Walking the Path Where Christ Often Meets You; Luk 24:13-32.

Class Outline:

Sunday April 20, 2025

 

You have overcome death through the risen Christ.

 

The resurrection of Christ is proof that He will always be living in you and on you and walking with you - from now to eternity.

 

On the first Easter, two disciples walked with Jesus, hearts heavy, not knowing He was right beside them.

 

Two disciples, crushed by Jesus’ crucifixion and confused by resurrection rumors, trudge to Emmaus, unaware the risen Jesus joins them (LUK 24:13-16).

 

LUK 24:17

"What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?"

 

We are often just like them.

 

We have heard, and know, that Jesus has risen from the dead, yet ignorance and unbelief, prompted and risen up in our own hearts once again due to some circumstance we hadn’t expected. We think in the realms of gloom as if we never knew Him.

 

The resurrection proclaims that the Lord Jesus will always meet us on the road of our own journey and open our eyes to His resurrection power.

 

The risen Lord is daily walking with you.

He is not always in the form you expect.

 

The test is the inspired Word of God.

 

2CO 4:7-18

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; 8 we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. 11 For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So death works in us, but life in you [your journey will hook up with others on their journey, and the encouragement and wisdom you heard, you will pass on - great reward of helping].

 

13 But having the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, "I BELIEVED, THEREFORE I SPOKE," we also believe, therefore we also speak, 14 knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you. 15 For all things are for your sakes, so that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God. [glory comes up often in the passages about resurrection]

 

16 Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. 17 For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, 18 while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

 

We carry the cross and the empty tomb.

Death and life live in harmony within us.

 

 

HEB 2:18

He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.

 

HEB 4:16

Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

 

1. Recognizing Our Weakness: The Road of Doubt

 

Point: Like the Emmaus disciples, we carry the knowledge of the Lord Jesus, but struggle with weak faith and confusion.

 

LUK 24:17-24

And He said to them, "What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?" And they stood still, looking sad. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to Him, "Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days?" 19 And He said to them, "What things?" And they said to Him, "The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, 20 and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to the sentence of death, and crucified Him. 21 "But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened. 22 "But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning, 23 and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive. 24 "Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said; but Him they did not see."

 

Their faith faltered in the face of the cross.

 

We’re similar—knowing the resurrection, yet weighed down by doubts, grief, or life’s chaos, like the “jars of clay” in 2CO 4:7-9, frail yet holding treasure.

 

Application: Paul writes in 2Co 4 that our weakness reveals the power of the resurrection. How?

 

Our inability forces us to look at things that are not seen.

 

Admit your Emmaus moments—times of weakness that produce sadness and confusion.

 

Bring your weakness to the risen Christ.

 

II. Meeting the Risen Jesus: Resurrection in Disguise

 

Point: The risen Jesus meets us in unexpected ways, opening our eyes to His victory through the Scriptures and His presence.

 

LUK 24:25-27

And He said to them, "O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!  26 "Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?"  Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.

 

The Lord begins to tell them a story.

 

I’m certain that He wove together, using the Scripture that they already knew, or claimed to know, in the historical drama of God’s plan for the salvation of mankind and His establishment of the kingdom of heaven for mankind.

 

The seed of the woman would be bruised on the heel, to Abraham’s offer of Isaac, to the Passover blood, to the scapegoat, to the psalms of “My God, My God,” “pierced My hands,” “Offered gaul for My food,” “I thirst,” “You will not let Your Holy One see decay,” to the suffering Servant songs of Isaiah, especially Isaiah 53. Then to the book of the 12 (minors):

 

ZEC 12:10

they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.

 

The disciples saw Jesus as a failed king, but He showed His risen scars as the Lamb’s triumph. He went to them. He met their despair with His reality. He will always do the same for you.

 

Application: Rejoice today that the living Lord will come to you somehow in unexpected moments or hardships. His resurrection means He’s alive, walking with you, ready to spark hope when you least expect it.

 

Waiting for clarity and resolution to a conflict can take time.

 

III. Living Faithfully by Faith: Walking in Resurrection Hope

 

Point: Until our eyes are fully opened, we live by faith, fearing the Lord and walking righteously, empowered by the risen Christ.

 

1PE 1:17-21

If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; 18 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. 20 For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you 21 who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

 

Future secure, we walk in reverent fear.

 

Some think that it is justified to act out in sin because of how mad, sad, frustrated, bitter, or confused you are.

 

TIT 2:11-14

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, 12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, 14 who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.

 

The passage, like 1Pe 1, ties the resurrection to hope. Hope removes all doubt of outcome. It does not fill in the details until then.

 

It’s your road. It’s your role in the story.

 

Theme: Like the Emmaus disciples, Christians often face times of weak faith and confusion, but the risen Christ appears to clarify the purpose of our journey, though we sometimes fail to recognize Him.

 

Application: Live your journey with resurrection hope.

 

Study His word to hear His voice.

 

Live in grace with others - even when hurting and confused.

 

Be encouraged to journey through confusing and difficult times with the confidence that the resurrected Lord is going to reveal Himself and His good purposes for that situation.

 

Be trusting to wait for revelation, and while they wait, to fear the Lord and live according to righteousness.

 

Be comforted that you have known and have heard the truth, but struggle to believe it.

 

Be hopeful, knowing that the Lord Jesus will come to their aid - every time, without fail, and never based upon their goodness or failure, but because of His faithful, covenant love.

 

Be rejoicing and celebrate Jesus’ resurrection as our constant source of hope. Celebrate today that He will reveal Himself in unexpected moments, and by that hope, you have the courage to live a faithful life, which is an awesome life.