my favorite passages, not just for Resurrection Sunday, but in all areas of life. There's so many lessons to learn. The Bible says in Luke 24 and verse 13, this is after our Lord had already made a resurrection appearance, and that's in the first 12 verses, just to get the context. And the Bible says that the women went and told what they had seen there at the angels at the tomb. And then in verse 13, Luke 24 and verse 13, it says, and behold, two of them, that is of his disciples, those who had, not of the 12, but those who had followed him, went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about three score furlongs, or about seven miles. The Bible says, and they talked together of all these things which had happened. And it came to pass that while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were holden that they should not know him. So get the picture here. You know, God does have a sense of humor. And here the Lord Jesus was walking with these two disciples and they did not even know that it was him. In verse 17, and he said unto them, what manner of communications are these that ye have one to another as ye walk and are sad? And the one of them whose name was Cleopas answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem? And hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? Oh my, the irony. He was the one who had died on the cross himself. In verse 19, our Lord plays along, and he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people. and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death and have crucified him. We trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel. And beside all this, today is the third day since these things were done. Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre." referring to things that happen in verses 1 through 12. Then verse 23, and when they found not his body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels which said that he was alive. Certain of them which were with us went to the sepulcher and found it, even so as the women had said that him they saw not. The Bible says that in verse 11 that the women had not been believed. The Bible says their words seemed to the disciples as idle tales. They believed them not. So they saw the empty tomb, but they didn't see the body. So as far as they were concerned, everything was lost. In verse 25, and 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? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. And they drew near unto the village where they went. And He made as though He would have gone further. But they constrained Him, saying, Abide with us, for it is toward evening and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them. And it came to pass as he sat at meat with them, he took bread and blessed it and break and gave to them. And their eyes were opened and they knew him. And he vanished out of their sight. And they said one to another, did not our heart burn within us? While he talked with us by the way, while he opened to us the scriptures, they rose up the same hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together and them that were with them, saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon. They told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them. in breaking of bread. Let's pray. Father, we pray that you would bless your word to our hearts tonight. Lord, we thank you for the fact that you do reveal yourself and your truth to us through your word, and that you do come near in those moments of trouble and difficulty and bewilderment. And I pray that we would learn lessons tonight on how we can view the difficulties of life in light of your resurrection. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. You might ask this question, Pastor, I know that Christ rose from the dead, but what does that have to do with the problem that I'm facing now? Maybe some of you are facing problems even at this moment. It reflects a question Mary and Martha ask. For instance, as Jesus was ministering to Martha, she says in John 11 and verse 24, Martha saith unto him, I know that he, Lazarus, shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. She says, in other words, I know that there's going to be a resurrection of the righteous, but it's almost as if she is saying, but what does that have to do with my sorrow right now when he has died? Maybe you're saying the same thing. How does the resurrection affect me now, today? Well, isn't it good to know that God's word is true no matter what? Even if we don't experience or understand the full implications of it, it's still true. It doesn't become the Word of God, it is the Word of God. Truth is truth. It doesn't evolve, it doesn't become truth, but it is. But at the same time, we as God's people need to appropriate those truths by faith. And so when we ask questions like that, especially in times of our grief, it's an honest question. It's one that echoes across centuries from the dusty road to Emmaus, where two weary disciples trudged home under the weight of disappointment and confusion. They knew Jesus had died. They had heard rumors that he was alive, but their hearts were still heavy. Their eyes were still dim, their questions still unanswered. We know tonight that we serve a risen Savior, but there are times when we are still sorrowful, when we still don't understand the full implications of these truths. And that's when Christ himself draws near. And if you'll allow him to, He can impress these truths upon your heart. So tonight, let's walk with these two travelers and see how Christ draws near to us in our problems, in our pain, in our perplexity. Yes, the resurrection is a past historical event. It is not a myth. It's not a fairy tale. It is fact. It is historical fact. But the effects of it continue on throughout eternity. This is where our salvation is. And this is where our comfort is in times of trouble. I want you to notice, number one, Christ approaches us in our bewilderment. Verses 13 through 24. Have you ever been so disappointed that all seems lost? That's where these two disciples were. They had witnessed great tragedy. And it's hard for us to understand how much the Lord Jesus had suffered, especially someone that they had loved so much, how much he had suffered physically. And the Bible even prophesied in the book of Isaiah, as we saw this morning, that when Messiah came, He would be beaten, he would be marred to the point where you could not recognize him as a human being. That's exactly what happened. The torture that he went through, the death that he went through for us. These men had seen tragedy, at least from our perspective. Their hopes were dashed. And they said this in verse 21, we trusted, past tense, that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel. We trusted at one time. I've actually heard Christians say that. Well, Lord, there was a time when my faith was strong. Or they say, Pastor, there was a time when I was in church and And I participated in the things of the Lord, but then something happened in my life, some tragedy. They talk in the past tense. And as a result of that tragedy and their view of it, they turn their backs upon the Lord and upon His people. Only the Lord knows if they really belong to Him. But I do know this, that is even those who do belong to Him can come to this point in their lives. Examples in scripture of that. But you see, God does not let us live there forever. He comes to us in our pain. But in their eyes, God had let them down. Have you ever felt like that? God has let us down. But then Jesus drew near and went with them. Letter A, he offers companionship. Even when we don't recognize Him, Jesus is still there with us. And let me ask you, do you have that time of communion with Him every day? Or do you go throughout your day and you do your work or you enter into your activities without a thought of God? And you don't just stop and pray, say, Lord, thank you for the breath that you've given me. Thank you for the life. Now, how can I serve you? But even when we are unaware of Him, He is never unaware of us. Even when we don't recognize Him, He walks beside us. The Bible says they didn't see it at that time. Their eyes were holden, or in other words, they were restricted from seeing him. But yet the Savior himself was not distant. He was not distracted. He was present with them, even when they did not know it. It's sort of like the sun in the sky on a cloudy day. And I often use this illustration with people in grief. And I have to remind myself of this. On a very, very cloudy day, you can't see the sun, but it's still there. It's still giving light. It's still giving warmth. There are times in our lives where we don't always see God's hand directly, but he's there, always sustaining. Jesus is with us. This is where, as the young ladies were singing, we need to intentionally look for His fingerprints. We need to look for God's involvement in our lives. You may not feel Him in those moments, but He is there. You see, here's what the resurrection means. It means that Jesus is alive to walk with you. Right now, in your bewilderment, He is with us ministering to us through the Holy Spirit. He did not leave us comfortless or orphaned. And did you know that Jesus is in heaven praying for us? He did that when he was here on the earth. You remember when he told Peter, he said, Peter, Satan has desired to have you, to sift you as wheat. And the image there is when you sift wheat, you're separating the wheat from the chaff, the good from the bad. Satan apparently knew what was going to happen. He knew about this time of temptation coming. And he said to the Lord, hey, let me have Peter. Let me have him. He's bragging about how he's going to stay with you through thick and thin. Let me have him. Let me show you that he is nothing but chaff. I'll destroy him. I'll destroy his faith. That's what Satan wants to do to every one of us in our grief and in our difficulties. And you know what Jesus told him? He says, but I have prayed for thee, Peter. When you have the Lord Jesus praying for you, how can you lose? Christ himself later restored him because Peter truly belonged to the Lord Jesus. And now you've got somebody praying for you in times of difficulty. Did you know that's Jesus's ministry now in heaven? He is praying for us in heaven. The Bible says that he ever lives to make intercession for us. That's how much he loves us. and cares for us. He is not distant. He's not uncaring. Right now, He's praying for every single one of us in this room. He is praying for His people. And He knows what you're going through. You may not feel Him, but He is there. Just as real as the person sitting beside you. Letter B, He demonstrates compassion. He doesn't immediately reveal himself and upbraid these disciples, but he talks to them. He actually asks them questions. Why are you sad? You know, we might say it this way, why the long face? And this is a good question for all of us because there are a lot of, well, I don't know what percentage necessarily, but there are believers in this world and they walk around with long faces constantly, with a dark cloud over their heads. One person has called them Eeyore Christians. You remember Eeyore, the blue donkey? Everything's wrong. Nothing is ever right. Eeyore Christians. How can you say that when you have a living Savior? But you don't know what I'm going through. You don't know the troubles that I have. Well, Jesus does. You've got a living Savior. That doesn't mean your troubles are going to go away, but it means you look at them in a whole new light. It means there's hope. And it's sad when you see a Christian who has been robbed of joy. when they could be communing with Christ, with the living Christ. You see, the living Christ does not scold your sorrow, but he listens with compassion. You know, this must be how Jesus hears some of our prayers. And again, this is a little humorous, right? Because these two travelers are talking to Jesus, and yet they have no idea. And they're talking about how everything is lost. Yet they're talking to the resurrected Lord. I mean, it's a little humorous, but it's also a little sad. But I think sometimes our prayers sound like that to God. When we talk about, sometimes we come before Him, and yes, God does invite us to do that. I mean, that's part of what this passage is all about. He does invite us to come to Him and to lay out our sorrows, You know, sometimes I'm sure it's like a father listening to a child who is unaware of what's truly going on. We say, Lord, it just seems like all is lost. And yet we don't realize and understand that we're talking to the Lord of glory, the risen Christ. but yet he is so patient with us. The Bible says in Hebrews 4.15, for we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. He is compassionate. The resurrection matters because it means you're not facing your problems alone. The Savior who conquered death walks beside you today. Number one, Christ approaches us then in our bewilderment. Number two, Christ reframes our understanding of divine truth. This is in verses 25 through 27. And this is where we just need to stop and listen. Yes, Christ listens to our pain. He listens to our sorrow. Then he ministers to us through his word, and this is where we need to listen and submit. Letter A, he corrects our unbelief. He does not sugarcoat the problem. He says, oh, fools and slow of heart to believe. Their pain came from misplaced expectations and a lack of faith. in what God actually said. They were expecting a conquering king. Now, some would ask how Christ could rebuke them when at the same time verse 16 says that their eyes were holden that they should not know Him. So how then could Christ rebuke them when their eyes were kept from recognizing Him? Well, the answer to that is, is that Christ's rebuke in verse 25, when he says, oh fools and slow of heart to believe, is not about failure to recognize him at the moment. It's about failure to believe the Old Testament prophecies that foretold the Messiah's suffering, death, and resurrection. That's why he was upbraiding them. Because it had been laid out in the Old Testament. This was part of the reason for their blindness. In fact, even before this, when Christ was walking on earth, and he was telling them, he was saying, I'm going to die. I'm going to be crucified and rejected of men, and then I'm going to rise again. The Bible says they didn't understand then either. Because they failed to believe what the Bible said. Many times that's our problem. We've got in our minds what the plan is. And we expect God to do that. And sometimes we equate our plan with what the Bible is. When I was a senior in college, I was dating a young lady at the time. And in my mind, I was going to marry this girl. And we were going to live happily ever after. And the plan was is that I was going to be a preacher, and I needed to be married, and this was the girl that I wanted. I wouldn't put it like that. I would be more pious, OK, in the way that I put it. But really, this was my plan. It wasn't God's plan. But I would have never said that. I'd have never told you that. But you see, circumstances work themselves out in such a way that this was not God's plan. And I remember that she broke up with me one day. I was in Baptist history, by the way. And I went into class. It was after lunch. Our relationship was very, very stormy. We were always fighting about something, which should have been a red flag. But anyway, I was in Baptist history. And right at the beginning, I got the Dear John. She had got, you know, she had this, one of her friends to give the note to me. And I opened it up and read it, and I was stunned. You know, I just couldn't even focus on what my professor was saying the entire rest of the time. And I remember walking back to my car, and I was just in a state of shock. I was saying, Lord, what am I gonna do? This is not the plan. I mean, the letter was very clear. I mean, it was over. And in my spirit, I sort of knew that. You know, this was the end. But I lost hope that day. And you know, you may say, well, yeah, you're a young person. You know, that was a young person. And that was a young man's thinking at the time. But you know, all of us have these kinds of difficulties, really. And isn't it good to know that God doesn't trivialize our problems? Like other people do, you know, to us, our problems are always the most serious. We tend to trivialize other people's. Sometimes, but. God doesn't view things that way. He comes alongside us where we are. But you see, my problem is, is that I expected things out of God that He never promised. He never promised me that I would have a wife. He never promised me that I would have this particular girl. Now, God in His grace brought me the right person later on. But you see, I had in my mind how God was supposed to act. And it wasn't biblical. And these disciples were the same way. They had in their minds that Messiah was going to come. He was going to set up a kingdom. And they as the disciples were going to have a front row seat to the glory. They were going to be ruling right alongside of him. And boy, the crucifixion was not part of the plan. It blew the whole thing out of the water. They had no idea what to do. You know, God has a way of doing that. His ways are not our ways. They are so high above our ways. Because if Jesus did not die on that cross, then we would have no redemption. There would be no heaven for us. But Jesus clarifies the truth in verses 26 and 27. And he says, look, this is what Christ had to do. Christ had to endure suffering. He had to go to the cross. And he explains the scriptures. And so number one, the resurrection is a fact that we have to confirm to be saved. Now there are some liberals who will say, well, it doesn't really matter if Jesus actually rose from the dead. Because you know, people don't rise from the dead. I mean, that's just scientifically impossible. Especially after three days. But it really doesn't matter. I mean, we can just say that the ideals of Jesus live on in the hearts of his followers. It doesn't really matter if he actually rose from the dead. Do you know what the Bible says? It does matter. The very foundation of our faith 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 14 says, and if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching, what? Vain. It is pointless. It is empty. It is nothing. If the resurrection is not a historical fact. Paul says, your faith is also vain. And I get this from time to time from people. Well, pastor, does it really matter if the miracles of the Bible are true or not? Does I find those really hard to believe? Well, that's really too bad. Because you've got to believe the resurrection to be saved. You have to believe in the power of God to be saved. If there's no resurrection, you have no salvation. You see, the cross was not a failure. It was the path to glory. And it shows that suffering was part of God's plan. It's not just a historical fact, although it is that, that's foundational. But then it's a foundational truth by which we view the Christian life. You see, Christ had to suffer. And the truth is, is that we'll have to suffer in this life. The disciple is not greater than his Lord. And there's suffering that we have to go through in this life. God had to give his only son. I can't imagine what it would be like to have to give my son or two daughters. That's the price of sin. That was what was required to save us. See, there's suffering in this fallen world. But one day that's all going to be a thing of the past because of the cross and because of the resurrection. That's what it has to do with our present suffering. Because there's a resurrection one day, all of the pain and sorrow and sin and death, all of those things are going to be a thing of the past. Because Christ is risen. Number three, Christ reveals the reality of His presence. Letter A, He communes with us. In verses 28 through 30, He broke bread with these followers. He fellowshiped with them. And Christ communes with us in prayer and through his word. Let me ask you this again. Do you have that time of fellowship with him daily? You can't do without it. You need daily communion with Christ. This is how he ministers to our hearts. Letter B, this is how he confirms our faith. The Bible says their eyes were opened and they knew him. I don't know how many times I've been in a time of difficulty or trouble, and then I open up God's word, and on the surface, it doesn't seem to it to directly address my problem even at times. But then there are times when God just ministers to my heart, and he impresses the truth upon me. I serve a risen Savior. That seven-mile walk back didn't seem so long all of a sudden. Now, you know, it says in verses 33 through 35 that they rose up and returned to Jerusalem. And let me make this clear. Their problem did not vanish, but their perspective changed. The resurrection did not removed the Roman occupation. It did not reverse the crucifixion, but it changed how they saw the crucifixion. And that's the key. Suddenly they saw it for what it was. It was salvation, it was deliverance, it was victory. That's why all the sufferings of this present life are nothing compared to the glory that is going to follow because of Jesus' resurrection, because of what He has done for us. And this is the message now that they are recommissioned. Verse 34, then they go and tell others, the Lord is risen indeed. Before that, all they had was a message of sorrow and defeat and agony and pain. But now they're able to say, the Lord is risen. That's the key to everything. So what does the resurrection have to do with the problem you're facing right now? Everything. Because Jesus is alive, you are never alone in your pain. Because Jesus is alive, your suffering has a purpose and is part of a bigger plan. Because Jesus is alive, your faith is not in vain. Your future is not in doubt. Our problems do not need a new solution. They just need a fresh awareness that Jesus has drawn near. He is a risen Savior who is with us. Let's walk with Him in His word, in prayer, and in fellowship, and we'll find the same thing. That truth will be impressed upon us in a new way. It's a truth we know, but we need it refreshed in our minds constantly. He is risen indeed. I love the song by Mack Lynch, When God is Near, and it goes like this. Make me know your presence, Lord, the King of glory here. You know each thought and action, hope, anxiety, and fear. How can I hide from Thee? Can darkness hide iniquity? Oh, how can I unfaithful be when You are very near to me? Make me know Your presence, Lord, when I feel so alone. You know each trial and testing pain, the hurt that is unknown. Oh, why can I not see your hand so firmly guiding me? Oh, how can I untrusting be when you are very near to me? When God is near, all the world seems far away. When God is near, every fear is set aside. When God is near, how can I stray? How can I falter? I'll stay upon the altar. I know my God is near. Let's pray. Father, we thank you tonight for sending your Son, the Lord Jesus, to redeem us.