Jesus Went With Them

I turn this evening to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 24, Luke 24. I appreciate the patience of the musicians. This is not an upgrade from our normal instrument that’s being just repaired or looked at and improved upon, so for perhaps again another week or so we’ll make do with this, but we’ll be back to the usual instrument in good time.

And I mentioned to those in the AV booth about turning to Luke 24, the joke was made, oh are we doing, going back to a study in the Gospel of Luke? I said, yes, we’re going to work backwards, 170 sermons from chapter 24 all the way to chapter 1, but that’s of course not the case. I just wanted to bring our day of prayer to a close by turning your attention to events that transpire on the same day of what we looked at this morning, and some overlapping yet perhaps a little more encouraging, positive themes that we can draw from Luke 24.

So we’re going to read from verse 13. Luke 24, verse 13, and read through verse 35. This will be familiar to many of you, but give attention to the reading of God’s Word. Luke 24, verse 13.

And behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. 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. 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, answered and 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? 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. But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day 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; 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. And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not. Then 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 nigh unto the village, whither 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 brake, 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, and while he opened to us the scriptures? And 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. And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.

Amen. May the Lord bless the public reading of His eternal Word. This, beloved, is the Word of God, which you are to receive, believe, and obey. And the people of God said, Amen.

Let’s pray. Lord, as we come near the close of this day in our public assemblies, as we hear again from Thy Word, it is our desire for even the strength of body and mind to receive what Thou dost have for us. Oh, take what is of Thee. As a preacher, You know how my heart is at times when Thou hast given help in a service, and then we come to another and we wonder, will the Lord help again? Let me pray, God, that Thou will supply of the measure of Thy Spirit what is needed for this time. We simply ask that Thy people would hear Thy voice. And should there be even one without Christ, that they too would be drawn to hearken to the Word and believe on the Son. Be here with us now. And bless us, we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

This morning we stood in the garden with Mary and observed something of her in her grieving and searching and longing for Christ on the day of His resurrection. And this evening I draw you to the very same day, only a different portion than later on in the day in which we are given the account of two disciples who were on their way to their lodging, making their way to Emmaus, when a stranger made himself known to them, talked with them, inquired as to the reason for their sadness before then joining himself to them as they compelled him to eat up meat with them before he would go on his way.

This portion is precious to the people of God because it indicates so much of what we long for in meeting with Christ. His willingness to draw near, and the times in which He is near even though we do not see Him. And I want us to take that to heart. They were talking, and as the subject of their discussion was Christ, Christ was willing and desirous to draw near to them and to speak unto them. And He walks with those who mourn, are grieved, and broken of heart, and He is ready and available and willing to draw alongside them and give them a word that they need.

I don’t know if your heart has been stirred today, I have no idea. And I don’t know whether the message this morning rang true in a way that was necessary and urgent. But maybe there is that sense in which it was a timely word. There’s a fresh impetus within your soul to seek the Lord, to give yourself to Him. And maybe through the afternoon as you joined for prayer, there was that cry of the soul, especially initially, Lord come to me. Come, come in the way that I have been stirred. Come and meet with me afresh.

And the possibility is we come to this hour, having heard that Word, having gone through the season of prayer, and the question remains in your mind, is the Lord near to me or not? I say what I said this morning. He comes to the seeking. He draws near to the seeking. And your responsibility is to seek. And it will be His delight, then, to draw near in response to that.

What I don’t want you to do, if you’re wondering, has He drawn near? Have I experienced the freshness of His presence today? If you’re questioning that and wondering whether or not that is the case, that you leave this place in a state of indifference saying, well, I tried and there’s no more that I can do. Rather, I want you to keep walking in the direction you’ve been going today, and do as these disciples did, press Christ to tarry with you.

We look at this message, and again, it will be relatively brief tonight as the Lord gives help, but I trust it will be helpful. Jesus went with them. Jesus went with them. That’s what verse 15 tells us. In the heart of this, I’m just pulling the thought around this idea. It came to pass that while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. They didn’t know it, but he was there and he went with them on their journey.

And that’s what I want as you leave this place. You cried, you long, you sorrow, you hope, Your desire is that He would draw near. You wish for His presence, as it was for these disciples. And unbeknownst to you, He has drawn near, and He’s going to go with you from this place. And maybe, just maybe, He will do as He did for them. And after today, tomorrow, later this week, some other occasion, when you continue to press upon Him, Lord, come to me. You’re going to find that the Spirit opens onto you the Scriptures. You see Christ, and your heart begins to burn. It is the Lord.

Note four things. Very simply, this is straightforward. The companion of the brokenhearted, the counselor of the forgetful, the guest of the hospitable, and the motivator of the blessed. Those are the four heads we look at as we consider the Word tonight.

The companion of the brokenhearted. Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. Why? Why did He go with them? Why these disciples and not someone else who was in need of a word from God? These men, as they walked and journeyed on their way to Emmaus, were broken, sorrowful. The observation of the Lord Himself is that they’re sad. He can discern it. It is visible to anyone paying attention.

Things had not transpired as they hoped. Verse 21, we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel. This is what we were looking for, the Deliverer. And things have not transpired as we hoped. Life has not gone as planned, and we are not in the position we expected. So all seemed lost. And amidst this, the feeling was one of sadness and confusion.

But Christ drew near, and I believe in part He drew near because the subject of their discussion, despite their sadness, was Christ. It’s like Mary this morning. She was confused. She didn’t know Christ was risen, but the subject of her heart—the reason she stayed in the garden, the longing of her soul—was Christ. The Lord draws near to those who make Him the subject and aim and focus. So these disciples are doing the same. Again, amidst their sorrow and their confusion, yet their subject is Christ. They’re thinking upon Him. They’re communing about Him. They’re wondering what happened and so on, but it all is focusing upon Him.

And the Lord doesn’t wait until they understand. He comes to aid them in the understanding. He doesn’t leave them to try and figure it out themselves. He comes along and He is the answer for them to put the pieces together. The prayer of the apostle was that the eyes of the understanding of God’s people would be enlightened. They need to be enlightened, and it’s God that must do it. It’s a prayer that is offered because God alone enlightens the mind.

And the Lord Jesus comes alongside, not looking at confused disciples and saying, well, they’ll figure it out and then I’ll go, but He comes along to help them and be the very key that unlocks and dissipates their confusion. So he walks beside them.

I quoted it this morning, Psalm 34, 18, the Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart. And that is true for these men. And the comfort is that the Lord draws near to such. Their hopes were dashed, but the longing was still for Him. Things hadn’t gone as they desired, but their focus was Him. And this is where the Lord is so—He condescends so much. He knows you don’t have it figured out. He knows you don’t have all the answers. He’s not expecting you to have them.

And so often we expend energy trying to solve problems we were not equipped to solve. And we expend that energy in trying to find solutions for things when He is the key, and our pursuit should be of Him. So He comes because He delights to be in the midst of the humble. Again, another text I made reference to this morning—prepare sermons and some overlap, there’s verses that come to your mind and you forget that it wasn’t in the notes of the sermon in front of you, it’s in the notes of the sermon you plan to preach in the future.

But Isaiah 57, verse 15, For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. We are told there that He dwells with him that is of a contrite and humble spirit. You have this being who inhabits eternity, who is high and holy and beyond comprehension, yet he condescends. To whom? The contrite, the humble.

So I don’t know if you felt the Lord draw near today. I have, in a measure. But whether or not you have or you haven’t, whether your expectations have been fulfilled or not, don’t turn aside. On the path of life, like these two men, make the subject of your conversation and the hope of your heart Jesus Christ, because He is the companion of the brokenhearted. He draws near to the brokenhearted. He makes friends with the brokenhearted.

Oh, we are meant to have it all together, aren’t we? We are meant to be these robust, resilient, impenetrable beings. Show no weakness. And the Lord is looking for those who freely acknowledge before Him that they don’t have the answers, they don’t have the strength.

But secondly, he’s the counselor of the forgetful, not only the companion of the brokenhearted, he is the counselor of the forgetful. In verse 25, we’re told there that this is what the Lord says to 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? O fools and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.

Now these men are sad and the Lord knows it. They’re grieved, they’re broken. And our tendency is, well someone’s already broken, we might say fragile, then the last thing you want to do is rebuke them. You see how the Lord knows exactly what we need? And how He’s not afraid, He’s not afraid to say what needs to be said. Now, when you’re broken and you’re contrite and you’re seeking the Lord, I think you’ve experienced this. You’ve found yourself being crushed by providence or some other experience, and you’re crying out to Him, and you’re feeling the weakness and the frailty of the soul.

And you read the Word, or you hear it preached. And you’re looking for some comfort and consolation, and the word you actually get is one of rebuke. And we shouldn’t be afraid of that. We shouldn’t be afraid that sometimes the very thing we need to hear is a rebuking word. We would not have the tendency to look at one grieving and speak this way to them, but the Lord Jesus is no ordinary companion. He is the great physician, not just in terms of the physical, but in the spiritual. And He cuts like a surgeon for the purpose that He might bring healing. It is incisive, it is intentional. He knows what He is doing.

And so in order to heal us, strengthen us, to come and condescend to our weakness and need, sometimes the word, tailored, is one of rebuke. This is what the counselor does. He knows exactly what needs to be said. And he diagnoses their problem not as a lack of facts, but as a lack of faith. You should have known these things. You’re slow of heart to believe. It’s not that they don’t know what the prophets have spoken. Oh, he assesses these men. He knows who they are. And you know what the prophet said.

Your problem isn’t a lack of Bible knowledge. Your problem is a lack of believing what the Bible says. And that’s you and me. So often, it’s not more information we need. It’s to believe the information we’ve already received. So the Lord, in counseling them, of course, draws from the Scriptures, points to the Scriptures. It doesn’t come with a modern, fresh, psychological approach to help people. He takes them to the Word. This is what believers need. They need to be taken to the Word.

And you’ve been slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. That’s your problem. You won’t believe what God has said. You won’t believe what He has revealed. And so what does he do? Well, you have the information, you haven’t believed it, let me give it to you again. Verse 27, And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. And so he takes this journey through the scriptures, pulling from the prophets, showing how they spoke of him, putting the pieces together with impeccable clarity.

And the result of that, though it is not given in the immediate narrative of that moment, but later on their reflection in verse 32, when they talked to one another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? Oh, that’s the key, not just talking, not just trying to put his arm around him and say, I hope you feel better soon, but opening the Scriptures, the rebuke. You haven’t believed the Word. Now I’m going to give you the Word. Believe it. Believe it.

And what was the result? Their heart burned within them. Oh, there’s a mystery to all of this because it is, yes, Christ. It is something of His presence, but particularly the effect and influence of the Word mixed with faith. When people say, I’m not going to question it anymore. I’m not going to argue against it. I’m going to submit and believe what it says. And the heart begins to burn. The Word then restores the spiritual warmth of the soul.

Christ opens the Scriptures so that we may understand what He has revealed. And this is what He does for us. This is what we need. The entrance of thy words giveth light, Psalm 119 verse 130. It giveth understanding unto the simple.

Beloved, this is what you need as you go from this place. The Lord needs to counsel you because you forget things. There you are broken in heart, you’re wanting Him to draw near, and be prepared that as He counsels, He may say things to you you don’t want to hear. We were talking about it this morning, certain things, distractions and sins and the spiritual lethargy which we exhibit, our bitterness of soul and anger and resentment and unforgiveness and things like that, that get in the way.

And maybe this morning, as those things were delineated, you say, well, that’s not for me. That’s not for me. I’m not there. But you’re going to go away from here, still longing, still pressing, still crying out for the nearness of Christ. And as you read His Word, He’s going to come to you again. He’s going to say, that’s a problem right there. He’s going to put His finger on it. And if you want relief and spiritual growth and advancement, listen to what He’s saying.

Give yourself to the Word. If you’re finding yourself slow of heart to believe, what do you need to do? You need more Scripture. The answer to unbelief is not to pull away. So you have the Scripture, there it’s in front of you, you’re struggling to believe it. And so the natural thing, you might say to yourself, well if I’m struggling to believe it, I might as well not read it. But the reality is opposite. You read it, you struggle to believe it, the answer for you to believe it is to keep reading it. Keep on reading it.

That’s why Christ did what he did. You have the Word. You’re slow to believe the Word. He didn’t take them to something else. He didn’t take them to philosophical arguments. He took them back to the Scripture. The Word’s there. They know the Word. They won’t believe the Word. What’s the answer to that? More of the Word. More Scripture.

But you’re living your Christian life. You want to advance. You want to grow. God’s given His Word. There are things you struggle with. Maybe you’re struggling to believe right now. Your faith is weak. And with a weakness of faith, you think, what’s the point in reading the Word when I don’t believe it? I tell you, that’s exactly the time when you must read it. Romans 10, 17, So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. More of the Word, not less.

So don’t wait for a motion. Don’t wait for some miracle. Give yourself to the Word. He is the counselor to the forgetful. He comes to those fools who are slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. And He counsels us. He’ll counsel as we read His Word.

Thirdly, the guest of the hospitable. The guest of the hospitable. Verse 29. So they’re making their way. Verse 29 says, 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. Here’s one of the great lessons. We’re told at the end of verse 28, they’re drawing nigh to Emmaus, and he made as though he would have gone further. He’s going to go on. And they have to constrain Him. They say, abide with us.

Why is it like this? There’s a sense in which it’s a test, isn’t it? The Lord tests His people. Are they truly hospitable to Him? He tests. Ties into some of the things we considered this morning. The longing we have for Him. And so in this instance, you have this scenario in which these disciples are going, making their way almost home. The Lord is making His way to carry on, and they constrain Him to stay.

And this is the heart and the frame that the believer ought to have, is constraining and being hospitable to Christ, being the guest or looking for Him as a guest in our presence. In some ways it illustrates for us in the language of James 4 verse 8, Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. You’re coming near to Him. You’re coming into His presence. You’re seeking to be as close to Him as possible. And as you pursue Him, He comes to you. He doesn’t go the other way. He comes to you. You go after Him, as we said this morning. It comes to those who seek for Him.

And so it’s illustrated here by these disciples saying, abide with us, stay with us. And so He does. Now you can go through your life at times and be not so hospitable. I believe that some who profess faith can go from one Lord’s day to the next and not really be hospitable to Christ.

What do I mean? They don’t get their Bibles open and constrain Christ into their day. I want to hear from Thee, Lord. I want to hear from Thee. I want to know Your will. I need Your strength. Send Your Spirit. Bring me wisdom for all that I am facing. Enable me. Guide me with Your eye.

And we’re constraining, that’s what we’re doing, we’re constraining, we’re being hospitable, we’re saying to Christ, we’re coming in in the morning, we’re beginning and we’re saying, Lord, abide with us, abide with me, stay with me, the hospitable heart, longing for Christ to stay and be with you. Instead, we get up in the morning and we go about our way on our journey and do what we have to do and we have never turned an eye to constrain the Lord: abide with us. It’s a lack of hospitality.

But He is a guest of the hospitable, so we should keep that in mind. Christ is looking at you tomorrow. Will you be hospitable to Him? Do the days just roll by and never once do you call out and say, dine with me today, Lord. Abide with me. Oh, beloved, how He desires to be constrained, to be compelled, for us to press Him. He wants it. He wants to be pursued.

Finally, the motivator of the blessed, the motivator of the blessed. Once this all transpires, we’re told, of course, they’re on their way home. There’s indication that it’s late. It’s time for resting and the close of the day. But we’re told in verse 33, And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them and so on.

So they get up, they couldn’t remain still, they couldn’t stay. Had you have said to them, go back to Jerusalem, they would have said, why? We just came from there, why would we go back? Why? There was no point, there was no reason, except this. They had been blessed. Christ had blessed them. And He motivates in their heart, moves them to say, we can’t, we can’t stay here. We have to go back. We have to make that journey all the way back.

And it wasn’t a burden. They made no complaint. It was a delight. It was a privilege. When Christ comes to His people and He blesses them, He motivates them. Your need for blessing, you think about how can I be more motivated to do God’s will? How can I get to a place where doing what He wants is not a burden, not a chore, not something I have to drum up, but the expression of gratitude, the outworking of a natural inclination of the soul? How do I get there?

Be blessed. Go to Him to be blessed, be in His presence to be blessed. They had been in His presence. They had been blessed. And now they’re naturally motivated to make their way back and share that blessing with others. They couldn’t remain still. They couldn’t go to bed, go to sleep. They had to go. And this is the natural rhythm of revival.

Sorrow, the brokenness of heart over the condition, over the sin, both within and without, leads them to a seeking. We’re broken about what’s going on in our own lives, perhaps in the life of others, life of the church, whatever. And that sorrow leads to a seeking. Look at it in God’s Word. See the intervention of God and the details given in the Scriptures, in the record. You will find some broken believer. And they’re there. They’re broken. And it leads to a seeking.

Look at Nehemiah. Look at Ezra. Look at Daniel. They’re broken, they’re sorrowing, then they seek, and the seeking then leads to a seeing. They see the Lord, they meet with the Lord, experience His presence and Him drawing near, and that seeing leads then to a speaking, a communicating, an energy that propels them out. So they experience this of Christ being the motivator of the blessed. They go to enter into the joy of this risen Savior, to share it with others.

So this is what you need, beloved. This is what I need. Jesus went with them. This is what He does for us. He is the companion of the brokenhearted, the counselor of the forgetful, the guest of the hospitable, and the motivator of the blessed. And He will do all that for us. And He will be all that for us. But there needs to be this sense of Him being the subject of our lives, a focus upon Him.

I make no apology for this, by the way. I’m not calling you to an ascetic life. I’m not calling you to monasticism. I’m not saying disregard your personal responsibilities. I’m simply calling you to what the Scripture repeats over and over again throughout, from Genesis to Revelation, that Christ demands to be first. It was mentioned in prayer by one of the brethren as we prayed today, making reference to Ephesus, who left their first love, and that was a problem. The doctrine was right, how they articulated the gospel was precise, but they had left their first love, and that was an issue.

And we struggle with this. We are prone to wander, as we sang this morning. And so we need to recover. And so as we seek Him, He comes to the seeking. And as you leave here, if you are one who is seeking, whatever you’ve experienced today, if He’s drawn near, touched your soul, or you still feel that there’s more ground, there’s something more that He needs to deal with and address, He is the one who draws near.

He goes with you. You may not see him tonight. You may not have seen him today. And you may not see him tomorrow. But if your subject is Christ and your focus is Christ, then know verse 15, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. That’s what he’s doing tonight. He has drawn near. He will go with those—and you know who you are. He will go with those who are seeking Him in earnest.

May the Lord help it to be true of us all. Let’s bow together in prayer.

Jesus went with them. There are many portions of the Scriptures that describe, or in some way are a summation of what we want our experience to be. This is one. Imagine this described your life, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. That man, that woman, that young person, they sought Him, drew near to them, Jesus Himself drew near and went with them.

Maybe you’re here tonight and you don’t have any knowledge of Christ’s presence, no awareness of His mercy, no knowledge of His pardon, then it could be said that tonight would be the commencement of the new chapter of your life, that from this night, Jesus himself drew near and went with you, with you through life, with you through death, with you into eternity.

Lord, we pray, grant that there would be in us, by Thy grace alone, an earnest pursuit of Thee. Let our heart, each one of us, in each heart there be a longing, a desire, a focus, a prioritization of Jesus Christ. And where there is weakness, areas of improvement, rivals to His rightful place, help us to get things where they ought to be and put to death every enemy.

Bless us then as a people. Thou hast been good to us today. We acknowledge that. Thy kindness exceeds what we deserve. Thou hast given to us much by means of encouragement. And for that, we praise Thee, and ask simply that Thou wilt continue, that the work which Thou hast begun, Thou wilt continue. Thou wilt make us willing in the day of Thy power, and cause us, O God, even in days to come, to experience even more of personal revival.

Oh, may every believer, may every believer want personal revival, and may that spread to corporate revival, and even to revival within our own local area, and perhaps even beyond. God, we don’t know how to make it come about, except to ask Thee for it. Do what needs to be done in us, so that Thou mayest do what glorifies Thee. Hear us, answer our prayer, continue with us through this week, equipping us for every task.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus, the love of God our Father, and the fellowship of the Spirit be the portion of all the people of God, now and evermore. Amen.