TOPIC:"A Revolutionary Journey With Jesus"
by Rev. Dr. Reg Dunlap
TEXT:St. Luke 24:13-35
"Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him, and He disappeared from their sight" (Luke 24:31).
Since the beginning of the world man has been on a journey. With the fall of Adam it was a journey into night - a night of sin. With the coming of Jesus Christ it was a journey into sunlight - a day of salvation. From darkness into deliverance. From a journey of keeping God out of man's life into a journey of letting Him into their lives.
In the thrilling story before us as the sun was setting on that first Easter two sad and disappointed disciples were walking toward the city of Emmaus. Three days had past since the death of Christ and no word had been received about His promised resurrection. But that afternoon something was about to happen that would forever change their lives. As these two disciples walked along that dusty road to Emmaus the risen Christ appeared unto them. And though they did not immediately recognize Him, later that evening their eyes were open, their doubts were dissolved and their fears were dispelled.
That, I say, is what a journey with the risen Christ will do for each one of us. Darkness will be turned into brightness. Sadness to joyfulness. Night-light into sunlight. The sunshine of Christ's resurrection glory will burst upon us. Let us consider for a few moments what kind of journey it was for these two despondent disciples of Jesus.
I.
First of all, it was a journey that brought about the REALIZATION of a DIVINE PERSON. Notice the progression of their realization of who Jesus really was. In the early stage of their journey they spoke of Him in verse 19 as "Jesus of Nazareth," but when they took their journey back to Jerusalem they declared to His disciples, "The Lord has risen," or as the KJV renders it: "The Lord is risen indeed." It was a revolutionary discovery of the fact that Jesus indeed had been resurrected from the dead.
Because of this transforming realization, these disciples now knew that Jesus was more than an historical figure, more than a man, more than a prophet, but He was indeed the risen, sovereign Son of God the Savior of the world. To put it in the words of Kenneth Scott Latourette, famous church historian of past years, who wrote: "That short life of Jesus has been the most influential ever lived. Through Him millions have been transformed and have begun to live the life which He exemplified. Gauged by the consequences which have followed, the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus have been the most important events in the history of man."
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