Series: Roads
Message: The Road to Emmaus
Preacher: Japhet De Oliveira
Daily Walk: Japhet De Oliveira
Refresh: Open with prayer. Read or listen to Psalm 83:1-8.
Read: Luke 24:13-35 (ESV). Re-read in the English Standard Version for new insights/questions.
Reflect: Surprised? I enjoy that experience of finding something new about Jesus every day. To know that the road of faith I travel on is a road of discovery. When my faith starts to feel familiar, in the sense that I have been here before, and it is not challenging me. I have to stop and recalibrate.
A few people told me recently that they don’t come to Church to hear sermons anymore because they know they will hear nothing new. Bible stories are old stories. They have heard them all before. They would be shocked to learn something new in a sermon. I feel sad for those who live this way. When I find a good book, I am happy to read it more than once. When I find the right soundtrack from a movie or concert, I can listen to it multiple times. Truth be told, while I am driving I may listen to favorite songs for over an hour at a time in repeat mode because they capture the heart of God and bring my prayers into a different space. As I design preaching plans for our Church, I know that the text will never be exhausted, because the text is Jesus. If the text were data only, we could complete it and end it. This is one of the points this story and others like it make. David E. Garland in his Exegetical Commentary on Luke, notes this:
Many point out how the story of the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:26-40) is a mirror image of this account. As Gillman notes: “The Emmaus companions were discussing the recent events about Jesus; the Ethiopian was reading from the prophet Isaiah. However, neither understood the significance of the matter at hand. In both cases, enlightenment comes from an unexpected stranger who joins the travelers.” The Emmaus disciples knew the events but did not know how to interpret them in light of the Scriptures or how they fulfilled “all that the prophets have spoken” (Luke 24:25). The Ethiopian knew the Scriptures but did not know the events to which the text applied (Acts 8:32-34) (p. 959).
I believe we all long for a road of faith with adventure and energy. That is one of the many reasons the Daily Walk exists. The reason we encourage you to read it every day. In small doses. With different translations and paraphrases. Because strength builds on strength.
Recalibrate:
Respond: Pray for courage to reinvest.
Research: Read the story of the Ethiopian in Acts 8.