The confusion of Easter morning might be the most relatable part of the resurrection story. Three different groups encountered the risen Christ, yet each initially failed to grasp what was happening. The faithful women found an empty tomb and were "perplexed." The disciples heard their report and dismissed it as "an idle tale." Two followers walked with Jesus himself for hours without recognizing him. Why would God allow such confusion?
Luke's account reveals a profound pattern: spiritual sight doesn't come through physical eyes but through understanding Scripture. The women didn't recognize Jesus until they "remembered his words." The Emmaus road travelers' hearts "burned within them" as Jesus explained the Scriptures. The disciples finally believed when Jesus "opened their minds to understand the Scriptures."
This Easter narrative offers incredible hope for skeptics and believers alike. God seems perfectly comfortable with our questions and perplexity, using them to create space for deeper faith. We don't need to figure everything out on our own. Scripture provides the framework through which confusion becomes clarity.
The greatest plot twist? The very people who were confused, doubtful, and slow to understand became witnesses commissioned to share this news with the world. Those who might have participated in crucifying Jesus became those who worshiped him. Those who failed to recognize him walking beside them became those who couldn't stop talking about him.
If you're searching, questioning, or feeling perplexed about faith, you're in good company. The first followers felt exactly the same way. Open God's Word and allow it to open your eyes to see Jesus standing right in front of you, inviting you into a story far bigger than you could write yourself.
If you want to learn more about the MidTree story or connect with us, go to our website HERE or text us at 812-MID-TREE.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Good morning, mitri.
Happy Easter.
It was Friday, now it's Sunday.
We're going to be reading thepassage for today.
It is from Luke 24, 1 through11.
If you're in the Pew Bible,that's page 884.
Alright, on the first day ofthe week, very early in the
(00:26):
morning, the women took thespices they had prepared and
went to the tomb.
They found the stone rolledaway from the tomb, but when
they entered they did not findthe body of Lord Jesus.
While they were wondering aboutthis, suddenly two men in
clothes that gleamed likelightning stood beside them.
In their fright, the womenbowed down with their faces to
the ground, but the men said tothem why do you look for the
(00:46):
living among the dead?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
He is not here, but has risen.
Remember how he told you whenhe was still in Galilee that the
Son of man must be delivered tothe hands of sinful men and be
crucified on the third day andrise.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
Then they remembered his words.
When they came back from thetomb, they told all these things
to the eleven and to all theothers.
It was Mary Magdalene, joannaMary, the mother of James, and
the others with them who toldthis to the apostles.
But they did not believe thewomen because their words seemed
to them like nonsense.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
What's going on everybody?
Happy Easter, excited to spendtime with you.
Let me give you a couple ofthings very quickly.
One of my favorite things thatwe do whenever somebody gets
baptized I have an embarrassmentof riches of microphones.
Whoever's coming up after me,I've hid them deep down below.
One of my favorite things thatwe do on a baptism Sunday is
when you guys walk out of thosedouble doors, there's gonna be
this big sort of glass vase andnext to it are gonna be some
(02:02):
note cards.
I would love for those of youwho are trusting in Christ, if
you have a connection with Julia, if you just want to encourage
her, to jot down a small note, ascripture that has meant a lot
to you.
To me, it is one of the bestways that we can take this sort
of reality of baptism andcontinue to encourage those who
are drawing near to the Lord.
So please take an opportunityand do that.
(02:23):
And then I also wanna let youknow this I'm not a real formal
person.
If you are coming to Midtreeand you're like he's got his
sleeves rolled up, I want you toknow this is about as formal as
it gets for this guy right here.
And just a couple of things toease any of the awkwardness.
We are super glad that you arehere.
We're gonna do something verysimple.
(02:44):
We're going to sing God's word.
We're going to pray God's word.
We're going to read God's word.
We're going to enjoy the wholething together.
For those of you who may be newto that, I want you to know we
love that you are here.
Zero percent of us want you tofeel awkward.
None of us want us to feel like, well, hey, who are you and how
did you get my seat and why areyou in my parking place?
(03:04):
Everybody who calls MidtreeHome is so glad to give up
whatever used to be their seatand used to be their parking
place and if we ran out ofdonuts, used to be their donut
and give it to you because wewant you to hear about Christ.
Additionally, we did not dothis on purpose.
Shipping helped us with thislittle teaser.
We've got about six differentresources.
(03:27):
I've got a handful of them here.
That was a good one to startwith.
How can I serve my church?
I didn't mean for that one tobe on the front.
How do I fight sin andtemptation?
How can I be sure I'm saved?
You will see booklets like theseas you leave the sanctuary.
If you are skeptical about theclaims of Christ, if you are
seeking, if you are new, ifyou're a Christian, you're like.
I just need to brush up.
(03:48):
Please take them.
We ordered seven different ones.
Three of them went to the wrongplace and so they will be here
next week as a little teaser foryou, apparently.
So if you decide to come backafter Easter, those will be
there, and usually I say comeand get them, please don't take
these.
I need to point to them.
Next service Don't take those,don't take those.
Don't take those.
(04:09):
There's this pressure, in casey'all don't know this, there's
this pressure that pastors feelthere's a pressure on Easter
that you better get it right.
This is the Sunday, for nomistakes.
Clean it up, make everything asclean as it can be.
And then there's also thispressure, especially if you are
going to look at a passage thatpeople have heard before.
(04:31):
Hey, pastor, you better tell mesomething I haven't heard.
I want something new.
I want something to challengeme, something to stretch me.
Can I tell you?
We are going to read, maybeoutside of the Christmas account
, the portion of the Bible thatmore people know than anyone
else, because we always preachthe same thing on Easter Sunday
and I do want you to know I didfind something I'd never seen
(04:54):
before, but I didn't feelpressure to do it.
However, I am very excited toshow you what it is that I think
the Lord would have every oneof us wrestle with skeptic,
seeker and believer.
And it all began on Good Fridaywhen Thomas put this up for our
Good Friday service.
My wife's response to thisquestion Thomas, wherever you
are was I didn't really likethat question and I was like
(05:17):
well, baby, I'm not runningFriday, thomas is running Friday
, so no tweaks on that.
She was like it just feels deep.
It feels like a lot to wrestlewith, especially if we're gonna
have like seven and eight yearolds in here.
But as I was reading it, thisis what happened to me.
I immediately he asks thisquestion, we start singing songs
and I immediately wanna pick up.
(05:38):
Hey, man, great question, wereally enjoyed it.
Yeah, all right.
We start singing songs and oneweird ism that Will does is I
like reading the Bible whilewe're singing songs.
I've done it since I was ateenager.
Sometimes if you see me overthere reading, it is because I'm
preparing and wondering whatI'm going to say next.
But many times it's one of myfavorite ways to worship and so
(06:00):
long as the team isn't singing anew song that causes me to say
something heretical, like I amthe Alpha and the Omega.
Have you ever had that happenin worship and you're like, well
, this Sunday's a bust.
I'm going to have to startrepenting now.
I love reading text while we'resinging.
And after he put this questionup what was the joy that was set
before Jesus?
This comes out of Hebrews 12.
(06:20):
For the joy that was set beforehim, being Christ, he endured
the cross.
Everything in me wanted to turnto Luke, chapter 24.
Why?
Because it is finally time fortwo things to happen.
Number one it is finally timefor our church to complete the
gospel of Luke, which we startedover a year ago.
(06:41):
Praise God for that.
Yeah, so, if you're new toMaitre, we work through books of
the Bible.
We did it, guys.
We made it, and in non-typicalchurch fashion.
I believe next week we're goingto start a new book of the
Bible, which is Song of Songs.
So young ears beware I may giveus a one-week buffer, but we'll
(07:02):
see.
If you're new to the church,it's the most scandalous
romantic book in the Bible, andas we come to the end of Luke 24
, we finally get to see what wasit that Jesus was so excited
about as he looked at somethingso terrifying and so horrible?
And I think the answer to thatquestion is simply this the joy
(07:26):
of those he most loved finallygetting it Peter and James and
John and the disciples, who endup looking like knuckleheads
through the majority of thegospel.
They are finally going to getit.
They're going to know whoChrist is, why he came, what he
did, what they get to put theirhope in what life and eternity
look like for now and forevermore.
(07:49):
They get to realize that thereis a plot twist that they should
have seen but never saw, comingin a better ending than they
ever dared hope for.
I don't know what your favoritegenre of movie is, but mine is
the psychological thriller withthe twist at the end.
In 1997, a movie came outthat's all right that 80% of you
were like I wasn't born, that'sfine, it's still there.
(08:12):
In something you can find itMichael Douglas, the Game 1997.
The movie that caused me tofall in love with the
psychological thriller with thetwist at the end.
Two years later, bruce Williscame out with another one that
most people know as the SixthSense, and you watch it and you
realize all along I missed thisincredible piece.
That is what Luke, chapter 24,is, and there is one thing
(08:37):
better than watching a moviethat has a twist at the end it's
watching somebody watch itafter you've already seen it.
When we were flying home fromThailand I won't give you any
Thailand stories today, but whenwe were flying home from
Thailand a few days ago, Idownloaded a movie for Ames and
I to watch together and what Irealized was I was not watching
this movie, I was watching myson watch this movie, so that
(08:59):
when something happened, I waslike wasn't that awesome, isn't
that great, and this is the joythat Jesus had.
I was like wasn't that awesome,isn't that great, and this is
the joy that Jesus had.
I'd like to show it to you, buton the first day of the week.
This is a freebie, it's notreally in my notes, but this is
why Christians celebrate onSunday.
Jews continue to celebrate onSaturday.
(09:20):
Christians would have continued,but on the first day of the
week, at early dawn they went tothe tomb taking the spices they
had prepared, by the way, thisthey is the women who had longed
to love and care for Jesus, butSabbath law prevented them
Verse two and they found thestone rolled away from the tomb.
But when they went in, they didnot find the body of the Lord
(09:42):
Jesus.
While they were perplexed thisis our word for the whole Jesus.
While they were perplexed thisis our word for the whole day.
While they were perplexed aboutthis, behold, two men stood by
them in dazzling apparel, twoangels, and as they were
frightened and bowed their facesto the ground, the men said to
them this was what we looked atfor sunrise service.
Why do you seek the livingamong the dead by show of hands?
(10:02):
How many of you guys were herefor sunrise service?
I was kind of curious.
How many of you hung around?
Yeah, you got better seats thistime than you did last time, I
can tell.
Okay, I'm not going to preachthe same sermon to you.
I thought that would be unfair.
Okay, but I did want to pointto one similar point here.
The angels look at them andthey have one major question why
are you looking for somethingliving where dead things go?
(10:25):
Why do you seek the livingamong the dead.
He's not here, but has risenNow.
Here is what I want you tonotice.
I told you this is going to beour word perplexed Question
number one If God was going tosend angels to comfort the
confusion and the perplexion ofthe women who came to the tomb,
(10:50):
why not have the angels waitingfor them?
Why make them get to an emptytomb with every question in
their mind?
Why make them walk in and lookand wonder what happened to the
soldiers who moved this stoneaway?
What happened to my Savior?
Why are their clothes stillhere?
If somebody was robbing thebody, they certainly would not
(11:14):
have taken time.
And the way they did it backthen, it was like a mummy wrap
with lots of linen strips andthey're all folded up neatly,
like every mother wants theirchildren to leave their clothes
when they're done.
This was not a rush job.
Why did God not start with anangel?
Why let them be confused?
Why cause them to be perplexed?
(11:37):
The angels look at him and theysay didn't he tell you he was
coming back?
Haven't you been listening?
Why are you looking for livingpeople where dead people go?
It doesn't make any sense.
Do you know that?
I found zero people thismorning digging through the
trash can to try to find a freshdonut.
I didn't see a single one.
When somebody came in and theywere looking for a wifi signal,
(11:59):
do you know, I didn't see asingle one of them run down the
hill further from the building,because you're not going to get
a Wi-Fi signal further from thebuilding.
This morning, when we gottogether for sunrise service, do
you know how many people werelooking west?
Zero, because you're not goingto see a sunrise coming from the
west.
And the angels look at theseconfused women.
They say ladies, what's thedeal?
(12:19):
Why are you looking for livingthings where dead things go?
But here's my question why didGod allow them to be confused
Verse 8,.
And they remembered his wordsand, returning from the tomb,
they told all these things tothe 11.
These would be the disciples.
Why does it say 11 and not 12?
(12:40):
Why Judas is gone.
He missed the cut.
He's not able to enjoy this day.
He walked with Jesus, but hedidn't know Jesus, he didn't
trust Jesus, he didn't havefaith in Christ.
So now we're down to the 11 andall the rest.
By the way, there's probablyabout 120.
Now it was Mary, magdalene,joanna and Mary, the mother of
James, and the other women withthem who told these things to
(13:02):
the apostles.
But here's confusing thingnumber two these words, what
words?
We saw an angel, the tomb isrolled open.
Jesus isn't there.
Keep in mind, these are thedisciples.
They heard Jesus teach morethan anybody else.
They saw him do miraculousthings more than anybody else.
(13:22):
But notice what God's word says.
They hear this story and itseemed to them an idle tale, not
even just a story.
A story that is idle, nomomentum, no movement, just some
story that you would tell achild to pass the time, a story
that you tell in the hopes thatthey would fall asleep.
It has no main thing.
(13:44):
We're just trying to get fromhere to Bucky's.
How am I going to get you therewithout you whining the whole
time?
I'm just going to tell you atale.
I'm going to make it up.
Hey, chat GPT, give me a storyon whatever it is that your kids
like.
This is what the disciples heardwhen the women talked about an
empty tomb and when they talkedabout angels.
And this is precisely what theworld would want you to believe
(14:08):
about Easter.
The world wants you to believeit's just a story.
It's just a tale.
In fact, even Jesus's closestfollowers once thought the
resurrection was just some story.
If you are a skeptic in theroom, the people who knew Jesus
most did not believe this.
(14:29):
If you're questioning, can theclaims of Christ be real?
I want them to be real.
Why is it?
I cannot believe this is theright Sunday for you to be here.
His closest followers couldn'tget it, and this is what the
disciples first wondered.
It's just some story.
I don't know what happened withthe women when they got there,
(14:51):
but it's got to be just sometale.
The devil would want you tobelieve the resurrection is just
some story and, if we're honest, your own flesh wants you to
believe that.
The world that you live inwants you to believe that Easter
is just some story.
Don't give me something too bigto believe in.
Don't give me something that istoo great to hope for.
(15:13):
The disciples get the exact samemessage the women do at the
tomb and they don't believe.
Now you could say, yeah, well,the women had an angel show up.
If an angel showed up right now, can we all agree our faith
might increase, maybe just alittle bit.
Then here is my second questionfor you.
If God allowed the women to getto the tomb without an angel so
(15:35):
that they were confused.
Why not send one to hisdisciples as well?
Why is it that God is socomfortable with you being
confused and perplexed?
Why allow confusion when Godcould have made everything
instantly clear?
I want to show you one more.
I want to show you one moreconfused group of people, and
(15:58):
this is the thing I want you torealize as I do.
This all happens on the exactsame day.
God, in his word, in hisprovidence, by his spirit, crams
all three of these storiestogether.
That very day, two of them, twodisciples, were going to a
village named Emmaus, aboutseven miles from Jerusalem.
(16:18):
One of the things Julia didn'ttell you is that she just
completed a 100-mile.
I don't even know what you callit.
Do you call it a race?
Do you call it a multi marathon?
I don't know what you call it.
Crazy is what I would call it.
But one of the coolest thingswas some of the members of her
MCG showed up to run the lastcouple of miles with her and I
(16:40):
read this that these guys aregoing on a seven mile walk.
And I'm like impressive thatthese guys are going on a seven
mile walk and I'm likeimpressive.
I'm just letting you know, willdoesn't run, will doesn't.
I mean I walk, but I do not runfor fitness or for fun.
Out of curiosity, anybody wannaguess how long about a seven
mile walk would take?
Just give me a number, somebody.
Three hours, okay, you're alittle slow, all right.
(17:01):
On average for a human it wouldbe between two and two and a
half hours.
This is two men who, by the way,you never see again in the
Bible.
You never see these two peopleagain in the Bible.
This is their cameo and theyget two hours of a walk.
And here's how it goes.
They're going to Emmaus fromJerusalem on a two-hour walk and
(17:23):
they were talking with eachother about all these things
that had happened.
While they were talking anddiscussing together, jesus
himself drew near and went withthem, but their eyes were kept
from recognizing him.
This is a word in the Greekthat means God prevented them
from seeing who Jesus really was.
(17:43):
Don't know how it worked.
I don't know if it seemedblurry, I don't know if he
changed it in their head.
I don't know how it worked, buthere's all I know.
Two guys go on a two and a halfhour walk with Jesus and they
have no idea.
Two guys who, by the way, istwo of them, two of Jesus's
followers, and they're kept fromrecognizing him.
(18:05):
Followers, and they're keptfrom recognizing him.
Have you ever missed somethingthat was right in front of you?
This is my favoriteillustration of somebody missing
something right in front ofthem.
This is a dude on his phone whocannot find his baby.
Can't find it anywhere.
Where'd that thing go?
(18:26):
See how dangerous social mediais.
You see it now, don't you?
And this is my favorite thing,he starts calling his wife, like
hey, you got the kid.
That's the phone call you wantto get as a mom.
But the person who has the beststory on this day is the lady in
yellow hey, your kid's on yourback.
Can you imagine what dinner waslike for her?
(18:46):
She gets there and she's andyellow hey, your kid's on your
back.
Can you imagine what dinner waslike for her, can you?
She gets there and she's likeguys, you would not believe this
.
I went to the mall and there isthis dude calling his wife
trying to find the kid that wasstrapped to his back.
This is what's happening asthese two guys go on a two hour
walk with Jesus and he said tothem what's this conversation
(19:08):
that you are holding with eachother as you walk?
And they stood still.
So maybe they did get closer tothree hours.
I don't know how long theystood there looking at Jesus
being like.
What do you mean?
What are we talking about?
There's only one thing to betalking about right now the guy
who said he was the king of theJews was crucified.
Darkness appeared from noonuntil three in the afternoon.
(19:30):
The temple that had thismassive curtain that separated
people from God was ripped inhalf.
An earthquake shook the world.
Dead people came back from thedead and walked around.
What do you mean?
What are we talking about?
There's nothing else to betalking about.
And then one of them, namedCleopas, answered are you the
(19:52):
only one who does not know thethings that have happened?
Favorite line in the wholething Jesus.
Are you the only one whodoesn't know what's going on
here?
Favorite line, favorite linethis is the guy watching the
movie next to somebody whohadn't seen what's happening
next.
Why is it that God allowed thewomen to be confused?
Why allow the disciples to beconfused?
(20:12):
Why allow Cleopas and his buddyto be confused for this
wonderful moment.
Jesus has been looking forwardto this.
He has looked forward to thisfrom the day he said let there
be light, and it exploded into auniverse he made.
He creates a world and hecreates people in his own image.
(20:33):
This is what Jesus has beenlooking for.
Jesus, do you not know what'sgoing on?
Here's the best plot twist ofthe story that's ever been told.
And he's standing right therewith them and he said to them
what things?
Let's see how much you know.
Tell me what's going on, guys.
(20:56):
This is Jesus.
And he looks at these two.
He's like tell me what's goingon, how much do you know?
And they said to him, concerningJesus of Nazareth, he was a man
like us.
I don't know how to explain itto you exactly, but he would do
these incredible things.
But he got tired and he bledand he was hungry and he was
(21:18):
weak.
He was like me, but not like me.
He was a prophet.
He seemed to always know whatwas going on, no matter where he
was.
He was comfortable.
No matter where he was.
He was powerful in deed and inword.
When he spoke, the mostpowerful people shut their
(21:38):
mouths.
He brought people back from thedead, healed the lame, caused
the blind to see, made food fallfrom the heavens.
This guy was special, but ourchief priests and rulers
delivered him up to be condemnedto death and they crucified him
.
We had hoped he was the one.
(22:00):
Do you know how cool it is tobe Jesus in this moment?
Do you know how long he haslonged for them to say we just
hope that he would be the one?
And to drive the point home?
We find out that, even thoughthey say it's been three days,
how could anything good happennow?
They say we did hear this onestory.
We heard this story from some ofthe women in our company.
(22:22):
They amazed us.
They were at the tomb early inthe morning and when they didn't
find his body, they came backand said that they had seen
angels who said he was alive.
And some of those who were withus went to the tomb and found
it, just as the women had said,but him they did not see.
Here they are, even after theangels, even after an empty tomb
(22:46):
, even after the reminder ofresurrection, they did not have
faith.
Why, why does God allow us tobe confused?
Why do these two ordinary menget two and a half hours with
Jesus and not see him.
Let me make the point why cansome people come to an Easter
service for 40 years and not getit?
(23:08):
Why can some of us grow up inthe church and at one point have
a heart for the things of Godand the things of Christ and
then wonder why is it no longerimportant to me?
Is it something wrong with me?
Am I actually seeing correctly?
And everybody else has the woolpulled over their eyes.
What is it that causes them tonot see?
(23:29):
Well, here is the answer.
And he said to them oh foolishones and slow of heart to
believe all that the prophetshave spoken.
Was it not necessary that theChrist should suffer and enter
his glory?
And beginning sorry, my bad andbeginning with Moses, genesis,
exodus, leviticus, numbers,deuteronomy, the Pentateuch and
(23:52):
all the prophets, the OldTestament.
He interpreted to them in allthe scriptures, the things
concerning himself.
Jesus gives the best Biblestudy that's ever been given.
In a two and a half hour walkfrom Jerusalem to Emmaus, they
drew near to the village whichthey were going.
Jesus acted as if he was goingto go farther.
(24:15):
I'm going to just keep going,guys.
And they're like wait, wait,wait, wait.
We don't want you to goanywhere.
This has been the best two anda half hours of my life.
I don't know who you are.
You remind me of somebody, Ican't quite put my finger on it.
You remind me of somebody and Idon't want you to go.
But they urged him strongly,saying stay with us.
It's toward evening, that'sgoing to matter in a minute, and
(24:37):
the day is now far spent.
So he went in to stay with themwhen he was at the table with
them.
Now this two and a half hourwalk has turned into a table for
three.
How cool are these guys?
How fortunate are these guys.
Jesus breaks bread right infront of them and their eyes
were open and they recognizedhim.
And then Jesus banished fromtheir sight.
It's like, come on, we're soclose, we're so close.
(25:01):
Where did they see Jesus?
They couldn't see him untilsomething happened.
What was it?
I've put up a slide with a lotof scriptures.
This is the last one I'm goingto put up.
They look at each other a tablethat's set for three with an
empty seat.
Now, and they have the sameresponse.
Cleopas, did not our heartsburn within us when he talked,
(25:25):
while he opened to us thescriptures and they this is the
best they rose that same hour atnight, when the day had already
been fully spent.
And they go on another two anda half hour walk.
We got to get to Jerusalem.
We've got to get back to the 11.
We've got to get back to thewomen who told this story.
(25:46):
We need to tell them.
We just spent two hours hangingout with Jesus, who explained
to us the entire Bible.
So at night they walk back toJerusalem.
They find the 11 and those whowere with them gathered and they
say the Lord has risen.
Indeed, he's even appeared toSimon and they told what
(26:06):
happened on the road and how hewas known.
In the breaking of bread and inverse 33, all three of these
stories come together.
The women at the tomb are there, the 11 disciples are there,
the travelers to Emmaus arethere.
On that first Easter morning,every perplexed thought, every
(26:28):
unanswered question was remediedby one thing alone there is one
medicine for this illness.
Did you see what it was?
Did you notice?
Because you had to be payingclose attention For the women at
the tomb.
They remembered his words.
It wasn't seeing him, it wasthe Word of God that caused
(26:51):
their hearts to come to life.
The eleven disciples are stillconfused at this point in the
text.
But the travelers to Emmaus?
What do they say?
He interpreted to them all thescriptures and their hearts come
alive.
So what's going to happen withthe 11 disciples?
As they were talking about thesethings, jesus himself stood
(27:13):
among them.
Finally, here he is.
And he said to them peace toyou.
And he said to them why are youtroubled?
Unfair question, jesus.
We show up to the tomb Nobody'sthere.
We got tons of questions.
Then the angels come.
We go and tell the disciplesand they're like ladies, that's
a really great story, but it's abit of a fairy tale.
(27:35):
Then you go on a two and a halfhour walk with these guys, hide
your face from them.
When they finally see it, youdisappear.
What do you mean?
Why am I troubled and why isthere doubt in my heart?
Because we haven't seen you iswhat they think.
And then he says I want you tosee my hands.
(27:57):
I want you to see my feet.
Hey Thomas, you want to putyour hands in here?
Do you want to see the lengthsI went to to rescue you from
your sin?
But it wasn't even seeing Jesus.
That caused them to believe.
Then he said to them these aremy words, that I spoke to you
while I was still with you, thateverything written about me in
(28:18):
the law of Moses and theprophets and the Psalms must be
fulfilled.
Then, then then, he openedtheir minds to understand the
scriptures.
That is where their hearts comealive.
Where do they see Jesus?
They see him in the word.
(28:40):
They remember his words.
He interprets it to them and heopens their mind to understand
the scriptures.
On the first Easter morning,every perplexed thought, every
unanswered question was remediedby one thing alone the word of
God.
There is a bit of a pressurethat pastors feel on an Easter
(29:04):
service, and can I just betransparent with you?
Unless we have the most uniqueEaster service that has been had
in a number of years, some ofyou are going to come here for
the first time.
Some of you are going to comeand you're never going to come
back.
And I want you to hear from meright now.
I'm not throwing any shade andI'm not casting any shame.
Some of you are here becauseyour kids come here and you're
(29:25):
like well, I go to church, don'tget all like convictional on me
, okay, I just don't go to thisone, that's fine.
What I want you to know is thisthere is I'm looking at a
pastor in the room while I saythis there's this pressure for
us that we better get it rightthis week because I may not see
you for another 364 days and Idon't know what God has in your
(29:46):
story for the next 364 days.
I don't know if you're going tobe alive in another 364 days to
come up this driveway and tryto find a place to park.
And there's this pressure toget it right.
I was expecting when we got heretoday for there to be this huge
truck stuck behind that sign,because they showed up on Friday
(30:08):
, their hydraulics broke andthey got bogged down and it's
like welcome to Easter everybody.
We got a broke down truck inthe front.
Just wanted you to feel welcomeand I had like two or three
questions.
Hey, will you?
Okay?
You all right with that.
I don't care about a dumb truckthat's stuck, but do you want
to know the thing thatalleviates the most pressure for
(30:29):
any pastor?
I can't convince you.
I can't cause all of yourconfusion about who God is and
what he has done with your life.
I can't fix every perplexingthought that you've got, but I
can tell you what will the wordof God, it's all I've got.
I have one trick, and it justhappens to be a really, really
(30:52):
good one.
And he said to them here iswhat is written the Christ
should suffer.
He has to suffer.
Our sins are a real deal.
On the third day, he's going torise from the dead.
Romans 6.23 says the wages ofsin is death.
Except Jesus committed no sin,so he didn't owe death anything.
(31:14):
In fact, not only did he notdeserve death, death didn't
deserve him, which is why, onthe third day, he rises from the
dead.
That repentance for forgivenessof sins should be proclaimed to
all nations.
So why so much confusion?
Why leave people perplexed?
(31:35):
Because you and I need to bereminded that we do not
understand everything as well aswe think we do.
Because you and I need to bereminded that we are part of a
bigger story, that we did notbegin writing and we will not be
the ones to end it either.
We need to be reminded that Godhas a plan in your life that
only makes sense if you see himas God, and in the greatest plot
(31:56):
twist of all time, he looks atthis group of people.
Stokes, bennett Crew, y'all cancome up.
I didn't give you a heads up.
I'm closing, plane landing Inthe greatest plot twist of all
time.
This is the words that Christends with.
You are witnesses of thesethings.
(32:17):
The very people who yelledcrucify him would have yelled
crucify him.
We're going to stand up in aminute and instead we are going
to sing about how great Christis.
The very ones who would havelifted him on the cross when God
came to us.
Do you know what we did to him?
We killed him.
The very ones who would havelifted him up to a cross now, in
(32:40):
our hearts, lift him up everyday as King of Kings and Lord of
Lords.
Those of us who would havemocked him and spit on him and
put a crown of thorns on hishead now bow our knee to him.
This is the greatest plot twistof all time.
You get to be witnesses ofthese things.
(33:05):
And may I give one lastencouragement.
If you're a Christian in theroom and you have been walking
with Christ, I hope today setsyour heart on fire.
I hope that hearing the word ofGod causes you to burn just
like it did with Cleopas and hisbuddy, and I hope that it's so
much more than 90 minutes on aSunday.
And then you just try not toget coffee on your dress or
(33:28):
whatever it is and head on tothe next thing.
I hope your heart burns withinyou.
And you say that last sentenceis insane that the one who I
hated and rejected is enlistingme on his team.
Couldn't he send an angel?
It'd be more convincing.
Couldn't he do a miracle?
That would be way morecompelling.
I'm not even impressive.
I don't have that great of alife.
(33:49):
Yeah, and that's what makes Godseem so incredible that he
would use you, that he wants touse you, that you would be the
storyteller who listens to, theone who writes every good story.
How cool is it that the peoplewho were perplexed five minutes
(34:09):
ago are the ones Jesus says hey,you get it now.
I'm the answer.
You get it now.
I let you be confused for someof you for five minutes, five
years or 50 years, so that youwould realize you are not going
to figure this life out, but Ihave, and if you will come to me
(34:30):
, I will make the rest of itmake sense, whether it's good,
difficult or somewhere inbetween you get to be put on the
team and you don't have toprove anything to anyone.
This is the best news for mepersonally.
I don't have to convince you.
I don't have to talk you intomorality.
I don't have to convince you.
(34:50):
I don't have to talk you intomorality.
I don't have to tell you how tobe successful.
All I have to tell you is thisGod's word is true and it is
living and active, and I amgoing to leave it in front of
you for you to see what Christthought all of us needed to know
, and I'm simply going to praythis God would you set our
hearts aflame with the goodnessof your word and would you send
(35:15):
rebels like us into a world youcreated who need to hear the
good news of a resurrected kingwho invites us to life that
lasts forever?
Amen.
Good morning, mitri.
Happy Easter.
It was Friday, now it's Sunday.
We're going to be reading thepassage for today.
It is from Luke 24, 1 through11.
If you're in the Pew Bible,that's page 884.
Alright, on the first day ofthe week, very early in the
(00:26):
morning, the women took thespices they had prepared and
went to the tomb.
They found the stone rolledaway from the tomb, but when
they entered they did not findthe body of Lord Jesus.
While they were wondering aboutthis, suddenly two men in
clothes that gleamed likelightning stood beside them.
In their fright, the womenbowed down with their faces to
the ground, but the men said tothem why do you look for the
(00:46):
living among the dead?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
He is not here, but has risen.
Remember how he told you whenhe was still in Galilee that the
Son of man must be delivered tothe hands of sinful men and be
crucified on the third day andrise.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
Then they remembered his words.
When they came back from thetomb, they told all these things
to the eleven and to all theothers.
It was Mary Magdalene, joannaMary, the mother of James, and
the others with them who toldthis to the apostles.
But they did not believe thewomen because their words seemed
to them like nonsense.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
What's going on everybody?
Happy Easter, excited to spendtime with you.
Let me give you a couple ofthings very quickly.
One of my favorite things thatwe do whenever somebody gets
baptized I have an embarrassmentof riches of microphones.
Whoever's coming up after me,I've hid them deep down below.
One of my favorite things thatwe do on a baptism Sunday is
when you guys walk out of thosedouble doors, there's gonna be
this big sort of glass vase andnext to it are gonna be some
(02:02):
note cards.
I would love for those of youwho are trusting in Christ, if
you have a connection with Julia, if you just want to encourage
her, to jot down a small note, ascripture that has meant a lot
to you.
To me, it is one of the bestways that we can take this sort
of reality of baptism andcontinue to encourage those who
are drawing near to the Lord.
So please take an opportunityand do that.
(02:23):
And then I also wanna let youknow this I'm not a real formal
person.
If you are coming to Midtreeand you're like he's got his
sleeves rolled up, I want you toknow this is about as formal as
it gets for this guy right here.
And just a couple of things toease any of the awkwardness.
We are super glad that you arehere.
We're gonna do something verysimple.
(02:44):
We're going to sing God's word.
We're going to pray God's word.
We're going to read God's word.
We're going to enjoy the wholething together.
For those of you who may be newto that, I want you to know we
love that you are here.
Zero percent of us want you tofeel awkward.
None of us want us to feel like, well, hey, who are you and how
did you get my seat and why areyou in my parking place?
(03:04):
Everybody who calls MidtreeHome is so glad to give up
whatever used to be their seatand used to be their parking
place and if we ran out ofdonuts, used to be their donut
and give it to you because wewant you to hear about Christ.
Additionally, we did not dothis on purpose.
Shipping helped us with thislittle teaser.
We've got about six differentresources.
(03:27):
I've got a handful of them here.
That was a good one to startwith.
How can I serve my church?
I didn't mean for that one tobe on the front.
How do I fight sin andtemptation?
How can I be sure I'm saved?
You will see booklets like theseas you leave the sanctuary.
If you are skeptical about theclaims of Christ, if you are
seeking, if you are new, ifyou're a Christian, you're like.
I just need to brush up.
(03:48):
Please take them.
We ordered seven different ones.
Three of them went to the wrongplace and so they will be here
next week as a little teaser foryou, apparently.
So if you decide to come backafter Easter, those will be
there, and usually I say comeand get them, please don't take
these.
I need to point to them.
Next service Don't take those,don't take those.
Don't take those.
(04:09):
There's this pressure, in casey'all don't know this, there's
this pressure that pastors feelthere's a pressure on Easter
that you better get it right.
This is the Sunday, for nomistakes.
Clean it up, make everything asclean as it can be.
And then there's also thispressure, especially if you are
going to look at a passage thatpeople have heard before.
(04:31):
Hey, pastor, you better tell mesomething I haven't heard.
I want something new.
I want something to challengeme, something to stretch me.
Can I tell you?
We are going to read, maybeoutside of the Christmas account
, the portion of the Bible thatmore people know than anyone
else, because we always preachthe same thing on Easter Sunday
and I do want you to know I didfind something I'd never seen
(04:54):
before, but I didn't feelpressure to do it.
However, I am very excited toshow you what it is that I think
the Lord would have every oneof us wrestle with skeptic,
seeker and believer.
And it all began on Good Fridaywhen Thomas put this up for our
Good Friday service.
My wife's response to thisquestion Thomas, wherever you
are was I didn't really likethat question and I was like
(05:17):
well, baby, I'm not runningFriday, thomas is running Friday
, so no tweaks on that.
She was like it just feels deep.
It feels like a lot to wrestlewith, especially if we're gonna
have like seven and eight yearolds in here.
But as I was reading it, thisis what happened to me.
I immediately he asks thisquestion, we start singing songs
and I immediately wanna pick up.
(05:38):
Hey, man, great question, wereally enjoyed it.
Yeah, all right.
We start singing songs and oneweird ism that Will does is I
like reading the Bible whilewe're singing songs.
I've done it since I was ateenager.
Sometimes if you see me overthere reading, it is because I'm
preparing and wondering whatI'm going to say next.
But many times it's one of myfavorite ways to worship and so
(06:00):
long as the team isn't singing anew song that causes me to say
something heretical, like I amthe Alpha and the Omega.
Have you ever had that happenin worship and you're like, well
, this Sunday's a bust.
I'm going to have to startrepenting now.
I love reading text while we'resinging.
And after he put this questionup what was the joy that was set
before Jesus?
This comes out of Hebrews 12.
(06:20):
For the joy that was set beforehim, being Christ, he endured
the cross.
Everything in me wanted to turnto Luke, chapter 24.
Why?
Because it is finally time fortwo things to happen.
Number one it is finally timefor our church to complete the
gospel of Luke, which we startedover a year ago.
(06:41):
Praise God for that.
Yeah, so, if you're new toMaitre, we work through books of
the Bible.
We did it, guys.
We made it, and in non-typicalchurch fashion.
I believe next week we're goingto start a new book of the
Bible, which is Song of Songs.
So young ears beware I may giveus a one-week buffer, but we'll
(07:02):
see.
If you're new to the church,it's the most scandalous
romantic book in the Bible, andas we come to the end of Luke 24
, we finally get to see what wasit that Jesus was so excited
about as he looked at somethingso terrifying and so horrible?
And I think the answer to thatquestion is simply this the joy
(07:26):
of those he most loved finallygetting it Peter and James and
John and the disciples, who endup looking like knuckleheads
through the majority of thegospel.
They are finally going to getit.
They're going to know whoChrist is, why he came, what he
did, what they get to put theirhope in what life and eternity
look like for now and forevermore.
(07:49):
They get to realize that thereis a plot twist that they should
have seen but never saw, comingin a better ending than they
ever dared hope for.
I don't know what your favoritegenre of movie is, but mine is
the psychological thriller withthe twist at the end.
In 1997, a movie came outthat's all right that 80% of you
were like I wasn't born, that'sfine, it's still there.
(08:12):
In something you can find itMichael Douglas, the Game 1997.
The movie that caused me tofall in love with the
psychological thriller with thetwist at the end.
Two years later, bruce Williscame out with another one that
most people know as the SixthSense, and you watch it and you
realize all along I missed thisincredible piece.
That is what Luke, chapter 24,is, and there is one thing
(08:37):
better than watching a moviethat has a twist at the end it's
watching somebody watch itafter you've already seen it.
When we were flying home fromThailand I won't give you any
Thailand stories today, but whenwe were flying home from
Thailand a few days ago, Idownloaded a movie for Ames and
I to watch together and what Irealized was I was not watching
this movie, I was watching myson watch this movie, so that
(08:59):
when something happened, I waslike wasn't that awesome, isn't
that great, and this is the joythat Jesus had.
I was like wasn't that awesome,isn't that great, and this is
the joy that Jesus had.
I'd like to show it to you, buton the first day of the week.
This is a freebie, it's notreally in my notes, but this is
why Christians celebrate onSunday.
Jews continue to celebrate onSaturday.
(09:20):
Christians would have continued,but on the first day of the
week, at early dawn they went tothe tomb taking the spices they
had prepared, by the way, thisthey is the women who had longed
to love and care for Jesus, butSabbath law prevented them
Verse two and they found thestone rolled away from the tomb.
But when they went in, they didnot find the body of the Lord
(09:42):
Jesus.
While they were perplexed thisis our word for the whole Jesus.
While they were perplexed thisis our word for the whole day.
While they were perplexed aboutthis, behold, two men stood by
them in dazzling apparel, twoangels, and as they were
frightened and bowed their facesto the ground, the men said to
them this was what we looked atfor sunrise service.
Why do you seek the livingamong the dead by show of hands?
(10:02):
How many of you guys were herefor sunrise service?
I was kind of curious.
How many of you hung around?
Yeah, you got better seats thistime than you did last time, I
can tell.
Okay, I'm not going to preachthe same sermon to you.
I thought that would be unfair.
Okay, but I did want to pointto one similar point here.
The angels look at them andthey have one major question why
are you looking for somethingliving where dead things go?
(10:25):
Why do you seek the livingamong the dead.
He's not here, but has risenNow.
Here is what I want you tonotice.
I told you this is going to beour word perplexed Question
number one If God was going tosend angels to comfort the
confusion and the perplexion ofthe women who came to the tomb,
(10:50):
why not have the angels waitingfor them?
Why make them get to an emptytomb with every question in
their mind?
Why make them walk in and lookand wonder what happened to the
soldiers who moved this stoneaway?
What happened to my Savior?
Why are their clothes stillhere?
If somebody was robbing thebody, they certainly would not
(11:14):
have taken time.
And the way they did it backthen, it was like a mummy wrap
with lots of linen strips andthey're all folded up neatly,
like every mother wants theirchildren to leave their clothes
when they're done.
This was not a rush job.
Why did God not start with anangel?
Why let them be confused?
Why cause them to be perplexed?
(11:37):
The angels look at him and theysay didn't he tell you he was
coming back?
Haven't you been listening?
Why are you looking for livingpeople where dead people go?
It doesn't make any sense.
Do you know that?
I found zero people thismorning digging through the
trash can to try to find a freshdonut.
I didn't see a single one.
When somebody came in and theywere looking for a wifi signal,
(11:59):
do you know, I didn't see asingle one of them run down the
hill further from the building,because you're not going to get
a Wi-Fi signal further from thebuilding.
This morning, when we gottogether for sunrise service, do
you know how many people werelooking west?
Zero, because you're not goingto see a sunrise coming from the
west.
And the angels look at theseconfused women.
They say ladies, what's thedeal?
(12:19):
Why are you looking for livingthings where dead things go?
But here's my question why didGod allow them to be confused
Verse 8,.
And they remembered his wordsand, returning from the tomb,
they told all these things tothe 11.
These would be the disciples.
Why does it say 11 and not 12?
(12:40):
Why Judas is gone.
He missed the cut.
He's not able to enjoy this day.
He walked with Jesus, but hedidn't know Jesus, he didn't
trust Jesus, he didn't havefaith in Christ.
So now we're down to the 11 andall the rest.
By the way, there's probablyabout 120.
Now it was Mary, magdalene,joanna and Mary, the mother of
James, and the other women withthem who told these things to
(13:02):
the apostles.
But here's confusing thingnumber two these words, what
words?
We saw an angel, the tomb isrolled open.
Jesus isn't there.
Keep in mind, these are thedisciples.
They heard Jesus teach morethan anybody else.
They saw him do miraculousthings more than anybody else.
(13:22):
But notice what God's word says.
They hear this story and itseemed to them an idle tale, not
even just a story.
A story that is idle, nomomentum, no movement, just some
story that you would tell achild to pass the time, a story
that you tell in the hopes thatthey would fall asleep.
It has no main thing.
(13:44):
We're just trying to get fromhere to Bucky's.
How am I going to get you therewithout you whining the whole
time?
I'm just going to tell you atale.
I'm going to make it up.
Hey, chat GPT, give me a storyon whatever it is that your kids
like.
This is what the disciples heardwhen the women talked about an
empty tomb and when they talkedabout angels.
And this is precisely what theworld would want you to believe
(14:08):
about Easter.
The world wants you to believeit's just a story.
It's just a tale.
In fact, even Jesus's closestfollowers once thought the
resurrection was just some story.
If you are a skeptic in theroom, the people who knew Jesus
most did not believe this.
(14:29):
If you're questioning, can theclaims of Christ be real?
I want them to be real.
Why is it?
I cannot believe this is theright Sunday for you to be here.
His closest followers couldn'tget it, and this is what the
disciples first wondered.
It's just some story.
I don't know what happened withthe women when they got there,
(14:51):
but it's got to be just sometale.
The devil would want you tobelieve the resurrection is just
some story and, if we're honest, your own flesh wants you to
believe that.
The world that you live inwants you to believe that Easter
is just some story.
Don't give me something too bigto believe in.
Don't give me something that istoo great to hope for.
(15:13):
The disciples get the exact samemessage the women do at the
tomb and they don't believe.
Now you could say, yeah, well,the women had an angel show up.
If an angel showed up right now, can we all agree our faith
might increase, maybe just alittle bit.
Then here is my second questionfor you.
If God allowed the women to getto the tomb without an angel so
(15:35):
that they were confused.
Why not send one to hisdisciples as well?
Why is it that God is socomfortable with you being
confused and perplexed?
Why allow confusion when Godcould have made everything
instantly clear?
I want to show you one more.
I want to show you one moreconfused group of people, and
(15:58):
this is the thing I want you torealize as I do.
This all happens on the exactsame day.
God, in his word, in hisprovidence, by his spirit, crams
all three of these storiestogether.
That very day, two of them, twodisciples, were going to a
village named Emmaus, aboutseven miles from Jerusalem.
(16:18):
One of the things Julia didn'ttell you is that she just
completed a 100-mile.
I don't even know what you callit.
Do you call it a race?
Do you call it a multi marathon?
I don't know what you call it.
Crazy is what I would call it.
But one of the coolest thingswas some of the members of her
MCG showed up to run the lastcouple of miles with her and I
(16:40):
read this that these guys aregoing on a seven mile walk.
And I'm like impressive thatthese guys are going on a seven
mile walk and I'm likeimpressive.
I'm just letting you know, willdoesn't run, will doesn't.
I mean I walk, but I do not runfor fitness or for fun.
Out of curiosity, anybody wannaguess how long about a seven
mile walk would take?
Just give me a number, somebody.
Three hours, okay, you're alittle slow, all right.
(17:01):
On average for a human it wouldbe between two and two and a
half hours.
This is two men who, by the way,you never see again in the
Bible.
You never see these two peopleagain in the Bible.
This is their cameo and theyget two hours of a walk.
And here's how it goes.
They're going to Emmaus fromJerusalem on a two-hour walk and
(17:23):
they were talking with eachother about all these things
that had happened.
While they were talking anddiscussing together, jesus
himself drew near and went withthem, but their eyes were kept
from recognizing him.
This is a word in the Greekthat means God prevented them
from seeing who Jesus really was.
(17:43):
Don't know how it worked.
I don't know if it seemedblurry, I don't know if he
changed it in their head.
I don't know how it worked, buthere's all I know.
Two guys go on a two and a halfhour walk with Jesus and they
have no idea.
Two guys who, by the way, istwo of them, two of Jesus's
followers, and they're kept fromrecognizing him.
(18:05):
Followers, and they're keptfrom recognizing him.
Have you ever missed somethingthat was right in front of you?
This is my favoriteillustration of somebody missing
something right in front ofthem.
This is a dude on his phone whocannot find his baby.
Can't find it anywhere.
Where'd that thing go?
(18:26):
See how dangerous social mediais.
You see it now, don't you?
And this is my favorite thing,he starts calling his wife, like
hey, you got the kid.
That's the phone call you wantto get as a mom.
But the person who has the beststory on this day is the lady in
yellow hey, your kid's on yourback.
Can you imagine what dinner waslike for her?
(18:46):
She gets there and she's andyellow hey, your kid's on your
back.
Can you imagine what dinner waslike for her, can you?
She gets there and she's likeguys, you would not believe this
.
I went to the mall and there isthis dude calling his wife
trying to find the kid that wasstrapped to his back.
This is what's happening asthese two guys go on a two hour
walk with Jesus and he said tothem what's this conversation
(19:08):
that you are holding with eachother as you walk?
And they stood still.
So maybe they did get closer tothree hours.
I don't know how long theystood there looking at Jesus
being like.
What do you mean?
What are we talking about?
There's only one thing to betalking about right now the guy
who said he was the king of theJews was crucified.
Darkness appeared from noonuntil three in the afternoon.
(19:30):
The temple that had thismassive curtain that separated
people from God was ripped inhalf.
An earthquake shook the world.
Dead people came back from thedead and walked around.
What do you mean?
What are we talking about?
There's nothing else to betalking about.
And then one of them, namedCleopas, answered are you the
(19:52):
only one who does not know thethings that have happened?
Favorite line in the wholething Jesus.
Are you the only one whodoesn't know what's going on
here?
Favorite line, favorite linethis is the guy watching the
movie next to somebody whohadn't seen what's happening
next.
Why is it that God allowed thewomen to be confused?
Why allow the disciples to beconfused?
(20:12):
Why allow Cleopas and his buddyto be confused for this
wonderful moment.
Jesus has been looking forwardto this.
He has looked forward to thisfrom the day he said let there
be light, and it exploded into auniverse he made.
He creates a world and hecreates people in his own image.
(20:33):
This is what Jesus has beenlooking for.
Jesus, do you not know what'sgoing on?
Here's the best plot twist ofthe story that's ever been told.
And he's standing right therewith them and he said to them
what things?
Let's see how much you know.
Tell me what's going on, guys.
(20:56):
This is Jesus.
And he looks at these two.
He's like tell me what's goingon, how much do you know?
And they said to him, concerningJesus of Nazareth, he was a man
like us.
I don't know how to explain itto you exactly, but he would do
these incredible things.
But he got tired and he bledand he was hungry and he was
(21:18):
weak.
He was like me, but not like me.
He was a prophet.
He seemed to always know whatwas going on, no matter where he
was.
He was comfortable.
No matter where he was.
He was powerful in deed and inword.
When he spoke, the mostpowerful people shut their
(21:38):
mouths.
He brought people back from thedead, healed the lame, caused
the blind to see, made food fallfrom the heavens.
This guy was special, but ourchief priests and rulers
delivered him up to be condemnedto death and they crucified him
.
We had hoped he was the one.
(22:00):
Do you know how cool it is tobe Jesus in this moment?
Do you know how long he haslonged for them to say we just
hope that he would be the one?
And to drive the point home?
We find out that, even thoughthey say it's been three days,
how could anything good happennow?
They say we did hear this onestory.
We heard this story from some ofthe women in our company.
(22:22):
They amazed us.
They were at the tomb early inthe morning and when they didn't
find his body, they came backand said that they had seen
angels who said he was alive.
And some of those who were withus went to the tomb and found
it, just as the women had said,but him they did not see.
Here they are, even after theangels, even after an empty tomb
(22:46):
, even after the reminder ofresurrection, they did not have
faith.
Why, why does God allow us tobe confused?
Why do these two ordinary menget two and a half hours with
Jesus and not see him.
Let me make the point why cansome people come to an Easter
service for 40 years and not getit?
(23:08):
Why can some of us grow up inthe church and at one point have
a heart for the things of Godand the things of Christ and
then wonder why is it no longerimportant to me?
Is it something wrong with me?
Am I actually seeing correctly?
And everybody else has the woolpulled over their eyes.
What is it that causes them tonot see?
(23:29):
Well, here is the answer.
And he said to them oh foolishones and slow of heart to
believe all that the prophetshave spoken.
Was it not necessary that theChrist should suffer and enter
his glory?
And beginning sorry, my bad andbeginning with Moses, genesis,
exodus, leviticus, numbers,deuteronomy, the Pentateuch and
(23:52):
all the prophets, the OldTestament.
He interpreted to them in allthe scriptures, the things
concerning himself.
Jesus gives the best Biblestudy that's ever been given.
In a two and a half hour walkfrom Jerusalem to Emmaus, they
drew near to the village whichthey were going.
Jesus acted as if he was goingto go farther.
(24:15):
I'm going to just keep going,guys.
And they're like wait, wait,wait, wait.
We don't want you to goanywhere.
This has been the best two anda half hours of my life.
I don't know who you are.
You remind me of somebody, Ican't quite put my finger on it.
You remind me of somebody and Idon't want you to go.
But they urged him strongly,saying stay with us.
It's toward evening, that'sgoing to matter in a minute, and
(24:37):
the day is now far spent.
So he went in to stay with themwhen he was at the table with
them.
Now this two and a half hourwalk has turned into a table for
three.
How cool are these guys?
How fortunate are these guys.
Jesus breaks bread right infront of them and their eyes
were open and they recognizedhim.
And then Jesus banished fromtheir sight.
It's like, come on, we're soclose, we're so close.
(25:01):
Where did they see Jesus?
They couldn't see him untilsomething happened.
What was it?
I've put up a slide with a lotof scriptures.
This is the last one I'm goingto put up.
They look at each other a tablethat's set for three with an
empty seat.
Now, and they have the sameresponse.
Cleopas, did not our heartsburn within us when he talked,
(25:25):
while he opened to us thescriptures and they this is the
best they rose that same hour atnight, when the day had already
been fully spent.
And they go on another two anda half hour walk.
We got to get to Jerusalem.
We've got to get back to the 11.
We've got to get back to thewomen who told this story.
(25:46):
We need to tell them.
We just spent two hours hangingout with Jesus, who explained
to us the entire Bible.
So at night they walk back toJerusalem.
They find the 11 and those whowere with them gathered and they
say the Lord has risen.
Indeed, he's even appeared toSimon and they told what
(26:06):
happened on the road and how hewas known.
In the breaking of bread and inverse 33, all three of these
stories come together.
The women at the tomb are there, the 11 disciples are there,
the travelers to Emmaus arethere.
On that first Easter morning,every perplexed thought, every
(26:28):
unanswered question was remediedby one thing alone there is one
medicine for this illness.
Did you see what it was?
Did you notice?
Because you had to be payingclose attention For the women at
the tomb.
They remembered his words.
It wasn't seeing him, it wasthe Word of God that caused
(26:51):
their hearts to come to life.
The eleven disciples are stillconfused at this point in the
text.
But the travelers to Emmaus?
What do they say?
He interpreted to them all thescriptures and their hearts come
alive.
So what's going to happen withthe 11 disciples?
As they were talking about thesethings, jesus himself stood
(27:13):
among them.
Finally, here he is.
And he said to them peace toyou.
And he said to them why are youtroubled?
Unfair question, jesus.
We show up to the tomb Nobody'sthere.
We got tons of questions.
Then the angels come.
We go and tell the disciplesand they're like ladies, that's
a really great story, but it's abit of a fairy tale.
(27:35):
Then you go on a two and a halfhour walk with these guys, hide
your face from them.
When they finally see it, youdisappear.
What do you mean?
Why am I troubled and why isthere doubt in my heart?
Because we haven't seen you iswhat they think.
And then he says I want you tosee my hands.
(27:57):
I want you to see my feet.
Hey Thomas, you want to putyour hands in here?
Do you want to see the lengthsI went to to rescue you from
your sin?
But it wasn't even seeing Jesus.
That caused them to believe.
Then he said to them these aremy words, that I spoke to you
while I was still with you, thateverything written about me in
(28:18):
the law of Moses and theprophets and the Psalms must be
fulfilled.
Then, then then, he openedtheir minds to understand the
scriptures.
That is where their hearts comealive.
Where do they see Jesus?
They see him in the word.
(28:40):
They remember his words.
He interprets it to them and heopens their mind to understand
the scriptures.
On the first Easter morning,every perplexed thought, every
unanswered question was remediedby one thing alone the word of
God.
There is a bit of a pressurethat pastors feel on an Easter
(29:04):
service, and can I just betransparent with you?
Unless we have the most uniqueEaster service that has been had
in a number of years, some ofyou are going to come here for
the first time.
Some of you are going to comeand you're never going to come
back.
And I want you to hear from meright now.
I'm not throwing any shade andI'm not casting any shame.
Some of you are here becauseyour kids come here and you're
(29:25):
like well, I go to church, don'tget all like convictional on me
, okay, I just don't go to thisone, that's fine.
What I want you to know is thisthere is I'm looking at a
pastor in the room while I saythis there's this pressure for
us that we better get it rightthis week because I may not see
you for another 364 days and Idon't know what God has in your
(29:46):
story for the next 364 days.
I don't know if you're going tobe alive in another 364 days to
come up this driveway and tryto find a place to park.
And there's this pressure toget it right.
I was expecting when we got heretoday for there to be this huge
truck stuck behind that sign,because they showed up on Friday
(30:08):
, their hydraulics broke andthey got bogged down and it's
like welcome to Easter everybody.
We got a broke down truck inthe front.
Just wanted you to feel welcomeand I had like two or three
questions.
Hey, will you?
Okay?
You all right with that.
I don't care about a dumb truckthat's stuck, but do you want
to know the thing thatalleviates the most pressure for
(30:29):
any pastor?
I can't convince you.
I can't cause all of yourconfusion about who God is and
what he has done with your life.
I can't fix every perplexingthought that you've got, but I
can tell you what will the wordof God, it's all I've got.
I have one trick, and it justhappens to be a really, really
(30:52):
good one.
And he said to them here iswhat is written the Christ
should suffer.
He has to suffer.
Our sins are a real deal.
On the third day, he's going torise from the dead.
Romans 6.23 says the wages ofsin is death.
Except Jesus committed no sin,so he didn't owe death anything.
(31:14):
In fact, not only did he notdeserve death, death didn't
deserve him, which is why, onthe third day, he rises from the
dead.
That repentance for forgivenessof sins should be proclaimed to
all nations.
So why so much confusion?
Why leave people perplexed?
(31:35):
Because you and I need to bereminded that we do not
understand everything as well aswe think we do.
Because you and I need to bereminded that we are part of a
bigger story, that we did notbegin writing and we will not be
the ones to end it either.
We need to be reminded that Godhas a plan in your life that
only makes sense if you see himas God, and in the greatest plot
(31:56):
twist of all time, he looks atthis group of people.
Stokes, bennett Crew, y'all cancome up.
I didn't give you a heads up.
I'm closing, plane landing Inthe greatest plot twist of all
time.
This is the words that Christends with.
You are witnesses of thesethings.
(32:17):
The very people who yelledcrucify him would have yelled
crucify him.
We're going to stand up in aminute and instead we are going
to sing about how great Christis.
The very ones who would havelifted him on the cross when God
came to us.
Do you know what we did to him?
We killed him.
The very ones who would havelifted him up to a cross now, in
(32:40):
our hearts, lift him up everyday as King of Kings and Lord of
Lords.
Those of us who would havemocked him and spit on him and
put a crown of thorns on hishead now bow our knee to him.
This is the greatest plot twistof all time.
You get to be witnesses ofthese things.
(33:05):
And may I give one lastencouragement.
If you're a Christian in theroom and you have been walking
with Christ, I hope today setsyour heart on fire.
I hope that hearing the word ofGod causes you to burn just
like it did with Cleopas and hisbuddy, and I hope that it's so
much more than 90 minutes on aSunday.
And then you just try not toget coffee on your dress or
(33:28):
whatever it is and head on tothe next thing.
I hope your heart burns withinyou.
And you say that last sentenceis insane that the one who I
hated and rejected is enlistingme on his team.
Couldn't he send an angel?
It'd be more convincing.
Couldn't he do a miracle?
That would be way morecompelling.
I'm not even impressive.
I don't have that great of alife.
(33:49):
Yeah, and that's what makes Godseem so incredible that he
would use you, that he wants touse you, that you would be the
storyteller who listens to, theone who writes every good story.
How cool is it that the peoplewho were perplexed five minutes
(34:09):
ago are the ones Jesus says hey,you get it now.
I'm the answer.
You get it now.
I let you be confused for someof you for five minutes, five
years or 50 years, so that youwould realize you are not going
to figure this life out, but Ihave, and if you will come to me
(34:30):
, I will make the rest of itmake sense, whether it's good,
difficult or somewhere inbetween you get to be put on the
team and you don't have toprove anything to anyone.
This is the best news for mepersonally.
I don't have to convince you.
I don't have to talk you intomorality.
I don't have to convince you.
(34:50):
I don't have to talk you intomorality.
I don't have to tell you how tobe successful.
All I have to tell you is thisGod's word is true and it is
living and active, and I amgoing to leave it in front of
you for you to see what Christthought all of us needed to know
, and I'm simply going to praythis God would you set our
hearts aflame with the goodnessof your word and would you send
(35:15):
rebels like us into a world youcreated who need to hear the
good news of a resurrected kingwho invites us to life that
lasts forever?
Amen.
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