Acts
2:14a, 36-41 Psalm
116:1-4, 12-19 1
Peter 1:17-23 Luke
24:13-35
Where are you on the road to
Emmaus? Somewhere along that journey, a
change took place. Many things were
“laid on that table” – matters of God, doubt and faith. In the end, we too, can explain the facts to
others, and lay it all out so that we can know that our faith has a reasonable
and logical base. However, more often
than not, conversion happens because of something almost intangible. In many ways it is very much like the two
people who were on the road to Emmaus. Those
two people knew the story of Jesus. They
had even accepted and hoped in the message of Jesus. Yet, on that road, they didn’t recognise
Jesus.
Many people in our world
today have heard about Jesus, but they fail to ‘recognise’ Jesus. These travellers were even Jesus’
followers. They still failed to
recognise him. They didn’t understand
that Jesus is the Messiah. They didn’t
understand that Jesus had died to save them, and they didn’t understand that
Jesus is God. Something had to
change.
The travellers, after
finally recognising Jesus, reflected; "Were not our hearts burning within
us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures
to us?" While this explanation of the scriptures was happening, something
was moving and changing in them. They started
out with a lack of understanding, and then their understanding grew …But they
still didn’t recognise him until he blessed and broke the bread.
In the Hebrew culture,
hospitality was very important. Sharing
a meal was not simply a case of taking in sustenance, but the blessing and
breaking of bread signified peace and connection and a sharing in something
intimate and sacred.
In the days of Jesus, there
was an understanding that the authority to bless the bread always belonged to
the host as the head of the house. But
there was also an understanding that the exception to this rule was for the
coming of the Messiah. It was
acknowledged that the true blessing of bread belonged to the Messiah – and
until he came, authority to bless the bread always belonged to the host—UNLESS
the Messiah was present. So,
understanding this, we now know why the blessing and breaking of the bread
brought the travellers to that point of recognition.
The travellers on the road
to Emmaus, and all of us, need our lives interrupted by Jesus who can explain
the scriptures to us. They and we, also
need Jesus to take the role of the head of our household. We need to see Jesus as the King that he
is. We need to know that he is the
Messiah. We need to acknowledge the
reality of who Jesus really is and this means we need to change.
We cannot remain simply as
someone who knows the story of Jesus but doesn’t accept Jesus as the “Head”. Also, there is more needed than to simply
studies scripture. Scripture tells us
that even Satan believes and knows scripture completely. We need to recognise and receive Jesus
himself as our king – our Lord – our saviour and we need to make a conscious
choice to follow him.
We have just celebrated the
death and resurrection of Christ. People
in our country know that the holiday begins with Good Friday, but they don’t
“recognise” Jesus. Something needs to
change.
Change starts with us walking
along with people and by studying the scriptures with them, and by proclaiming
the message of Jesus– which is what we aim to do when we present things like The
Way of the Cross – retelling the story to a public audience. But after doing our part, the thing that
changes in others is something that God does when he reveals himself to
them.
The thing that needs to
change in all of us is that we chose to do more than know the story of Jesus….
We need to so immerse ourselves in that story that we feel our hearts burning,
growing and changing within us as we hear the word of God. Likewise, in our first reading, the listeners
who heard Peter speak were the same ones who called for the death of Jesus only
a short time prior. As Peter explained
the truth to them, something changed. It
isn’t that they didn’t hear the truth before.
They did. Jesus had his ministry
among them. They knew the story of
Jesus, and they heard the message, but they couldn’t receive it, because they
saw Jesus as a mere mortal. They didn’t
recognise who Jesus really is. Now, with
the message of the resurrection and the witness of the Holy Spirit, something
changed – Jesus is the Messiah – the saviour – the son of God - they realized –
and acknowledged their great error.
How do we respond when we
have made a huge, life altering decision, that we fought to win, only to find
out down the track that we were wrong?
Do we stand by our decision and continue to justify ourselves and refuse
to listen to the possibility that we were wrong, or do we recognise the facts
and change our mind. To change our mind
may take humility. Changing our mind is
what it means when we use the word “repent”.
Those listening to Peter
were cut to the heart. They realized in
great alarm, the enormity of how very wrong they were, and asked what they should
do. Peter explained that they should
repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.
Before this time special
types of baptism were used prior to one getting married and we know that John
baptised people, calling them to repent and turn back to God. This baptism we read about today, was the
first baptism into the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and it
is essentially the same baptism that we use when we become Christians.
Baptism is like a
river. Mankind is on one side and God is
on the other. It is a serious sin to
stand on the opposite side of God. So
serious that it is the same as standing on the side of those who crucified
Jesus. All of mankind, at some time, has
stood on the opposite side of God. In
that time, we were physically living, yet born of a perishable seed. From the time of Adam and Eve, this was the
condition of mankind, and as scripture tells us (Hebrews 10:4), it is
impossible for the blood of animals to take away sin. BUT in the letter from Peter we are told that
we were ransomed from the futile conduct inherited from our ancestors, not with
perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ - forgiveness of sin was achieved through Christ’s
sacrifice of allowing mankind the freedom to show exactly what they would do to
God if God was one of us and walked among us….. we crucified him.
I often hear people say,
“What kind of God would demand that kind of sacrifice for sin?” Perhaps we should answer with another
question, “What kind of people would crucify God?” Mankind, in the garden of Eden, chose to
reject the word of God. The result was
that we became “Perishable”, but we weren’t meant to be that way. We might all cry out, “I wouldn’t have turned
my back on God.” So Jesus came to see
what mankind would do -and mankind crucified him. We rejected and crucified God.
Jesus was both man and
God. There are spiritual rules that you
and I don’t make and don’t have a say in, and the spiritual price for sin is
death – spiritual death. BUT when we
repent (in other words change our mind to agree with God’s word) and we are
baptised into the name of Jesus, not only are our sins forgiven, but we are
born anew - born of a seed that is
imperishable – born of a seed that is eternal.
Something has changed. Something
in us has taken root.
Throughout the season of
Lent, I’ve encouraged us all to remember that the story is not complete until
the day of Pentecost. This is explained
by Peter as part of the promise about which Peter tells his listeners. He told them, "… and you will
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
Something has changed! This
promise is for us and our children and for all who are far away – everyone whom
the Lord our God calls to him! We
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The
sacrifice of Christ redeems us. We are
baptised and receive the forgiveness of sins, but the gift of the Holy Spirit
is the gift of God’s Holy and eternal spirit bringing us his eternal life. This is the end game - the game changer.
The Holy Spirit is the
spirit of God and through this, we become born of a seed that is imperishable -
we become born anew – we are born spiritually, and we are now the children of
God. Because we are baptised into the
name of Jesus, we have forgiveness of sins.
This is our redemption. Because
we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, we become eternal beings. We are not living to die, but we are dying to
live.
Something has changed. We’ve acknowledged Jesus as who he really is –
Messiah and God. And because of that
“something” EVERYTHING has changed. Our destiny has changed – our life must also
reflect this. Come Holy Spirit, empower
us to lives worthy of the sacrifice of Christ.
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