Joó Sándor Dr.
Lesson
Jn 11,25-27
Main verb
[AI translation] "And behold, two of them went the same day to a village about sixty leagues from Jerusalem, called Emmaus. And they talked among themselves about all that had happened. And as they were talking and asking questions of one another, Jesus himself came to them and went with them on the road. But their eyes kept them from knowing him. And he said to them: What words are these which ye exchange with one another as ye walk, and why are ye sad-faced? And one named Cleophas answered and said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and knowest not what things were done in those days? And he said to them: What things? And they said unto him, The things which fell upon Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet, mighty in deed and word before God, and before all the people: And wherefore the chief priests and our rulers delivered him up to be put to death, and crucified him. And we hoped that he was the one who would redeem Israel. But in addition to all this, today is the third day that they have been. But certain of our women also, who were at the sepulchre in the morning, were astonished; and when they found not his body, they came home, saying that they had seen also the appearance of angels, which said that he was alive. And some of them that were with us went to the sepulchre, and found him as the women had said; but they saw him not. And he said to them: O fools and faint-hearted, to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not Christ suffer these things, and so enter into his glory? And beginning from Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures that were written of him. And they drew near to the village, to which they were about to go; and he pretended to go on. But they compelled him, saying, 'Stay with us, for it is now evening, and the sun is setting. He went in to stay with them. And when he had sat down with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and when he had broken it, he gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him: but he was gone from them. And they said one to another, Was not our heart stirred up within us, when he spake unto us by the way, and when he expounded the scriptures unto us? And they rose up in that hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven assembled together, and them that were with them. And they said, Surely the Lord is risen, and hath appeared to Simon. And these also told what had happened on the way, and how they had known about the breaking of the bread."
Main verb
Lk 24,13-35

[AI translation] This story is the most detailed description of the resurrected Jesus' appearance to his people. In the last twenty years I have never preached about it in this church. But that is not the only reason why I have chosen this story, because it has a very timely message for us. For it is a vital question for all Christianity, the supreme concern of every Christian, to be sure of Easter. Indeed, I dare say that whether or not the Christians in it are truly Easter Christians is of crucial importance for the world around us. Well, this story is precisely about how people's eyes are opened to see the risen, living Jesus, and how people's lives are transformed by the certainty of resurrection faith. That is what I want to talk about now.The story begins in a sombre way. Those two men, those two disciples, there on the road to Emmaus, are very expressive of Christians who have only a dead Christ, who are in fact still pre-Easter Christians. Look: these disciples had not turned their backs on Jesus, they had not denied Him, they just couldn't deal with Him. They don't want to put Him down for good, because the past was good when Jesus meant something to them. But the world has changed since then, and in this world there is no place for Jesus. Jesus is still somewhere in the past, in the memories of childhood, under a Christmas tree or at a confirmation ceremony. Jesus is in fact a dear dead man, whose memory cannot simply be plucked from the soul, it is good to talk about Him sometimes.
That's what the disciples at Emmaus did, and that's what Christians today do: they talk about Him. But there is so much sadness in this, so much despondency, so much weary, weary hopelessness! Yes, that is the faith of pre-Easter Christians: disappointment. These two disciples are disappointed in Jesus. There is no reproach or rebellion, just a quiet sadness, as they say, "They have been crucified". Is not this sad disappointment still lurking in the souls of many Christians today? They once expected much from Christ, they once had hope in Him. But He could not help them, He failed them like everything else. His power is uncertain, prayer to Him is an illusion, faith in Him is self-deception. In reality, He cannot be counted on. The main problem of those two wanderers was that if Jesus was really the promised Saviour, if He was really the Son of God, how could He die! And especially so miserably, so shamefully! How could this great enterprise have failed?
Many say the same thing today: if it is true that there is a mighty God, Who governs and administers all things, how can there be so much evil, sorrow, war, sickness on earth? How does all this fit into God's plan?
For so often evil is stronger than good. It seems as if God is defeated by evil! If God is truly in control, should it not be that good always triumphs? This world looks as if God is the weaker and evil is the stronger. That is what happened on the cross: the best God, in human form - on the cross. The Lord of the world is triumphed over by the power of evil! It is true that since then there has been talk of Jesus' resurrection, but in this respect the world has not changed either! The two disciples at Emmaus had heard about the resurrection, but they could not do anything about it. They found the whole thing, the news of the resurrection, very unlikely, which only added to the confusion of their faith.
Such is the disappointed, disillusioned, uncertain faith of most Christians today, perhaps ours too! We are not unbelievers, we just feel that a faith that is full of question marks, uncertainty and hesitant confusion is not going to get us very far. Jesus remains a gracious and beautiful memory, but in practical life he is not worth much. Where the daily rhythm of life throbs, where the soul is tossed between waves of suffering and waves of joy, where the fate of countries and continents is decided, He is of little consequence! Well, that's when one has only a dead Christ, when one is still only a pre-Easter Christian.
But how good it is that there is Someone who does not rest in this, who does everything possible to make sure that the Easter certainty wins in the hearts and lives of Christ's disciples! Behold, an unknown wanderer joins the sorrowing disciples, engages them in conversation, begins to teach them, opens their eyes. Almost giving them an Easter sermon on the road. "O fools and faint-hearted, to believe all that the prophets have spoken! (Luke 24:25-26) Interestingly, he is not talking about the resurrection, but about Calvary. He is explaining to them that there is a defeat that is actually a victory. He is explaining that Jesus' death is not a failure, that it was a fate that was handed down to him, but that it had to be this way because it was the way God had planned it in his plan of salvation, because it is the triumph of redemption! Jesus begins his Easter revival by explaining Calvary.
Let me try to make it clearer with an analogy: I was once playing chess with someone who knew a lot more than I did. It makes you feel like you are tied up. Every move you make fits exactly into your opponent's plan. He takes out the queen, dreams of victory for a moment, then realizes that his partner wanted it exactly that way. The partner always thinks five or six moves ahead, holding the whole game in his hands. Slowly I realize that I can't do anything but what he wants. In fact, he is the one who thinks my game through, I can only do his bidding. Every move I make is to make his victory even greater.
This is what happened at Calvary. The powers of evil attacked him, seized him on all sides, and finally crucified Jesus, "knocking out the leader". If ever there was a moment when good proved weaker than evil, when the cause of God seemed to have failed, when the Creator was defeated by His creature, when love was overcome by hate, when justice was overcome by injustice, it was there, on Calvary! And behold, this apparent triumph of the dark power, this pull of the dark power, was also in God's plan. The cross on which the King of Light was slain was in fact God's triumph. It was through the cross that the power of sin was broken and the power of the kingdom of God entered the world. Ostensibly, the cross is God's failure, but in reality it is the place where God's heart is most deeply revealed to men. It was through the dishonour of the cross that Jesus founded a new kingdom, which, behold, will stand even after two thousand years, and will remain when heaven and earth have passed away.
What happened there, on Calvary, united the problems of world events in a single focal point. Therefore we can see the whole of world history as a great game of chess between white and black, between light and darkness. The light moves and the dark attacks. Sometimes, the forces of darkness, disease, sin, Satan, death, cause significant damage to the white's defenses and dream of victory. But the moves, however ingenious and destructive, all fit right into the grand plan of the bright. One partner controls the whole game, and he controls every move of the opponent. In the end, it will be revealed that all that appeared to be a victory for the dark one is nothing but a single, mighty, final triumph for the white one. Something like this is meant by the words, "Did not Christ suffer these things, and so enter into his glory?"
Oh, how joyful must have been these travellers from Emmaus to hear the words of that mysterious stranger! Oh, in what a different light they now saw the whole Good Friday mourning and their own lives! In the light of this explanation the great mystery begins to dawn upon them, that Christ's work of redemption has been accomplished in a far higher and richer sense than they had ever dared to dream! All is not yet clear to them, but already their souls are thrilling with a tremendous sense of the greatness and goodness of God. The hope that had been extinguished is rekindling in their hearts. Yes, that's how they later expressed themselves, "our hearts were stirred" when that stranger explained the scriptures to them!
We know what it is when our hearts are stirred, don't we? Oh, how good it is to hear the Word of God! Oh, how good it is when our souls are overwhelmed with the power and goodness of God! One is comforted, refreshed, almost renewed! Often the preaching of the Word is like a precious, mysterious spiritual bath for us. Sometimes, when some light from on high shines through the preaching, our hearts burst out, thrill and rejoice like those disciples on the road. And that is very good! I know you love it too. That's why you come here to church. Many of you came today, from far away. The tram at Nagyajtai Street is empty, because you are longing for your hearts to be "aroused" again while the Word is being said! Yes, that's good! But that is not all! It is not enough! The true realization of the risen and living Jesus, the life-changing encounter with Him, happens afterwards! The real blessing and assurance comes after that!
Look, we read this: when they came to the end of their journey, "he pretended to go on. But they compelled him, saying, 'Stay with us'" (Lk 24:28-29) - The problem is that most of the time we are content to get our hearts stirred up during the preaching of the Word, and when it's over, we let Jesus go on. He goes on His way, we go on ours - but without Him! All the excitement is just a passing mood. By the time we get out of church, by the time Sunday is over, the despondency, the hopelessness, the sadness, is back again.
I think, Brethren, that this is the point at which Christianity today has reached a crossroads: Do they let Jesus go on, or do they invite him in and are enlivened by the certainty of an encounter with the living Jesus? Will it be content to be stirred from time to time by some dormant enthusiasm, a feeling of piety, or will what we read about here happen? Here it is that when Jesus pretended to go on, they "forced him, saying, 'Stay with us.'" He forced him. Because Jesus will not go where He is not really wanted, where He is not wanted firmly and seriously, where He is not asked, where He is not received as an expected guest. The only reason we do not have more blessed fellowship and experience with Jesus is because we do not truly desire Him! Yet He would be willing to come in, to share in all our experiences, our work, our fun, our social life, our temptations, our joys, our sorrows, our disappointments!
But maybe we don't really want him to be with us all the time. We do not force him to stay, to come. Then He moves on and we miss the blessings He would bring! And what a blessed and joyful life we could live with Him! Brethren, the future of our church depends on whether we let Jesus go on or invite Him in! For the future of the Church does not depend on the resolution of organisational issues, nor on the development of our relationship with the powers of this world, but solely on our faith in the flesh! Well then, invite the same One, at Whose word you have so often felt your heart stirring here, bring Him into your home, into your work, into your daily life, into your problems! But you must invite, force, want! There His living reality will be revealed. The eyes of the disciples at Emmaus were revealed and they knew Him when He sat down at their table! Now they were convinced beyond all doubt that Jesus, who died on the cross as Saviour, had truly risen and was alive!
The conviction that Christ is truly risen, that he is alive: the most amazing and transformative fact in human history. Behold, even these people, who before were wandering around so hopeless and disappointed, are now running back to Jerusalem with the great good news, almost rejuvenated and reborn. It doesn't matter that it is late, it doesn't matter that they are tired, they have new strength! But with what a different spirit, what a different strength, what a different spirit, what a different purpose, what a different news and assurance! This is the miracle! This is the true miracle of Easter! To walk the same road, but with a different heart! In the same family, in the same workplace, among the same people, among the same temptations, but in a different way.
Whoever invites Jesus into their life and aligns themselves with Him, will feel the divine power that flows into them and becomes powerful in them, renewing their life and making them happy! Oh, how many could testify to this! One might say, "When I really called Jesus, He changed my nature, I became calmer, more peaceful. Another might say: For me, it saved my family life. Someone would testify that he had delivered him from a sin that would have destroyed him physically. I have heard it said: I was completely comforted, and I thought I could never be reconciled again! I have heard that too, and I have experienced it: He has given me a new purpose in life! or: He has healed me of a disease that medical science cannot cure!
For two thousand years the Church has been proclaiming, "The Lord Jesus is risen!" Since then, all who have truly called Him to them have confirmed and proclaimed the great Good News: "He is risen indeed!" You too can be convinced that this news is not an illusion, not an optical illusion, not an exaggeration, but a fact that is a more certain reality than any other event in the history of the world.
Amen
Date: 6 April 1958, Easter.