Sunday Link – Jesus Opens Our Eyes – Luke 24:13-35 | SL20260419

OPENING CHORUS and OPENING PRAYER  

 

OPENING COMMENTS   

• Today is the Third Sunday of Easter. 
  • •  (The Easter season … from Easter Sunday through to Pentecost)
    • (It is when some Christians focus on things Jesus did after His resurrection)  
• Today, we revisit the story of Jesus on the road to Emmaus. 
• The theme for today is  Jesus opens our eyes.   
• The selected passages that support the theme are Psalm 116:1–4,12–19,  Acts 2:14a, 36–41,  1 Peter 1:17–23  and Luke 24:13–35.  
  • In our call to worship psalm, the psalmist cries out in trouble.  Then, being delivered from death, he responds with gratitude and public praise.   
  • In Acts, God’s resurrection power moves people from confusion and guilt to repentance and renewal — forming a new community of believers.  
  • In 1 Peter, believers, redeemed through Christ’s resurrection, are urged to trust God, live in hope, and love one another deeply. 
  • And in our sermon pericope in Luke, the downcast disciples encounter the risen Jesus, who opens their eyes.  Then they hurry to share the good news.   

 

OPENING SONG    

 

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SERMON   

Jesus Opens Our Eyes     

Luke 24:13–35 (NIV)   

Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem.  They were talking with each other about everything that had happened.  As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him.  

He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”  They stood still, their faces downcast.  One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” 

“What things?” he asked. 

“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied.  “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people.  The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.  And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place.  In addition, some of our women amazed us.  They went to the tomb early this morning but did not find his body.  They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive.  Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”   

He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken!  Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?”  And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.  

As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther.  But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.”  So he went in to stay with them.  When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them.  Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight.  

They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”  They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem.  There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, “It is true!  The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.”  Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.   

Luke 24:13-18,19-24,25-27,28-31,32-35 (NIV)    

Have you ever taken a walk that felt heavier with every step?  Maybe it was after a great disappointment, the death of someone you loved, or a hope that kept slipping out of reach.  With each step, you have more questions, and the answers seem far away.  

Most of us, at one point or another, have found ourselves walking in the “in between” — somewhere between grief and hope, confusion, and clarity.  

Perhaps this morning you’ve brought your own burdens with you to this LinkUP.  You’ve packed disappointment and doubt as your silent companions.   You may wonder: 

“Where is God in these unwanted detours of sorrow and confusion?”   
“I do not feel Jesus.”   
“Is Jesus with us, even when I do not recognize his presence?”   
“Who even is God?”   

Today’s scripture in Luke places us on a dusty road with two people identified as disciples.  A disciple is a dedicated student and follower of Jesus.  These two disciples also know what it is like to feel grief and confusion.  They have all but given up hope.    But this is much more than merely a story about two people whose grief and hopelessness we might relate to.  This story helps us know who God is.  

God is one God who exists as three Persons, the Trinity — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  In this story along the Emmaus road, we see the actions of all three Persons of the Trinity. 

• • The Father’s promises are being fulfilled. 
  • The Son is with them, walking beside them. 
  • And the Spirit is already stirring up hope in their hearts — even before they understand why.  

Let’s listen closely because their story might just be our story too.   Let’s begin by looking at verses 13–16 (Luke 24:13-16).  

Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem.  They were talking with each other about everything that had happened.  As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him.  

These two are walking the road to Emmaus.  They are leaving Jerusalem where Jesus has just been crucified.  He’s their teacher, their rabbi, their friend.  Perhaps they are going to escape the heartbreak and confusion they feel over Jesus’ crucifixion.  

Cleopas and the other trudge along, leaving behind every hope that they had about Jesus being the Messiah.  They had hoped that Jesus was the Messiah, God’s promised rescuer (Luke 24:21a).  But if Jesus is dead, killed on a cross, then surely, he is not the Messiah.  He could not save them now.  

For most of us, life has not always gone as planned.  Maybe we do not have to try too hard to imagine what these two disciples felt.  Maybe you know what it feels like to have your plans fail and your dreams crushed.  You know.  You’ve watched your hopes fall through.  

But you are not alone, just as the two walking to Emmaus were not alone!  

With their eyes and hearts cast down, suddenly they are joined by a stranger.  It’s Jesus!  But they do not recognize that it’s Jesus.   

Why do they not recognize him?   The simple answer is we cannot be sure.  Isaiah prophesied that Jesus would not be extraordinary looking; his appearance would not make him stand out (Isaiah 53:1–3).  Some historians tell us that a traveler in that area might not necessarily be recognizable anyway.  He would have worn his cloak over his head to prevent heat stroke.  Or God could have divinely kept them from knowing it was Jesus.  

The Bible does not spell everything out plainly.  We do not actually have to know for certain to be inspired and encounter Jesus in this story.  You may have gotten the message that only experts can understand the Bible.  No one understands the Bible perfectly.  The Bible is for everyone!  The Bible is for you.  Why not start reading it today?  Better yet, try reading it with others.   

Without knowing everything, we hear God speak to us through the Bible.  So, what can we learn from this story? 

• First, the disciples believe they are alone — but they are not!  It’s what they feel, but it is not true.  God is with them. Because God is always with us!  
• Second, we learn that it is God who reveals himself.  Jesus opens our eyes.    

Now what happens when Jesus joins Cleopas and the other disciple? 

• He simply comes near.  He walks with them.  We see the patient love of Jesus. 
• He does not demand that they see clearly before he joins them.  
• It is the same for us.  Jesus comes near.  He walks with us.  Jesus opens our eyes.

Then Jesus joins the conversation with a question: “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”  How humble are his questions!  We see from what was recorded about Jesus in the Gospels, that he asked a lot of questions.   

Now the two disciples respond to Jesus’ question and unload the pieces of their battered hope.  

They tell Jesus, “We had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem, to rescue and bring back Israel …”  Those are incredibly sad words, indeed.  “We had hoped.”

Their companions went to Jesus’ tomb and found it empty, but they did not find Jesus.  The two say, “They did not see Jesus.”  Those are also sad words.  Words of disappointment. Words of grief.  Words you may have prayed in your own way:  

“Where are you, God?”  
“I had hoped it would turn out differently.”  
“I do not see you, Jesus.”  

The disciples’ lament — “we had hoped” — teaches us that authentic faith does not require pretending.  The Scriptures themselves are filled with honest cries like “How long, O Lord?” and “Why have you forsaken me?”  God invites this kind of truthfulness.  

And Jesus understands it from the inside.   On the night before his death, in the garden of Gethsemane, he prayed, “Let this cup pass from me.”  He knows what it is to feel sorrow and anguish.  

This is the beauty of the Incarnation: God does not stay distant from our pain.  In Jesus, God became human and took our sorrow into himself.  He did not just listen to our grief — he carried it.  On the cross, Jesus bore what we could not bear.  He paid what we could not pay.  He took our broken hopes, our sin, and our death into his own body and finished the work we could never complete.  

The One who listens to our sorrow is the same one who has already carried it all the way to the cross.  

Jesus sympathizes with their pain, but he does not leave them in their hopelessness.  Verse 26, Jesus says to them,  

“Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?”   

Then he explains to them what all the Scriptures are saying about him (verse 27).  

And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.  

Jesus is not giving them a history lesson; he is telling them God’s story.  It’s like Jesus takes all the scattered pieces and lays them out in front of the disciples.  He shows them how every piece of the story fits together, and Jesus is the center.  

The entire, long story has always been leading to Jesus.  The cross was not a surprise or a mistake.    

It is the rescue.

What they thought was the end of hope was actually God keeping his promise to save them.  The Messiah suffered death and went all the way through death to give us life.  

God has always been for us, and Jesus is how we know.  

May Jesus open our eyes to see this — over and over again.    

Now the journey reaches its climax by arriving in Emmaus, not in a classroom or pulpit, but at a simple table.  The travelers urge their new companion, “Stay with us.”  Jesus who was their guest becomes the host.  

Jesus, ever the gracious host, takes bread, gives thanks, breaks it, and begins to give it to them. 

“Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight.” (verse 31)  

Jesus opens their eyes as he breaks and gives the bread.  When Jesus breaks the bread, he’s doing more than feeding them — Jesus is making himself known.   

Why is this important?  This is the same Jesus who was broken on the cross for them.  The same Jesus who gave himself when they could not save themselves.  

Bread reminds us that Jesus gave his life for us.  Broken bread reminds us of Jesus’ broken body on the cross.  Broken for us but given freely.  

This points us to the sacrament of communion.  Jesus reveals himself through communion.  The elements are ordinary bread and wine but represent  his broken body and  shed blood.  And every time we take communion we remember.  Jesus opens our eyes to who he is … again and again and again.  

Verse 32.  After Jesus had disappeared, they asked each other,  

“Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”   

The disciples’ hearts “burned within them” as Jesus taught — a phrase that alludes to the awakening of hope and the rekindling of faith.  Have you ever come to church, expecting routine, only to have the Spirit kindle new life within you?  Have you ever spent time in nature and felt the presence of something larger than yourself, something divine that stirred your heart?  What might happen if the next time your “heart burns,” you slow down and turn towards God?  

The Spirit is who opens our eyes and sets our hearts burning with hope.  

Verse 33.  The road to Emmaus does not end in isolation, but in community and announcing  the good news.  Disciples who walked away discouraged now run back, full of hope.  The resurrection story always creates witnesses.  We move from the slow steps of sorrow to the eager haste of joy.   

“They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem.  They found the Eleven and those with them … saying, ‘It is true!  The Lord has risen …”  Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread. (Luke 24:33–34)

What happens when you encounter the risen Jesus? 

• You cannot keep it to yourself.   
• Transformed by their encounter, the two disciples cannot stay silent.   
• These once-discouraged disciples rush back to Jerusalem.  It is no time to rest; they have a story to tell, hope to share, and joy to proclaim.   
• And notice who is at work here.    
  • The Father has raised the Son from the dead.  
  • The Son has made himself known in mercy and self-giving love.   
  • And the Holy Spirit now sends these disciples back into the world, not as experts, but as living witnesses.   

 

The road to Emmaus is the road we all travel. 

• We have heartbreak;
• we want honest conversation. 
• We discover Jesus in Scripture and encounter him at the table. 
• And Jesus sends us as witnesses.  

Don’t wait until you “feel” like an expert or more prepared.  Jesus has opened your eyes, and you are a living witness.  It’s enough.  

God invites us to share his mission, and he sends us to share the hope we’ve found.  For us, this usually looks ordinary — honest conversations, quiet acts of love, small moments where hope is shared.  It is something that overflows from resurrection life we’ve been given.  

During the Easter season, we remember that Christ is indeed risen and meets us on every road. 

Jesus come to us, meets us where we are.   

Jesus listens.  

Jesus tells us the good news.  

Jesus explains that God has always been for us.  

Jesus opens our eyes.     

 

SONG OF RESPONSE   

 

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CLOSING SONG   

CLOSING PRAYER  

 

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