Luke 24:13-35 - Great Expectations - April 23, 2023

Set in 19th century England, Charles Dicken’s novel Great Expectations tells the story of Pip, an orphan adopted by a blacksmith’s family, who has good luck and great expectations, and then loses both his luck and his expectations – and in the process finds true happiness. Through the character of Pip, Dickens was providing commentary on the situation many citizens in 19th century England faced: the nation was becoming a wealthy world super-power, the industrial age was making factories more productive, inventions were making life safer and easier – and yet, in spite of all of this supposed “progress”, the average citizen still did not realize the wonderful life the turn of the century had promised. It was a time of dashed hopes for many. I suppose such a story could be told about any nation in any age – even America in 2023 – the promise of progress doesn’t always meet expectations. The question is: does the theme of great – and often unfulfilled – expectations ever characterize our lives as Christians? Here we are, only 14 days from celebrating the ultimate turning point of human history: our Savior’s resurrection which proves that he has defeated sin, death, and hell once and for all. But it doesn’t even take 2 weeks for reality sap our joy, does it? Easter’s victory and joy may already seem like a distant memory. Why? Easter has given us great expectations, great hopes; so why do we so often feel depressed and gloomy and hopeless? On the road to Emmaus, our Savior diagnoses the problem and provides the solution.

Luke 24 takes us back to the afternoon or evening of the first Easter. For the disciples, it had been a rollercoaster week. On Sunday, Jesus had entered Jerusalem to great fanfare. Monday and Tuesday he taught in Bethany and Jerusalem, Scripture is silent about his activities on Wednesday, on Thursday he celebrated the Passover and instituted the Lord’s Supper, and then, in a few short hours he was betrayed, arrested, convicted, crucified and buried. Jesus was there and then suddenly, he was gone. Then Easter morning came and only seemed to further complicate matters. The women who had gone to finish the burial of Jesus’ body reported that the tomb was empty and that an angel had appeared, claiming he was alive. But when Peter raced to the tomb he didn’t find anything but some empty grave clothes (Luke 24:1-12). Confused and sad, two of the disciples had given up hope and decided to return to Emmaus.

If you were telling this story to a friend who had never heard it, which detail would you focus on? While many details of this story may pique our curiosity, there’s only one detail that really matters. Did you pick it out? Jesus himself approached and began to walk along with them. We tend to pass over this detail because we are captivated by the words that follow: their eyes were kept from recognizing him. There are many theories as to why they couldn’t recognize Jesus, but, in the end, the reason is not important. What matters is a different question: why did Jesus do that to them? He could certainly see how sad and confused they were. It seems cruel and cold-hearted to let them wallow in their hopelessness. Why didn’t Jesus just reveal himself and remove their sadness and confusion immediately? A better question is: why do we ask those questions? Isn’t it bordering on heresy to suggest that Jesus could do anything less than loving? We ask these questions because we see ourselves in this story. We have all found ourselves in situations where we have more questions than answers, more confusion than clarity, more sadness than joy. In troubling times, we can feel a lot like those disciples: hopelessly walking and talking in circles. We feel for these disciples because we often feel like them. We feel bad for them because we often feel bad for ourselves. We wonder why Jesus didn’t relieve their pain and answer their questions sooner because we wonder why he doesn’t give us relief and answers sooner. As understandable as all that is, they overlooked the most important fact, didn’t they? Jesus was there! Jesus is always there, just as he promised! (Matthew 28:20) Then why didn’t he show himself, why didn’t he give them what they wanted? We ask the same question, don’t we? Why doesn’t Jesus just answer my prayers, why doesn’t he give me what I want and expect and hope for?

Have you ever thanked Jesus for not living up to your expectations? You should. We should all thank him every day for refusing to live up to all human expectations because if he hadn’t heaven would still be closed and locked to us. Thank Jesus that he did not do our will, but his Father’s will. Humans expect God to stay in heaven where he belongs – but God’s Son took on human flesh in Bethlehem. Humans expect God to show favoritism to the good and the rich and the powerful – Jesus spent his time healing and preaching the gospel to the outcasts of society, to poor, weak, helpless sinners. Humans expect to get what we deserve – God poured out on Jesus the wrath that we deserve so that we could receive the inheritance we don’t deserve. Humans expect dead people to stay dead – God raised Jesus so that we could be certain of our salvation. Those disciples on the road to Emmaus were hoping that he was going to redeem Israel. In other words, they were hoping that Jesus would provide some measure of earthly restoration and redemption to God’s chosen nation. (Do we ever hope the same? That Jesus would rid our nation of the immorality the devil has sown? Is our hope ever more tied to Jesus winning elections for us than winning heaven for us?) They didn’t realize it yet – and most of the disciples wouldn’t until Pentecost – but Jesus had redeem[ed] Israel! He bought Israel – and the world – back from sin, death, and the devil by suffering, dying and rising again. Who would have planned or expected that? No one but God. So, thank Jesus for not living up to our fallen, foolish, selfish expectations – because if we are looking for a Savior who lives up to our expectations, then not only will we mope through this life, but we will have no hope for the next.

The first lesson we learn on that road to Emmaus is that human expectations only lead to sadness now and eternally – and to be grateful that Jesus doesn’t live up to human expectations. The second is that the promises of Scripture are better than anything we could hope for or expect – so that’s where we should look for Jesus. Again, don’t forget the most important detail of this journey to Emmaus: Jesus himself approached and began to walk along with them. He walked with them. He talked with them. And, when he had heard their hopeless story, what did he do? He applied the Law and the Gospel; he rebuked and comforted them. “How foolish you are and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and to enter his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. Jesus put his finger on the real problem, didn’t he? The problem was not with Jesus, the problem was with the disciples; they had the wrong expectations. While we can’t say with certainty exactly what these disciples were expecting Jesus to do after his death and resurrection, we can say that they hoped to see it. They were expecting some kind of physical, worldly, tangible evidence of the redemption God had promised throughout the Old Testament and that Jesus himself had promised during his ministry. And yet, while Jesus would reveal himself to them in the end by breaking bread with them, that expectation was misplaced and foolish. Why? Because saving faith doesn’t consist of seeing or touching, saving faith consists of holding on to God’s promises – even and especially his promises about things that you can’t touch or see (see Luke 16:31; Hebrews 11:1). The disciples weren’t lacking visible proof of Jesus’ resurrection; they were lacking faith in the Word. That’s the lesson they learned in the end, wasn’t it? Were not our hearts burning within us while he was speaking to us along the road and while he was explaining the Scriptures to us? Jesus rekindled their faith and hope and joy, not by revealing himself to them – he disappeared again in moments – but by pointing them back to Scripture.

Have you felt sad or downcast or disappointed in the 14 days since Easter? Why? Is it because anti-Christian “experts” have proved that Jesus didn’t rise from the dead? No, he did; hundreds of people saw him alive (1 Corinthians 15:3-8). Is it because you have committed a sin that can’t be forgiven? No, John assures us that the blood of Jesus purifies us from all sin (1 John 1:7). Is it because your life has taken a turn you didn’t expect? Maybe. Is it because you have grown frustrated with the people around you or life in general? Possibly. Is it because Jesus is not doing the things you expect him to in your life? Getting warmer. Or is it because like those disciples you are slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken – or even worse, you don’t know your Bible well enough to know what the prophets have said? Bingo. If you don’t know your Bible or you don’t believe what it says you will always be disappointed because you don’t know what Jesus has promised. So if you’re tired of hopelessly wandering through life like those disciples, then turn to the one place Jesus promises to be found – to walk with you and talk with you – and you will find that what he promises is better than anything you could have expected.

That’s, admittedly, a pretty big claim; let’s put it to the test. “I’m struggling with chronic pain or a disease that just won’t go away, I’ve prayed about it and was expecting Jesus to have cured me by now.” No wonder you’re sad. Jesus has promised no such thing. This is what he did say to the Apostle Paul when he pleaded with the Lord to remove the thorn in his flesh: my grace is sufficient for you, because my power is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). If a physical ailment has forced you to look to God’s Word and pray for strength – that’s a good thing! “I looked around the church on Easter and saw how full it was and I was expecting that God would keep bringing those people back and keep our church growing.” Or, related to that, “I had my children baptized, I brought them to Sunday school, I made sure they were confirmed…and now they want nothing to do with the Word and Sacraments.” No wonder you’re disappointed (I am too!). You’ve forgotten that even as Jesus commands us to preach the Gospel to all people, he reveals that the seed will fall on all sorts of different kinds of soil, that many people who hear the Word will let the devil or the world or worry or unbelief crowd it out (Matthew 13:1-23). “Life is short and hard and then you die – I expected more as a disciple of Christ.” No one is denying that life is hard. That’s why Christian hope is not built on what we see but on what is unseen, on the inheritance in heaven that is safe with our Savior in heaven. Paul wrote: Yes, our momentary, light trouble produces for us an eternal weight of glory that is far beyond any comparison. We are not focusing on what is seen, but on what is not seen. For the things that are seen are temporary, but the things that are not seen are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:17-18). Those are just a few examples, but I hope you get the point. Hoping that Jesus will live up to your fallen, limited expectations will only leave you sad and disappointed. But when you open your Bible and read it and trust it, you will find that God’s promises are better than you ever would have expected; so that you too can say: “Was not my heart burning within me while he was speaking to me and explaining the Scriptures to me?”

Charles Dickens was on to something. People of all times and places have great expectations, but reality regularly dashes those expectations to pieces. Those two disciples on the road to Emmaus had great expectations for Jesus. They were sad because Jesus hadn’t lived up to their expectations. But when Jesus appeared on that road and opened the Scriptures to them, he taught them that their Risen Savior was even better than they expected. He is our redeemer, our redeemer from sin, death and hell; and our redeemer lives! Set aside your own expectations – expectations that regularly leave you sad and hopeless. Turn instead to the promises of Scripture – where Jesus walks with you and talks with you, rekindling your hope and joy; that great expectation of heaven which will never disappoint, because Christ is risen, he is risen indeed! Amen.