A resurrection lesson just before Christmas? It makes sense if we realize that Jesus was the baby born to die. The angel declared to Joseph in Matthew 1:21 as Mary was with child that Jesus would save their people from their sins. The second person of the Godhead took on flesh in Bethlehem so that He could die on the cross for our sins and be raised for our redemption. Good news indeed!
I. Luke 24:13-27. Not all get this–even those who would call upon His name. Like the two who were in Jerusalem and heard that Jesus was alive, we too trudge on to Emmaus, not realizing the implication of what His resurrection means for us. We need to spend time with the risen Savior and let Him speak to us of how His sufferings were necessary for Him to overcome death for us.
II. Luke 24:28-32. Just like their eyes were opened with the breaking of bread, so must we be cut to the heart (Acts 2:36-41) like those at Pentecost. We have to have a moment of awakening to what God has done for us through the gospel. And no wonder the reenactment of the Lord’s Supper hit them. No doubt that Jesus spoke of the Passover from their history in escaping slavery in Egypt and how the Christ was the Lamb of God, whose blood saved them from death (1 Peter 1:17-21).
III. Luke 24:33-35. Tired from their seven-mile journey no more, the disciples, hearts burning from the Scriptures made alive in them, returned to Jerusalem that same day, bursting in on the remaining Eleven with the good news that Jesus had indeed risen. It was the same information that they had left Jerusalem with earlier that day, but this time they were convinced and could not contain the joy of that message.
Awakened to the good news of great joy, these two followers didn’t need to be told to tell others; they couldn’t wait to proclaim the gospel! God’s plan has been there all along: He would be born a baby to grow up without sin to die on the cross and then be raised from the dead. Do you truly know this? Or are you trudging on your way to Emmaus?