Walk to Emmaus

OT Lesson: Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19 (NIV)

I love the Lord, for He heard my voice;
He heard my cry for mercy.
Because He turned His ear to me,
I will call on Him as long as I live.

The cords of death entangled me,
the anguish of the grave came over me;
I was overcome by distress and sorrow.
Then I called on the name of the Lord:
‘Lord, save me!’

What shall I return to the Lord
for all His goodness to me?

I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the Lord.
I will fulfil my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.

Precious in the sight of the Lord
is the death of His faithful servants.
Truly I am Your servant, Lord;
I serve You just as my mother did;
You have freed me from my chains.

I will sacrifice a thank-offering to You
and call on the name of the Lord.
I will fulfil my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all His people,
in the courts of the house of the Lord –
in your midst, Jerusalem.

Praise the Lord.

NT Lesson: Luke 24:13-35 (NRSV)

Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognising Him. And He said to them, ‘What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?’ They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered Him, ‘Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?’ He asked them, ‘What things?’ They replied, ‘The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. 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 took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find His body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed 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 they did not see Him.’ Then He said to them, ‘Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into His glory?’ Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, He interpreted to them the things about Himself in all the scriptures.

As they came near the village to which they were going, He walked ahead as if He were going on. But they urged Him strongly, saying, ‘Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.’ So He went in to stay with them. When He was at the table with them, He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognised Him; and He vanished from their sight. They said to each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while He was talking to us on the road, while He was opening the scriptures to us?’ That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, ‘The Lord has risen indeed, and He has appeared to Simon!’ Then they told what had happened on the road, and how He had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

Sermon

Introduction

Good morning. One day I thought it was a mid summer. Two days later, we had snow. Then we had fall weather. A few days later, I thought it was mid summer again. Then two days later, which was yesterday, we had snow again. And today, we have the freeze warning. Do you know the TV series, Super Store? Its location in the show is St. Louis. On one of the episodes, someone says ‘if you don’t like the weather, wait for ten minutes.’ Well, it is not that extreme here in Lebanon, but I can say, ‘if you don’t like the weather, wait for a day.’ Anyway, last Sunday was PPM Sunday which we couldn’t have for a few years because of the pandemic. It was great to see the little children that this church’s ministry is caring and educating. Tuesday, I will fly off to Little Rock, AR to attend a PCUSA conference for a week. So Ben Piper is going to preach next Sunday. It is always good and refreshing to hear a sermon of different style and voice once in a while. Thank you Ben for stepping in and preaching.

Names of the Two Disciples

Today is the third Sunday after Easter, and we are in the season of Easter until Pentecost on Sunday, May 28th. So for now Easter and resurrection story continues. And we have two disciples in the NT lesson today. Just to make it clear, those two disciples are not among the twelve, well I should say eleven for now. Let us figure out their names first. Bible says that “One of them, whose name was Cleopas.” And the other guy’s name is Simon. These two people went back to Jerusalem and found the eleven disciples, and Simon Peter was there of course among the eleven. And Cleopas told them “Jesus appeared to Simon.” Simon was one of the popular names just like we have multiple Debbies and Nancys in our congregation. Let’s imagine this situation that I am having a conversation with Debbie Goodnight. In the middle of the conversation I say to her like, “Oh, by the way, Debbie and I had lunch together last Friday.” Then, am I talking about Debbie Goodnight to Debbie Goodnight? No, it cannot be. The Debbie whom I had lunch together must be other Debbie like Debbie Crouse. And by the way we did eat together last Friday at Longhorn Steak House on 86th street. The thing is, the day before, Hannah’s aunt visited us from Korea, and we had steak for dinner. Don’t get me wrong. I love steak. I can eat steak every single day only if I can afford it. It was an amazing weekend, having steaks for two days in a row. Anyway, Cleopas was talking to Simon Peter. Then he cannot refer Simon Peter to Simon Peter by saying Simon. If he wanted to talk about Simon Peter to Simon Peter, he could have simply said ‘you.’ So this Simon is not Simon Peter among the twelve disciples, and by the context, it must be the other disciple who was on the way to Emmaus with Cleopas. So the names of those two disciples are Cleopas and Simon.

Going to Emmaus

As you know, Jesus had many disciples and followers, like thousands of them. So Jesus after quitting His previous job and career—the carpenter or mason, He became the so-called influencer having lots of followers. I have always thought that the influencer is a really weird job which internet created. But if we think it again, Jesus was the first influencer even when there was no internet, having unbelievable number of followers. And also Moses was the very first one who successfully downloaded data from the cloud onto his tablets. And in today’s NT lesson, Jesus disguised Himself and appeared to His disciples. This scene really reminds me of the TV show, “Undercover Boss.” I guess, Jesus is like the inventor of the Undercover Boss. So we think those are all new things but they were already in the Bible—There is nothing new under the sun.1 Anyway, we may think Jesus had only twelve disciples, but again Jesus had very many disciples and followers. And there were many layers among the disciples and followers. Of course the famous twelve disciples were the core group in the centre. And these two disciples on the way to Emmaus, were not among the twelve of course, but judging from their knowledge, they seemed to be in the very inner group, maybe in the layer right outside of the twelve. And these two have been somewhat fantasised and beautified throughout history. There are several introductory Christian training courses and one of the famous ones is ‘Road to Emmaus.’ I think that is really ironic.

First of all, we don’t know where Emmaus is. It is mentioned only once in the entire Bible.2 Just to make it clear, when I say Bible, I mean Old and New Testaments, not including Apocrypha, like you know Maccabees, Tobit, Esdras and several more books. In Presbyterian church, the Scripture strictly includes those books only from the Old and New Testaments. Some other denominations like Catholics include apocrypha in the Scripture. I do not agree but I respect that. I attended Catholic mass several times when I was in the seminary. And one day, the Father said, ‘Today’s Scripture reading comes from 1 Maccabees 4.” And I said, “What?” I guess I was too loud. They all turned back and looked at me. Anyway, the town Emmaus is mentioned a few times in the Maccabees,3 so we know it is a real town near Jerusalem.

Going Was Betraying

But you know what, it doesn’t matter, it is not important where Emmaus was. The shocking thing is that the two core disciples were going to Emmaus, which means they left Jerusalem. The disciples and followers of Jesus were supposed to stay in Jerusalem at that moment. But they left Jerusalem. My wife tells me that I am brutally honest. So let me put it in my own way of being brutally honest. At that moment, leaving Jerusalem was betraying Jesus. So they betrayed Jesus. The similar things happen these days as well. Good Christians, deacons, and elders are supposed and expected to stay at church. A few times, a few of them leave the church for whatever reason. Good Christians should stay at church. If you have serious and unsolvable problem with the pastor, then let the pastor go and you stay. This is your church, not the pastor’s church. So going to Emmaus is betraying Jesus, and the Christianity introductory course name is the Road to Emmaus. I thinks that is the worst naming ever.

And the more shocking thing about these two disciples is that they betrayed and abandoned Jesus even after they heard the good news of the resurrection. They knew it all very well. They even tried to teach their undercover boss. So they knew all about it and yet they still left Jerusalem for Emmaus. In spite of all their knowledge and the news of resurrection, they still betrayed Jesus. But this loving and most gracious undercover boss, instead of firing or punishing them, forgave them by giving them their personal Communion.

Simon Peter

Since we talked about the other Simon at the beginning of the sermon, let us now talk about Simon Peter. Actually we cannot talk about betraying Jesus without mentioning Simon Peter. We all know the famous story: At the last supper, Simon Peter swore to Jesus, “I will never betray you!” And Jesus prophesied to him that he will deny Jesus three times before the cock crows. And as Jesus prophesied, Simon Peter betrayed Jesus by denying Him three times. And at the sound of the cock, Peter remembered the prophecy of Jesus. He cried and more importantly repented. Beautiful story. This is the story that everybody knows. But the thing is that is not the end of the story. After Peter repented, what happened? Jesus was crucified and died. And except John, all the disciples fled. So after his repentance, Simon Peter once again betrayed Jesus right away in the same day, leaving his master and Saviour behind. Well, Peter’s situation is very much understandable: scary and his own safety was also endangered. But the fact does not change that he betrayed Jesus. Simon Peter betrayed Jesus once, and right after repentance, he betrayed Jesus again in one day.

Communion

Let’s go back to the two disciples on the way to Emmaus. Clearly they betrayed Jesus even with the knowledge of the resurrection. And Jesus met them on the road. Jesus walked with them on the road to the betrayal. That is the goose-bumping grace. Jesus is with us all the time, not only when we are at church, not only when we are for God but also when we are against God. Even when we betray and conspire against Jesus, He is with us all the time. Jesus came to those betrayers, and provided them Communion by breaking the bread for them. In the gospel of John, Jesus said that He is the bread of life,4 and He continued to say, “Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”5 Jesus died even for the betrayers. Jesus broke His body even for the sinners like me. If these two betrayers were saved, anyone can be saved. If someone like me—you all heard my testimony—has hope, anyone can have hope. Simon Peter betrayed Jesus even after repentance, and yet he became one of the greatest apostles. If so, anyone can be an apostle.

Conclusion

Friends, we love God. We follow Jesus. But we are weak and sometimes, we may not be able to meet the expectations of God. Sometimes against our own will, we may betray Jesus. But the good news is that God knows our weaknesses, and understands our situations. Even if we leave God, God never leaves us. Even if we let Jesus go, Jesus never lets us go. Jesus never gives up on us. Even if we betray Jesus after our repentance, Jesus comes to us again and over again with His bread and wine for our salvation and eternal life. All we need to do is not losing hope and coming to Jesus. The feast is about to begin. The table of Jesus is wide and spacious, and there are many mansions in our Father’s house. Amen.