I preached this sermon on April 19, 2026, at Christ Presbyterian Church in Milford, Ohio.
The lectionary text is Luke 24:13-35 – On the Road to Emmaus
I’d like to meet Jesus, wouldn’t you? I mean, I trust that we will all get to in our next life, and that will happen on His timeline. But to chat with him personally in this lifetime would be mind-blowing, wouldn’t it?
I’ve played some of those party games where you get asked different questions, like, “What famous person, living or dead, would you like to have a conversation with?” My first response is always Jesus Christ. Then Abraham Lincoln, Billy Graham and Sir Paul McCartney. Yoko Ono doesn’t make the cut, and I’ll keep picking on her.
What if you found out you had been walking with Jesus like the two travelers on the Road to Emmaus, and you didn’t recognize Him until later? Put yourselves in their sandals. How can you know you’re in His presense?
A well-known ultramarathoner, Dean Karnazes, said, “If you want to run, run a mile. If you want to experience a different life, run a marathon. If you want to talk to God, run an ultramarathon.”
I have run many long ultramarathons with my great friend, Greg. A couple times each race, when we had been banging out the miles and the mountains, Greg would spontaneously say, “God, it’s Dave and Greg again. You haven’t heard from us for a bit.” Then we would take turns giving praise and thanks. Dean Karnazes was right; after 20 hours, 40 hours, or longer in a race, sleep-deprived and deciding what pain-reliever to take depending on what internal organ you want to abuse next, conversations with God can come pretty naturally.
Jesus’ interaction with the two disciples started with meeting them where they were. Just walking with them on the road, talking to them, listening to them. It reminds me of that classic hymn, “I Come to the Garden Alone.” The refrain goes:
And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own,
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.
Jesus listened to the two disciples on the Road to Emmaus, heard their pain, their grief, their dashed hopes.
There are times in our lives when we utter the same words as the two on the road, “We had hoped.” The verb sadly is in past tense. We had hoped that our pain would be removed, we had hoped that our doubts would be answered, we had hoped that our problems would be resolved.
A couple months ago I shared the story of Bob from Accounting, how he made the cross I got at a spiritual renewal retreat called “Walk to Emmaus.” That’s his full legal name, BTW: “Bob from Accounting.” How fitting that today’s gospel reading is about Walk to Emmaus, and it lets me recall with you that memory of Bob. I found out years later that Bob from Accounting had challenges in his life that may have had him hoping in the past tense.
Like the two disciples, we wonder if Jesus is simply absent, unavailable – crucified, dead and buried.
But He was present with the two disciples. Jesus showed us the first step in ministering to another person is just being there, being present. Before we ever share our faith with others, we have to listen, just as Jesus did.
Only then did Jesus start to share the Word.
They reached Emmaus, and Jesus acted like he was continuing. They still didn’t know He was Jesus, but they urged him to stay as it was getting late. The symbolism is deep here; Jesus will walk with us on our journey without asking, but he waits until we invite him in, into the locked house, into the room, into our hearts. He will knock on the door, but wait until invited to enter. It’s a reminder for how we should approach walking with others, not forcing ourselves on anyone, but being prepared when the invitation comes.
In fact, Emmaus could be our solution to recognizing Jesus. Worshipping with other Christians brings Jesus in our midst, because he has promised that when two or more are gathered in his name, he will be there also (Matt. 18:20). Christians gather to hear scripture, and like the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, our hearts are warmed. We hear the Word interpreted through these sermons, and our minds understand. We come to this table and our eyes are opened. We know Jesus through this worship and sacrament. John Wesley would have us serve the Lord’s Supper at every worship service for this purpose.
When the two disciples’ eyes were opened and they recognized Jesus, they acted. They did what Peter and John should have done when they witnessed the empty tomb. The two disciples returned at once the seven miles back to Jerusalem, in the evening, in the fading light, to find the Eleven, to tell their story, to share their joy, to spread the Word.
(YOU)
Tim Keller once spoke about how you can only watch the Sixth Sense twice because once you know the ending, it changes how you see the whole thing. I don’t mean to spoil the ending, but we find out Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker’s father. Wait – wrong movie? Once you know the Bruce Willis’ character, Dr. Malcolm Crowe, is dead, you’ll then recognize how nobody talks to him except the young boy. The movie came out in 1999 – you had your chance.
Remember the classic format of the audience knowing something that the characters do not? The first time you watch this movie, we are set up expecting to know things the characters don’t. It’s what we’re used to. But it turns out the only person who knows the secret is the young boy. The second time you watch movie, you also know the secret and see the movie totally differently. Nobody talks to Dr. Crowe except the boy. And while Dr. Crowe thinks he’s helping the boy, it’s actually the boy who is helping the doctor. Poor Bruce Willis never finds out each time until the end.
BTW, Bruce Willis’ “Die Hard” *is* a Christmas movie. Remember Hans Gruber saying, “Ho – Ho – Ho.”
But this story about Jesus is like the Sixth Sense. When we get to the end, Jesus isn’t dead but is alive! Don’t you think the disciples would love to go back and relive all the gospels now that they know the secret? What would be different?
· Thomas wouldn’t be doubting.
· Peter wouldn’t be sinking.
· John would be believing at the empty tomb.
· Mary Magdalene might not be weeping.
And you can go back and read all the gospels already knowing something that the characters do not: that Jesus is the Messiah, that he died for our sins, that he arose from the tomb and conquered death.
After we pray, hear God’s Word, and share the Lord’s Supper breaking bread together, we must respond like the two disciples in Emmaus. With urgency. Maybe not run seven miles in the fading daylight, but we should go to serve our Lord and proclaim His grace right away with resolve. Share our faith, love our neighbor as ourselves. After our eyes have been opened to see our risen Lord, how can we do any less than proclaim, “My Lord and my God.”
In Jesus’ name.
