Jesus says, “Hey, Look! It’s Me!”

+ In the Name of Jesus +
Jesus says, “Hey, Look! It’s Me!”
Sermon on Luke 24:13–35
for Easter 3
April 20-23, 2023

1. It seems that Jesus could have spared his disciples a lot of grief and anguish if he would have appeared to them earlier and showed himself. If he would have simply said, “Hey, look! it’s me!” Think of last week’s Gospel when the disciples were hiding in fear all day, or Thomas, burdened with his doubts. What if he would have met the women at the tomb, say at 6:00 a.m., and then saw the disciples at 8:00 a.m. Quick. Easy. No more doubts or fears. Well, let’s think again of how he did what he did. How he used the time and the circumstances. Mary Magdalene ran to the disciples and said she had seen Jesus alive. Peter and John ran to the tomb and saw the empty grave and the graveclothes. And then they had most of the day to think about it. And then Jesus appeared and said, “Peace be with you.”  Thomas got to hear the other disciples talk about the risen Jesus for a whole week, and then he himself heard Jesus say, “Peace be with you. … Look at my hands and my feet. Stop doubting and believe.”  Jesus was letting the powerful message of his gospel do its work. In that message, Jesus was saying, “Hey, look! It’s me. I am here to heal.”
2. We see that very clearly when Jesus walked on the road to Emmaus with two disciples. He meets them on the road and asks, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”  Jesus knows, doesn’t he? Because he knows all things, he knows. Even if he weren’t using his omniscience, he could make a good guess—what would everyone in Jerusalem have been talking about? The tragic and amazing events of that weekend, right? But Jesus asks anyway. Why? He wants to hear it from them. That’s why he doesn’t just shout, “Hey, look! It’s me!” He is the “Wonderful Counselor” (Isaiah 9:6), and he wants to bring them healing of heart, soul and mind.
3. They answer him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” Oh, what could Jesus say? “Oh, yes! I know it all. Let me tell you all the details from my point of view!” But no—he wants to hear it from them, so he asks, “What things?”  He is leading them to find the answers in what they know—in what they know about him.
4. And they know a lot! “About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. ²⁰The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; ²¹but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.”  They were doing really good until that last phrase—the past tense—‘we had hoped that he was the one who would redeem Israel.” They had the same problem as Peter did a few months earlier. When Jesus clearly said, “See, we are going to Jerusalem and I will suffer many things and be killed and raised again,” Peter said, “Lord! This will never happen to you”  (Matthew 16:22). They had their own idea of what Jesus work as Savior or Messiah would be: a glorious kingdom with power and might and soldiers and the disciples becoming princes in the kingdom. Not like the events of the last week, mocking, beating, suffering and dying. That’s why they used the past tense. “…we had hoped…”
5. Even now—Easter Sunday, late afternoon, they had reason to hope. They said, “…it is the third day since all this took place. ²²In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning ²³but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. ²⁴Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”  It was Easter. The original Easter. And what did the Emmaus disciples know about Easter? They knew everything about it, didn’t they? These Emmaus disciples had wounded hearts—hearts wounded by what they had seen, heard and knew about Jesus suffering and death. They were also wounded in heart, soul and mind because their plans were not the same as God’s plans. Their plans of what they thought “redeeming  Israel” meant had obviously fallen through miserably. God’s plans of “redeeming Israel” were actually coming to fulfillment. They saw, heard, and knew much about Easter and about God’s plan for redemption. They were not yet accepting it as true and trusting it. They hadn’t made the connections yet. If Jesus would have said, “Hey look! It’s me” the Emmaus disciples may well have said, “Oh wow! Great! Let’s do that Palm Sunday thing again, only let’s get it right this time. Let’s make the triumphal entry more spectacular this time! And we can show everyone how you will redeem Israel.” They missed the point—and that’s why they were hurting. Jesus needs to connect their thoughts and feelings to his greater plan—a plan bigger than their plans for Jesus ever were.
6. [Jesus] said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 27And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.” Jesus uses the Old Testament prophecies to explain the events of Good Friday and Easter to them.  “Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things?” Jesus had been talking about that all along. What did Moses and all the prophets say about a suffering Savior? Moses wrote about the beginning, how God responded to Adam and Eve’s disobedience by giving a promise of a suffering Savior. “I will put enmity between you [Satan] and the woman, between your offspring and hers. He will crush your head and you will strike his heel” (Genesis 3:15). Jesus points to what is the third or fourth page of our bibles and says, “Hey look! It’s me! There I am!” In Psalm 22, King David wrote words that didn’t apply to himself, but to the suffering Savior. “My God, why have you forsaken me? … They have pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones. My heart has melted with in me. … Yet, I will proclaim your name to my brothers!” “Hey look! It’s me! There I am!” Psalm 16 says, “You will not abandon me to the grave, you will not let your holy One see decay.” “Hey look! It’s me! There I am!” And then what Isaiah wrote—those passages we heard during Lent: “I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard” (Isaiah 50). “The punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.” … “After the suffering of his soul he will see the light of life and be satisfied” (Isaiah 53). “Hey look! It’s me! There I am!” Jesus kept the Emmaus disciples from recognizing him visually because he wanted to reveal himself to them biblically and spiritually. He wanted to bring healing to them with his Word, both the Word of what they knew about him, “powerful in word and deed,” what they knew about him, the “vision of angels, who said he was alive,” and God’s ancient words of promise about what the Savior would be and what he would do and what he would suffer for them. “Hey look! It’s me! Here I am! It is written about me in the scroll!” (Psalm 40:7).
7. “What are you discussing together as you walk along?” “Why are your faces downcast?” Jesus could very well ask us the same things. He wants to hear it from us. That’s why he has given us the gift, the privilege to carry everything to him in prayer. And like he did for the disciples on the road to Emmaus, he wants to bring us healing—the healing of bringing our thoughts and plans in line with his—the healing of reviewing his saving work, his gracious plan and promise for us. He wants to show himself to us in the Word, too. “Hey, look! It’s me! Here I am!” Jesus himself brings about the blessings he promised in the Beatitudes. “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God.” He brings us healing as he restores our spirits as we hear his Word, believe it, and strive to live it. “Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted.” He comes to us with his gospel about who he is and what he has done for us—“I am the resurrection and the life!” “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last—the Living One. I was dead and, see, I am alive forever and ever! I also hold the keys of death and hell.”  When we read Scripture, or we hear Scripture and the words of Jesus in Scripture read to us, Jesus is saying, “Hey, look! It’s me! Here I am!” When your pastors lift the lids of the communion ware and recite Jesus’ words, “This is my body which is given for you” … “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, poured out for you for the forgiveness of sins,” Jesus is saying, “Hey, look! It’s me! Here I am!” “Here I am—present with you—not far from you, but right next to you. Here I am with words of forgiveness, life, love and heaven.” “I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you. ¹⁹ In a little while the world will see me no longer, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.”

Amen.