Known in the Breaking of Bread

Luke chapter 24. Let's pray.

God, as we pause this evening to look into Your Word and to remember You, not only to look into Your Word but to look up to that wonderful cross. Lord, You promised Your disciples that if You would be lifted up, You would draw all people to Yourself. So, as we look up to You tonight, would You draw us in, that we would draw near to You and hear from You? Father, You desire, I know, to speak to every heart. There are those maybe tonight here, Lord, who have burdens that they've carried. They feel as though they've been in bondage this last week, this last month, or just for a very long time. I pray that as we look to Your wonderful cross, which is able to lift us up, we may be able to look up to it.

Lord, You said that Your yoke is easy and Your burden is light. May we tonight be yoked to You, attached to You, that we would be right alongside You. God, draw us into Your presence as we look into Your Word, as we remember Your body that was broken and Your blood that was shed. Remembering that without the shedding of blood, there can be no remission of sins. Taking note that, Father, it pleased You to bruise and to crush Your Son. What an amazing thing! Why did it please You? It pleased You so much because You were able to redeem us by that work. Thank You, Father, for the work that You did through Your Son upon the cross. You've taken our blood and shed it on us. You've taken our sin and nailed it there, and it's there to stay.

Father, we do thank You, and we pray that we would be able to bless Your name tonight. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Stay standing in Luke 24. Luke 24, verse 13 says, "And behold, two of them, two of His disciples, went that same day to the village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about three score furlongs, or about seven miles."

And they talked together of all these things which had happened. It came to pass that while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were holden, or their eyes were restrained, that they should not know Him. He said unto them, "What manner of communications are these that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?" One of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering, said unto Him, "Are you only a stranger in Jerusalem? Have you not known the things which have come to pass there in these days?" He said unto them, "What things?"

You can be seated. Many times when we gather together for communion, we are not alone. The broken bread and the cup of juice remind us to take time to remember Jesus' broken body and His shed blood as He died upon the cross, hanging there ashamed. Hebrews chapter 12 tells us that He went to that cross, enduring all of that shame for us, because we were the joy that was set before Him.

A lot of times, we come before the table in a real somber mood, as if it were some sort of a funeral, and it always bothers me. It bothers me when I sit and hear a communion message given, or when I see people partake in communion, and it often feels like a real downer. Yet this is a joyous occasion because Jesus is no longer dead in the tomb; He has risen.

On this day, the third day after His death, two disciples went on their way to a village called Emmaus, which was about seven miles to the west of Jerusalem. As they walked together, they were sad, as though they had just come from a funeral. They had seen their Lord, their Master, the man whom they had followed for three and a half years. They had witnessed Him speak wonderful words and perform great miracles in their presence, and now they had seen Him beaten, stripped naked, and crucified on a Roman cross.

He was mocked and he was spat upon. Then his dead body was taken off the cross and laid in the tomb. Their hearts were broken, in much the same way that their Master's heart was broken. Remember, they pierced his side, and out came blood and water from his heart. Blood and water accumulate in your heart when you begin to suffocate. And so he had suffocated that day. The blood and water flowed, and his disciples were also brokenhearted.

You'll remember Peter, who swore, "I will not deny you, Lord." Three times he denied the Lord, and he went out and wept bitterly. He was utterly brokenhearted. Two men, Cleopas and one of the other men whose name we do not know, decided to leave Jerusalem and go to the area of Emmaus, which is just seven miles or a day's journey west of Jerusalem. As they walked along the way, they were talking about these things. It says in verse 15 that they communed together. They had fellowship, discussing all the different events that had happened, reasoning with one another.

As many of you woke up this morning and saw the news that the space shuttle Columbia had blown up on re-entry, I sat down in front of the TV with the news on, and that was all they talked about all day long. They reasoned about what could have happened, why it happened, and what was going on. In much the same way, these two disciples were walking on the road to Emmaus, reasoning within themselves about what had happened. What happened to this Christ? They had thought he was the Messiah, the Christ, and yet he was dead. They expected him to return and redeem all of Israel, and yet he was gone. They walked along feeling bummed and brokenhearted.

Then a man came alongside them. They didn't know who it was, but we can see from a distance what was going on here. In verse 15, it says that as they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near. The first thing I want us to note this evening is that as we commune together and reason through the scriptures, Jesus draws near to us. He is here in this place.

In much the same way that He drew near to His disciples, notice that He went with them. As I was looking at this passage this morning, the Lord put upon my heart for the married couples here this evening that He really desires to commune with both you and your spouse. He desires to draw near and to go with you on the path you are taking in your life. If you desire that the Lord would do that, then spend time with your spouse in the Word and in prayer, reasoning together. As you do, the Lord will draw near to you. There is a promise here in the Scripture.

For those of you like myself who are single, it is also a time to spend with the Lord. The Bible says that He is our husband. As we spend time with Him, He draws near to us, as we see in the book of James. As we draw near to Him, He draws near to us. We also have a promise in James chapter 4 that as we draw near to the Lord, the enemy, the devil, flees. He runs away; he cannot stand in the presence of the Father. As we begin to commune with Him and spend time with Him, the enemy cannot have anything to do with that.

If you find yourself during the week feeling down, depressed, or going through all kinds of trials, that is the time when you need to draw near to the Lord the most. Oftentimes, we say, "I don't want to pray right now." Have you ever done that? I find myself doing that a lot too. When I'm having a bad day, I think, "I don't want to pray." The Lord continues to remind me that this is exactly what I need to do. As you do, He will draw near to you as well.

The first step to the Lord is a step where we fall to our knees. Notice in verse 15 that as these two disciples communed together and reasoned with each other, Jesus drew near and went with them. However, in verse 16, their eyes were restrained so that they should not know Him. The Bible says in John chapter 17, verse 3, that this is eternal life: that you might know Him, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom He has sent. Paul the Apostle, in Philippians chapter 3, said that he might know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.

They did not know Him. It's the very same word in the Greek: the word "gnosko" or "epigonosko," which refers to knowledge—complete knowledge. It is a knowledge where you have an intimate relationship with someone. As they walked with this man, they didn't know Him. They had no relationship; they had no idea who this was. Here was Jesus in His glorified body, who just three days before had met with them. Now they were walking along, wondering where He had come from, saying, "We didn't see anybody on the road here with us."

He began to walk with them and asked in verse 17, "What kind of communication is this? You guys are walking along, and you're all brokenhearted and sad. What's going on? Why such a gloomy face?" Once, Charles Spurgeon questioned why so many Christians look as though they just took a big bite out of a lemon. Why is that? We know where we're going. I believe it was Spurgeon who said that when we talk of Christ and the work that God has done, our faces should beam with the glorious look of praise and thanksgiving. When we talk about other things, like health, then our regular everyday face will do. But when we talk about the Lord, our faces should light up.

So, He comes alongside these guys and asks, "Why so brokenhearted? Why are you down?" David in the Psalms would ask himself, "Why are you so downcast, O my soul?" And what was his answer? "Yet I will praise Him. Yet I'm going to hope in God." There are times when we go through difficult situations and wonder why we don't feel right today, why everything just doesn't seem to be going very well, and why our hearts and souls are downcast. That's when we need to cry out to the Lord: "Lord, I will yet praise You, my Savior, my King."

He says to these two disciples, "Why are you sad?" One of them, Cleopas, responds, "Are you a stranger? Do you even have any idea what's going on here? How can you be in Jerusalem and not know what has just happened?" He continues, "How do you not know the things that have come to pass in these days?" Jesus replies to him in verse 19, "What things?" When I read this today, I thought, well, that's kind of interesting. What things? Because look at the way that Jesus...

He looks at that death upon the cross. What things? It's nothing to Him. Why? Because we are the joy that was set before Him, and for us, He endured the cross. You see, He looks at that pain and all the suffering He went through, and He thinks, what is that in comparison to what I've received? That's how God looks upon us. He bankrupt heaven. He gave Himself to be beaten and to be spit upon. The God of the universe was shamed by men, and yet He looks at that and says, what is that in comparison to what I receive? For the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross.

He endured the cross. He went through those things that we would look at as horrendous, and we say, I could never do that. To have my back laid open with the cat of nine tails or the flagellum—a whip that had up to nine different strands coming off of it, with pieces of clay and pieces of bone stuck into the leather. When it was whipped across the back, they would pull it down, cutting the back open and exposing the rib cage and everything.

Then they put a bag over His head and began to punch Him in the face, saying, "Prophesy. Who hit you?" The man, Jesus Christ, who was at the same time fully God, had all power to totally obliterate these men. Not just to know who it was that was hitting Him—He could have said, "Well, you're so-and-so. You live on such-and-such a street. You were born on this day. Your mother's this person. Your father's this person. Their grandparents are these people." He could have gone down the list, and those men would have been terrified.

Not only that, He could have called down legions of angels for His protection. Yet, He withheld the power that He had. Why? Because He looked upon us. All of that pain, all of that shame, all of that suffering He went through, He looked at it as nothing in comparison to the joy He was going to receive in us. What things! How much that blessed my heart when I read that this morning. What things! He looks at it and says, in comparison to what I've received, it is nothing.

And they said unto Him concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet. Underline "was" in your Bibles.

Which was a prophet. He was mighty in deed and in word before God and all people. There are some people who are mighty in words and deeds. They really do great things before people, but they want nothing to do with God. Yet, Jesus was a man who was mighty in word and deed before God and the people.

The chief priests and the rulers, as mentioned in verse 20, delivered Him to be condemned to death and crucified Him. We trusted, as stated in verse 21, that it had been He who should have redeemed Israel. We trusted that He was going to be the one to redeem Israel.

So many times, we look at the things that are going on around us and have the wrong idea of redemption. We often think that God is going to redeem us by taking us out of all our problems. When you come to Christ, you might expect that you won't have any bad days or tears. However, that is yet to come. While we're still here on earth, we will continue to go through difficult trials because the testing of our faith produces patience, and patience will have its perfect work in you, making you complete, lacking nothing.

We continue to go through trials and experience sorrows. Jesus promised that in the world, you will have many sorrows, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. We will face difficult things, but oftentimes we have the wrong view of redemption. So did these two disciples and many of the disciples who followed Jesus. They expected that He would redeem them from Roman oppression, that He would rise up as king and get rid of Nero, and that Israel would once again be the superpower of the world.

They had the wrong idea of redemption because their expectation was for a physical redemption here and now, while the redemption that Jesus came to win for us was a spiritual redemption. If you would turn in your Bibles to the book of Titus, just a couple of books away from 1 Timothy, we can explore this further in Titus chapter 2.

They had this view that Jesus was going to come and stand up to Herod, whom they did not like. They believed He would get rid of Pontius Pilate and Nero. However, that was not the redemption He came to win for us and for His people. In Titus chapter 2, verse 14, it says that He gave Himself for us so that He might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous for good works.

You see, He came to redeem us from the wickedness and death of sin. So often, we focus on the oppression of the things of this world, but that is nothing in comparison to the oppression of the enemy, the oppression of sin that is upon every person who does not believe. The Israelites, the Jews at that time, were focused on Nero, thinking he had to go. But Nero was nothing; he was just a pawn in the hands of Satan. Jesus came to eliminate the power of Satan, the power of sin and death that took over all mankind in the Garden of Eden. He came to rid us of that. He gave Himself for us so that He might redeem us from all iniquity and purify us unto Himself as a peculiar people.

As you look around at other believers, we truly are a peculiar people. I was thinking about this one day during a beach baptism. I considered how odd this must look to people who do not know God. It must seem really peculiar. Here is this group of people standing by the beach with a guitar, clapping and singing. A few individuals walk out into the water, and two guys push someone underwater and hold them there for a moment. When they pull them back up, everyone cheers and laughs, praising the Lord. People walking by must think, "That is really weird. These people are nuts."

We are a peculiar people. When you see people worshiping God, it appears peculiar to others. They look at it and wonder why we are so happy and what we are doing, raising our hands in the air.

Closing their eyes and singing these songs, God has sanctified us. He has set us apart as His own peculiar people. He gave Himself that He might redeem us—not physically redeem us, but spiritually buy us back. He bought us back from the things of the world, from sin and from death.

In verse 21 of Luke chapter 24, they said He was supposed to be the one who would redeem Israel. They expressed their trust in Him, believing that He was the one. They noted that today is the third day since these things were done. They said, "It's the third day and nothing's happened."

You see, Jesus had promised many times that He was going to be put to death. His disciples would respond, "No, that will never happen." I think they were so busy arguing with Him that they didn't hear what He said right after that: "And I will raise again in three days."

So often, we hear what God is telling us. Peter, for example, was told that Satan had desired to sift him like wheat. In that moment, Peter was likely thinking, "No way, that's not going to happen," and he didn't hear what Jesus said next: "But I have prayed for you that your faith should not fail. And when you return, strengthen your brethren."

In Peter's mind, he was convinced there was no way he would deny Jesus. Yet Jesus said, "Yeah, you're going to deny me, but when you return..." We often find ourselves too busy listening to the negative, thinking, "No, there's no way I'm going to go through a trial." Meanwhile, the Lord is saying, "Don't worry, I'm going to be there with you in the midst of the trial, in the midst of the fire."

Jesus had told His disciples, especially in Mark 8, verse 31, that He was going to die in Jerusalem and be put to death. But He also promised that in three days, He would raise again. The third day had come, and as it was coming to an end, they said, "Well, it's already the third day. He's been dead for three days."

In verse 22, they mentioned that certain women of their company astonished them when early that morning they went to the sepulcher, or the tomb, and did not find His body. They came back saying that they had seen a vision of angels who said that He is alive.

These ladies that were with us went down to the tomb this morning, and it's open; his body is not there. They said that they saw a vision of angels, and the angels said that he is alive. But for some reason, they don't believe this report. Why? Well, because honestly, during this time, they didn't have a real high view of women. They said, "No, that can't be." Well, he promised that he was going to rise from the dead. These angels spoke to these ladies and said, "Hey, he's risen. He's not here."

But these guys didn't believe, and they decided that it was time for them to leave Jerusalem. Certain of them, who were with us, went to the sepulcher, went to the tomb, and they found it even as the women had said. But him they saw not. They said, "He's gone. He's died. We don't know where he's at. His body's gone."

In verse 25, he said unto them, "O fools and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory?" This is what Christ had come to do, to suffer these things. That's what the prophets had foretold for centuries—that it was going to happen this way. Ought not the Christ to have suffered? I have that underlined in my Bible. He had to suffer. He had to go through that. For us, he did it.

Then in verse 27, it says, "And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them all the scriptures, in all the scriptures, the things concerning himself." In verse 28, it says, "And they drew near to the village whither they were going." He made as though he would have gone further, but they constrained him, saying, "Abide with us."

So here are these guys who are bummed out, walking along the road to Emmaus, really brokenhearted over what has happened. As they go, this man comes alongside of them. "Hey, what's wrong, guys? What are you, some sort of stranger? Where have you been? Jesus of Nazareth, we trusted that he was going to be the Messiah, the one to redeem Israel, but he's dead. Our leaders put him to death; they crucified him on a cross. He's gone."

And so this man who was with them, Jesus, they didn't see him; they didn't know that it was him.

They didn't perceive that it was Him. He began to speak, and using the Scriptures, the prophets, and the laws, He expounded to them all things concerning Himself. What an amazing study that must have been! As He opened the Word to them, He began to say, "You see this scripture? This is what it means." As they were walking along with Him, they were wondering, "Who is this guy?" All of a sudden, their gloom started to lift. They were no longer brokenhearted; they were beginning to believe once again. You see, faith oftentimes cures a broken heart. That faith, trusting in the Lord, helped them to believe once again.

As they came to the area of Emmaus, Jesus was with them and acted as though He would go on. As I was reading that, I thought about how Jesus always wants us to go further with Him. I looked at the meaning of the name Emmaus in Greek, and do you know what it means? It means "warm baths." Jesus wouldn't have us just stay in that place of warmth; He wants us to continue on with Him. He would have gone further with them. Let's go! Let's continue to move forward.

The Lord spoke to my heart that so often we want to stick around Emmaus, but He wants us to keep going with Him. Not to lounge around in the warm jacuzzis of Emmaus, but to keep moving forward. They constrained Him, saying, "Abide with us." Isn't it wonderful that even though we want to stay in that place, Jesus desires to continue to abide with us so that He can say, "Come on, let's go"? They urged Him, "Please abide with us, for it's toward evening and the day is far spent." He went in to tarry with them.

It came to pass that as He sat at the table with them, He took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them. Their eyes were opened, and they knew Him. Their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him. Open our eyes, Lord, that we would see Jesus. He broke bread just as He had done a few nights before. He broke bread, blessed it, and gave it to His disciples, saying, "Take, eat. This is My body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me." As He sat with them...

To have dinner, He broke bread, blessed it, and gave it to them. As He did, it was as if the scales fell from their eyes, and they knew Him. Immediately, He vanished out of their sight. Just like that. The scales fell from their eyes, and they saw, "It's Jesus!" And boom, He's gone.

They said to one another, "Did not our hearts burn within us while He talked with us?" By the way, while He opened to us the Scriptures. You see, it's when we break bread together and spend that time in communion with our Lord, with our Savior, that we really get to know Him. The scales fall from the eyes of our heart, and our eyes are truly opened so we can see Him.

It's at the Lord's table, as we're going to come tonight, just as we did last month. You will have an opportunity to come up, take the bread, and take the juice as well. You can take it back to your seat or kneel down and sit at that table with the Lord, having your eyes opened as you sit at the table. What an awesome thing that God desires to sup with us, to have fellowship with us, to spend that time with us.

Did not our hearts just burn within us while He talked with us by the way and while He opened the Scriptures? So they rose up that same hour, as noted in verse 33, and returned to Jerusalem. They had just walked all day, seven miles, but now they were encouraged and felt they had to go back. They needed to go back to Jerusalem and share this with their brothers, to share this with all they met that Jesus is risen.

They rose up that very same hour, went back to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, along with those who were with them. They said, "The Lord is risen indeed, and He has appeared to Simon." They told what things were done along the way and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread. Underline that in your Bibles: He was known to them in the breaking of bread. Jesus wants to make Himself known to you and to me tonight. As we take the time...

To pray, to sit down after we come up and take the bread and take the juice back to our seats, or to kneel down, we look at that and realize that it has burn marks on it, like bruises. It has been broken and has stripes across it, just like the stripes that He received. The Lord wants to open our eyes and reveal Himself to us in the breaking of bread as we break bread together.

You see, God wants you to see Him high and lifted up. He wants you to come into that throne room with Him, where He can fellowship with you. Let us come boldly into the throne room of grace to obtain mercy and grace in our time of need. How many of you are in need of God's mercy and His grace? I am every single day. Lord, I need to come in and break bread with You and have communion with You.

You don't have to do this just once a month at church. You can come every day of the week. We have communion here Monday through Friday at 6:30 AM. On Tuesday mornings, sometimes there are just a few people here. There have been several times when it has just been me. I think, Lord, You want to reveal Yourself to Your body, and You've given us an opportunity to come in and have fellowship with You every single day of the week, and yet it doesn't always happen.

I imagine when God spoke to Moses and told him to build the tabernacle, He specified the dimensions, and Moses responded, "God, there are three million people here. What are You talking about, 150 feet by 75 feet? That's too small." But you see, the Lord knew that at any given time, that would probably be enough because not all three million people are going to come in. God desires that all of us would come in every single day.

You don't have to come to the church at 6:30 in the morning to have communion. You can have communion at home. Take some time; take five minutes to sit down. It's not about having little crackers and juice. You may not have that. There have been several times we've had communion with just some bread and water. It's not the elements; it's where our focus is. Remembering, Lord, You died for me. Your body was broken for me.

It is in the breaking of bread that He reveals Himself to us. It is my prayer that every single morning this place would be filled with people who want to see the Lord lifted up today. Someday, I know that is going to happen. If not here, there will be a day.

When we get to heaven, every single day we will be there with the Lord, remembering Him. I'd like to have the guys come forward at this time. Josh and I will be up here to pray with you if you need prayer. If you need to lay down some things at the altar tonight and let them go, then come on up and be prayed for. Pastor Mark will be over here, and Pastor Richard will be over there.

As you come up, just walk down the aisles, take the bread and the cup, and go back to your seat if you want to. Alternatively, you can kneel anywhere you want and just worship the Lord and remember Him. We should remember what He has done for us, what He is doing in us right now, and what He will do in the future through us.

Let's worship the Lord and remember Him. Lord, help me to see You high and lifted up tonight. It is my prayer that You would reveal Yourself and make Yourself known to us as we break bread together. Let's worship.