"3 Men on a road - 2 turn from despair to hope"

This has been automatically generated, and therefore may contain some unintended inaccuracies.

My first reading is taken from the gospel of Luke starting at on chapter 24 verse 1. Can we pay found on page 1061 of the Bibles? Luke 24. On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the lord Jesus.

While they were wondering about this, suddenly 2 men in clothes that gleaned light lightning stood beside them. In their fright, the women bowed down with their faces to the ground. But the men said to them, why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here. He has risen.

Remember how he told you while he was still with you in galilee, the son of man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified, and on a third day be raised again. Then they remembered his words. When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the 11 and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene Joanna Mary, the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. But they did not believe the women because they words seemed to them like nonsense.

Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away wondering to himself what had happened. The second reading, we're carrying on in Luke 24, reverse 13. Now that same day, 2 of them were going to a village called Emeyas, about 7 miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened.

As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked with them, but they were kept from re from recognizing them. He asked them, what are you discussing together as you walk along? They stood still. Their faces downcast. 1 of them named ClearPass asked him.

Are you the only 1 visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days? What things he asked about Jesus of Nazareth, they replied? He was a prophet powerful in word, indeed, before god, earned all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the 1 who was going to redeem Israel.

And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning, but didn't find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.

He said to them, how foolish you are and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory? And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning himself. As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going further. But they urged him strongly, stay with us for it is nearly evening.

The day is almost over, so he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other.

Were not our hearts burning within us when he talked with us on the road and opened the scriptures to us? They got up and returned at once to to to to Jerusalem. There, they found the 11 and those with them assembled together and saying it is true that the lord has risen and that has appeared to Simon. Then the 2 told what had happened on the way and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread. Happy Easter, everyone.

Thank you very much. And, you know, we could do the bit. Yeah. So if you're new to Christian things, you might not have you might have spotted there was a bit of a call and response thing people were doing. Don't worry.

Let me explain that. People will say, Jesus is risen, and you reply, he is risen indeed, allelujah. Alright? So Jesus is risen. Great stuff.

Thank you. Well, it is great to celebrate together. That Jesus is risen. I'm a pastor here at Hope Church. And boys and girls, it is great you're in for this.

So we're all in together. Parents, if children make a bit of noise, that is absolutely fine. Don't worry about it. It won't bother me. So don't let it bother you.

We'll be fine with that. Boys and girls, I'm gonna need your help in a few minutes. Alright? But you need to listen throughout. So listen to the whole thing, but I'm gonna need your help in a few minutes.

Alright? So on that first east of up, fill you what we need to pray, don't we? We need god's help as we look at his words. So let's pray. Emily father, thank you for your word.

We pray, please, that you would teach us now. Help us to understand it, and help us to apply it to our lives. Men. Where was I? Right.

That first Easter morning. We've already heard in the reading, if you were listening really carefully, you heard that the women went to the tomb and didn't find Jesus' body. And then Peter and others went to the tomb and also didn't find Jesus's body. But we're gonna think about what happened next, the last bit of the passage that was read or the second reading that we had. And in that reading, there are 2 men who are on their way from Jerusalem.

You might want to be able to see the screen. If you can't see the screen, you can move if you need to, if you want to. So you've got 2 guys on their way from Jerusalem walking away, and they are very sad. That's why they're looking down. They're very sad.

And maybe you can relate to them. Maybe you can understand what it's like for them. If you've ever had a time where there was something you were really looking forward to really hoping for, and it didn't happen. I wonder if you've had a time like that. Maybe there was someone's children, maybe there was some party that you wanted to go to.

You were so excited about it. You've been looking forward to it for weeks. And then when it comes near to the day, that morning, you're ill, and you can't go. And you're really upset because you'd so wanted to go. Or maybe there was a sporting event, maybe there was a football match.

I'm not a major football fan, and I do this to try to relate to those who are. But maybe you've been to a football match, or you were watching 1, maybe even last night, and you were disappointed. You were sad. Maybe you support Liverpool, maybe you support Arsenal. I happen to know about those clubs.

And maybe you were very sad. You were hoping you were hoping for great things. Oh, yeah, Marie. I'd leave that. Sorry.

Shouldn't have drawn attention. Maybe you're really sad because it was it was you were hoping for so much, and then it went wrong. Well, maybe you can feel there for a bit like, what, what, what those guys were feeling on the road. Because they were feeling exactly that. They were feeling like they were had so hopeful, but things had gone so wrong.

And they were walking away from Jerusalem, going to a place called emmaus, which is probably where their home was. They were walking away because they felt it everything had gone wrong because Jesus was their friend, and they thought he was gonna do amazing things. They thought he was gonna do amazing things for them and for the whole nation of Israel, and yet Jesus had died crucified. And so they were leaving Jerusalem really sad. It had all gone wrong, and they were heading home.

But as they walk along the road, someone walks with them And did you spot in the reading who it is who walks with them? Okay. This is where I need your help. So who was it? Who started walking with them?

Chloe, you know? It was Jesus. That's right. So they're walking along the road, and they're really sad because Jesus has died, and they're thinking it's all gone horribly wrong. Jesus is dead.

That's the end. And then Jesus walks with them on the road. Which is really exciting, isn't it? You go, okay, the 1 that you thought was gonna be so special who died, is now walking with them, but they couldn't recognize Jesus. God made it somehow such that even though Jesus was walking with them, they didn't know it was him, which means we know it was him, but they don't.

And at 1 point, Jesus says to them that they're foolish. Because you see, they didn't believe that Jesus had risen from the dead. And Jesus says to them how foolish you are and how slow to believe. They still don't know it's him. But he's saying, you know, you're being really stupid here.

You're being really foolish for not believing that Jesus had risen from the dead. Now I really like that because, you know, sometimes people will say about Christians, Oh, you guys believe in god, and you believe that Jesus rose from the day. And they kind of make it out like we're really foolish for doing that, and yet Jesus here is saying, these disciples, these followers, these people who are walking away from Jerusalem, He's saying, you guys are the foolish ones for not believing because there's really good reason to believe that Jesus rose from the dead. In fact, it's so good. Jesus is saying, Jesus is saying you'd be foolish not to believe it.

So what is there? We're gonna look at in the passage. We're gonna look at 2 things that show it would be foolish not to believe Jesus rose from the dead. 2 things. And the first is the things that had happened, the things that had happened.

Alright? The things that had happened. So Jesus walks along with these 2 people who are very sad, they're very sad because Jesus has died, and yet Jesus is with them. And Jesus says to them, What have you been talking about as you walked along the road? And they say, verse 18, are you the only 1 visiting Jerusalem Limoux?

Doesn't know the things that have happened there in these days? And Jesus says, what things? I take it. He said it like that. And they say verse 19 in the passage if you've got it open.

About Jesus of Nazareth. Lovely, isn't it? Jesus is with them, and they're saying, yeah, things about Jesus. And then they say some things that happened to Jesus. Now, boys and girls, again, I need your help here.

You are going to need to move. Alright? Because around the room, there are on bits of paper, a bit like this 1, down here. There are 7 things that Jesus that happened to Jesus or 7 things like that. Alright?

So I need you to move around and go and get them and bring them to the front, and we're gonna need to put them in the right order. But don't worry, you don't need to put them in the right order. Everyone can help you. Alright? So if you're not going around to get a bit of paper, you need the bible open in front of you because you're gonna need to help to get these in the right order.

So boys and girls, head off, go and get them. They're just round the room. They're in this room. You don't need to go outside this room. Go and grab 1.

There are some around the room, some at the back. There's 1 at the front. Well done. Yeah. Getting the 1 at the front.

Well, I'm gonna move this back as well. So I think we might need the space. Okay. Well done. Okay.

Good. So line up. Line up. Line up. Line up.

Line up. Very good. Well done, Lewis. David, well done. What have we got?

What have we got? Okay. Yeah. Come this end. Can I move that?

No. Let's keep that there. Okay. Well done. So we got all of them.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Is there 1 more? There's 1 more. Okay. We need 1 more.

We're waiting. We can wait all day. Ah, Steve's gonna do it. Oh, no. Yamarey's gonna do it.

Brilliant. Yamarey. Well done. Oh, Lovely. He fooled you, though didn't he.

Okay. Well, oh, good. Good. Good. Yeah.

Well done. Okay. So can you hold them up for us? That we can see them. That's it.

Zachary hold it up. Okay. So now you can see the things on here, and if you've got your Bible open in front of you, we need to get these in the right order, don't we? So What comes first in the list? Someone shout out for me out of these.

Powerful in word, indeed. Powerful in word, indeed. Thank you. So could you come right? Yeah.

You guys need to swap. So Okay. So powerful in word and deed. Don't fall down the steps. That's it.

Well done. Oh, very good. Yeah. Good to stand there. Okay.

What comes second? So sorry.powerful in word and deed. Let's just get them in order first. Powerful and word and deed. What's next?

Sentenced to death, okay, who's got that? Chloe, would you come around here? So you're gonna need to shift that way while then yamorate, move along? Sentance to death. Yes.

Stay powerful in word and deed. Centers to death was next. Cruiseified. Okay. We've got that.

Well, done, Yamara. You stay there. What's next? On the third day. On the third day?

Okay. So we got the right 1 there? There may not be much movement needed. What's the next 1? 0, you say what?

I used to What is it? I think you got it. Yeah. The women didn't find Jesus' body. Then what's next?

Angel. The Angels. Thank you. Angels said Jesus' live and then? Okay.

So we've got them in the right order. Men didn't find Jesus's body. Okay. So these are the events that happened that these 2 people walking along the road very sad are saying to Jesus. These are things that happened to you, although they didn't know it was him.

Said Jesus was powerful in word and deed. In other words, he did amazing things, amazing miracles and taught incredibly with amazing authority. So he's powerful in word and deed. Then it says, oh, by the way, who does it say sentence Jesus? Kinda says who sent us here.

Thank you, chief priests, and rulers. They handed him over to be sentenced to death. Okay. So Jesus was sentenced to death, then crucified, and we heard about that On Good Friday, we remember Jesus dying. He was crucified nailed to a cross.

And then on the third day. So third day, that's the Sunday beginning of the week. Women went to the tomb. They went to go and take spices to anoint Jesus' body, and they found his body wasn't there. But they did find angels who said that Jesus is alive, and then some men went to the tomb.

Peter and other companions went to the tomb and found nobody. Now, Guys, stay where you are. Okay? Hold up your sheets nicely. These are the events that happened.

Now you might think, well, the 1 thing there's 1 thing missing here that would really convince them. What's the 1 thing that's missing? Do you think? If you look at these, you got, okay. Got all these events.

What's the 1 thing that's missing that would really convince these 2 people that Jesus had risen from the dead? To see him. Yeah. But Jesus is saying, actually, you don't need that. He's right there with them.

He could have just gone, it's me, but he didn't. Why didn't he? He's kinda saying, no, you don't, you don't really need that. You've got all that you need already with these events. Now why should these events make you think Jesus has risen from the dead?

Hold them up. Hold them up again. Nice and clearly, Yamaro. Where's your oh, you've got yours there. Well done.

Why should these events mean that they should think, yeah, Jesus has risen from the dead? Well, is partly because earlier in Luke's gospel, Jesus had said this. Okay. I'm gonna put it on the screen. You guys hold up your things.

It said, and he said Jesus said The son of man must suffer many things be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and teachers of the law. He must be killed, and on the third day, be raised to life. So it's like they're saying, okay, let's look at these events. What have we got? Jesus said, the son of man must suffer many things, suffer many things.

Yes, sentenced to death, that he must be rejected by the elders chief priest. Do you remember it said? They said the chief priest rejected him. Yeah? Teachers of the law.

He must be killed, crucified. And on the third day, on the third day, he'll be raised to life. And the women couldn't find the body, the angel said he'd risen, the men couldn't find the body. They should have thought. Jesus has risen.

Jesus had told them, this is what's gonna happen. And that the end result would be he'd risen from the dead. Even the angel in the tomb said, remember what he said. Did you see that? When we had the reading, have a look back down.

Guys, you're doing so well holding those up. Keep going. It says, verse 7 of 24, the son of man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified, and on the third day be raised again. Okay? So even the angel is saying, remember that he said this that these things would happen, and the end result would be he's risen from the dead.

So they should have no. They should have thought. Yeah. We've been told. Several times this is gonna happen, and they even say, and now is the third day.

And so doesn't that leave you thinking, why are you leaving Jerusalem? Where are you going? It's ridiculous to go away from Jerusalem, surely, surely stick around. I mean, 1 more day just to see what's gonna happen because look, it's all adding up to Jesus risen from the dead. Surely, you stay around, but they didn't.

They left Jerusalem, and they left sad. Okay. Guys, could you put down your the those are those things that happened And thank you very much for your help, and you can head back to your seats. Well then, you could go that way. Very good.

Okay. So first thing that should have made them go, oh, yes. We we can see Jesus risen from the dead is the things that happened. And these things should help us as well. That as we read about them, as we read that Jesus said these things were gonna happen.

As the angel said, don't forget, Jesus said these things were gonna happen. And as we read these 2 saying, these are the things that happen. We should go, of course. Yeah. Jesus rose from the dead.

But they didn't believe, and they were still sad, and they were still walking away from Jerusalem. And so we're gonna see the second thing that should have made them think, yeah, Jesus has risen from the dead. But we're gonna do that in a moment. We're gonna sing first. So the 2 men on the road, and they are downcast Jesus joins them.

And he says, what are you talking about? And they said, well, the things that happened, they said, what what things? The things about Jesus? Okay. What thing?

And they go through those events that have happened. And you can almost imagine Jesus is going there going Yeah. You've gone through them. So? Anyway, that's not what he does.

And he doesn't just say it's me. He then says he says verse 25, how foolish you are and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken. All that the prophets have spoken. So the second thing first thing was the things that happened. Second thing was that the Bible says those things were gonna happen.

The Bible says that Jesus would suffer and die and rise to life again. So it says in verse 26, he says how foolish you are. Then he says, did not the Messiah have to suffer these things, and then enter his glory? And beginning with Moses and all the prophets He explained to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning himself. So Jesus is saying, look, it was all there in the old testament.

Not only had Jesus told them that these events were gonna happen. He's saying, look, it was all there in the old testament. It's like god's told you over and over again that this is what was gonna happen. It's a bit like if you were gonna travel somewhere and somewhere someone tells you what you can expect to see there. So now bear with me on this.

Imagine you were trapped now boys and girls. If you get either of these or any of these, I'll be delighted. Okay? So watch out for it. See what see if you can spot.

If you were to travel to Peezer, What might you expect to see there? What big building? What if what thing would you expect to see there? Yeah. Do you know?

The leaning tower? Well done, Joshua. Very good. The leaning tower you'd expect you, someone tells you, okay, you say, I'm gonna go to Pisa, and they say, Oh, you're going to Pisa. Look out for the leaning tower, and when you get there, you look out, you go, look, there's a leaning tower.

That's exactly what you expect. 1 more. Actually, 2 more. Rio de generic. Do you know what you'd expect to see?

There's a big landmark there. What would you expect to see? Yeah. I don't know your name, but yeah. Do you know what it is?

I'm sure there are. I'm sure you're right. Luxury hotels and beaches. I'm sure you're absolutely fucked up. It wasn't the thing I was thinking of though.

Did anyone else know the thing I was thinking of? There's a big statue there. Now you're making me question whether I've got the right place. Christ the redeemer. That's right.

Big statue of Jesus overlooking the city that you can look up and you can see. Okay. But if someone said, you know what? I'm that I'm not going to any of the other places. I'm going to, Tollworth for my holidays.

What would you expect to see? Tollworth Tower. The Tollworth Tower. There it is. In all its glory, on a beautiful day.

Yeah. The Tolworth Tower. Proud of it, aren't we? Okay. That was a minor diversion for but what would you expect when the Messiah comes?

What's he gonna be like? What's gonna happen to him? And Jesus is saying, actually, if you look through the whole of the old testament, it tells you what to expect. It says that you should expect that he will suffer and then enter his glory. Now I'm just gonna give you a couple of verses.

See if you're okay. Boys and girls, you're gonna need to concentrate on this. Okay? But you're gonna be able to spot it, or we're gonna work on it together. I'm gonna give you 3 verse, 3 little passages from the old testament, see if you can spot where in them there's anything to do with kind of Jesus' death.

Or resurrection. Okay? So Psalm 22 written about 1000 years before Jesus's death and resurrection written 1000 years before, and it says this. All who see me mock me, they hurl insults, shaking their heads. He trusts in the lord, they say.

Let the lord rescue him. Let him deliver him since he delights in him. Quite amazing, isn't it? This is a poem that was written, written by King David, but actually, can you see it's what happened to Jesus? People mocked him, hurled insults at him.

Shook their head at him, said he trusts in the lord. Let the lord rescue him. As you read it now, grown ups, you might go, okay, I'll go back and look at that. Please do. Psalm 22 is incredible as you read it through.

Now when you read it, you might think Now this is about King David. It was written by King David, and it's clearly right about himself. You need to know how the old testament points to Jesus. Sometimes there are just clear things where it says the Messiah will be like this. But other times, it's that there are figures in the old testament who like foreshadow Jesus and things that happen to them or things they did or things they said, as you read them, you go, well, that's kind of about them, but it's more about Jesus, really.

And Psalm 22 is 1 of them. Read it like that, and you will be stunned how clearly it is about Jesus' crucifixion, and the suffering he went through. And here's part of it. Here's another part of Psalm 22. Where it says dogs surround me.

A pack of villains encircles me. They pierce my hands and my feet. All my bones are on display. People stare and gloat over me. They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garments.

Did you spot anything there that's a bit like that's like Jesus? Yeah. Do you wanna say what it is? Did you spot something? The hands and hands and feet.

Yeah. Exactly. They pierce my hands and feet. Incredible, isn't it? Yeah.

Do you spot another? I don't want the strap. Bone, Thank you. His bones are on display because he died on the cross. Brilliant.

Good spot. And there's 1 right near the bottom. Did you spot that? They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garments. Jesus wasn't in control there.

He didn't make that happen, but that's what the soldiers did. It's amazing, isn't it? Things in the old testament written 1000 years before, then you'd read them and he'd go, that is about Jesus. It's so clearly about Jesus. Let me give you 1 more.

Psalm 16 this time, Therefore, my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices, my body also were rest secure because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful ones see decay? Now, the apostles pointed to this 1 a lot when they were preaching to the crowds after Jesus's resurrection and ascension. They pointed to this verse a lot because they said, look, it it's, again, it's King David, and he's saying, you're not gonna let my body see decay. And they said Peter says on the day of pentacles, that's clearly not about David because he died, and he his body was put in the tomb. It clearly can't be about him.

It must be pointing to Jesus who wouldn't stay dead. So do you see Jesus is saying, if you just read the old testament, if you just read what you've got, you should know that the Messiah would suffer and would rise again. He says you're really slow. You're being really foolish, not believing. Well, we've already said what we reckon would have convinced them.

And so there is a third thing. The second thing was that the Bible says it would happen. But there is a a third thing. He says, you know, you're foolish, you're slow to believe, and the third thing is the risen Jesus was seen. So he did then show himself to them, but it's almost like he's saying, well, you don't really need this, but all right.

I'll show you that I'm here. Actually, no. It's pretty major, isn't it? That he shows that he's there. So he says, verse 28 says, as they approached the village, they were gonna Jesus, went to move on to travel on further, but they said, no.

Stay with us. And so he did. And as they sat at the table, Jesus broke bread, And as he did that, it says, verse 31, then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. He broke bread. Their eyes were opened, and they must have gone, it's Jesus.

It's him. And they must have been so thrilled at that. Now what difference does it make that Jesus rose from the dead? I'm not gonna go into all of that. This is more about just seeing what they saw, but it made huge amounts of difference.

Now these 2 men They didn't just say, oh, well, that's not something you see every day, and then stay where they are. No. They ran. They went back to Jerusalem. We're told they went back to tell everyone else all of Jesus' other followers that they met Jesus, the risen Jesus.

But when they got there, they found that the other disciples, the other said, yay. Yeah. Yeah. Peter saw him as well. He got, oh, 0, well, that sort of took the wind out of them bit, didn't it?

We thought we got great news. Amazing news. Oh, you already know. But it was such amazing news. They had to go back.

They had to tell other people, and we're told at the end of Luke's gospel that they were commissioned then to go out and to tell everyone, and to proclaim sins forgiven that you can have your sins forgiven because of what Jesus did for us, because he died and rose to life again. Boys and girls, I wonder whether you remember this from holiday club if you were there. It's my rucksack, but it's got sin on it, hasn't it? And do you remember we said at holiday club? That sin is us saying to God shove off god, I'm in charge no to your rules.

Do you remember that? If you weren't there, that's what we were saying it was. And and and that's what sin is. It's us saying shove off god, and we all do it. Do you remember I said, that sometimes people might say to you, I'll take that.

You know, if something's really heavy, they'll say, I'll take that for you. You know, you're struggling along. They say, I'll take it. You go, oh, hew. You take it.

It's like Jesus on the cross says, I'll take it. I'll take it for you. You can't bear your sin. You can't cope with it, but I'll take it for you. And when he died on the cross, he took it for us.

And now with him risen from the dead, Jesus's followers, a commission. They're told you go now. Go and tell others about the resurrection, and go and tell others that they can have their sins forgiven as well. And that's what we as a church wanna do too. Now it might be that you're new to Christian things, or you're wanting to investigate these things, that you're wanting to find out more.

Maybe you're going, well, look, it's not obvious to me, actually, that Jesus rose from the dead. And if you've got questions, you've got objections, please come along on hope explored. I would love to have you come along, and for you to raise those objections, ask those questions, please come along. It's a free course. We're doing 3 Sunday, afternoon evening sort of type 4 o'clock.

Please come along. We've also got some books that I think are somewhere to give out at the end the Alastair beg book, about the man on the middle cross. And so please grab 1 of them. If you're interested, you wanna find out more, grab 1 of those books. It's a really helpful little book, that Alastair Beg has written about Jesus.

So please do grab 1 of them as you leave. It is the best news that Jesus has risen, and those walking along the road, they should have believed it. And in a way, we should too, we'd be foolish not to believe it because of the things that happened, because the Bible tells us it was gonna happen. And because Jesus was seen, risen from the dead, and we're told over 500 people saw him risen from the dead. Is great news.

And it means that there is victory over the grave, and so we're gonna sing our last song together, where o grave is your victory.