Seeing God’s Love in the Stranger
Jesus Message for 3rd Sunday after Easter April 23, 2023 Based on Luke 24:13-35
Jesus Appears to two followers on the road to Emmaus
Introduction to the Scriptures
Let’s go back again to the day Jesus rose from the dead. It is Easter.
Mary and the women visited the tomb and found it empty. Two angels told them Jesus was alive! So they rushed back to tell the disciples, but the men did not believe them. Peter went to check, and found it empty, but he was confused.
On that same day, two of Jesus’s followers were walking on the road to Emmaus near Jerusalem. They have just heard these stories from the women and Peter, and they too are confused.
Suddenly Jesus walks alongside them, but they do not recognize him. Jesus explains everything to them about himself. But they still do not see. Just as he is about to go on, they invite him in to stay and eat. As Jesus breaks the bread, suddenly their eyes are opened, and they see who he really is…
Sermon Introduction – Jesus
Let’s imagine you on the road, just like the two followers of Jesus, and you also encounter Jesus. Perhaps you can hear him say:
Open your eyes, that you too might see. It is me, Jesus, do you not know me?
Do you not recognize me?
When you hear the scriptures, do you not hear my words? and what the prophets said about me?
I am Jesus, the one you have been waiting for, praying for.
I left the empty tomb yesterday morning. The women came and the angels told them everything about me, that I am alive, and they rushed away to tell everyone. The women told the disciples, but they did not believe their testimony. Peter went to see for himself, but he still does not understand. Poor Peter. He still doesn’t believe.
What does it take for them to see? To understand? To believe?
I decided to appear to you today, as I appeared to the two followers yesterday on the road to Emmaus. They were not expecting me. Like you, they had doubts.
I understand – it is not easy to believe – and so I listened to them. They were sad, they did not understand the scriptures, and that I had risen. They did not understand who I am.
I said, “You foolish men! Why do you find it so hard to believe that I have died and rose again? Why do you not remember your own Scriptures – that the Messiah will come, and has to suffer and die before entering his glory?”
They were alarmed by my words, so I revealed the scriptures to them from the time of Moses and all the prophets and the psalms. They seemed so inspired, so lit up, but they still didn’t recognize me. It was getting late, so I turned to leave.
They called to me, don’t go! Come and stay with us awhile. Thank God, they heard me, I thought. Perhaps they have understood my teaching after all.
They offered me some bread, so I broke it and blessed it, and as I gave it to them, they gazed at me, and suddenly their eyes were opened. Now they could see who I really am.
“Jesus!” they cried out.
That was enough for them.
I immediately had to go and reveal myself to the others.
1) Jesus Comes as the Stranger
It must have been difficult for Jesus to appear to his followers and not be recognized.
In Luke’s gospel, just before this scene, Mary and the women go to the tomb and find it empty, but they do not see Jesus, only the angels. Jesus appears first to these two unknown followers – strangers to us in this gospel, but not strangers to Jesus. They are part of his group, but not his “chosen” disciples. Yet they do not know who they are talking to. They see him as a stranger.
Ironically, Jesus is also a stranger to them.
One translation says, “God kept them from recognizing him.”
Why is that? Why wouldn’t Jesus just say, hey, it’s me, Jesus! Why does he let them go on and on explaining the events of the day as if he were a stranger?
The men are sad, confused, forlorn. They do not recognize their Messiah anymore. It says “they had hoped he was the Messiah” who would rescue the people of Israel from the Romans. So they are disappointed. They do not see the truth in this moment.
Or perhaps Jesus doesn’t reveal himself right away to test them. To see what they would say about Jesus to a stranger. How would they describe the events of that day? Would they believe the women’s report that he had risen?
I believe Jesus is also testing their faith. Would they believe and share the good news to others on the road, like him, who was disguised in that moment by God?
The scriptures remind us, “Do not forget to entertain strangers: for some have entertained angels unawares.” (Hebrews 13:2)
So Jesus acts as a stranger to test them, to see if they still have faith in him. Perhaps he wants to see how they have reacted to the news of the resurrection – has his message of hope survived?
But they doubt his message and their Messiah. They believe he has died. They expected their Messiah to rescue Israel from their enemies. They cannot understand how their Messiah could be killed, and then survive death? They have doubts.
So Jesus, gets a little frustrated – after all, he has told them all this before, but no one seems to get it. So he opens the scripture to them and reveals how Jesus is the Messiah.
Just as he is about to leave them, they beg him not to go, but ask him to stay the night in their home.
In one translation it says, “Jesus acted as if he were going on, but they begged him, “stay the night with us.” This means, Jesus pretends he is going to continue his journey; he tests them to see how they will react. Will they invite him in? Or let him go on.
They invite him in and offer to feed him.
This kind act changes everything.
When Jesus breaks bread with them, their eyes are suddenly opened. The veil that God put over Jesus is lifted and now they truly see. It is Jesus! their friend and Messiah, in all his glory.
This is the moment when the stranger becomes their friend.
2) Jesus Tests Our Faith
Last week we spoke about faith.
“Faith is the elixir to fear.”
In Hebrews 1:11 it says, “faith is the confidence in what we hope for and the assurance of what we do not see.” Let me repeat that: Faith is the confidence in what we hope for, and the assurance of what we do not see.
Perhaps Jesus is hoping these followers will still have faith even though they do not yet see him or recognize him as Jesus. That they will believe in what he had told them before, and what the scriptures say about him. Not to mention the reports from the women and Peter earlier that day.
But like us, they do not always see or believe. They are human.
The men did not believe the women’s testimony because they are women.
Peter was not sure if he had risen, so he went to see the empty tomb himself. And still he was uncertain.
Sometimes our faith is tested before we can see the truth.
We are all human. We all grieve and forget what we know sometimes. We don’t always see the gift of God right in front of our faces. God sees our pain, our worries, and disappointments. God doesn’t just come to the faithful, God comes to the least of these.
Sometimes our faith is tested. We must be open to receive it again.
Jesus walks with us in our doubt and pain.
He doesn’t abandon us, he tests us. When we invite him in, our faith is rewarded.
Then he can open our eyes, like the two friends on the road to Emmaus. They finally see who he is, the Messiah – the one they had
hoped and dreamed of, even though he was there all along. He didn’t come as they expected, but as a stranger in the night.
3) Sometimes God comes to the stranger. And sometimes God comes AS the stranger.
(Remember, a stranger is just a friend we haven’t met yet?) God disguises Jesus as a stranger so the two men will come to know him more fully. They share what’s on their hearts and minds, and he corrects them and teaches them everything. Then they don’t want him to leave, so they invite him in. Over a meal. (I think that’s why Churchill Gilford likes to eat so much! Everything is better over food).
The truth is none of them were really strangers.
These men were Jesus’s followers, known to the disciples, they witnessed Jesus doing miracles and heard his amazing words. They loved him. And when he died, they were crushed.
Instead of judging them and denying them this visit, Jesus corrects them and shows them compassion. He stays with them through the night and breaks bread with them. He listens and befriends them.
Their faith is restored. And the stranger is truly their friend. It is Jesus!
Their Messiah is risen!
They didn’t recognize him, but now they see –they understand– Jesus really is the Messiah,
He is with us, the true One from God.
Closing message and meditation with Jesus
So let us imagine Jesus again, speaking to us on the road. Close your eyes, relax, and take in these words….
I come to you, too. Everyday.
Every moment I come to you.
In the stranger I come to you.
In your brother, mother, father, sister, son, daughter. I come to you. I come to you as both stranger and friend.
Do you see me, do you recognize me?
Do you understand God’s love comes to everyone? That I can appear to anyone, I can appear to you? Let yourself see me, know me, feel my presence Invite me in to stay
Invite me into your hearts and minds
Hear my words
Believe in me and trust that I am with you All the way.
It is enough for today.
Amen.