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[0:00] The Son of Man is Jesus' favourite way of introducing himself. The Gospels tell us that the Son of Man came. We saw that a few weeks ago.

[0:11] The Son of Man came, Mark 10, 45.! The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

[0:22] Luke 19, verse 10. The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. And they are purpose statements, aren't they?

[0:33] That's what he came to do. That is why Jesus came into this world. He came into this world to rescue you and me and us. But there is a third way that the sentence is used in Mark 7.

[0:46] The Son of Man has come eating and drinking. And that is a slightly different statement, isn't it? That isn't a purpose statement. It's not telling us what Jesus came to do.

[0:56] It is telling us what was Jesus' life like. It's telling us the method of Jesus' life. If you want to know how Jesus came, how Jesus did life, the Gospel tells us he came eating and drinking.

[1:12] I don't know about you, but I love that. What can you not like about someone who came eating and drinking? There's something very, very attractive to that.

[1:23] At the heart of our faith is a Saviour who wants you to give your life to him. And what does that look like? What is that like? Well, it's eating and drinking with him and other people.

[1:35] So there are six stories in Luke's Gospel of him eating with people. One scholar says that in Luke's Gospel Jesus is either going to a meal, at a meal, or is coming from a meal.

[1:48] And there's something, isn't there, immediately attractive about that. And we're looking at the meal after Jesus rose from the dead. And this is Luke's primary post-resurrection account.

[2:02] None of the other Gospel writers write about it. Now, whatever your view of the historicity of Luke's Gospel, I think you've got to admire what he's written here. You've got to admire the level of drama.

[2:15] He's got everything, isn't he? This passage that Alison read just, it's got everything. It's got sorrow. It's got puzzlement. It's got the glorious dawning of life.

[2:29] It's got suspense. It's got unexpected actions. It's got astonished recognition. And it closes with a flurry of excitement and activity.

[2:39] But as well as actually being historical and a wonderful tale, as well as giving us another account of a meal that Jesus is at, Jesus here addresses people with dashed hopes.

[2:52] So as we go through the story, we're going to see that that is at the heart of what he's saying. At the heart of this story is disappointment. It's disappointment on the part of those whom Jesus meets.

[3:07] Disappointment expressed by those two disciples in the form of dashed hopes. So do you see it in the middle of the account? In the middle of the account, it says, We had hoped.

[3:21] We had hoped. Verse 21. And I'm guessing there are quite a few of us here that know the melody line of those three words, don't we? We had hoped.

[3:33] We had hoped. Among us as a congregation, there will be those who've got dashed hopes financially. We've got dashed hopes romantically. We've got dashed hopes medically.

[3:47] We've got dashed hopes in their work vocationally. And some of you here may be feeling very disillusioned about life. Maybe even cynical about it.

[3:58] Definitely sad about it. And as Jesus addresses the seeming hopelessness of these travellers, I would suggest to you that he addresses your hopelessness as well. And what I want us to discover today is how does the risen Jesus give hope to the hopeless?

[4:16] How does he give hope to the hopeless? How does he encourage them? We're going to see three things. The first thing is, we're going to see the humility of the risen Jesus. The humility of the risen Jesus.

[4:30] Look how Jesus operates in this passage. Right from the start, look at verse 13. That very day, two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. And they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened.

[4:44] And while they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognising them. Right from the start, Jesus is undercover, isn't he, here.

[4:57] He draws alongside these two people travelling from Jerusalem to Emmaus, and he is incognito. They don't recognise who is walking with them. And Luke is actually more specific than that.

[5:08] He says, to see verse 16, they were kept from recognising Jesus. Whether there were physical reasons for that, I don't know. However, the wording is such that Luke wants you and I to know that it was God who prevented them from seeing it was Jesus.

[5:26] Now let me say a quick word about these two travellers, before we look specifically at Jesus' humility. Look at verse 18. Alright? You'll see that one of the travellers is called Cleopas.

[5:38] It's worth asking the question, isn't it? Why does Luke give us the name of one and not the other? Some commentators think that it was Cleopas and his wife that were walking through the church.

[5:48] I think there's a good argument for that. We might come back to that later. But we're only told the name of one. We're told the name of Cleopas. Why is that? Well, one of the things that's become really, really popular, I don't know whether you've heard it, you've heard it if you go slightly to different churches, you've heard that it's fine to believe in Jesus.

[6:10] It's great to believe in Jesus, but just forget the church. Have you heard that? I love Jesus, I just don't like the church. So you can believe in the divinity and the person of Jesus, and the focus needs to be less on the doctrines, the truths of who Jesus says he is, and more just on his instruction and on his teaching.

[6:29] And that will solve the credibility problem in Christianity today, they say. So, the church, bad, Jesus, good. Jesus, teaching, good, but don't worry about the doctrine.

[6:41] The problem with that, the New Testament, completely disagrees with it. In the New Testament, the history of Jesus, the historicity of who Jesus said he was, and what he said, is absolutely central to the Christian faith.

[6:58] So, 1 Corinthians 15 tells us that Christianity hangs on the historical nature of the resurrection. People say, whether it's actually true, the miracles of the resurrection, that isn't the big point.

[7:11] You've got to understand the way the story works. The big point is not actually whether it happened, this kind of meaning of the event. The Apostle Paul says, that is nonsense.

[7:22] The Apostle Paul says, I will send you to hell. He puts his cards on the table, and he said, if this is true, then your life can never be the same again. If this man died, and rose again, never to die again, your life has got to be affected by it.

[7:36] If it's not true, you and I are wasting our Sunday morning. The whole thing hangs whether this is true or not. And the whole thing hangs on an incident like this one.

[7:47] And Luke says, this was an historical event, which brings us back to Cleopas. Why tell us his name? Richard Bocum, is a New Testament scholar, and he argues that the Gospel writers deliberately named their sources within the text.

[8:03] It's a brilliant sentence. The Gospel writers deliberately named their sources within the text to assure the readers of the authenticity of the accounts.

[8:17] It was the ancient way of footnoting. You know, we put footnotes at the bottom of the page to check out the source. That's what Luke is doing here by giving you the name.

[8:29] Luke didn't need to tell us the name of either of these people. I mean, if Cleopas is not named, it doesn't affect the story at all, does it? Richard Bocum argues that Luke includes the name because readers of this Gospel of Luke would have known Cleopas.

[8:44] And so would have been able to go to Cleopas and say, listen, I've read this, did this really happen? So Luke is right in between the lines, isn't he? This is what happened.

[8:56] If you want, go and ask him. It is an important piece of evidence for the Gospel. that there were these eyewitnesses who could vouch for the authenticity. Luke is telling us there was a man called Cleopas.

[9:13] This man, Cleopas, doesn't even recognise who is walking with him yet, does he? And I would suggest to you that there are three times in this encounter where if you or I had been in Jesus' shoes, we would have let the cat out of the bag as to who we were.

[9:28] So the first thing is that he comes into the company of Cleopas and his companion. Here are two people who are relatively insignificant in the grand scheme of things. And Jesus chooses to spend the afternoon of his resurrection walking with these two nobodies to Jerusalem, to remit.

[9:49] I mean, if you or I had been the first person to rise from the dead, never to die again, I am guessing that is probably not the way that you would have done it. I would have called a press conference, I would have commissioned the best hotel in Jerusalem, I would have made sure the BBC were there, and I would have been tempted to look straight into the camera and say, Pilate, I told you so.

[10:13] But Jesus doesn't do that, does he? He comes alongside these two travellers and he starts to walk with them. And he asks them a question, verse 17, doesn't he?

[10:24] He asks them a question, what are you talking about? And it's a question that stops the two of them in their tracks, their downcast feces, reveal broken hearts. And it's probably a question that made them look at Jesus with two heads, isn't it?

[10:40] They say, you're a visitor, right? You're not from here. It would be like going up to somebody in New York on September the 11th, 2001, and asking, what are you talking about?

[10:55] It didn't make any sense at all. Cleopas said, don't you know the things that have happened in Jerusalem these days? Cue opportunity number two. Surely now is the great moment of revealing who he actually is.

[11:11] But look how he replies. Look how he replies. He says, verse 19, I think it is probably the most shocking question of the whole of the gospel.

[11:23] What things? Isn't that priceless? Jesus has gone through the three most excruciating days in human history that any human being has ever known before or after Jesus.

[11:37] Not just the physical anguish of death on the cross that was terrible enough but hell itself. As the father pours his wrath upon the son whom he loves. Judgment upon Jesus.

[11:50] So he bears the weight of our sin on our behalf. And he pours it out on Jesus. And now when Jesus is asked if he knows what has happened in the last few days and Jesus says what things?

[12:02] The humility of Jesus. Well they proceed to tell Jesus what they somehow figure that he's missed. Here is what they say. Look at verse 19.

[12:14] And he said to them what things? And they said to him concerning Jesus of Nazareth of course. A man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people. And how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death and crucified him.

[12:28] But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes and besides all this it's now the third day since those things have happened. Moreover some women in our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning.

[12:40] But when they did not find his body they came back saying that they'd seen a vision of angels who'd said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the woman had said but him they did not see.

[12:53] It's a very interesting summary on their part. In many ways it presents the facts. Many of the elements of the gospel are here.

[13:05] It spoke of Jesus' death. They mentioned the empty tomb. But the crux of the summary is in verse 21. We had hoped. We had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.

[13:20] In other words they'd hoped that Jesus was the Messiah. They'd hoped that this Jesus was God's promised king. But if Jesus had been the one to redeem Israel then he would have been defeating the pagans not dying at their hands.

[13:36] And so they said we'd hoped. We were wrong. How wrong can you be? How did they know they were wrong? Because Jesus had been killed.

[13:48] That is not the way the script was supposed to go. In their minds at best he was a prophet. But he was clearly not who he'd hoped he would be.

[14:01] And it's opportunity number three isn't it for Jesus? Here's the perfect chance to put them out of their misery and so say I'm back. It's me. Wouldn't you do it?

[14:14] No glum faces anymore. Let's call everybody. Let's get the gang together. Let's have a party. But Jesus doesn't do that. Three opportunities where you and I would have been.

[14:25] We would have busted guts to tell people. And Jesus doesn't even give them a whiff. And here is unbelievable supernatural dare I say it humility.

[14:37] humility. Here is somebody who I am guessing that everyone would like to get to know. Because humility is a very rare commodity isn't it?

[14:51] And yet here is a personality with something that is absolutely magnetic. Something that draws us in and says to us I've never met anyone like this before.

[15:03] Here is the humility of the risen Jesus. But if Jesus isn't going to reveal his identity to the travellers what does he do? How does Jesus give hope to the hopeless? Well what does he do?

[15:13] Secondly he points them to the message. The message of Jesus. In telling them the message Jesus initially well he he seems almost deep in their misery by rebuking them.

[15:26] Look at verse 25. And he said to them oh foolish ones slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Was it not necessary that the Christ would suffer these things and enter into his glory?

[15:40] Jesus sounds so insensitive doesn't he? These poor people are at rock bottom downcast hopeless and Jesus says you're a bit slow aren't you? It's hardly the politically correct thing to say is it at the time of grief?

[15:57] But look at what he makes the accusation. He says you fail to understand the message that's already been given to you. it's not as if they hadn't been told this.

[16:08] But the Christ had to suffer these things and enter his glory. And suddenly for us the reader things become a little bit clearer. Because Jesus is showing us here that he hadn't revealed himself to these two people because they didn't understand the big picture.

[16:26] Jesus seems to be saying that unless you understand why Jesus had to die on Friday you're never going to understand why you had to rise on Sunday. Or to put it another way the resurrection really is only good news if you understand the cross.

[16:39] You see the big mistake that Cleopas and his mate have made is they misunderstood about the cross. They thought the cross meant defeat and Jesus says no the cross means victory.

[16:52] They thought the cross had come as a great shock or surprise nobody was expecting it. But Jesus needs them to understand not only has he been expecting for it he's been planning for it with his father from all eternity.

[17:05] They thought that they needed Jesus to be a mighty king who would get rid of the Romans. Jesus needed them to understand that he was a king who would go to a cross because the cross is the only way to deal with your greatest need.

[17:17] need. And your greatest need of mine is forgiveness. Forgiveness from a holy God whom you have offended. Against whom we have rebelled.

[17:29] Whom we have derided and ignored every single one of us. And the reason Jesus had to go to the cross and not stick around to write his memoirs. To write Jesus' soup for the soul or your best life now is because the cross is the only way.

[17:47] The only way that you and I can be forgiven and restored into a relationship with the God who made us. The only way that there is a message of hope for hopeless people is if we understand that that hope only comes through the forgiveness of a loving God for our rebellion against him.

[18:05] The only way there is hope for eternal life is if we have that relationship with God restored because of what Jesus has done for us. But the good news is that is what the resurrection is all about.

[18:19] That Jesus came into this world not just to set you an example of how you or I should live. He came to give his life. The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.

[18:33] The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. He came to take the punishment that you deserve.

[18:43] Jesus came to take hell so that you and I don't have to take it. The Son of Man had to suffer these things and then enter his glory. And that is the message of the risen Christ.

[18:58] The message of the risen Christ primarily is not just be like me which is a ridiculous message isn't it? Because believe it or not you can never be like Jesus. Jesus was kind, you be kind.

[19:11] Or try it. No, the message is salvation is what you need. And this is the message Jesus communicates to them while incognito.

[19:25] Because he knew that those two need to know why he had died on Friday before they get excited about him rising on Sunday. The humility of Jesus, the message of Jesus, which brings us lastly to the meal of the risen Jesus.

[19:39] Don't forget Jesus here is incognito. They don't know who he is. He's been speaking about the Messiah and his suffering in the third person. But that is not enough for Jesus.

[19:53] Because Jesus doesn't want these two to have a theology lecture and know a little bit more about Jesus. He wants them to know him. He wants them to know the risen Jesus.

[20:05] He wants a relationship with them. Just like he wants a relationship with you. And he wants more than a formal relationship with you. He wants you to know him.

[20:17] Not just about him. And the thing is he can't give hope to the hopeless unless that relationship is there. So the question is how can you and I know this Jesus?

[20:31] And Luke shows us here that we get to know Jesus through his word and around his table. through his word and around his table.

[20:44] If I was to ask you if you know this passage at what point do these two travelers begin to hope again? At which point do these two travelers begin to hope again?

[20:56] I think most of us would say that it came at the table. It came when Jesus was at their home and he broke the bread and their eyes were opened and they recognized him that it was Jesus.

[21:11] But that isn't their testimony. After they got to the village and Jesus had actually come in and their eyes were opened and they recognized him and then he vanished from their sight.

[21:22] Look at verse 2. They said to each other, what did they actually say? Did they say that was amazing when he broke the bread I realized Jesus was alive? No, that is not what they said.

[21:33] Look at verse 32. They said to each other, did not our hearts burn within us while what?

[21:45] What was the turning point for these two and their helpless hearts? It says there, doesn't it? While he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures.

[21:58] It wasn't actually the breaking of bread, although that is very important, we'll see that in a moment. But it was as Jesus opened the scriptures to them. And it must have been one amazing Bible study, isn't it?

[22:10] Verse 27, beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. Basically, Jesus says, if you want to understand what the Old Testament is about, it's about him.

[22:29] The whole Bible is about Jesus. And this afternoon Bible study, with two people walking this road from Jerusalem to Emmaus, in order to convince them he was alive, Jesus doesn't reveal his identity to them, but he takes them to the Bible, and their hearts burn.

[22:51] Isn't that something? It strongly suggests to you and I that if we're looking to know Jesus, if we want Jesus to give us hope, and to comfort us, and to strengthen us in the midst of our troubles, do you know where he will take you?

[23:08] He'll take you to the Bible. And he's going to take you to the scriptures which are all about him. And Jesus gives hope to the hopeless by taking us to the scriptures.

[23:20] scriptures. And it is why we as a church family, unashamedly, teach the Bible Sunday by Sunday by Sunday. And it is why we are making a song and a dance about Sunday school, because we want you to go and have more teaching.

[23:39] And it's why we want you to encourage to get along to a house group, so that you will have more teaching. It is why in every part of church life, if you cut it open, there is the teaching of the Bible there.

[23:51] Because it is in the teaching of the Word that God makes himself known. Because Jesus models to us here, if you want to know Jesus, he takes you to his Word.

[24:05] He takes you to the Bible. But Luke wants us to see this. He wants us to know, to get to know Jesus, not only in his Word, but around the table.

[24:18] Look at verse 30 and 31. When he was at table with them, I don't know why the ESV does that. What's the difference between at table and at their table? Anyway, at table, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them.

[24:37] And their eyes were opened and they recognised him and he vanished from their sight. Finally, their eyes are opened and they see who they've been travelling with that afternoon.

[24:49] These two travellers, they are kept from recognising Jesus until the three of them started eating together. Food, meals are so central to Luke's gospel.

[25:01] In a sense, we come to the end, we shouldn't be surprised at all. The Son of Man came eating and drinking with sinners and that is what he will do tonight at the Lord's table. people. But let me give you one specific pointer on this meal.

[25:19] Listen to this. He broke it and gave it to them. They ate and their eyes were opened.

[25:33] Mean anything to you? Mean anything to you? They ate and their eyes were opened. should. Way back in Genesis chapter three, the beginning of the Bible, we read the first recorded meal in the Bible.

[25:52] And it reads like this. She took of its fruit and ate and she also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they knew that they were naked.

[26:08] They ate and their eyes were opened. They ate and their eyes were opened. And for centuries that story had been told from generation to generation, from child to child to child to child.

[26:22] And the hopelessness, it was an explanation. Why is the world as it is? Because she took and she ate and her eyes were opened. It's the explanation for the hopelessness and the despair and the alienation and the frustration that all creation and all of us have experienced ever since.

[26:40] And if you want to trace death back and hopelessness back to its source, that is where you come to Genesis 3. The point of rebellion, when Adam and Eve would not trust that God had their best interest at heart.

[26:52] And at that point, everything unravels. It's when your life starts unraveling. When you don't trust God, that God has your best interest at heart.

[27:03] But look what Luke does here. Luke takes some of the language of Genesis 3 and he describes the first meal of the new creation. He took bread, he gave thanks, and he broke it, and he gave it to them, and their eyes were opened and they recognised him.

[27:26] For these two people, possibly a couple like Adam and Eve, they discovered that the long curse, has been broken.

[27:39] But there is no hope, and there is no comfort for the hopeless. But the curse has been reversed. Why has the curse been reversed? Why? Because our greatest enemy, death, has been defeated.

[27:51] And you cannot underestimate how huge this is. The curse from Genesis 3 has been lifted, because Jesus has defeated death. But not only that, the Son of Man having defeated death, what does he do?

[28:06] He eats. And Jesus shows that life after death is still physical. Life after death is still physical. He eats with his resurrection body.

[28:17] So that we understand that in the new creation, it's it's not that reality is negated, and we're all spiritual beings. No, it's renewal. It's fulfilment.

[28:28] The resurrection of Jesus is the beginning of the promise of the renewal of all things. And the future, therefore, is a physical future. And because it's a physical future, do you know what we will do?

[28:41] Do you know what we will do in the new creation? We will feast. And the best feast that you've ever had is a shadow of the feast that has come in. The prophet Isaiah says, the Lord of hosts will make for all people a feast of rich food, of well-aged wine, full of marrow, aged wine, well-refined, Isaiah 25.

[29:03] That is the future. That is the future hope. Even in the midst of present struggles, we come to the Lord's table, and we think that is the future.

[29:16] Even in the midst of discouragement, but it is a future that calls for response. And Jesus is calling for response, a call for involvement, a call to participate, to pull up a chair at the table.

[29:30] And Jesus says, I want you to know. And you see, you cannot remain a passive observer. You can reject the invitation, but with Jesus there is never neutrality.

[29:45] humility. The question is, why would you ever want to reject this invitation? The Son of Man came eating and drinking. Don't you want to get to know him? This Jesus of disarming humility, wouldn't it be great to get to know him?

[30:01] This Jesus who gives hope to the hopeless. Pull up a chair, come to the feast, sit at the table, and come to know the risen Jesus.

[30:13]  Let's pray.