CROSSROADS #5/5
CROSSROAD OF A CLOSER WALK
April 4, 2004


Text: Luke 24:13-35

Palm Sunday, like the other days in Lent, is a good opportunity to
reflect upon our walk with Jesus. A goal of our Christian life is to walk
closely with Jesus. From the time of our conversion to the time of our
face to face meeting with Christ, we should have no greater desire than
to be as close to Christ in our daily walk as we can possibly be. At
every point of decision, we make a choice to face toward God and follow
His path in trust - no matter how treacherous it looks - or we turn and
face the other way in rebellion - no matter what the reason.

Luke has illustrated for us in these verses of chapter 24 two important
concepts concerning a crossroad of a closer walk with Christ. First, it
is extremely easy for us to walk closely with Christ, for He comes to us.
In fact, He intrudes. The two men on the road to Emmaus were busy in
their own thoughts and conversation when "Jesus himself came up and
walked along with them."

Second, it is extremely difficult for us to walk closely with Christ, for
we often fail to recognize who He is and what He is doing. The privileged
men on the Emmaus road did not realize what was happening. They "were
kept from recognizing him" because their senses were supernaturally
dulled by the changed countenance of the resurrected Jesus and by their
confusion over the recent events. Here, then, is a matter that we need to
recognize in our relationship with Christ: a close walk with Him is
always available because He makes it so; a close walk with Him is not
always possible because we fail to recognize who He is. How, then, can we
come to recognize better the Christ who walks beside us?

On the road to Emmaus, we see that the closer walk requires
understanding. In verse 25, Jesus admonished the two travelers: "How
foolish you are, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have
spoken!" For these travelers the disease was not a disease of the eyes or
the ears; it was a disease of the heart. They failed to comprehend the
teachings of the prophets as well as Jesus' exposition of their
teachings. In fact, everyone misunderstood Jesus to some extent. We can
hardly blame them. Followers saw hopes of glory smashed against the
rocks; enemies gloated in triumph as religion was kept pure and
untainted. Still, though, they had the knowledge before them to recognize
what was happening. The priests and scribes had the knowledge of the
scriptures. Many common people had the witness of the miracles. The
disciples had the knowledge of the scriptures, the witness of the
miracles, and the teachings of Jesus.

Even with all of the prophecies before them and even with all of their
knowledge, they did not understand. The two going to Emmaus did not
understand. They just couldn't put it all together or figure things out.
And so, "they were kept from recognizing him" even though he walked right
beside them.

It’s the same still today. How many are "kept from recognizing" because
they lack understanding? We have the facts, but don't know what to do
with them. We become more intelligent generation after generation, but do
we gain also in understanding? The journal, Feedback, reported that "the
greatest mistake of education has been to assume that intelligent people
are automatically good thinkers. High intelligence does not ensure
effective thinking - it may actually make a person a poor thinker. For
example, a highly intelligent person can take any view on a subject and
then use his intelligence to defend that view. The more perfect the
defense, the less chance the thinker has of actually exploring the
subject. Other aspects of the intelligence trap include the need to be
right, the need to show oneself to be more clever than others, critical
rather than constructive thinking, and reactive thinking rather than
projective thinking."

Even a cursory reading of the gospels shows that displaying intelligence
was one of the characteristics of the priests and scribes. Haven't
changed much, have we? One writer has quipped that "the situation today
is lots of knowledge, but little understanding; lots of means, but little
meaning; lots of know-how, but little know-why; lots of sight, but little
insight."

Jesus came and walked alongside these two on their way to Emmaus and
said, "Let me explain it one more time." "And beginning with Moses and
the prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures
concerning himself." And then he told them, I'm sure, the prophecies
about the Davidic lineage, the birth in Bethlehem, the humble birth, the
suffering servant, the death, the resurrection, and all of the other
words of the prophets.

We, too, have been given the testimonies of the prophets. We have the
eyewitness account of the gospels. We have the witness of Paul. We have
the history of Christ's Church. We have the testimony of the Holy Spirit.
So let us not neglect the importance of Bible study, of prayer, of
listening to the Holy Spirit. Let us open our hearts so that we may
understand that Jesus walks beside us still today as closely as he walked
beside these two on the road to Emmaus.

A second mark of a closer walk requires involvement. When they reached
Emmaus, Jesus appeared that he would go ahead on his own. "But they urged
him strongly, 'Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost
over.' So he went in to stay with them."

These two took a chance; they invited the stranger in. They were
concerned about him being out in the dark. We cannot enjoy full
Christianity - a closer walk - if we are afraid to invite Christ in. Once
we invite Christ in, it opens us up to everyone else who Christ has
claimed. Matthew 25:37-40: "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord,
when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you
something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or
needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and
go to visit you?' The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever
you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."
And don't forget about Hebrews 13:2, "Do not forget to entertain
strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without
knowing it."

Dr. Bob Fulop, who was professor of Church History and Missions when I
attended Central Baptist Theological Seminary, was once a missionary in
Japan and tells this story: One of the tidal waves which struck the
Japanese islands demolished and damaged many villages. In one of the
worst hit areas, one little village was as close to completely wiped out
as it could be without totally disappearing into the sea. From the
surrounding countryside, groups of Japanese Christians dropped what they
were doing and went in aid to that village. In a country where at best
only one percent of the population is Christian, it was only the
Christians who got involved. They poured into this village and cleaned it
up and built it back. And whenever any of those villagers experienced a
spiritual thirsting, it was to Christianity they turned. Christianity is
a religion requiring involvement, and if we do not make involvement a
part of our lives, our eyes will forever remain closed, and we will not
experience a closer walk.

A closer walk with Christ requires sharing the joy. After their eyes were
opened, and they recognized that it was Jesus all along, the two asked
each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with
us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?" They got up and returned
at once to Jerusalem to share their experience with the others who were
likewise wondering what was happening.

As we become aware that Jesus is near us, there wells up within a burning
that cannot be contained. King David testified to this in Psalm 39:3 by
singing, "My heart grew hot within me, and as I meditated, the fire
burned; then I spoke with my tongue." Jeremiah's experience is similar.
In Jeremiah 20:9, we learn, "But if I say, 'I will not mention or speak
any more his name,' his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up
in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot." Many years
before the life of Jesus, the Old Testament witnesses came to know that
God's words could not be walled in by man. As it was for these Old
Testament writers and for these two in Emmaus, so it is for us. The more
we experience the closeness of Christ, the more we will want to share the
joy that cannot possibly be contained.

Did you ever hear of Boris Nicholayevich Kornfeld? He was a Russian
medical doctor of Jewish ancestry. He incurred the displeasure of Stalin
and was thrown into a prison camp. There, he became a faithful believer
in Jesus, the Messiah. He did his best to practice medicine in a hopeless
situation. One gray afternoon, Boris was attending a young prisoner who
had just been operated on for cancer. Boris wanted to tell someone about
his new life of obedience to Christ and freedom in Christ. His heart
burned within him. All afternoon and late into the night, the doctor
described to his patient his conversion. The next morning, Boris Kornfeld
was found dead from eight blows to the head, dealt by some vicious
nocturnal intruder. The patient pondered the doctor's impassioned witness
to his Savior, Jesus. Because of it, he, too, believed. He was released.
His name was Alexandr Solzhenitzyn, and his heart, too, has burned within
for he cried out afterwards against the atrocities of the Soviet
government and atheism. He went on to become a famous author and leader
in the fight to overthrow communism.

Just as salvation is the free gift of God if we but believe and accept
it, so, too, is a closer walk with Jesus Christ available to us if we but
recognize his nearness. He is already here just as he was alongside the
two on their way to Emmaus. When they faced their crossroad, they chose
to understand, to become involved, and to share their joy. As Easter
approaches, we, too, stand at this crossroad. Which way will we be facing
on that blessed day?


Rev. Charles A. Layne, pastor, First Baptist Church, Bunker Hill, IN

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