Cleopas’ Question

Introduction

In Luke’s gospel account, there is a great deal of emphasis on the response of Gentiles and women to the ministry of Jesus. People that might tend to be overlooked. And so it’s of little surprise in the resurrection account of Luke 24 that he points out the women who were coming to further care for the dead body of Jesus at the tomb. But when they arrived, they found that the stone was rolled away, as we just say. And when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And then suddenly there are two men in dazzling apparel. And by every biblical indication, these are angels. And they’re terrified, and they bow their faces to the ground. And these men said to them, Why do you seek the living one among the dead?

He is not here. He is risen. And ultimately, these women mentioned in verse 10 would come and bring the report to the apostles who would refuse to believe. Garnering a 52% critic approval rating and a 73% audience approval rating by the tomato meter at rotentomatoes.com. The movie risen, as I said to you Wednesday night, is now available on DVD and could be purchased at your local red box for a dollar or a dollar fifty. Someone suggested to me recently that I should watch the movie, and so I did. Some of you took that as a homework assignment and actually watched the movie in preparation. It was not necessary for you to do so because I’m going to ruin the whole thing for you. Spoiler alert. This is a faith-based movie.

The first thing you need to know about it is that it is historical fiction. I don’t believe you can watch this movie and believe that they were honestly making an attempt to follow the biblical account in every detail, including the main actor, a Roman tribune, played by Ralph Fines, named Clavius. He is summoned to, he is summoned by Pilate and sent to oversee the end of Jesus’ crucifixion. He’s not there during the whole crucifixion. He arrives at the end, and you see the centurion that remarked, truly, you’re a righteous man. Truly, this was a righteous man, the Son of God. You see him leaving the scene. But this is a different Roman, who is responsible not only for the deaths of the three who are killed by crucifixion, including Jesus, but is also responsible for the securing of the tomb, and that’s an interesting part of this movie.

I would recommend you seeing that, the stone and the Roman seal that was placed upon the tomb that Clavius oversees, making sure that all is done to keep this one who claimed that he would rise from the dead to prevent that from happening. But the death and resurrection in the story of the movie Risen is largely told from an outsider’s perspective, an honest man’s assessment of the claims made regarding Jesus. And there is a heartwarming element to this story. And I would suggest to you that it wouldn’t have got a 73% rating from those who watched it, unless there was such a heartwarming element to the story. Even critics, over half of the critics liked it. And it’s the change that was fueled in the life of this Roman soldier who is not mentioned in the Bible.

The change that is affected in this tribune’s life, because he had first witnessed Jesus being dead on the cross, was responsible for the fact that his body was placed in a tomb and was sealed by a stone, and he himself providing the Roman seal for that tomb, and then later, on more than one occasion, being present to actually see that same man alive again. Now that would sort of confirm it to you, wouldn’t it? That you saw him die, you saw his body in the tomb, and then you saw that same man alive on more than one occasion. And a miracle to boot. The healing of a leper. And so that’s the nature of this movie. And upon the basis of the things I saw, I thought about some things that might be good to talk about in relation to the resurrection.

And I want to start in the appearance of our Lord that immediately follows the appearance to the women in Luke 24. Only Luke tells us this story, again, in some ways, two insignificant characters in the whole Bible story. It’s not like these men are going to shape the rest of the Bible story, the rest of the New Testament. But for some reason, Jesus appears to these two men who are within a few miles of the city of Jerusalem as they are walking on the road to Emmaus. And there’s so much to say about this story, but I’m not going to be able to do that this morning. And it says, verse 14, that they were conversing with each other about all these things which had taken place.

And this really applies to point number one in a moment. And it came about that while they were conversing and discussing, Jesus himself approached and began traveling with them. Astounding grace. Astounding good fortune to have had this experience with the resurrected Jesus. But they did not recognize him at first. Their eyes were prevented, it says in verse 16. And so Jesus says to them, again, them not knowing who he was, What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as they were walking? He explores further about their discussion, and one of them named Cleopas answered and said to him, Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days? And he says, What things? Well, things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty indeed and word in the sight of God and all the people.

And the chief priests and our rulers delivered him up to the sentence of death and crucified him. But we were hoping that it was he who was going to redeem Israel. And deed, besides all of this, it is the third day since these things happened. So this appearance happened immediately after the resurrection. But also some women among us amazed us when they were at the tomb early in the morning and they did not find his body. They came saying that they had seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. And 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.

Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into his glory? And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them the things concerning himself in all the scriptures.

Oh, to be a third person on that road. And they approached the village where they were going. And he acted as though he would go further. And they urged him, saying, Stay with us, for it is getting toward evening, and the day is now nearly over. And he went in to stay with them. And it came about when he had reclined at the table with them, he took the bread and blessed it and broke it. And he began giving it to them. And their eyes were open. And they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. And they said to one another, were not our hearts burning within us while he was speaking to us on the road, and while he was explaining the scriptures to us.

And has appeared to Simon, and they began to relate their experiences on the road and how he recognized, he was recognized by them in the breaking of bread.

So I want to talk to you for a few moments this morning about the question of Cleopas. Now, you might think it was the question of verse 32 that often gets talked about a lot. Were not our hearts burning within us while he was speaking to us on the road while he was explaining the scriptures to us? To have Jesus illuminate the Old Testament as it related to him would be a marvelous experience. And it says, their hearts burned. Have you ever heard a message, perhaps not preached by me, that was so compelling, so heart-rending and moving that your heart actually burned. Intense response, knowing the gravity and the reality of such an awesome message. But that’s not the question that I want to look at in the sermon this morning.

It is instead the question of verse 18. Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days? Of course, Jesus is playing along for the sake of having this discussion and providing two more eyewitnesses of his resurrection who will help the apostles to grasp what he had been trying to tell them over and over again that he was going to be raised. They struggled to believe that. Remember, resurrections weren’t commonplace in biblical times. Even though Jesus had told them, they certainly misunderstood what was going on in the crucifixion of Jesus. But it’s this question. And what the movie seemed to portray, and I want to examine some of the things that movie was suggesting in light of what we see in the Bible to help us better understand the resurrection story.

1. All Palestine Was in a Frenzy

It seems to me that those who were doing this movie, again, it was historical fiction. So I’m going to cut them some slack on that. I mean, Clavius is not even in the Bible. But it’s historical fiction, but there’s some things about the way they portray the resurrection of Jesus that I think we need to get clear in our minds. Be careful when you read commentaries or particularly when you’re watching Hollywood movies. And always measure those things in light of what the scriptures say. And so that’s what I want to help you do if you’ve seen that or even if you haven’t. But to learn some things about the resurrection. Here’s the first thing. In the movie, as they are trying to uncover what might have happened to the body, and Clavius is involved in all of this because he was the one responsible for sealing the tomb.

It was hard to sort of find the disciples. It’s as if they were huddling in secret somewhere, and they were trying to find them and find out where they are. And as Clavius does that, he happens to see Jesus sitting among the apostles. But I would suggest to you that’s not what the Bible story presents about the ministry of Jesus or the results post-resurrection. Instead, the Bible presents that there was a public frenzy over the meaning of Jesus’ life and the events surrounding his death. I want to tell you that all Palestine was in a frenzy over Jesus of Nazareth. And we’re given a taste of that in Scripture over and over and over again. I want you to start in Mark chapter 1 with me, and we’ll look at these very quickly in Mark chapter 1, as Jesus, toward the beginning of his ministry in Galilee heals a leper.

And he says, If you’re willing, I can make you clean. And he’s if you are willing, you can make me clean, the leper says. And Jesus says, I am willing. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed, and Jesus told him to not tell anyone. But he didn’t listen to what Jesus said. And it says he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the news about to such an extent, and this is no doubt the reason why Jesus told him not to do it, to such an extent that Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but stayed out in unpopulated areas. But even then it says, and they were coming to him from everywhere. Just focus on that phrase. They were coming to him from everywhere.

If somebody was actually healing people of incurable diseases, do you think that would catch people’s attention? Do you think they would need a TV station to broadcast that news? It was spreading like wildfire. And even though Jesus wasn’t in the city, people were going out to him. Let the frenzy begin. And as we come to the end of his ministry in regards to the resurrection of Lazarus in Bethany, not very far from the city of Jerusalem. Notice the result. The chief priests took counsel that they might put Lazarus to death also. He’d already died once, we’re going to help kill him again. Because on account of him, many of the Jews were going away and were believing in Jesus. There was all kinds of excitement around Jerusalem just before Jesus’ crucifixion.

And then if that’s not enough. And again, this is the short list of all of Jesus’ miracles that he was performing during his ministry. Who knows how many thousands had been healed. We saw thousands that had been fed. Again, Palestine is in a frenzy. And what Cleopathus points out is everybody’s talking about this. You mean you don’t know what’s been going on? And I would suggest it even went further beyond Palestine. The frenzy of all of it. Oh, and then to mention the crucifixion itself. And from the sixth hour to the ninth hour, that darkness, an unusual kind of darkness covers the scene. They’ve not seen anything like that. Everyone in and surrounding Jerusalem must have noticed, wow, something unusual is going on. And they might have even connected that it had something to do with the crucifixion of Jesus.

Which I’m sure was a discussion all over the city as well. And not only that, Matthew says it sort of matter of factly when Jesus dies and yields up his spirit, the veil of the temple was torn in two. Of course, they didn’t have a lot of visual on that, but this. The earth shook and the rocks were split. There was an attempt in the movie to demonstrate some of that. You can imagine this. There’s an earthquake, and Jesus died. The rock, or as he dies, the rocks were split, the tombs were opened. You talk about matter of fact. Imagine the impact this would have. The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. They’ve never seen anything like this in their history.

Have you ever seen anything like it? I haven’t. And coming out of the tombs after the resurrection, they entered the holy city and appeared to many. Do you think that created a little bit of excitement? People who had been dead and were in tombs were now walking around the city, appearing to their family. And do you think the news of that might have spread to like every person in the city? All of these things associated with this mysterious dark cloud and the death of Jesus and the earthquake and rocks. And we’re talking just a few days later here. We have this discussion on the road to Emmaus. And so when we come to the discussion of Paul before Agrippa in Acts 26, where these actual words have been used, and he says to Agrippa, I know that you know these things.

He says, This thing has not been done in a corner. It’s on display for all to see. And what is the accusation made regarding Paul and Silas in Acts 17? These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also. This message of Jesus was rocking the world. It was the topic of conversation. And so that’s one thing I noticed in the movie. This wasn’t like a secret huddle of disciples somewhere. In fifty days, they would stand in the temple in Jerusalem, and 3,000 souls would be baptized. A big event went on that day. But there’s a second thing that struck me about the depiction of the resurrection and its impact on the lives of people, including Clavius the tribute. And that is in regard to why the death of Jesus.

2. The Purpose of the Crucifixion

I think this may be the most notable aspect missing in the movie has to do with the purpose of the crucifixion itself.

And that sort of is the message of the cross. That when people are changed by the resurrected Jesus, now they’re going to have peace and love in their hearts. He had been a man of war and was sick of it. And so now his life is going to be characterized by peace and love instead. But there is no mention whatsoever. And again, it’s historical fiction. They weren’t trying to portray the Bible story in truth. But there is no mention of the real purpose of crucifixion of death on a cross. A ghastly form of execution. Perhaps the best scene in the movie, though it was graphic, was the thrust of the spear into Jesus’ side and the gruesome nature of that and breaking the legs of the thieves so that they would die quickly.

I mean, it was a very brutal, ugly way to kill a person. Why is there always talk about peace and love? And I, again, Christians have the peace of God that surpasses all comprehension. Yes, God is love, and we’re taught to love. And those are certainly some significant outgrowths of the crucifixion and resurrection message. But I think one of the reasons why these two things in particular get mentioned as we talk about the impact of the resurrection, is these are seemingly pleasant and unthreatening concepts. Peace and love, how sweet is that. Often improperly defined and misunderstood. God came to give peace among those with whom he is pleased. That’s the announcement of the angels at his birth. This is not a peace that everyone receives, and this is not meaning that everyone will be at peace with us because of our inner peace.

Jesus said, I came not to bring peace, but a sword in one context when he talks about the opposition to this message that some would display. And just because you love someone doesn’t mean they’re going to respond kindly and love you in return. This love is not an enabling kind of love. So many misconceptions about both of those words. But I’ll tell you what is missing from this list. Yes, death on a cross is designed to give his people peace and to show them and teach them how to love. But I want to tell you what stands central at the message of the cross is the necessity of Jesus’ death for our sin. As Daniel pointed out in his words at the Lord’s Supper table.

John says in 1 John 2 and verse 2, I’m surprised Daniel had to look that up because I talk about propitiation so often. God satisfying his own anger. So that he could be both just and the justifier in Romans 3. Jesus was the propitiation for our sins. That ghastly way of death was necessary because of a single transgression that each of us have committed, and we’ve committed multiple transgressions. Only the death of Jesus on a cross could atone. It’s a remarkable announcement. When Jesus comes to John in the wilderness. Even John, I don’t think grasped the full implications of what he was saying. What did he say? Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The sacrificial Lamb. Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

If the rulers of this age had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. And here is John announcing it, but people weren’t getting it. This mode of death. The death of a sinless lamb paid the price for our redemption. Let me one more point about this.

3. God Has Some Very Real Expectations

So many people view salvation as the ultimate bending machine where we get all the goodies for nothing. You pull the lever and out comes peace. You pull the lever and out comes love. And everything’s wonderful. You get salvation in heaven. Let me tell you what the cross says. There’s something else involved in this equation. It says that sin is horrific. And God wants to redeem us from our sins. He wants us to live better lives. He wants to transform us and change us. He wants us to put the damage of sin in our past. He doesn’t want us to wallow in it that grace may abound. Yet so many people look at Christianity as pulling the levers and getting all the good stuff. Oh, there is excellent and wonderful stuff.

But God has some very real expectations that deal with the very reason why Jesus dies on the cross. We must carry our crosses to be his disciples. And love him foremost, even above our own lives. That’s what he himself said in Luke 14. We must run counter to culture to follow Jesus, and that may mean adversaries and opposition. And we must put in a very real fight with the passions that grip our world. And exercise self-control. And deny ourselves.

4. Blessed Are Those Who Have Not Seen

Somehow in this movie, this Gentile centurion gets to be present and actually witness the resurrected Jesus. I mean, he peeks in the door, and there’s Jesus with the disciples, and he actually sees him in a resurrected form. And he sees it again in Galilee. And he’s changed. But not everybody is privy to that.

And one of the things that we see in the Bible story, even Jesus, as he talked to his own disciples, Thomas, do you believe because you have seen? Because he was able, as Jesus condescends to his wishes and allows him to reach hither and feel the mark in his side and his hands, the imprint of the nails. Do you believe because you have seen? And he says, Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe. These resurrection appearances are important. The two men on the road to Emmaus, the women, the apostles. As Paul would say in 1 Corinthians 15, 500 at once, an event not recorded in the four gospel narratives, 500 at once see the resurrected Jesus. And many of them remain until now, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15.

Here’s the point. Not everybody gets to be a personal eyewitness to the resurrection. But sufficient evidence, sufficient eyewitness testimony is provided so that everyone and all future generations should believe.

Not just resurrection, but miracles, things that people saw, including himself. He says, These things are written that you might believe.

5. The Faith That Saves

Perhaps the purpose of the movie was to create belief in telling a fictional story that described at least some biblical scenes in relation to the resurrection. I can give them credit for wanting to produce that. But the greater goal should be to engender saving belief. Not just a belief that Jesus was raised from the dead, because that alone is insufficient. That’s not the only belief that God is trying to produce in us. I gotta tell you, the devil believes in the resurrection of Jesus. The devil believes Jesus died on the cross. The devil believes God exists, and they tremble because they know ultimately judgment awaits them, and they will be thrown in the lake of fire, as Jesus says in Matthew chapter 25 and verse 41.

The devil believes in the resurrection. The devil believes the Bible is the word of God. And that’s the point James is making in James chapter 2 is that faith must go further than that. And in the context, he says it ought to be displayed in the way you treat your brother. Faith without works is dead. So as wonderful it is that we get somebody to sign the dotted lines of, I believe Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. That is only the beginning.

The faith that saves embraces everything that Jesus was about. It embraces what he teaches about morality. It embraces what he teaches about the way of living the cross in our own lives. Sacrificing for his purposes and his will. It’s more than just saying, I believe the Bible’s the word of God. I believe Jesus rose from the dead. I believe God’s the Creator. That’s a great place to start, but that’s not the whole thing. And so blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed. Is that who we are?

Conclusion

I didn’t see the resurrected Lord, but I want to tell you. When I read the story of Cleopas and his friend on the road to Emmaus, I believe with not even a smidgen of uncertainty that event happened.

That Jesus died on a cross and he rose from the dead because the eyewitness testimony, the evidence is overwhelming. And if you can embrace that message, and if you can dedicate yourself to the doing of the will of God in your life, you are indeed blessed.

I want to hearken back to the question that Tom talked about Wednesday night in his lesson about the Queen of Sheba, which he was looking around and seeing Solomon’s kingdom, and wow, how blessed are your men. How blessed are these your servants who stand before you continually and hear your wisdom, the wisdom that God given him? Wow. It would be great to be here to witness this all the time. But even more, as Jesus tells his disciples, in contrast to those who close their hearts to the message of the Messiah, who tuned him out, lest they should return with their hearts and be healed. Here were these humble, sometimes stumbling along, Galilean fishermen and zealots and publicans, but they were willing and open-minded to the message.

And he said, Blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.

I’ll tell you where it begins. Jesus lived and he died and he rose again. But once you believe that, you must embrace his message. He who believes and is baptized, Jesus said, shall be saved. He who does not believe shall be condemned. That’s where it begins. And as you’re baptized into Christ, you rise to walk in newness of life, putting away a body of sin, living under righteousness, alive to God, dead to sin. Paul says in Romans 6 and verse 11 that’s the call of the gospel. Can we urge you to respond? Let’s stand and say.