Last Sunday was Easter Sunday. I hope that you all live with the resurrection faith.
Today, I would like to once again share with you about resurrection.
But this time, I would like to approach resurrection from a different perspective.
Let me ask you a question.
What image do you have of the resurrection of Jesus?
When you think of the resurrection of Jesus, what is the first image in your mind?
Most of you may imagine the shining and brilliant appearance of the risen Jesus, wearing shining white clothes, sometimes with the angels.
Let me show you some pictures… (picture)
I also have had these images about the risen Jesus in my mind for a long time.
In fact, most of these images are derived from some pictures painted by famous painters in Europe's famous cathedrals.
Then, are these images derived from the Bible?
If we read the Bible carefully, we can realize that this is not the image of the resurrection of Jesus in the Bible.
We cannot see shining and brilliant images of the resurrection of Jesus in the Bible.
Let me show you another picture. (picture)
What does this picture remind you of?
Can you describe what this picture is?
The title of this picture is “The Supper at Emmaus” drawn by Caravaggio.
Yes, right.
This picture was drawn based on the story of the text we read today.
Can you guess who Jesus is in this picture?
Yes, the one who sits in the middle is the risen Jesus.
If you look at this picture without knowing any background explanation, could you recognize the resurrected Jesus?
You might understand it as a completely different picture.
When we look at the resurrected Jesus in the Gospel, we have common knowledge.
This knowledge is that the resurrected Jesus appeared as a stranger.
So the disciples, when they met the resurrected Jesus, at first did not recognize that he was indeed the resurrected Jesus.
In fact, it was the same when Jesus first came to the world.
When Jesus came to us first, he came to a manger in Bethlehem unknowingly.
Just like that, the resurrected Jesus appeared unfamiliarly.
Sometimes He appeared as a gardener, sometimes as a stranger on the road.
Think about it.
If the risen Jesus appeared in the sky with shining and brilliance with a great number of angels, all the people of the world could see Him easily.
But we do not find that kind of scene in the Bible.
We can see the resurrected Jesus in the image of the unknown, the image of a stranger.
Yes, we should be able to realize the fact that the resurrected Jesus always comes to us in very ordinary, and sometimes in a very strangely figure, unlike from our imaginations and expectations.
Today's text is the story of two disciples heading to Emmaus.
We know and have heard so much about this story.
This is the longest story about the resurrection of Jesus in the four Gospels, and it is a dramatic story that is well organized.
The next day after the Sabbath, two men who had been with Jesus’ disciples, left Jerusalem and were going to the village of Emmaus.
Maybe they were going to give up everything and return to home.
Except for the fact that one of the them was named Cleopas, no specific, nor details of introduction about them was recorded.
They are the ones who followed Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem.
It seems that they entrusted their lives to Jesus entirely in order to gain something through Jesus.
But now they seem to be shocked because of Jesus' death.
These two disciples heard the news from Mary early in the morning that Jesus was resurrected.
Some of the disciples also identified the empty tomb.
But these two disciples have not yet accepted that Jesus has risen and they did not want to believe it.
They were going home with pain and sadness.
Then, the risen Jesus approached the disciples in the figure of an unknown person.
Jesus, as a stranger, goes along with the two disciples and talks with them.
But, they didn’t know who he was.
Actually, they have been the disciples of Jesus
They have followed Jesus for a long time.
They have known who Jesus was.
They have seen what Jesus did.
But now, ironically, they don’t realize the risen Jesus, even though the risen Jesus walks and talks with them.
According to verse 16, their eyes were kept from recognizing him.
What made their eyes keep from recognizing Jesus?
Perhaps, their fear, sorrow, despair and doubt made them keep from recognizing Jesus who was with them.
Let’s think about ourselves.
Jesus still wants to go along with us and talk with us.
However, most Christians, including us, still don’t encounter the risen Jesus or realize Jesus who is with us.
I believe that our fears, doubts, grief, and despair keep our eyes from recognizing Jesus Christ.
During the conversation, they arrived at their destination.
Jesus, who came as an unknown companion, would leave the two disciples and keep going on the road.
They asked Jesus to stay overnight.
And Jesus accepted their request and entered the house with these disciples.
Now when it was time for meals to sit on the table, Jesus took bread, gave thanks, broke it and gave it to them.
At that moment, their eyes were opened and they recognized Jesus.
Jesus who died on the cross, Jesus who was buried in the grave, the very same Jesus is sitting before them.
"Oh, this is Jesus, who was crucified on the cross ..."
They realized.
A very dramatic change has happened.
Now everything that was covering their eyes is gone and they could recognize Jesus.
Now their fear, sorrow and doubt have disappeared and were recognizing Jesus, who was with them.
But the problem comes next.
What happened as soon as these two disciples recognized the resurrected Jesus?
According to verse 31, Jesus disappeared from their sight.
Yes, at the moment of recognizing Jesus, Jesus once again disappeared from them.
What is this?
What happened?
The man who walked the streets, had a conversation, and shared a meal, suddenly disappeared.
The resurrected Jesus, who had walked, talked and had a meal with them, suddenly disappeared.
If so, is it true that the person whom the two disciples met was a real resurrected Jesus?
Was he fake?
Or did they see an illusion?
Not a ghost, not a real person, what was it?
By the way, if we look at it, all of Jesus' resurrection stories recorded in the four Gospels are similar.
Most of them are vague.
It is clear that what happened to Jesus on the third day from the time of his death.
But there is no way to know what it is.
He penetrated through a locked door suddenly and then disappeared.
He ate with His disciples but didn’t seem like a person in the world.
It seems that the story of the people who met the risen Jesus are obscure.
It does not distinguish whether they are ghosts or realities.
It does not distinguish whether the person they meet is a ghost or real.
Yes, nothing seems to be confirmed.
But, do you know that is an attribute of the spiritual world?
We know that this spiritual world is something imponderable for us who live in the material world.
We can experience the spiritual world, but we cannot catch it.
We can see the spiritual world, but we cannot take pictures.
We can hear God's voice, but we cannot record it.
It is because the spiritual world is a world beyond the material world we live in.
What is the resurrection of Jesus?
It is the event that Jesus, who was in the flesh and entered the material world, reached death and crossed into the spiritual world.
The resurrection is not an accident that Jesus, who died, has stepped backward, but is moving forward.
In this material world, the final destination we can get is death.
There is no way out of death.
But Jesus went one step further from there.
Jesus went through the world of matter and into the spiritual world.
That is why the stories of the Resurrection are all seemingly obscure.
All the stories of meeting the resurrected Lord seem like a fictional story.
If we say that someone has read the story of the gospel, who has read it today, we have little to say.
If someone is arguing that the story of two disciples we read today is a fictional story, we do not have much to say.
We do not have enough scientific evidence to prove that the stranger who appeared to the two disciples on the way to Emmaus was the resurrected Jesus.
But one thing, there is a clue that the unknown companion was truly the resurrected Jesus.
There is a clue in verse 32.
Let’s look at verse 32.
“They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” (verse 32)
There is no scientific way to investigate whether the unknown person who has appeared to them and disappeared from them is a resurrected Jesus or a ghost.
However, these two disciples found a change in their minds while they were with this unknown companion.
They felt their hearts burning while he was talking to them.
As they listened to his word, hopelessness changed into hope, disbelief changed into faith, darkness disappeared, and their hearts were getting warm again.
They knew that this change of mind that they had experienced could not simply happen as a psychological phenomenon.
They knew that such changes could not happen by looking at ghosts or any illusions.
They knew that such a change could only happen by meeting Jesus.
Then, they could believe that the one who appeared to them was the risen Jesus.
Yes, this is it.
There is no logical or scientific way to confirm that Jesus was really resurrected.
But we can know it clearly when we see the trace that Jesus left in our hearts.
If the true changes happen in my mind, it is real.
If the change is in us, we can testify as disciples, "I have met the resurrected Jesus. He is resin and is alive now."
Brothers and sisters, Jesus Christ, He is alive now.
The one who was crucified and died, the one who was buried in the tomb, is now alive and working with us.
On what grounds can we say that?
The trace left behind in the minds of the two disciples who went to Emmaus is the basis.
The basis is the change of our mind and the change in our lives caused by the encounter of the Lord.
Brothers and sisters, didn’t you have the burning experience in your heart when you met with the Lord?
Isn’t there a warm feeling in our hearts because of Jesus?
When we think of the Lord, doesn’t the tears flow in our hearts?
Isn’t there a true peace and hope that the Lord has given us in our hearts?
Yes, that's the evidence.
That is the evidence of the resurrected Jesus who is still alive now.
Because of the evidence of our heart, we recognize and believe that the Lord is still alive and working now.
A great number of people tried to prove that the resurrection of Jesus is a lie for the past two thousand years.
However, there is one fact that they cannot explain even though they try.
It is the fact that the disciples who had been scattered because of fear of death gathered at one moment and committed their lives to preach the resurrection of Jesus and bear witness of the gospel.
There is no way to explain except that the resurrected Jesus met disciples and changed their minds.
Brothers and sisters, the evidence that Jesus is alive is in our hearts.
The Lord of resurrection still lives in our hearts.
Do you have this evidence of mind now?
This evidence of mind will change our whole life.
If there is this evidence of mind, we will live in joy and thanksgiving in any circumstance without fear or despair.
With this evidence of mind, we will be used as an instrument of peace and reconciliation.
I pray that all of you will live and our mission with the resurrected Lord. Amen.
20180408 Sunday worship sermon
Luke 24: 13-35
“On the Way to Emmaus”
Last Sunday was Easter Sunday. I hope that you all live with the resurrection faith.
Today, I would like to once again share with you about resurrection.
But this time, I would like to approach resurrection from a different perspective.
Let me ask you a question.
What image do you have of the resurrection of Jesus?
When you think of the resurrection of Jesus, what is the first image in your mind?
Most of you may imagine the shining and brilliant appearance of the risen Jesus, wearing shining white clothes, sometimes with the angels.
Let me show you some pictures… (picture)
I also have had these images about the risen Jesus in my mind for a long time.
In fact, most of these images are derived from some pictures painted by famous painters in Europe's famous cathedrals.
Then, are these images derived from the Bible?
If we read the Bible carefully, we can realize that this is not the image of the resurrection of Jesus in the Bible.
We cannot see shining and brilliant images of the resurrection of Jesus in the Bible.
Let me show you another picture. (picture)
What does this picture remind you of?
Can you describe what this picture is?
The title of this picture is “The Supper at Emmaus” drawn by Caravaggio.
Yes, right.
This picture was drawn based on the story of the text we read today.
Can you guess who Jesus is in this picture?
Yes, the one who sits in the middle is the risen Jesus.
If you look at this picture without knowing any background explanation, could you recognize the resurrected Jesus?
You might understand it as a completely different picture.
When we look at the resurrected Jesus in the Gospel, we have common knowledge.
This knowledge is that the resurrected Jesus appeared as a stranger.
So the disciples, when they met the resurrected Jesus, at first did not recognize that he was indeed the resurrected Jesus.
In fact, it was the same when Jesus first came to the world.
When Jesus came to us first, he came to a manger in Bethlehem unknowingly.
Just like that, the resurrected Jesus appeared unfamiliarly.
Sometimes He appeared as a gardener, sometimes as a stranger on the road.
Think about it.
If the risen Jesus appeared in the sky with shining and brilliance with a great number of angels, all the people of the world could see Him easily.
But we do not find that kind of scene in the Bible.
We can see the resurrected Jesus in the image of the unknown, the image of a stranger.
Yes, we should be able to realize the fact that the resurrected Jesus always comes to us in very ordinary, and sometimes in a very strangely figure, unlike from our imaginations and expectations.
Today's text is the story of two disciples heading to Emmaus.
We know and have heard so much about this story.
This is the longest story about the resurrection of Jesus in the four Gospels, and it is a dramatic story that is well organized.
The next day after the Sabbath, two men who had been with Jesus’ disciples, left Jerusalem and were going to the village of Emmaus.
Maybe they were going to give up everything and return to home.
Except for the fact that one of the them was named Cleopas, no specific, nor details of introduction about them was recorded.
They are the ones who followed Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem.
It seems that they entrusted their lives to Jesus entirely in order to gain something through Jesus.
But now they seem to be shocked because of Jesus' death.
These two disciples heard the news from Mary early in the morning that Jesus was resurrected.
Some of the disciples also identified the empty tomb.
But these two disciples have not yet accepted that Jesus has risen and they did not want to believe it.
They were going home with pain and sadness.
Then, the risen Jesus approached the disciples in the figure of an unknown person.
Jesus, as a stranger, goes along with the two disciples and talks with them.
But, they didn’t know who he was.
Actually, they have been the disciples of Jesus
They have followed Jesus for a long time.
They have known who Jesus was.
They have seen what Jesus did.
But now, ironically, they don’t realize the risen Jesus, even though the risen Jesus walks and talks with them.
According to verse 16, their eyes were kept from recognizing him.
What made their eyes keep from recognizing Jesus?
Perhaps, their fear, sorrow, despair and doubt made them keep from recognizing Jesus who was with them.
Let’s think about ourselves.
Jesus still wants to go along with us and talk with us.
However, most Christians, including us, still don’t encounter the risen Jesus or realize Jesus who is with us.
I believe that our fears, doubts, grief, and despair keep our eyes from recognizing Jesus Christ.
During the conversation, they arrived at their destination.
Jesus, who came as an unknown companion, would leave the two disciples and keep going on the road.
They asked Jesus to stay overnight.
And Jesus accepted their request and entered the house with these disciples.
Now when it was time for meals to sit on the table, Jesus took bread, gave thanks, broke it and gave it to them.
At that moment, their eyes were opened and they recognized Jesus.
Jesus who died on the cross, Jesus who was buried in the grave, the very same Jesus is sitting before them.
"Oh, this is Jesus, who was crucified on the cross ..."
They realized.
A very dramatic change has happened.
Now everything that was covering their eyes is gone and they could recognize Jesus.
Now their fear, sorrow and doubt have disappeared and were recognizing Jesus, who was with them.
But the problem comes next.
What happened as soon as these two disciples recognized the resurrected Jesus?
According to verse 31, Jesus disappeared from their sight.
Yes, at the moment of recognizing Jesus, Jesus once again disappeared from them.
What is this?
What happened?
The man who walked the streets, had a conversation, and shared a meal, suddenly disappeared.
The resurrected Jesus, who had walked, talked and had a meal with them, suddenly disappeared.
If so, is it true that the person whom the two disciples met was a real resurrected Jesus?
Was he fake?
Or did they see an illusion?
Not a ghost, not a real person, what was it?
By the way, if we look at it, all of Jesus' resurrection stories recorded in the four Gospels are similar.
Most of them are vague.
It is clear that what happened to Jesus on the third day from the time of his death.
But there is no way to know what it is.
He penetrated through a locked door suddenly and then disappeared.
He ate with His disciples but didn’t seem like a person in the world.
It seems that the story of the people who met the risen Jesus are obscure.
It does not distinguish whether they are ghosts or realities.
It does not distinguish whether the person they meet is a ghost or real.
Yes, nothing seems to be confirmed.
But, do you know that is an attribute of the spiritual world?
We know that this spiritual world is something imponderable for us who live in the material world.
We can experience the spiritual world, but we cannot catch it.
We can see the spiritual world, but we cannot take pictures.
We can hear God's voice, but we cannot record it.
It is because the spiritual world is a world beyond the material world we live in.
What is the resurrection of Jesus?
It is the event that Jesus, who was in the flesh and entered the material world, reached death and crossed into the spiritual world.
The resurrection is not an accident that Jesus, who died, has stepped backward, but is moving forward.
In this material world, the final destination we can get is death.
There is no way out of death.
But Jesus went one step further from there.
Jesus went through the world of matter and into the spiritual world.
That is why the stories of the Resurrection are all seemingly obscure.
All the stories of meeting the resurrected Lord seem like a fictional story.
If we say that someone has read the story of the gospel, who has read it today, we have little to say.
If someone is arguing that the story of two disciples we read today is a fictional story, we do not have much to say.
We do not have enough scientific evidence to prove that the stranger who appeared to the two disciples on the way to Emmaus was the resurrected Jesus.
But one thing, there is a clue that the unknown companion was truly the resurrected Jesus.
There is a clue in verse 32.
Let’s look at verse 32.
“They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” (verse 32)
There is no scientific way to investigate whether the unknown person who has appeared to them and disappeared from them is a resurrected Jesus or a ghost.
However, these two disciples found a change in their minds while they were with this unknown companion.
They felt their hearts burning while he was talking to them.
As they listened to his word, hopelessness changed into hope, disbelief changed into faith, darkness disappeared, and their hearts were getting warm again.
They knew that this change of mind that they had experienced could not simply happen as a psychological phenomenon.
They knew that such changes could not happen by looking at ghosts or any illusions.
They knew that such a change could only happen by meeting Jesus.
Then, they could believe that the one who appeared to them was the risen Jesus.
Yes, this is it.
There is no logical or scientific way to confirm that Jesus was really resurrected.
But we can know it clearly when we see the trace that Jesus left in our hearts.
If the true changes happen in my mind, it is real.
If the change is in us, we can testify as disciples, "I have met the resurrected Jesus. He is resin and is alive now."
Brothers and sisters, Jesus Christ, He is alive now.
The one who was crucified and died, the one who was buried in the tomb, is now alive and working with us.
On what grounds can we say that?
The trace left behind in the minds of the two disciples who went to Emmaus is the basis.
The basis is the change of our mind and the change in our lives caused by the encounter of the Lord.
Brothers and sisters, didn’t you have the burning experience in your heart when you met with the Lord?
Isn’t there a warm feeling in our hearts because of Jesus?
When we think of the Lord, doesn’t the tears flow in our hearts?
Isn’t there a true peace and hope that the Lord has given us in our hearts?
Yes, that's the evidence.
That is the evidence of the resurrected Jesus who is still alive now.
Because of the evidence of our heart, we recognize and believe that the Lord is still alive and working now.
A great number of people tried to prove that the resurrection of Jesus is a lie for the past two thousand years.
However, there is one fact that they cannot explain even though they try.
It is the fact that the disciples who had been scattered because of fear of death gathered at one moment and committed their lives to preach the resurrection of Jesus and bear witness of the gospel.
There is no way to explain except that the resurrected Jesus met disciples and changed their minds.
Brothers and sisters, the evidence that Jesus is alive is in our hearts.
The Lord of resurrection still lives in our hearts.
Do you have this evidence of mind now?
This evidence of mind will change our whole life.
If there is this evidence of mind, we will live in joy and thanksgiving in any circumstance without fear or despair.
With this evidence of mind, we will be used as an instrument of peace and reconciliation.
I pray that all of you will live and our mission with the resurrected Lord. Amen.