King of Hearts

You know, we look forward to Easter. We look forward to it all year long. We look forward to it throughout the week. We think about it on Friday and we're anticipating being together to celebrate our living Lord and our resurrected Savior. We think about it on Saturday and we come expectantly on Sunday morning, but that's not the way it was on Resurrection Day. We come to Easter. We come to Resurrection Day with a full perspective of what that means, but those first disciples had no clue what was going on. And I want us to try to go back almost two thousand years and enter into what they were feeling and what they were experiencing. I think sometimes we lose the impact of how the disciples must have felt from Thursday evening until Sunday morning and even beyond, they are in hiding. Jesus has been arrested in the Garden of Gethsemiti and the disciples have fled in terror. Thinking they are next. The Roman officials will find them and they too will be arrested. And so they are fearful. They are in hiding. John, the Apostle John, makes his way to the place where Jesus is being tried. As does Peter, but then Peter quickly denies the Lord three times and is missing an action again. He goes off weeping and we don't hear of him again till Sunday morning. I wonder about the women around the cross and John as they are around the cross. I wonder if they were thinking, what do you do a miracle? We've seen him do so many miracles. Surely this would be the time for his greatest miracle to come down from the cross and to in all his glory and power restore his own health and set up his kingdom from this very mountain. I wonder if they were thinking that. I wonder if they were praying that but as they watch his life, Ed from him, I wonder what their despair must have felt like. The emptiness they must have felt as eventually they heard him say, Father, into thy hands I come in my spirit and he breathed his last and they stood there staring at his motionless body. Bloody and bruised and beaten. How could it turn out like this? Just a few days ago, just a couple days ago, we were talking about his kingdom. Why we were even talking about what place we would have in his kingdom. We were full of hope and now those who are gathered around the crucifixion scene shuffle away from that hill with the icy fingers of death clasping their hearts. I wonder what it must have felt like to be there then. And then Friday night, all day Saturday, Saturday night must have felt like an eternity to them and then come Sunday. And on Sunday, gradually, slowly, not at first, not in the morning like we are celebrating today, but slowly, gradually, their despair gives way to, first of all, confusion and then a slowly creeping excitement that something has happened and we're almost willing to believe it could be a resurrection. We're not sure about that, but we think it might be. The women appear at the tomb. It's empty. The body's gone. Mary Magdalene hangs around. Seize Jesus runs back to tell the disciples there's this heart pounding series of races back and forth from the upper room to the grave side to the tomb. And there's questions and confusion and wondering what's going on and where to go from now. What do we do next? There are a couple of people who cannot overcome their despair. And so they decide just to get out of town. Leave Jerusalem. Go back to their home seven miles away. Their story is described for us in Luke 24. Hope you have your Bible open there verse 13 says now that same day, the day of Jesus' resurrection, that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus about seven miles from Jerusalem. I want us to focus on their story this morning. This really is my favorite part of the Easter story of resurrection day. It's the story that quite often gets left out because there's so many other exciting things that are happening that day. And in the coming days, that this part of the story often gets overlooked. And I think that's a shame because I think this part of the story may relate better to us than maybe to any other part of the story. These are two people, unknown people. One of them is named Cleopas. His name is given to us in verse 18 of Luke 24. We don't know who the other one was. It may have been another male disciple or it may have been Cleopas' wife. There is a woman mentioned who was at the scene of the crucifixion in John 1925. She is called Mary, the wife of Kloepus. Now whether Kloepus and Cleopus were the same person, that's a lot of ink has been spilled over that. There's a lot of debate on that. But it could be of two forms of the same name. This could be a husband and wife team that were headed back home. But what we know of them is very little. They're never mentioned again in the Bible. All we know is that on this day they have been with the disciples in the upper room. They will rejoin them later. But in despair, in hopelessness, they're going back home. It's all over and they're going back home. When we gather on Easter, we typically celebrate Jesus as the mighty God who has power over death and He is. We celebrate Jesus as the sovereign conqueror who has won a great victory over the devil and He has. On Easter, we typically celebrate Him as the triumphant savior who overcame death and the grave and He did. On Easter, we typically celebrate Him as the glorified Lord who would appear behind closed doors, materialized through the wall and in the room with His disciples. And that He did. But on this day, Christ also takes time to minister to a couple of unknowns and he ministers to them as the King of Hearts. So yes, yes, he is the mighty God, the sovereign conqueror, the triumphant savior, the glorified Lord. But he is also one who knows where your heart is today and what you're struggling with and what you're dealing with and he wants to be the King of your heart, the Comforter of your heart. I want us to follow them. In fact, I want us to join them if you can in your imagination this morning. Let's join them on that that track home from Jerusalem on the road to Emmaus and let's see how Christ ministers to their hearts and how I believe He wants to minister to our hearts as well. The first thing I see about what Jesus does with them is that He knows He knows our hearts. Verse 14 tells us the state of their hearts. At least it gives us a little clue as to the state of their heart. Verse 14, now they were talking with each other about everything that had happened. They're talking as they walk along the seven miles, it's going to take them a while to get home, but as they walk home, they're talking about all the things that had happened. They're discussing, talking back and forth and I'm convinced based on some clues that we have through the rest of the story, I'm convinced that they were crying. There were tears in this discussion. They were probably crying out to God at times in this discussion with each other. Verse 17 tells us their faces were downcast and that's that tells us a lot about where they were and what was going on in their hearts. Their faces were downcast. I'm sure they walked slowly. Their sandals scuffing along the road. They had hoped that Jesus would have been the Messiah, but all that's gone and they're thinking now. They had hoped that He would deliver Israel from Rome, but all that's behind them now. That's not going to happen in their minds. He's been arrested. He's been executed and they're confused. What do we do now? Where do we go from here? And no doubt they're discussing all of those things as they walk back home. But in hopelessness in despair with their hearts hurting. Maybe they even felt betrayed. They had put their whole life into this and now it's all gone. I'm sure they felt like sometimes you do and I do. You may have come to church this morning, brokenhearted. You put on your Easter best and you're wearing an Easter smile. But deep down inside your heart is broken. Your heart is hurting. Maybe it's over a wayward child. Your heart is devastated by what's happened with one or more of your children. You know the Apostle John would later go on to say in one of his books, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. If that's true and it is, that's scripture than the converse of that is true as well. There's no greater pain than the know that your children are not walking in truth. Maybe your heart is hurting here this morning because of a wayward child. Maybe your heart is hurting because of a broken marriage or a marriage that is so far gone that you know that's where it's headed. Maybe your heart is broken here this morning because even though it's Eastern we're celebrating the resurrection. You've just buried a loved one. And you're still trying to wrap your heart in mind, emotions, whole life around what happens now and how do I understand what a new life is going to be like without my loved one. Maybe you're here this morning and your heart is broken because you just found out you lost your job. Maybe you're middle-aged and you have no clue where you'll go from here. Everything you've built up in that workplace is gone. Maybe you're here this morning with a broken heart because this week, just this week, you heard the doctor utter those terrifying words. You have cancer. Maybe you're here this morning just like this couple, unknown to the most of the world. Maybe you feel insignificant but you come here this morning on this day of celebration and your heart is broken. You're here but you may not even want to be here and people ask how you're doing and like them you just drop your head. You don't know where to start. So you just say, oh I'm fine and you go on. Put the mask back on, play the game, while all the time your heart inside is sinking. I want to tell you my friend just like that resurrection day, the resurrected Christ wants to make an appointment with you this morning to sit beside you right where you are and talk about what's going on in your heart, your life. The state of their hearts mirrors I believe the state of many of us. Maybe most of us here this morning and what you're struggling with in life, in relationships in your heart. You know what the amazing thing is to me about this story is that Jesus was there. Jesus was there in the midst of their journey home in the midst of that hard, difficult, lonesome heart-rending time in their lives. Jesus was there. Look at verse 15. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them but they were kept from recognizing him. How that happened we don't really know but the fact the way it's stated they were kept from recognizing him seems to be an act of God somehow veiling their eyes so that they did not recognize who he was but Jesus kind of joins them in their journey. I don't know if maybe he kind of walked along a you know an adjoining road that kind of forked into theirs or came walking out of the woods or I don't know but all of a sudden they realized there's someone here with us. He was there which indicates to me he was watching them. He knew where they were. He knew exactly where they were. He knows exactly where to join them but he knows not only where they are on the road. He knows where they are in their hearts, in their minds, in their thoughts, in their feelings. He knows everything that's going on with them too. The Christ who knows where to meet them on the road also knows where to meet them in their hearts and in their thoughts in their feelings in their time of despair. He knows where to meet them. He knows everything about them. Theologians have a fancy word for that. It's called omniscience. That sounds awful cold and impersonal doesn't it? It means that God knows all things but that very word and that very truth can appear. It can feel very cold and impersonal. You can almost hear the computer beeping in the software worrying in the background but there's something very personal about the fact that God knows. There's something very intimate and detailed and personal with you and me that God knows. There's something very tender about God's knowledge of everything about us. I love the way the Psalmist expresses it in Psalm 139. Look at these verses. You know the Psalmist says, you know when I sit. I just think about that. You know when I sit and when I rise God knows every time you take a seat and God knows every time you get up. I mean that's very detailed stuff about your life but he knows all of that. You perceive my thoughts from afar and the idea there probably is not that God's way far away but he can still know our thoughts. He perceives our thoughts when the thoughts are still far away as we're still forming them before we've even thought them. God knows what we're going to think. That's pretty detailed isn't it? He goes on to say you discern my going out and my lying down. That's our daily routine. You know leaving the house to go about our daily jobs and routines and so forth and then when I come back home to lie down at night you know all of the things that happened to me during a day. And then he goes on to say you are familiar with all my ways familiar. In other words you have detailed information, personal, intimate knowledge about everything that happens in my life and then get this one before a word is on my tongue you Lord know it completely. Before you say what you're going to say God knows what you're going to say. Before you even form the thought that then makes its way to your mouth and comes out he knows what that is. Or for many of us the reverse of that we speak and then we think God knows those words too. He knows everything about you and me and that is very personal and tender. He knew their hearts. He knows our hearts. If you feel insignificant here this morning just think about these two on the road to Emmaus. Think about them in a personal time with Jesus on this day. I mean Christ is fresh from the trauma of his death and the glorious exhilaration of his resurrection and you would think there could be any number of things that would be happening on this resurrection day. Surely the first thing you would do would be to call the eleven together or the others in the upper room. He'll do that later or maybe meet with all of his disciples who have followed him and assured them that he's really or maybe even better yet. You would expect him to go straight to heaven and have a celebration. The angels are high five in him and the father is congratulating him and glorifying him in his presence and there's a bit party going on in heaven. You would think maybe that would be happening but that's not what Jesus is doing. You see our mind automatically goes that surely he would be with the most important people, right? He finds two unknown people who are struggling in their hearts to wrap their minds around what's happening in their life and he seeks them out and walks with them down that lonely road. If you think you're insignificant, if you wonder if God ever thinks about you or cares about you, come back to this story. He cares just as much about you and your situation today and whatever you're struggling with and feeling and what you're hurting about, he wants to come alongside you in your journey, your road, your walk because he knows your heart. But I love what he does next. It's a little surprising. You know, when we think of God's omniscience, the fact that he knows everything about us, our next thought would be okay. He's going to explain it all. You know, he's going to tell us what we're thinking, how we're thinking wrong, what we need to think, right, straighten us out, get us on the right path. He's going to tell us, but that's not what he does next. Not only does he know our hearts, he listens to our hearts. I want you to see how he does this with them in verses 17 to 24. Notice first of all how he draws them out in verses 17 to 19 and before we read the verses, I just want to clue you in. There are three questions. The whole conversation here, at least to this point, is three questions. And what Jesus is doing is drawing them out. It's a delightful Q&A. It's filled with suspense, a delightful, almost comical suspense here. And in the midst of this very deep discussion, there really is an amazing amount of humor on the part of our Lord. But more than all of that, there's patience. Because what Jesus does here is he demonstrates how patient he is as he draws out of them what he already knows about them. As he wants them to say, and he wants to hear what he already knows is in their hearts. So look at how he draws them out verse 17. He asks them, what are you discussing together as you walk along? Obviously he knows what they're talking about. Everything they're talking about is what's happened to him. He knows what they're talking. He knows who they are. He knows where they're going. He knows why they're leaving Jerusalem. He knows the condition of their hearts. He knows what they're talking about. Why does he ask the question? For the same reason God always asks questions. Same reason he asked Adam and Eve, or Adam, where are you when he went to the garden? God knew where he was. God always asks questions to draw us out. To cause us to be willing to talk about and admit and get out the depths of our hearts. So that if we are not yet able to talk to anyone else we will at least talk with him. So he wants them to talk about. What are you talking about? Let me know. Tell me. They stood still. Their faces downcast the Bible says. You ever felt like that? Do you ever see somebody says, how you doing? And you just want to drop your head. Stop what you're doing. Where do I even begin to describe how I'm doing? There's no way to put into words. Everything that's happened. Everything I'm feeling. The hopelessness. The question marks about the future. No way. No way to express any of that. So they just stop. They stood still. They dropped their heads. And then one of them thinks of a question to ask in response. Verse 18, one of them named Cleopas asked him, are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days? You imagine that there's a bit of a frustration in that question. There's a little bit of frustration here. Come on guy, you tell them me you're the only one that hadn't heard. What's happened in Jerusalem? Where have you been? There's a little bit of frustration here. And the Lord is drawing out of them their feelings. And I love what Jesus says next. In return, he asks a third question. Verse 19, what things he asked? Can you imagine Jesus asking that question? Everything that's happened in Jerusalem in the last few days has focused on him. And yet he very innocently, not evenly almost is asking, well, what things? What, tell me what things have happened in Jerusalem? Again, he's seeking to draw them out so that they will pour out their hearts to him. And you know what he does? After drawing them out with these questions, he simply lets them talk. And he just listens. He just lets them talk. I love, I love this story and what he does. Notice, notice how he just lets them talk. Verse 19, what things he asked? And they begin talking. They begin spilling it all out about Jesus of Nazareth, they replied. He was a prophet, powerful in word, indeed before God and all the people. Notice you can almost feel the uncertainty in their hearts and the question marks in their minds. They can admit now that he was a prophet, but a king, savior, the Messiah, I'm not sure we can go that far anymore, but at least we can admit he was a prophet. So he's letting them get out their fears, their frustrations, their questions. He was a prophet verse 20, the chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death and they crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us, the word amazed means to catch off guard. Literally. In other words, you should hear what we heard then say this morning. We certainly weren't expecting this. Wow, they amazed us. What was the news that amazed them? Middle of verse 22, they went to the tomb early this morning, but didn't find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels who said he was alive and you can just read between the lines here, they're not buying that. They're telling us this story about some kind of vision they had of angels and said he was alive. Verse 24, then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus. So they're now getting it all out. He's listening to them just tell their story and the questions, the doubts, the despair, the hopelessness, it's all coming out. The disbelief, the question marks, the confusion, it's all coming out. They are too depressed to make the connection. The question, that empty tomb plus missing body equals resurrection, they're not thinking along the terms of that equation. They're thinking empty tomb, missing body, somebody stole him. They've taken his body. We don't know where it is. You know, we have an incredible capacity when we are depressed, when we are discouraged or down. We have an amazing capacity to resist comfort and to see everything in a negative light. You've been there, haven't you? Somebody tries to encourage you. Yeah, but, that's easy for you to say. You just don't understand my situation. You have no clue what I'm going through. We have all kinds of ways of resisting comfort. And we see everything as bad news. Empty tomb, that means the body's been stolen. That's bad news. Now they will come to the good news later, but right now their hearts are so clouded, they can't see it. And maybe you're there this morning. You know what? Jesus wants to hear what's on your heart. He wants to hear the pain, the discouragement, the hopelessness, the questions, the confusion. He wants to hear all of that. If he didn't, he wouldn't have drawn them out and then just listen as they poured it all out. When I read this passage, I'm always reminded of Job. Because Job was much the same way. Job had been through incredible suffering. If you're familiar with his story, you know, in the first two chapters of Job, he lost everything. He lost all of his possessions and all of his ten children at once died, taken in a violent storm. He lost not only his possessions, but his ability to make an income from those possessions. He was a farmer, a shepherd, a rancher. He lost everything. And if all you've ever read of the first two chapters of Job is the first two chapters, if all you've read of Job is that, then you're thinking he's a mighty hero and he really came out of this thing, really conquering, because at that point in the story, Job responded pretty well. You know, he said, the Lord gives the Lord, takes away blessed be the name of the Lord. His wife says, why don't you just curse God and die? And he says, shall we not receive good from the Lord, but also receive bad? Man, quite a man of faith. But read on through the book. And you will find that Job didn't always stay so strong. I'm not being critical of Job, because I don't think I would have done as well as he did. But just factual, honestly, if you read the rest of the book, you'll find out that Job bitterly accused God of hunting in down like a wild animal and trying to kill him. And once he got out of one trap, you're hunting me again to kill me. I mean, he was angry at God, bitter against God. He had some high moments through the book where he said in chapter 19, I know that my Redeemer lives, it's where the song comes from. So he had some really high points. Another one in chapter 23, when he said, though my faith be trusted, attested, it will come forth as gold. So he had some high points, but he had also a lot of low points. And God just listened. He just listened. For 37 chapters, he just listened to Job and his friends. Now God eventually would speak, and God will eventually speak to these two, but please don't misunderstand God's heart. He's not impatiently shaking his head for you to wait to tell him what's wrong with you, so he can straighten you out. He wants to listen. He wants you to pour out your heart. He wants to hear what's going on, and he wants you to be honest. He already knows it anyway. He just wants you to get it out. Admit it. Get it out where you can begin to see how he will deal with it. So he knows our hearts. He listens to our hearts. And I love what he does next. He opens our hearts. What Jesus does next is so instructive. And I think it follows the pattern of what Jesus does. He knows what's in our hearts anyway. He wants to listen to our hearts. To hear what's there. He wants us to get out in the light, what's going on in our hearts, and then he will open our hearts through the scriptures, through the Word. Notice if you will, Jesus teaching the scriptures. Wow, look at this verse 25. He said to them, how foolish you are and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory? Jesus teaching the scriptures. What a Bible lesson that must have been. What a Bible study that must have been. I would love to have heard that. Jesus opening up the Old Testament to explain to them both the sufferings of the Messiah and the glory of the Messiah. You see, the Jews had two strands of truth from the Old Testament that they had trouble fitting together. One strand of truth painted the Messiah, the servant of God, as a suffering servant, passages like Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22. And other passages presented him as the glorious king raining on his throne like Psalm 24 and Isaiah 66 and other passages. They're two strands of truth and Jews had trouble as they looked at their Old Testament trying to figure out how does that fit together? In fact, there were many rabbis that thought there would be two Messiahs. One would be a suffering Messiah. One would be a raining glorious king. Two different Messiahs. So the Jews couldn't figure out. Even Jesus the disciples couldn't figure out. You know what? Even the prophets who wrote those prophecies couldn't figure it out. Peter tells us that in 1 Peter, chapter 1, when he says this, he says concerning this salvation, the prophets who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, in New Testament believers, the prophets who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care. What was it that they searched intently for and took great care to try to figure out? Well, he tells us trying to find out, now notice these two things, the time and the circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ and them was pointing when he predicted, look at this, the sufferings of the Messiah and the goris that would follow. Same thing, Jesus is teaching them here, the sufferings and the glory of the Messiah. The Old Testament prophets who wrote both of those, they didn't even understand how they fit together. They wrote what they were given by God to write under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. They wrote it. They didn't fully grasp how it all fit together. There are prophecies about a suffering Messiah and a prophecies about a reigning Messiah. How do those two fit together? Here's what Jesus did. He put it all together for them. Now, I would love to have heard that Bible story. I don't know if he started. We start with Moses, the Bible says, so maybe he started with Genesis 315 and the very first promise about a coming Messiah, the seed of the woman, his heel would be bruised by the serpent, suffering of the Messiah. But he would cross the head of the serpent, glorious victory of the Messiah. There's two strands of truth. I wonder if he went on from there to Genesis 22 and the story of Abraham and Isaac and getting Isaac back, almost as if it were from the dead. At least that's what Abraham thought that he would offer his son and God would raise him from the dead. I wonder if Jesus said, you see that picture? I wonder if Jesus talked about the Passover Lamb and how the blood of an innocent lamb was shed and placed on the door so that God's judgment would pass by. I wonder if he explained that to them. And all of the sacrifices and the day of atonement. And I wonder if he went from there to the serpent lifted up on a pole by Moses for the healing of the people of Israel, Numbers 21, because Jesus had used that Old Testament example early in his ministry with Nicodemus to say even as the Son of Man was, or even as the serpent was lifted up on a pole, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. That whoever believes in him will have eternal life. So I wonder if he talked with him about that. I wonder if he went to Psalm 22 and I say a 33 and other prophecies. He went through the whole Old Testament and he took all of those passages that deal with the suffering Messiah and then the passages that deal with the reigning glorious Messiah and he put them all together and what I believe he taught them was this. The event that bridges those two together is the resurrection. It's the resurrection that turns a suffering Messiah into a glorious reigning Messiah. That's the bridge between the two. That's what brings those two strands of truth together. Oh, I would love to have heard that Bible story, that Bible lesson, that study. But I'm reminded from Jesus teaching the scriptures to open up their hearts to the scriptures. I'm reminded of how the word opens our hearts and gives us hope. It is through the word of God. He still does the same thing today. When Jesus hears all the despair and hopelessness and confusion and questions and heartache that we have, when he hears all of that, you know what he wants to do next? With a mild rebuk, he says, you're being foolish. You're not understanding the scriptures. Now listen to me. Listen to me as I give you hope from the scriptures. And my friend, it is through the word of God that you will find what you need to heal your broken heart. There's no philosophy of man. There's no medicine that you can get. There's no other counsel you can get that will help you like this book. This is the sufficient word of God to meet all of our needs. I want to give you a few examples from the New Testament. In the Gospel of John chapter 8, Jesus said this, John 8, 31, 32, to the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, if you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples, then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. Freedom comes from the truth of God's Word. Not only freedom, John 15, verse 3, Jesus said this, you are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you, cleansing from sin, getting rid of all the dirt and muck of our lives, comes through the Word of God. Paul said in Romans chapter 10, verse 17, consequently faith comes from hearing the message and the message is heard through the Word about Christ when you despair, when you feel like things are hopeless, when you can't see what's happening in the future, God produces faith through his Word. And then Paul would say in Romans 15, verse 4, for everything that was written in the past in the Old Testament scriptures was written to teach us so that through the endurance taught in the scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope. You see, God gives us hope, encouragement, faith, freedom, cleansing and so much more if we at the time. Through His Word, God opens our hearts to His healing through His Word, through the healing of all of our hearts and scars and all that we've been through, the damage to our hearts is healed through His Word as Jesus dealt with their hurting hearts. He opened the scriptures to them and He wants to do the same thing with you and me. Let His Word wash over your heart. When you're telling Him everything that is on your heart, then open up His Word and let His Word wash you, build you up with faith, give you hope and endurance and freedom. He opens our hearts. But then finally, He encourages our hearts. Look at this quickly, if you will, verse 28. He encourages our hearts. Look at their moment of recognition when they recognize Him. Verse 28, as they approach the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if you were going further. I love that. They're walking into the village where these people live. I don't know how close they work to their house, but Jesus acts like He's just going to walk right on through the village. He's got somewhere else to go. What would have happened if they had not invited him into their home? The impression I get is that they would never have understood who he was. And they would never have gone back to Jerusalem then to share the news with the other disciples. So, verse 29, but they urged Him strongly, stay with us. For it is nearly evening, the day is almost over so He went in to stay with them. When He was at the table with them, He took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him and He disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, were not our hearts burning within us while He talked with us on the road and opened the scriptures to us? They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the eleven and those with them. So, in the upper room, the eleven disciples were there, contrary to the movies, you see. A lot of other people were there, too. There were other disciples there and these two would join them on that night, Resurrection Night. They found the eleven and those with them assembled together and saying, it is true. The Lord is risen and has appeared to Simon. When they get into the room, the other disciples are talking about what's happened through the day and one of the accounts they're sharing is that Peter has seen the Lord on some time on Sunday. We don't know exactly when it happened, but sometime on that resurrection day, Peter saw the Lord. And so, they're talking about all of that. And I can just see them. They just come in the door. They're in the back of the room. Hey, hey, hey, we got something to tell. And so, finally, they're noticed and they kind of come to the center of the room, verse 35. That's not all in there. It's a King John version. But anyway, it's kind of there. Then the two told what had happened on the way and how Jesus was recognized by them when He broke the bread. They got the attention of the disciples and explained their story and expressing their joy, their moment of recognition. When I think of how they recognize the Savior, I'm reminded of our moments of recognition. I'm talking about when you really see that God is working in your heart and your life through his word. You feel his touch. You sense his presence. You're warmed by his love. You know that he's doing something in your heart as he opens the scriptures to you. As you are in his word and you can sense that God is working in your heart that moment of recognition. Now, please be careful because that can be missed. It can be easily missed. If they had not invited Jesus in, they would have not have had that moment. So, to be alert, be unguard, especially when you're in God's word for him to open your heart and mind to the scriptures and do what he wants to do. It can be easily missed. It can take place in the routine of life as they're sitting at the table eating breads when they recognize him. And just as we saw with Moses a couple of weeks ago, in the routine of life, in the monotonous routine of daily life, sometimes that's when God breaks through and shows you who he is and what he wants to do through a burning bush or through the breaking of bread at a table. Those moments of recognition can be easily missed. They can take place in the routine of life. They can happen so quickly. He reveals who he is and then poof, he's gone. It can happen so quickly, but it can mark your life forever. Their hearts are aflame now. They'll never be the same. They've got to go back to Jerusalem. Sure, it's late in the day. They didn't want Jesus to walk any further because it's late in the day, but they're going to run back to Jerusalem seven miles to share this good news. Their lives are changed. I wonder, my friend, where are you today? This Easter, this resurrection day, maybe here with family, maybe all alone. Are you walking the road of life in despair today? Are you on your own a mes road? You're here. You do your best to smile and greet people and say you're doing fine, but deep down inside your heart is broken. And you're in despair with lots of questions and confusion. I assure you, my friend, the Savior who had time for this unknown couple on the most glorious day of his life, just all alone with them. He has time for you today. He knows your heart. He wants to listen to your heart. And then he wants to open your heart to his word. So, so that you will recognize him and you will be encouraged. Let's pray together. Father, I'm so aware of the fact they're hurting people here today. We've all come here to celebrate with joy and rightly so because we have a living Savior. But I'm confident Lord, there are people here who are celebrating today and they're kind of doing it as best they can, but really putting on a mask because their hearts are broken. Relationships are broken. Futures are cloudy. Job prospects are uncertain. Physical ailments are scary. So Lord, I pray that you would help us to recognize that you want to listen to us today. And then you want to open your word to heal our broken hearts, to give us hope, encouragement, faith, freedom, and so much more. I pray that today hearts on the road to Emmaus will be encouraged in Jesus' name. Amen.