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Apr 26, 2020

From Blindness to Burning

From Blindness to Burning

Passage: Luke 24:13-35

Speaker: Patrick Lafferty

Series: House Calls

What everyone thought was a failed ending to a hopeful story was actually a necessary tragedy for a greater fulfillment.

Order of Worship

CALL TO WORSHIP: Hebrews 1:1-4
OLD TESTAMENT READING: Genesis 3:15, Genesis 22:18, 2 Samuel 7:12, Isaiah 9:6, Isaiah 50:6, Micah 5:2, Zechariah 9:9, Isaiah 53:11, CENTRAL TEXT: Luke 24:13-35
MESSAGE: From Blindness to Burning
BENEDICTION: Romans 16:25-27

Children's Lesson

Kids Music Video

04.26.20 Sermon Slides

Readings & Scripture

OLD TESTAMENT READING: Gen. 3:15
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”

Gen. 22:18 and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”

2Sam. 7:12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, 15 but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. 16 And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’”

Is. 9:6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Is. 50:6 I gave my back to those who strike,
and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard;
I hid not my face
from disgrace and spitting.

Mic. 5:2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
from ancient days.

Zech. 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Is. 53:11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.

CENTRAL TEXT: Luke 24:13-35
Luke 24:13 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. 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.” 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.

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. 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. 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?” 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.

BENEDICTION: Romans 16:25-27
LEADER: 25 Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages 26 but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith

ALL: 27 to the only wise God be glory for evermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURES:

  • Exodus 4:11
  • Psalm 146:8
  • Matthew 9:27-31
  • Luke 3:16
  • Luke 4:18-19
  • John 9
  • Acts 9
  • Acts 16:14
  • Romans 2:19
  • Ephesians 2:1-10
  • 2 Corinthians 4:4-6
  • Hebrews 1:1-4
  • 1 Peter 1:5-9
  • Revelation 3:17

Related Media

”The Supper at Emmaus,” by Arcabas
"The Supper at Emmaus,” by Arcabas  (Image source: https://blog.ayjay.org/the-supper-at-emmaus/)

InView Media Album: 04.26.2020

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

  1. Can you name a time when something was as plain as the nose on your face but you still missed it? What did it take to finally recognize it?
  2. Besides being unable to see--to recognize--Jesus, Himself, what else could they not see, which Jesus, still incognito, helped them grasp?
  3. The text doesn’t say--we can only infer from it--but why might’ve Jesus kept himself concealed from their eyes until the breaking of the bread with him?
  4. What truths, or implications, of the gospel do you find yourself becoming, so to speak, blind to at times? What circumstances tend to obscure them? How do you “recover” your sight of them? What’s this season made you particularly blind to?
  5. Faith in Christ does not answer all our questions. But what of life makes sense in view of our faith in Him which would not make sense without that faith--feeble and fluid as it may sometimes feel? How does it in any way respond to what we’re experiencing and feeling in this time of worldwide upheaval?

QUOTES:

  • As a society our struggle with the coronavirus resembles the experience of the sick person afflicted with a disease that’s unknown and or misunderstood by medical science. Before falling ill, this person imagined the world of science as a stable room, well-built and well-lit, with a sturdy floor beneath. But now the floor has given way, the patient has fallen through, and in the basement there is darkness, strange shapes, things you can possibly identify by feel but not by sight. There’s still some light coming through from above, from the world of certainty and expertise. . . . But those shafts of light don’t fill the whole basement, and what they do light up can be partial and misleading. So if you’re going to find your way out and up to health and safety, you have to be prepared to grope, to stumble, to make your own light, and sometimes to move by feel or instinct through the dark. - Ross Douthat, “In the Fog of Coronavirus, there are no experts,”
  • I know in their own terms what they saw was the raised Jesus. That’s what they say, and then all the historic evidence we have afterwards attest to their conviction that that’s what they saw. I’m not saying that they really did see the raised Jesus. I wasn’t there. I don’t know what they saw. But I do know that as a historian that they must have seen something. - Paula Fredriksen
  • If. . .I swallow the scientific cosmology as a whole, then not only can I not fit in Christianity, but I cannot even fit in science. If minds are wholly dependent on brains, and brains on biochemistry, and biochem- istry (in the long run) on the meaningless flux of the atoms, I can- not understand how the thought of those minds should have any more significance than the sound of the wind in the trees. And this is to me the final test. . . .I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else. - C.S. Lewis, “Is Theology Poetry?”
  • In order for forgiveness to happen, something has to die. - Brené Brown
  • I’ve been waking up earlier, about 4:45. I don’t sleep very well. I have one cup of coffee. In the shower, I say a morning prayer. I ask God to be relieved of the bondage of self so that I may better serve others. . . . What gets to me these days is the kindness of other people. I get hugs from transporters and nurses. We say ‘I love you’ a lot more now. My director and I will have a conversation, and end it with ‘I love you.’ “- How a respiratory therapist spends his Sunday’s”
  • If Christ is risen, nothing else matters. And if Christ is not risen, nothing else matters.- Yaroslav Pelikan

BOOKS / DOCS / ARTICLES

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