[The same day as His resurrection, Jesus (unrecognized) asked two disciples on the road to Emmaus why they looked sad and what they were discussing.] And they said to Him, “The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to the sentence of death, and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened. But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning, and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said; but Him they did not see.” Luke 24:19b-24
The disciples were told repeatedly that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God, and that He would suffer, die and raise from the dead on the third day (see below). And yet they were shocked, confused and crushed when it happened. On the Road to Emmaus, two disciples told Jesus (whom they were kept from recognizing) that He was a “prophet of God,” and they were disappointed that He had died because they thought he “might have been” the Messiah. They had been told by the women who went to the tomb that morning that Jesus was gone, and even angels had said that He had risen, just as He said beforehand. And still, they were despondent. Once He traveled with them, explaining the scriptures from the Old Testament about Himself to them, and then allowed them to recognize Him, they were so excited they immediately returned to Jerusalem to tell everyone.
Jesus said He has gone to prepare a place for us and will return to take us to be with Him. (John 14:2-3) There is very good, biblical basis to believe He will come back to resurrect (or if still alive, to change – 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17) those belonging to Him on the third day as well (but in 1,000-year days – 2 Peter 3:8). So that could very possibly be in our lifetime. Do we believe what He said and are we ready and expecting Him? Or are we like the disciples almost 2,000 years (two “days”) ago, who knew what He said, but couldn’t take it in? Unlike the disciples in the above passage, there will be no time to go back and tell anyone else after we see Him. We need to tell everyone NOW that He’s coming soon, so they can be ready, too!
But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with Him. 1 Thessalonians 5:4-10
Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour. Matthew 25:13
The whole Road to Emmaus passage is here: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke+24%3A13-35&version=NASB
You can read about how Jesus made it very clear who He was here: http://www.gotquestions.org/is-Jesus-God.html (There are related articles at the bottom of that webpage for even more information.) When Jesus made statements where He said “I am,” He was proclaiming Himself as “I Am,” which is God’s name (Exodus 3:15). In some instances, the word “he” has been added (in error, example John 18:6, 8) after the words “I am,” giving a different meaning than should be. (Some translations put the word “he” in italics, indicating that it was not in the original text.)
Here are several passages about the predicted suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus: http://www.biblestudytools.com/passage/?q=matthew+20:17-19;+mark+10:32-34;+mark+8:31;+luke+18:31-33;+isaiah+53:1-7
kit: October Daze by Kristmess Designs; template by Cluster Queen Creations
message inspired in part by sermon heard on 11-15-15
