is this: It was in the very familiar act of seeing Jesus break the bread and hearing him bless it that they finally recognized him… So:
WE MEET THE RISEN CHRIST IN THE BREAKING OF THE BREAD. Luke wants us to see the Eucharist here; he wants us to recognize the act of Holy Communion here…
The meal of Holy Communion is one of those places the Irish call ‘thin places.’ Have you ever heard that term before? It’s a term the Irish use to describe places “where the Presence of God is so strong that they serve as portals between this world and eternity.” The Irish, when speaking of ‘thin places’, were talking about physical places. But anywhere the bread and wine (or equivalent) is shared in Christ’s name … has the potential of being one of those ‘thin places’—between worlds.
So, what does that mean for us? Don’t ever take our times of Holy Communion for granted! We may be closer to heaven in those moments than at any other time here on earth! It was in the breaking of the bread … and the blessing it … that those two disciples in Emmaus recognized Jesus; and we can still do the same today…
Jesus then goes back to Jerusalem and finally appears to those disciples in hiding … and twice he offers them ‘peace.’ And, folks, “PEACE BE WITH YOU” ARE STILL WORDS WE NEED TO HEAR TODAY, aren’t they? This is what we, too, find in the Risen Christ! We find in him our PEACE… And please note, folks, the resurrection of Jesus did not change the circumstances of those first disciples; it changed their perspective on their circumstances. And the PEACE that Jesus offers us can do the same today…
So, what were Jesus’ very last words? Here they are, at the end of the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 28:18-20a (NLT)…
Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you….”
In his final words, Jesus sends his disciples out to continue his mission to the world … and this commission is for us, too. And, folks, I’ll be the first to say … fulfilling Jesus’ mission to the world would be impossible if we had to do it on our own. And that’s why Jesus continues to speak to us today, just as he did to his disciples then, when he says:
“…And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
This is the very last sentence, folks, and IT IS A PROMISE! It’s a promise that has the power to change how you and I live each and every day. Why? Because we don’t have to do it ourselves…
“…And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
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