Sermon Text: Luke 24:13-35
Date: April 19, 2026
Event: The Third Sunday of Easter, Year A

Luke 24:13-35 (EHV)

Now, on that same day, two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14They were talking with each other about all of these things that had happened. 15While they were talking and discussing this, Jesus himself approached and began to walk along with them. 16But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17He said to them, “What are you talking about as you walk along?” Saddened, they stopped.

18One of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”

19“What things?” he asked them.

They replied, “The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet, mighty in deed and word before God and all the people. 20The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be condemned to death. And they crucified him. 21But we were hoping that he was going to redeem Israel. Not only that, but besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. 22Also some women of our group amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning. 23When they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. 24Some of those who were with us went to the tomb. They found it just as the women had said, but they did not see him.”

25He said to them, “How foolish you are and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and to enter his glory?” 27Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

28As they approached the village where they were going, he acted as if he were going to travel farther. 29But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, since it is almost evening, and the day is almost over.”

So he went in to stay with them. 30When he reclined at the table with them, he took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and began giving it to them. 31Suddenly their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. Then he vanished from their sight. 32They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was speaking to us along the road and while he was explaining the Scriptures to us?” 33They got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem. They found the Eleven and those who were with them assembled together. 34They were saying, “The Lord really has been raised! He has appeared to Simon.” 35They themselves described what had happened along the road, and how they recognized him when he broke the bread.

Are You Slow of Heart to Believe?

This year, perhaps more than most, as we’ve walked through the account of Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection, I’ve been filled with fresh empathy for the disciples. The mental, emotional, and spiritual whiplash they would have gone through from Palm Sunday’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Maundy Thursday’s intimate Passover celebration, Judas’ betrayal, Jesus’ trials, death, burial, and subsequent resurrection seems almost impossible to bear. Yes, we can make the case that they should have known what was coming because Jesus had told them (repeatedly). But even so, even in the best-case scenario, knowing something is going to happen doesn’t take away the impact of actually going through it.

So it’s not surprising that when we meet up with two of Jesus’ followers on the seven-mile walk between Jerusalem and Emmaus, we come across two men in what seems to be emotional shell-shock. They had appropriately high expectations for Jesus (“We were hoping that he was going to redeem Israel”), but even as they identify him as the promised Messiah, there is a lack of clarity over how the Messiah would accomplish his work or even in what that work would actually be.

But even set aside the spiritual and eternal implications of all of this and ground the experience in something more relatable to us: they just saw someone who was very important to them murdered by leaders who feared him and rulers who backed away from all of their responsibilities. And then, in what I imaigne could have felt like a very cruel joke, there was talk that he was, somehow, alive again? “Some women of our group amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning. When they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb. They found it just as the women had said, but they did not see him.”

Jesus joins them in their walk-and-talk as they try to work through everything they've experienced and are feeling. But notably, Jesus doesn’t let them recognize him. This conversation will be far more profitable and beneficial for these two men if they see Jesus not as their dear teacher who was crucified and now is alive, but simply as someone with deep insight into the Old Testament prophecies and God’s promises.

Jesus’ explanation begins with what I imagine to be a bit of gentle scolding or even poking fun at them just a little bit—shouldn’t you guys have known better? Don’t you know the Scriptures? How foolish you are and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and to enter his glory? Jesus’ crucifixion and subsequent resurrection were not secrets. It was largely laid out in the promises God has given through his prophets, and Jesus himself had been clear on many occasions that he would suffer, die, and then rise from the dead. But they were slow of heart to believe. These things didn’t seem to match their expectations, their hopes, or even simply their human reason. And so, like Thomas, there was a barrier to believing what had actually happened.

But Jesus brings them to the only thing that can tear down that barrier: Beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. And, boy, what I wouldn’t give to have been able to eavesdrop on that lesson! The promises of the Messiah explained by the Messiah himself!

But this wouldn’t have been new to these two disciples. As Jewish believers, they would have always had these Scriptures around them. And certainly, their time with Jesus would have given them ample opportunity to hear him explain these things before this stroll to Emmaus. So why, in these moments, are they still slow of heart to believe? It’s not even something that we can fully ascribe to the emotional turmoil of the last 72 hours, because if they went into these events knowing, believing, and trusting what Jesus had said would have happened, while it may not have made these past days’ events easy, at least they would have known the purpose behind them, and would not have been shocked at reports of an empty tomb. They could have made this trip with some measure of contented joy rather than sorrowful confusion.

No, a big part of their slow hearts is that this wasn’t meeting their expectations. Even in the assumption they had shared with Jesus at the start of their walk together (“We were hoping that he was going to redeem Israel”) heavily implies a mistaken understanding of what Jesus came to do. We could probably interpret their statement as meaning they hoped Jesus would be the one to redeem the people of Israel from their sins, but it seems far more likely that they were looking for Jesus to redeem—to buy back—the nation from the Romans’ oppression and restore its glory. When the eleven are with Jesus in a few weeks at his ascension, even then, they will ask him a question that implies that same understanding, “Lord, is this the time when you are going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6).

So where are you slow of heart to believe? Is it in the same ballpark as the disciples on the road to Emmaus? Is there a part of you that really struggles to believe, not necessarily that Jesus died, but that the purpose behind it was to die for you? Does guilt and grief over your past sins lead you to be slow of heart to believe that Jesus loves you enough to sacrifice himself to rescue you?

Or are there places where your logic and reason lead your heart down that path of being slow to believe? Does the idea that God created the world with his Word in six, 24-hour days run afoul of what you perceive around you? Do the miracles in God’s Word seem impossible to the point of being fables, exaggerations, or even outright lies? Does the whole idea of one death counting for the entire world seem impossible? Does the idea of God being both loving and just—so that he saves people but also punishes sin with hell—seem completely at odds with each other?

Or are there places where your heart and desires lead you down that path of slow belief? Do God’s requirements around sex and marriage—specifically that sex should only be found in marriage and should be found in marriage—seem restrictive and at odds with your will? Is God’s direction for your material blessings—that your firstfruits should be given to him in thanksgiving—at odds with what you want your personal budget to be? Are you likely to shrug off the value that God places on you while you let the lies of self-deprication and depression convince you that you are worthless?

If we had the time and the willingness to share, we could probably spend the rest of the day discussing all of our individual hangups around God’s Word and work that we have. But the source of all of these battles, whether we’re fighting assumptions, reason, or desires, is sin. Sin is the reason that we are foolish when dealing with the things of God. Sin is the reason that our hearts are slow to believe in so many different areas of what God has said and done.

And so the solution to all of our slow hearts is the same solution that Jesus presented to the disciples on their walk: himself. Jesus’ death to pay for our sins attacks the root of all of our issues. Time in his Word is what changes our hearts and minds to be in line with him. Jesus’ forgiveness powers through our grudges and anger and allows us to forgive as he does. Jesus’ forgiveness powers through our doubts so that we can see Good Friday as not a tragedy, but as his love for us, and to see God’s love as ours because that’s what he chose to do for us. Jesus’ forgiveness powers through our reason and lets our mind rest and give way to God’s direction when the two are in conflict with each other.

There is so much for us to know, believe, and understand when it comes to our spiritual life and our relationship with God. But we do well to center it, ground it, and base it only on Jesus crucified and risen, because it all comes back to that. If we want to make sense of anything in our lives or anything in God’s Word, nothing will happen if we don’t have Jesus at the very center of it. But with Jesus there, crucified and risen as the meeting point of both God’s justice and his love, there we find clarity, or at least the peace to let things be and let God be God. There we see his plan to save us—a plan that was successful!—and the eternal peace that we have waiting for us after this life, no matter what trials, confusion, and sadness we are going through today.

The disciples were finally allowed to recognize Jesus after they had finished talking and sat down for a meal. What was their first order of business? Rush back to Jerusalem to share their newfound peace and joy with others who were struggling. May God give us that same spirit to find our peace in his promises and to then share and encourage others with the peace we’ve received from him.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.

Soli Deo Gloria