Episode 1639: Astounded Us

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Scott Maderer: [00:00:00] Thanks for joining me on episode 1,639 of the Inspired Stewardship Podcast.

Kyle Gillette: Hi there. I'm Kyle Gillette, and I challenge you to invest in yourself, invest in others, develop your influence and impact the world by using your time, your talent, and your treasures to live out your calling. Having the ability to give people the space they need to be real is key, and one way to be inspired to do that is to listen to this The Inspired Stewardship Podcast with my friend Scott Maderer.

And yet everyone that

Scott Maderer: they told knew already. They knew already because they'd had their own experiences, their own moments, and each of us can have those moments as we walk together. And companionship on that road to Emmaus.

Welcome and thank you for joining us on the [00:01:00] Inspired Stewardship Podcast. If you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be, then

you must learn to use your time, your talent, and your treasures for your true calling.

In the Inspired Stewardship podcast, you will learn to invest in yourself, invest in others, and develop your influence

so that you can impact the world.

In today's spiritual foundation episode, I talk about Luke chapter 24 verses 13. Through 35. I talk about how this walk to Emmaus happens not just for the disciples, but for us. And I also share how this recognition can light our hearts on fire. Luke chapter 24 verses 13 through 35. Now on that same day, two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem and [00:02:00] talking with each other about all these things that had happened while they were talking and discussing.

Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him, and he said to them what are you discussing with each other while you walk along? They said, still looking sad. Then one of them whose name was Cleopas, answered him. Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?

And he asked them what things they replied, the things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet, mighty indeed and word before God and all the people and how our chief priest and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.

Yes, and beside all of this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they [00:03:00] came back and told us that they had indeed 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 as the women had said, but they did not see him. Then he said to them, oh, how foolish you are and how slow of heart. To believe all the prophets have declared. Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?

Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself and all of the scriptures as they came near the village to which they were going. He walked ahead as if he were going on, but they urged him strongly saying, stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.

So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, we're not our hearts burning with it within us. While he was talking to us on the road, while he [00:04:00] was opening the scriptures to us, that same hour, they got up and returned to Jerusalem and they found the 11 and their companions gathered together.

They were saying the Lord has risen indeed and he has appeared to Simon. Then they told what had happened on the road and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread. This is one of those stories that sort of starts in the middle. We don't know why these two unknown or relatively unknown, at least disciples were on their way to Emmaus on that Sunday.

We're now. At this time, this last Sunday was the third Sunday of Easter. Three weeks have passed since we talked about the resurrection morning, and I don't know about you, but it feels like it could have been three months or three years. It often just kind of fades away that feeling you have around Easter, especially in today's fast-paced world.[00:05:00]

But for them, it's like it had just happened. The text begins and says now on that same day, that same day, it's hard to remember all that had happened in their lives. And then this last week, it's hard to sum it all up, all the ups and downs, all the joy and fear, all of this stuff that has come before the predicted end, the terrible death, the rolling away of the stone, the posting of the guards.

It was done over and done. Hopes were dashed, plans were erased. Indeed, it had to have been the worst day of their lives and the end of everything, of the message, of the movement of the person of Jesus. For sun unexplained reason, the sun rose. Again, I don't know about you, but if you've ever had one of those moments where everything seems to fall apart and yet the next day still [00:06:00] comes, that had to be what they were feeling.

Surely the sun can't rise. The darkness is one, and now we're just gonna stumble around in the gloom. But with the sun came news. Unbelievable news, incomprehensible news. These two on the way to Emmaus called it that they were astounded. Maybe that's even why they had left. Maybe that's why they'd hit the road and head on down about seven miles to the town called Emmaus.

Maybe they went because they were astounded and simply couldn't hold it anymore, or maybe they left before they burst into tears and hope and confusion. Maybe they just didn't know what else to do, who knows. But at the end of the day, it was that moment on that same day that they headed out, that day that everything changed, that possibilities stretched [00:07:00] out, and there was a new day.

Luke seems to be saying that Jesus had an agenda like. Rising from the dead couldn't be the only thing on his to-do list that day. That's already a rather full day. But Mel here, he goes out on that day and he meets some guys on the road. They were heading to Emmaus. No one knows why. Maybe it was their home, maybe they were giving up.

Maybe they thought the party was over. The curtain had come down. They might as well go home. Who knows? But there were all sorts of days that they were remembering, remembering the day that Jesus did the bread and the fish remembering when he asked, who do you say I am? And Peter broke the silence with an answer.

That day was a hard day, but this one is really [00:08:00] hard. This is the hardest day ever. And why. That simple question, startled them out. Why is it such a hard day? And they hardly knew the answer. This stranger beside them, how could he not know? Had he just arrived to town, how could he not know? And they told him in words that sounded like a creed.

Words that the church began to use, not the normal answers to a normal question, but a, a declaration of faith. What we had hoped. We had hoped

how foolish he had to have chuckled that laughter might have startled them. You had to have known, you had to have known all of this already. You had to have known that this was going to happen. Every book, every scroll, every [00:09:00] passage, those things that they had grown up with day in and day out. He broke them down and showed how they pointed to what had happened.

And when they got to Emmaus, they probably didn't want that to end. They wanted to hear from him more, and so they invited him in and asked him to sit down with them, and then he took the bread and broke it, and we don't know why, but that is what caused their eyes to open their hearts to light up and they can begin to breathe again.

And then they ran all the way back to the disciples to tell them the story, to tell them that they had seen that the world had ended, but now it had started again. That is lighting their hearts on fire. That is lighting our hearts on fire. We saw them. We saw the spirit. We [00:10:00] saw Jesus. And he gave us hope.

He gave us hope again, the Holy Spirit again. And yet everyone that they told knew already, they knew already because they'd had their own experiences, their own moments. And each of us can have those moments as we walk together in companionship on that road to Emmaus. Thanks for listening.

Thanks so much for listening to the Inspired

Stewardship Podcast. As a subscriber and listener, we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen, but act on what you've heard and find a way to live your calling. If you enjoyed this episode, do me a favor. Go over to [00:11:00] facebook.com/inspired stewardship and like our Facebook page and market that you'd like to get notifications from us so that we can connect with you on Facebook and make sure that we're serving you to the best of our abilities with time and tips there.

Until next time, invest your time. Your talent and your treasures. Develop your influence and impact the world.