Word and Table

Thank you for reading this sermon from Christ Fellowship. I hope and pray that this sermon will be a blessing of grace and truth to you. With that said, let me encourage you not to use this sermon as a replacement for your local church. Christ Jesus did not establish his Church simply for us to consume content. Instead, He calls us to be part of a real, covenant family. 

There are some moments in the Bible that stand out… Some moments that are packed with meaning and significance. When Adam and Eve took the fruit of the forbidden tree and ate it, they plunged humanity into a curse of sin and death. That was a pretty significant moment in human history.

After that forsaken meal, we read about God searching for them in the garden, where they tried to hide in shame.

Today, we will read about Jesus hiding Himself from two disciples after the resurrection and then revealing Himself at a meal, which is meant to be understood as a complete reversal of the Eden story.

The story involves two disciples, one named Cleopas and an unnamed disciple. I’m inclined to think it is probably his wife.

13 That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem,

14 and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened.

15 While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them.

16 But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.

This is an interesting detail. Think about what is happening. This is the day of the resurrection… the greatest day in human history. According to Mark and John, Mary Magdalene was the first person to see the risen Christ.

At some point, he also appears to the other women and Peter. Later that evening, he appears to the other disciples. But in between, we find this story of Jesus pursuing two random disciples – otherwise unknown to us.

I think this is remarkable and beautiful. Watch what happens.

17 And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad.

18 Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”

19 And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people,

20 and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him.

21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened.

22 Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning,

23 and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive.

24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.”

It’s obvious now that the two disciples left Jerusalem in doubt. They don’t believe the story. But Jesus intentionally goes after them!

25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!

26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?”

27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

Some of you may be familiar with the Timothy Brindle song Death and Resurrection, which starts like this:

You should be floored by Luke 24
After being resurrected from the tomb to restore
Everyone Jesus was crucified for
As He speaks His disciples hear rebukes from our Lord
(He reproved them? What for?)
For not believing the Old Testament

This is fascinating to me, because all Jesus had to do was reveal Himself physically and instantly they would have believed. But instead, He chooses to reveal Himself first by using Scripture. He counsels them with the Word.

Jesus even calls them foolish for doubting when they should know His Word! They were looking for the glory of the Messiah and ignored all the verses about His suffering.

What we have here is the risen Christ appearing as a stranger and leading a Bible study… on the day of the resurrection. If that doesn’t speak to us about the importance and authority of God’s written Word, I don’t know what will.

This is one of the many reasons why Protestants cling so tightly to God’s Word. It’s why the preaching of the Word is central to our form of worship. It’s why teaching and instruction in the Word are so important to our church.

I think Jesus did this to demonstrate what was going to be true for the vast majority of His future disciples. They would believe, not because they personally witnessed the resurrection or saw the risen Christ, but because they would hear the Gospel and be changed by it.

28 So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther,

29 but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So, he went in to stay with them.

This is basic hospitality, but notice they are hungry for more. They don’t know this is Jesus. He still looks like a stranger, but they don’t want him to leave. The Word of God is alive and powerful. It’s stirring their hearts… And now comes the big reveal.

30 When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them.

31 And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight.

This is the great reversal with echoes of the Garden of Eden. When Adam and Eve ate the fruit, it says their eyes were opened and they realized their own nakedness.

This time, the eyes of the two disciples open and they see Jesus – the breaker of the curse, the One who defeated sin and death. And He chose this moment of breaking bread – something Jesus Himself would not do again with His disciples until they were together in God’s Kingdom.

What does that mean? It means that God’s Kingdom had come! After the resurrection, whenever we take the Lord’s Supper together, we are proclaiming the arrival of God’s Kingdom.

It’s also important to notice that Jesus explicitly ties His teaching of the Word with the administration of His Supper. This is why Communion always follows and is accompanied by the Word.

32 They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”

There it is again, the clear emphasis on the work of the Holy Spirit through study of the Scriptures.

33 And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together,

34 saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!”

35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.

And that – verse 35 – is basic evangelism. They simply told the story of what happened to them. Two witnesses telling their story.

But I want us to focus on what Jesus did here.

First, he pursued them. They were doubters, on their way back to life as they knew it before Jesus. They were basically walking away from the Messiah and Jesus goes after them. He pursues two regular, inconsequential disciples and spends the entire afternoon with them! On the most important day in history!

I find this to be deeply encouraging. We see the heart of God here so clearly. Jesus spends hours patiently instructing two people who are doubting. He’s not in a hurry. He makes no big display.

And I find that encouraging because I’ve known Jesus to be like this for me in my own life… Patient. Kind. Concerned. Never in a hurry to accomplish His will. But He keeps pursuing me even in my worst moments.

I also find it encouraging from a ministry standpoint. There’s nothing spectacular about teaching God’s Word and spending time with people, but God uses it. Over and over again, I see God using it.

Second, I appreciate the focus on God’s Word here. Jesus has the power to instantly change hearts. He’s the author and perfector of our faith. But He leans on the Scriptures for our sake, to show us how we should handle God’s Word. Beginning with Moses and the Prophets, what does the Bible say about Jesus?

It’s not surprising that this became the habit of the early church. This is how they practiced their faith. “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”

Simple. Timeless. Cross-cultural. Transformative. And it’s enough. Learning about Jesus and breaking bread with Him and with each other. We don’t need more than that.
Third, this story tells us a lot about the importance of the Lord’s Supper. It’s a big deal. But it is meant to be understood as a covenant meal, not a sacrifice. We come to a table, not an altar.

And it’s a family table, where we celebrate together the blessings of what Christ already accomplished. In disobedience, Adam and Eve ate something they were not supposed to eat. In obedience, we regularly eat what Christ commanded us to eat.

Adam and Eve grasped for something they weren’t meant to have. We receive with empty hands something we don’t deserve.

Eating the fruit in the garden broke our fellowship with God, but Jesus has restored our fellowship with God, reconciling us to Himself through His broken body and blood.

Adam and Eve ate the fruit doubting God’s Word. We eat the Lord’s Supper in faith that Christ is sufficient and trustworthy. Our eating is an act of trust in God’s Word.

A tree of death has become a tree of life.

The Lord’s Supper is a redemptive reversal of the first sinful meal. In Eden, eating was rebellion that led to death. At the Table, eating is communion that leads to life. One act alienated; the other reconciles. One grasped at divinity; the other receives the gift of God.

The Lord’s Table not just a remembrance, but a powerful drama of God’s undoing of the Fall through Christ. And He has promised to eat with us.

I’ll end with this. There are times when I feel like God is holding out on me… that there’s something more I deserve than what I currently have… notice I said “deserve”, because there’s a sense in which things aren’t supposed to be this way. The world is broken and full of suffering.

But when I start to feel like I deserve more, that’s my sin talking. That’s when I’m believing the same lie that Adam and Eve believed in the garden.

And how does Jesus respond to me when I’m feeling this way, much like the disciples on the road to Emmaus? He doesn’t immediately give me all the things I think I deserve. Instead, He gives Himself.