Sermon Tone Analysis

How many of you find it hard to believe what some people say?

How many of you have known information about something, but really had a hard time understanding it until you saw it for yourself?

Open your bibles to

Today we will be looking at a story from Luke where two men who had heard Jesus had a hard time believing that He was risen from the dead.

If you are able, please stand as we read from God’s holy word.

13 And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs.

14 And they talked together of all these things which had happened.

15 And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them.

16 But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.

17 And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad?

18 And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?

19 And he said unto them, What things?

And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: 20 And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him.

21 But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done.

22 Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre; 23 And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive.

24 And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not.

25 Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: 26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?

27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

28 And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further.

29 But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.

And he went in to tarry with them.

30 And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them.

31 And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he zvanished out of their sight.

32 And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?

33 And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, 34 Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon.

35 And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.

Please be seated as we pray.

Heavenly Father I ask you to help me to remember what I have studied and help me to say what it is that you want me to say today.

Help me not to say anything that I should not say.

I ask that the Holy Spirit would give me direction this morning, I ask that He would do the teaching today that I’m not able to do.

I ask that if there is one here today that does not know you as their personal Lord and Savior they would understand their need for you and turn their life over to you today.

I ask for us who are saved that you would encourage us and convict us for what you want to teach us today.

In Jesus’ name I pray Amen.

The passage takes place on Resurrection Sunday.

The ladies Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary James’ mother, have already visited the tomb to finish the preparation of the body and found the tomb empty.

Peter and John had visited the tomb and gave the same report.

13 And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs.

14 And they talked together of all these things which had happened.

So we have two guys, we don’t even know their names yet.

They are walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus and we are told that it is about seven miles.

As all good men do, they are talking about the current events.

15 And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them.

16 But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.

As they were walking along, solving the worlds problems, Jesus shows up, but they didn’t recognize Him.

Who are the men?

We still don’t know, but they didn’t recognise Jesus.

17 And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad?

Jesus, Omniscient God, asks the men what they were discussing that had them so sad.

Wouldn’t it be neat to understand that when God asks us a question He already knows the truth and also knows what our response will be?

18 And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days

Here we are told one of the men’s names, Cleopas.

We never find out what the name of the other man was.

Remember, they didn’t recognize Jesus and wondered who in the world didn’t have a clue about the current events happening in Jerusalem.

Next we see the men describing the current events to Jesus.

19 And he said unto them, What things?

And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: 20 And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him.

21 But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done.

22 Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre; 23 And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive.

24 And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not.

Jesus responds to them with a History lesson

25 Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: 26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?

27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

How long did Jesus walk with the men?

We don’t know, but He was able to share with them from scripture what had previously been written, what they previously had studied, but still did not have an understanding of why the tomb was empty.

In verse 21, they even made mention that it was the third day since His crucifixion.

How many times did Jesus tell them that He will be crucified and in three days rise again?

28 And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further.

29 But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.

And he went in to tarry with them.

The men arrived at their destination, it looked like Jesus was going to keep walking, but they invited Him to stay with them.

I believe they were moved by this man who they didn’t realize was Jesus and they wanted to hear more.

30 And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them.

31 And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he zvanished out of their sight.

The same words used here for Jesus breaking and blessing the bread are the same words used when He fed the 5,000.

The men finally understand that this was Jesus.

32 And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?

33 And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, 34 Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon.

35 And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.

They were moved by His review of scripture.

It now made sense to them.

They were excited.

They traveled back the seven miles to Jerusalem to tell the others what they had experienced.

In verse 19, they referred to Jesus as “a prophet”

In verse 34 they referred to Jesus as “The Lord”

Something changed from all of the times they had studied the same scriptures through out their lives.

They had know Jesus as an important person, but never realized that He was God, the messiah they had been waiting for.

The messages from the Old Testament prophets never made sense because they were looking for something else, a King, a ruler, someone to overthrow the Roman oppression, but He offered so much more than temporal relief, He offered eternal hope.

We can look at these men and judge them for not believing, but we do the same thing.

We have more scripture than they had, but we still have a hard time believing what God actually wants us to do.

Even His own mother didn’t really understand what was taking place.

If they truly were followers of Jesus and they really believed what He said don’t you think they would have been camping out near the tomb waiting for Him to come out on the third day?

Many times we have a hard time believing what God actually wants us to do, or trust what He has already commanded us.

Just like what Jesus did, we need to get into scripture and study what God wants from us.

And even then if we truly haven’t turned our will over to Him how can we expect to truly understand what He wants for us?

If we are not ready willing and able, God isn’t going to reveal to us what it is that He has for us.