My idleness had attracted the notice of an officer who stepped forward and began to interrogate me in the following manner Who do you belong to? Why you not at work? I? answered I don't belong to nobody Massa.
That's free knowledge was I as a going to Richmond What? But that availed me nothing for turning to a man who was dressed in Citizens clothes and who seemed to be in charge of the colored department He said take this black rascal and set in the work and if he doesn't work well tie him up and give him 20 lashes I was soon furnished with a pickaxe shovel and a monstrous wheelbarrow And I commenced forth with to imitate my companions in bondage I need not say that this work was exceedingly hard for the strongest man But few were able to take up their wheelbarrows alone All day I worked until my hands were blistered from my wrists to the finger ends Night came and I was released from my toil I was free to go where I pleased with the fortifications and I made good use of My liberty I made out a brief report of the mounted guns which I saw that night in my ramble round the fort 15 3 inch rifled cannon 18 4 and a half inch rifled cannon 29 32 pounders 2142 pounders 23 8 inch Columbia adds 11 9 inch doll greens 13 10 inch Columbia adds 14 10 inch mortars and 7 8 inch siege howitzers This together with a rough sketch of the outer works I put under the inner I put under the inner sole of my contraband shoe and returned to quarters You see the slave working to build Confederate fortifications Was no slave at all, but a Yankee spy freeborn in fact the sky the spy wasn't even Black but a white person who used a small vial of nitrate of silver and weak solution to stain her skin Black and in case you missed it. That's right. I said stain her skin The black man working as a slave for the Confederates was actually a white Yankee woman and a spy Sarah Edmonds's account nurse and spy in the Union Army was first published in 1864 though the accounts of her book are Unverified what is uncontested is her service in the American Civil War Disguised as a man from 1861 to 1863 in the second Michigan Infantry in 1897 right before she died She was admitted into the grand army of the Republic an organization for soldiers who served for the Union in the Civil War If someone makes an incredible movie of this woman's life and if you do remember you heard it here first Then moviegoers won't want to know how the film ends before seeing it You wouldn't want to know that the Confederate slave was a Yankee white woman in a spy until the very end and Luke chapter 24 Versus 28 to 35 offers a similar big reveal a reversal of our expectations that surprises and delights us if Luke 24 were movie People would tell you to wait for the bread breaking moment right near the end You'd want to know about what they were what they were talking about of course But you still wouldn't wouldn't want to hear about it because you want to experience your it yourself Well, we know the ending of Luke's Gospel and that's a great thing But our text here though the true history unlike the contested history of Nurse and spy or the fiction of the film the sixth sense It is true straightforward history, but I want us to see tonight Luke's excellent craftsmanship as a historian He tells this story and he tells this story well So let's look at Luke chapter 24.
It's on page 885 and the black pew Bibles in front of you Luke chapter 24 Versus 28 to 35 So they that is Jesus Cleopas in an unnamed companion junior to the village to which they were going He that is Jesus acted as if he were going farther But they urged him strongly saying stay with us for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent So he went in to say with them when he was a table with them He took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them and their eyes were open and they recognized him and he vanished from their site They said to each other Didn't our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road while he opened to us the scriptures And they rose the same hour and returned to Jerusalem and they found the 11 and those with them gathered together saying the Lord Has risen indeed and has appeared to Simon then they told what had happened on the road and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread Let's pray and ask God to help us understand this passage. Let's pray together Heavenly Father, you know my weakness in the face of this great story no man can do it justice and I pray Lord that you would help us see the beauty and amazement in this passage but most of all the Gloriousness of its principal actor our Lord Jesus and his name we pray. Amen. Amen.
Well in these eight verses Luke moves us from a road To a village to a table and then all the way back to Jerusalem and more importantly Cleopas and his companion Finally recognize who Jesus is and I want us to consider this passage under three headings Reception recognition and response in verses 28 to 30 We see the reception that Cleopas and his companion give to Jesus and verses 31 to 32 We'll consider the recognition of him and finally in verses 33 to 35 We'll consider the response so reception recognition and response first reception in verses 28 to 30 Cleopas and his companion invite a stranger to stay with him in verse 28 Jesus acts If he were going farther and they see this and Jesus is not being insincere If they not invited him which they do in verse 29 then Jesus would have kept on going and Incidentally even though they do invite him he is moving on but not in the way that they anticipate he vanishes now Cleopas and his companion I just want you to see right here at the start that even though they don't know who Jesus is They show kindness and hospitality to a stranger it reminds me of Abraham and Genesis chapter 18 Where Abraham shows kindness to strangers and in doing so actually shows hospitality to the Lord himself And these two in a way share in Abraham's experience Like Abraham they share a meal with a stranger verse 30 when he was at table with them he took the bread and Blest and broke it and gave it to them now verses 30 and 35 Versus verse 35 he was known to them in the breaking of the bread these two verses may suggest that Jesus was offering Flea past in his companion the Lord's Supper the sacrament established by Jesus himself on the night He was betrayed the sacrament of which we some of us will partake in a moment now I don't think so Luke certainly uses language to evoke the Lord's Supper later in his next book acts chapters 220 and 27 Luke does use breaking bread metaphors to indicate that the early church regularly celebrated the Lord's Supper But Luke's language here in Luke chapter 24 not only points forward to the practice of the early church It points back to the earthly ministry of Jesus himself in Luke chapter 9 If you remember Jesus feeds thousands of people and when Luke describes that amazing miracle in Luke chapter chapter 9 He writes taking the five loaves and two fish he that is Jesus looked up to heaven and sat a blessing over them Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to step before the crowd So I think it's appropriate for us to read this passage and to think about the Lord's Supper and back to the feeding miracles But I don't think that Jesus is actually administering the Lord's Supper to the Cleopas and his companion Let me quickly as a side offer for reasons why first there's no wine at the Smil as there is in the Lord's Supper Second Jesus offers no words of institution in Luke chapter 22 if you remember Jesus says this is my body Which is given for you do this in remembrance of me Jesus is not out of these words here third Cleopas and his companions were not actually with Jesus the night that he was betrayed It was an invitation only event so even if you want to read wine and the words of institution into this setting in Luke chapter 24 You still have to wrestle with the fact that they would not Cleopas and his companion wouldn't understand Which Jesus was doing when out of the blue he says do this in remembrance of me Finally and this one was the one that struck me the most actually Cleopas and his companion do not fulfill the scriptural requirement of taking the Lord's Supper the Apostle Paul in first Corinthians chapter 11 I encourage you to listen to Ted Sermon that's available online if you've not already or you just want pressure course I actually listen to this part myself this past week first Corinthians 11 verse 29 anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks Judgment on himself now if discerning the body means the church then Cleopas and his companion failed the test They fail the test they don't discern the church They think their movement ended with the horrific and shameful death of their founder if discerning the body means Jesus himself By contrast, that's another way to understand what Paul is saying in first Corinthians then they don't do that either I mean literally Jesus is in front of them and they don't discern Jesus So either way you read it they don't fulfill the requirement for taking the Lord's Supper so That means That Jesus can't be giving them the Supper because Paul tells us if you drink the Supper on worthily you drink to your condemnation And whatever you think about the Lord Jesus I think you'll agree that he would not give a Supper the Lord's Supper he wouldn't get a sacrament to Cleopas and his companion simply to condemn them So in the words of one commentator this was not a miraculous meal Like that of the five lows nor a sacramental meal like that of the Eucharist But a common meal it was a common meal that will become important in a moment and they received this bread that the stranger breaks Just as they have received him at their table and then They recognize him verse 31 and their eyes were opened and they recognized him and he vanished from their sight Notice the great irony here when they see Jesus in verse 16. They don't recognize him But now at the table they recognize him and then they don't see him He's gone But they recognize him and their recognition of Jesus prompts a Reklection a remembrance of their prior interaction with him verse 32 What of if it's permissible to have a favorite verse one of my favorite verses in all of scripture verse 32 They said to each other did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road while he opened to us the scriptures Recognition leads to Remembrance it's after they recognize Jesus that they reflect back to the conversation on the road And they then realized what was going on it's like when some clueless guy says well Yeah, I guess I was in love with her or something like that and Luke here offers us a picture of Conversion how people really and truly are converted people fall under the teaching of the Bible and And it falls on them it washes over them like rainwater, but a seed begins to grow unnoticed by them and then after the fact they realize what has happened They recognize Jesus and then they see they can begin to piece together what the Lord has been doing Well, what is this new found recognition of Jesus? What do they do in the face of this recognition? They respond that's our third point the response of verses 33 to 35 Remember it was toward evening when they invited Jesus into their house That's verse 29 and then they share in verse 30 a meal with him So it's actually gotten quite late Nevertheless verse 33 that same hour they retressed retrace their steps to Jerusalem Presumably they're at Emmaus which we know from verse 13 was about seven miles So they walked out seven miles and now they race back in Jesus walks them out only to have them walk back in Conversion reoreants your mind and your heart.
It also reoreants your life Well, Cleopasas companions They arrive back at Jerusalem verse 33 and they find you 11 and those who are with them gathered together and back in their excitement They want to tell everybody their news But the 11 apostles and the other people there beat them to it. They say the Lord has risen and deed and appeared to Simon What a surprise They heard the good news already Now, let's just think about this real quick. I want you to get the chronology, right? So they now learn that Jesus appeared first assignment that is Simon Peter Jesus appeared at first to Peter before meeting them along the road That means that we can look back on this whole journey And at the same time that Jesus is at the same time that Emmaus Sorry at the same time that Cleopas and his companion are walking to Emmaus and they think Jesus They're walking away from the disciples at that exact same moment Peter is making his way to the disciples to tell them Hey, I've just seen Jesus Now I want us to consider what I think is there are a lot of frightened features to this passage But am I study this is the one that struck me the most?
We learn about Jesus appearing to Cleopas and another person whose name we don't even know But Luke offers no account indeed no gospel offers an account of Jesus's first appearance to Peter that Easter Sunday There's Peter's restoration in John chapter 21 after that first Easter But we don't know how the first appearance of Jesus went with Peter instead We get Cleopas about whom we know nothing else than what is written here and another man or woman whose name? We don't even know Isn't that striking if you were working on your screenplay or a sketch of the great American novel about this passage You wouldn't neglect the great scene played by some superstar playing Peter you wouldn't neglect the Jesus and Peter scene But Luke does Luke does and that's marvelously subversive Imagine Darth Vader Telling a random member of the rebel alliance that he was Luke Skywalker's father Without the big reveal and the Empire strikes back I'm sorry Or turning to another genre what I'm more comfortable with imagine a pride and prejudice in which we find out from Mr. Darcy's Conversation with uncle gardener that he and Elizabeth are going to get married Imagine getting that instead of Darcy's confession of affection to miss Bennett herself If your feelings are still what they were last April tell me so at once my Affections and wishes are unchanged, but one word from you will silence me on this subject forever Luke is giving us history, but he's not serving up the standard fair We learn about Cleopas's response to the risen Jesus, but not about Peter's That's surprising Verse 35 they tell everyone about their experience That's a continuation of the response and so we have reception Recognition response we have a reception recognition response. We interact with Jesus We see who he is and we are transformed by him and we go into But this sermon likely chapter 24 has a big reveal the reception and recognition and response of Cleopas and his companion They're not really what this passage is about.
I mean sure sure there is But it's more than that think about the reception of Jesus in verses 28 to 30. It's kind of them It's kind of them to receive this stranger off the road to receive him in that way But what's extraordinary is that Jesus Graciously seeks them out that he agrees to sit at the table with them And it's kind of them to receive Jesus as a guest into their house But notice that Jesus is the host at the table verse 30 when he was at the table with them He that is Jesus took the bread and blessed it and broke it and gave it to them Jesus effortlessly and inoffensively assumes the role of host he sits at the head of the table And it's appropriate for him to do so. He's the Lord of Lords the King of Kings How should we think about that? Well, you may think you're giving God an opportunity Opening up the door to the little house that is your home But you need to know that he's at the table already Calling you to come to the feast or think about recognition in verses 31 and 32 They recognize Jesus Fair enough, but here's the surprise.
They only recognize Jesus because God opened their eyes Verse 31 their eyes were opened Recognition is not something that they did recognition is something that was done to them Jesus reveals himself in ordinary ways. He moved Cleopas and his companion from unbelief to belief Using everyday things. He talked with them. He discussed written words with them conversation at a table a common meal and Jesus is still using these ordinary needs to bring people to him speech and written words Conversation at a table and an ordinary meal.
He works through word and sacrament through opening the scriptures and breaking bread But guess what you need more than a sermon you need more than food and drink you need Jesus and it's only when Jesus makes the ordinary Extraordinary that your eyes are open that you see him for who he is and your heart burns within you God opened their eyes their recognition was something that was done to them finally consider the response again in verses 33 to 35 Because there's a surprise here to Cleopas and his companions they do respond, but the principal actor in Luke 24 The focus of the story is the Lord Jesus himself And that is fantastic because wherever Jesus is there's the drama or the comedy Let's sink into you That Luke is concerned about Cleopas because Jesus appears to Cleopas If Jesus meets you on the road to Emmaus or on the road to Damascus You don't have to ask about anybody else you don't need to compare yourself to anyone else If Jesus has Brad in his hands at your table That's where the action is it because it's not about you. It's about the one who finds you The Apostle Peter himself addresses the his second letter to those who have obtained the faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ Peter didn't look at Cleopas's faith and say hmm B plus Bb plus He looked at Cleopas's faith and saw a faith as Precious as his own a faith with equal standing to his own and that's because it's not about Peter It's not about Cleopas. It's about Jesus the one who suffered for his people before he went in to glory Well in conclusion, let me just say that you don't need to be a great Misery detective or a good researcher to be a Christian You need God the Holy Spirit to open your mind to the knowledge of Christ So that you can see him and to renew your will so you can embrace him Now you may feel Just like Cleopas's unnamed companion an unknown traveler on a road to a town That will soon no longer exist and if you do feel like that way tonight Then you are exactly where Jesus wants you He has found people on that road before and he will do so again. Let's pray Lord Jesus we rejoice in you.
Thank you that you are a gracious kind and loving Savior That you find wicked sinners and bring them to yourself. Thank you Jesus that you found me Lord we pray that you would write your word on our hearts and we pray that you would Change us renew our wills so that we can love you passionately And it's in your strong and powerful name. We pray all men all men