The Revelation on the Emmaus Road, Part 2

Amen. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for today. Lord, you're a great God, and you have allowed us to gather together to worship you, to read your word, to understand more about who you are. And today, Father, open our hearts and minds that we might be receptive to all that you have for us on this Lord's Day. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Luke chapter 24 is where we are at. Luke chapter 24, looking at the Emmaus encounter. Two disciples on the Emmaus road after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord, who encounter Jesus Christ.

They just don't know that it's Jesus until he reveals himself. But this encounter talks to us about the power of the word of God. Two disciples, one completely unknown, the other virtually unknown, except by his name. We really don't know anything about Cleopas. But there are two disciples who are living in despair. They're living downcast lives. They're living defeated lives. They're living lives that are utterly depressed. And only the word of God can lift them from the pits of despair to the palace of delight.

And that's the way it is for you and me as well. Nothing else can do that. Only the word of God. And this story, even though it's at the very end of the ministry of Jesus, after his resurrection, really tells us a lot about the power of the word of God and how it truly affects our lives. And it sets the tone for the book of Acts. And it sets the tone for the rest of the New Testament to show us why the apostles were committed to preaching and teaching the word of God and the effects it had on their lives.

Two souls, completely dry, completely parched, set ablaze, set afire by the word of God. These men's souls were set ablaze because of the word of God. It's a story that tells us that biblical ignorance is never optional. Biblical ignorance is never optional for the believer. We are to live lives seeking and knowing our God. The reason they were depressed, the reason they were in despair is because they did not know all that the Old Testament taught. That's what Jesus rebukes them for. Oh, foolish men and slow of heart not to believe and understand all that was taught in the Old Testament.

You see, they were satisfied with the limited knowledge they had of the Bible. That's always a dangerous place to be. You can never afford to be satisfied with the limited knowledge and understanding you have of the Bible. For once you get to that point, you are on a quick road to despair and depression. Because these men had a limited understanding of the Old Testament. And because they did, they were kept back from experience, the fullness of God's joy. But once explained to them, everything then was transformed, simply because they were able to understand all that the Old Testament said concerning the Messiah.

They were satisfied with what the Old Testament taught about the triumph of the Messiah. They just did not know anything about the tragedy of the Messiah. They loved the glory part. They didn't like the gory part. They didn't want to hear that there were barriers that they set up in their heart and mind that kept them from understanding. Even though Jesus would speak about the tragedy, even though he would speak about his death, even though he'd speak about the mockings and the beatings, they tuned him out when he said those things.

That was not what they had in mind when it came to their Messiah. It's like you when you come to church. You come with preconceived ideas as to what the Bible says.

It's like the celebration of Christmas. Let me use this as an example. It's like the celebration when we gather together for Christmas. We have certain ideas about the Christmas story, but we don't have necessarily a full understanding of the Christmas story. We have a limited knowledge of the Christmas story. There are certain parts of it we really like, but there are other parts we tune out. That's why when I was given a gift just a couple weeks ago with a manger scene and then a big huge red dragon to put on top of it, it thrilled my heart because that's the story of Christmas.

We've told you in years past that when you set up for Christmas and you put a manger scene outside your house, don't do it without putting a red dragon above the manger scene. Number one, that will cause much discussion with your neighbors.

It will allow you the opportunity to tell them the truth about Revelation chapter 12, which says these words. It says, and another sign appeared in heaven and behold a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns and on his heads were seven diadems and his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth and the dragon stood before the woman who was Israel who was about to give birth so that when she gave birth he might devour her child.

That's the Christmas story. The red dragon stood over the woman Israel when she was about to give birth to the child because he wanted to destroy the child. That's why Herod would slay all the babies two years and younger because Satan didn't want the Messiah to survive. See that's the story of Christmas. But see that doesn't go well over in Sunday school class. It doesn't go over with children necessarily, but it's the truth and we must always speak and help people understand the truth. We come with preconceived ideas about what we think the Bible teaches about certain topics instead of coming with a desire to understand what the Bible truly teaches.

And we set up these barriers in our mind that keep us from hearing the truth of God's word and that's what these disciples have done and not just these disciples. Listen all of Israel did the same thing. It just wasn't these two. It was the apostles as well. They are included in this group. It was the whole nation of Israel who did not completely grasp the tragedy surrounding the Messiah. And so Christ indicts them for that. You got to know he says you didn't know and because you didn't know you're dull of hearing because you didn't know you're foolish.

You need to know and there's not a reason for you not to know you held the Torah in your hand. You went to the synagogue every Saturday. You heard the word of God read every Saturday and some of you went every day and heard it read in the morning and at night and years no excuse for you not to know. But for some reason you missed that part. That's the tragedy of Luke 24. But the greatness is is that the Lord will use his word speak the word that they might hear and understand the complete truth of the word of God.

That's why Paul said to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20. I ceased not to declare to you the whole counsel of God. I gave you the whole kit and caboodle. I didn't leave anything out. I gave you everything because I wanted to make sure that you understood exactly what the Bible said. See they believed in Jesus as a deliverer or the Messiah as a deliverer. They believed in the Messiah as a redeemer. They believed in the Messiah as a savior. They believed that but they only believed it in a political sense, in a national sense, in a social sense, not in a spiritual sense.

They didn't see themselves as sinners separated from God. They saw themselves as the children of Israel, the children of God and they were sons of their father Abraham. And so they were on their way to heaven. So they missed the whole aspect about the delivering power of God, the saviorship of the Messiah, the Redeemer himself. And so they they found themselves depressed and discouraged when Jesus who they thought was the Messiah didn't do what he said in their minds. Listen, don't feel bad. John the Baptist was the same way, right?

Earlier in loose gospel, John the Baptist is in prison. He's about to be beheaded. He is completely disillusioned as to what he's been doing over the last several months because he was told he was the forerunner of the Messiah. And if he's the forerunner of the Messiah, the Messiah is going to come. He's going to rule and reign instead of his kingdom and things are going to be great. But John's in prison. He's about to die. And so he sends his men to ask, are you the expected one? A term for the Messiah from the Old Testament.

Are you the one that we expect? Because if you are, why am I in prison? Why am I suffering? Why am I having difficulty if you are the Messiah? We ask that question all the time. Why is it if you are God and you rule over all, why is my marriage in shambles? Why is my health faltering? Why is my life so difficult? Lord, if you are God, why are things happening the way they are? We become disillusioned as to who Jesus is, what he came to do, and why he did it. Because we have these preconceived ideas.

We set up all these barriers in our mind that keep us from understanding the full truth of God and how he works in the lives of his people. And that's simply because we do not understand all that the Bible teaches. That's why we need to be Bereans and study the scriptures. We need to be men and women of the book who know exactly what the Bible says.

It's like Peter. It's like Peter. Remember Peter in Matthew 16? When Jesus forecast his very first, for the very first time, his suffering and death?

Who do men say that I am? Well, you're the Christ, the Son of the Living God, Peter said. We know who you are. And Jesus said, don't tell anybody that. Instead, tell them this. The Son of Man is going to suffer. He's going to die. And three days later, rise again. Peter said, no, Lord, no, no. That's not what's going to happen. You've got it all wrong. You missed the Old Testament, Jesus. You didn't get it. You're the rule and reign. And Jesus said to Peter, get behind me. What? Satan. Why? Because Peter didn't have in mind the purposes of God.

What did Peter have in mind? His own purposes. You see, they were enamored with kingdom rule. They were enamored with the fact that they would one day rule and reign with the Messiah. That's all they could think about. That's why they argued four times over and over again. Who was the greatest in the kingdom? They couldn't get it out of their mind because everything was about kingdom rule. Everything was about them and what was going to happen when Jesus ascended the throne and they would rule and reign with him.

In fact, 40 days after his resurrection, before he ascended into glory, they were still asking him in Acts chapter one after he'd spent 40 days talking to them about things pertaining to the kingdom. Lord, is it at this time now that you're going to restore the kingdom to Israel? There was a kingdom hysteria among the Jewish people. Everything was about the political rule of the Messiah, the military rule of the Messiah. And they were just all about, that's why they followed Jesus. They didn't follow Jesus because he was going to suffer and die.

And if they followed him, they would suffer and die too. That's not why they followed Jesus. They followed Jesus because he was the king and the king rules. The king reigns and if he's the king, we will rule and reign with him. We're following Jesus. And that's why when he died, they all fled. They all fled. They all ran because nothing was happening as they had expected it to happen. But everything was happening as the Lord God had directed it to happen because he was sovereign. He rules over all.

So they were confused. These two disciples, they truly were depressed. And so this stranger to them, who is Jesus, would use the Old Testament to give them direction, would give them consolation, would give them ultimately jubilation and satisfaction. Because as we told you last week, God's word is the source of everything that pertains to life and godliness. And so the Lord would use his word in their lives. And that word, because it's so powerful, would transform the rest of their lives. Because that's the essence of the power of God's word that we need to understand, that we need to grasp from this story.

So when you pick up the narrative in verse number 13, two of them were walking along. They're going to the village named Emmaus, which is seven miles from Jerusalem. That's a very important point to understand, as we will see. And they were conversing. This is the conversation. There's the conversation, there's the explanation, and then there's the revelation. This is the conversation. They're conversing back and forth over the things that had taken place. Verse 15, and it came about that while they were conversing and discussing, Jesus himself approached and began traveling with them.

But their eyes were prevented from recognizing him. And he said to them, what are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you were walking? And they stood still looking sad. Jesus joins them in their journey. They have no idea it's Jesus. And he asked them, what are you exchanging? What are you talking about? And they're saddened. 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 Jesus says, what things? It's not that he doesn't know. He knows everything happened because of him. He wants to elicit a response. He wants them to begin to articulate their dilemma. Because once they articulate their dilemma, then he will then explain to them the solution to their issue from the word of God. So he says, what things? And they said to him, things about Jesus, the Nazarene, who was the prophet, mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people. The phrase in the sight of God means that he was pleasing to God.

The things that Jesus did were very pleasing to God. We know that because at his baptism, it was said, this is my beloved son and whom I am well pleased. Jesus didn't do anything that didn't please the father. So they were saying that the things that this Jesus did, this Jesus of Nazarene, all the mighty works that he accomplished, all the mighty things that he said, were all done in the sight of God, were all pleasing to God. Then it says, and now the chief priests and our rulers delivered him up to the sentence of death and crucified him.

Notice what they didn't say. They didn't say that Rome crucified him, although Rome did. They didn't say anything about the Gentiles. They said about the chief priests and our rulers. They're blaming their rulers on what took place. And they're saying, this is what happened. Verse 21, but we were hoping that it was he who was going to redeem Israel in deed. Besides all this, it is the third day since these things happen.

We really believed he was going to be our redeemer and he was. They just had a different perception of what the redeemer would do based on the triumph taught in the old Testament about the kingly rule of the Messiah. We thought for sure he was going to redeem us, but that didn't happen. It's been three days. He talked a little bit about rising from the dead three days later, but you know what? The third day began yesterday at 6 p.m.

And now it's almost the end of this day, which is the third day, and we haven't seen him. So now they're really confused. He talked about this resurrection thing, and if he really is going to rise from the dead, how come we haven't seen him? The day's almost over. And then it says, but also some women among us amazed us when they were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find his body. They came saying that he had also seen a vision of angels, or they had 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 exactly as the women also had said. That's Peter and John. But him they did not see. You see, they just did not grasp it. This is their conversation. And they are conversing with Jesus about all that's taken place, and now comes the explanation. And in that explanation comes a rebuke by Jesus. Then comes a reason as to why the rebuke, and then a record of all that the Old Testament said about Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus begins to explain to them exactly what is happening.

Their confusion is because they did not understand the Old Testament. Jesus says, O foolish men and slow of heart, to believe in all that the prophets have spoken.

Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into his glory? You see, there is the tragedy and the triumph. There is the gory and there's the glory. But you got the glory before the gory. You got the triumph before the tragedy. But the Old Testament teaches both. You're really big into him entering into his glory, but you're not too big into the suffering of the Messiah. That's their problem. And that's one thing they could not afford to miss. And so he rebukes him. Don't blame the scriptures because you don't understand it.

Don't blame the Bible because you don't get it. It's not the Bible's fault. It's your fault because the Bible's recorded it. And so that's why Jesus would say over and over again, have you not read? Think about that. Go back with me, if you would, to Matthew chapter 12. Matthew chapter 12. Verse number one.

At that time, Jesus went on the Sabbath through the grain fields and his disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, behold, your disciples do what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath. But he said to them, have you not read what David did? Have you not read? You guys are the religious leaders. Did you not read about David and what he did when he had to feed his men? He takes them back to the Old Testament. Matthew chapter 19.

Matthew 19 says these words. Verse number three. And some of the Pharisees came to him, testing him and saying, is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause at all? And he answered and said to them, have you not read? See, they came and asked a question and Jesus directs them where? Back to the Old Testament. Back to the authoritative word of God. Have you not read that he created them from the beginning, made them male and female? And he said, for this cause, a man shall leave his father and mother and shall cleave to his wife and the two shall become one flesh.

Consequently, they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate. Then they said, did not Moses give us the right to divorce? He said, yes, but only because of the hardness of your heart. The only legitimate reason for you to divorce is because of unrepentant, long, prolonged immorality. That's it. Have you not read? Did you not get it? See, he takes them back to the Old Testament. Again, go over to Matthew chapter 22. Matthew chapter 22. Verse number 31.

In fact, we'll go up to verse number 27 when they come and ask Jesus about the resurrection. Christ says in verse 28, in the resurrection, therefore, whose wife of the seven shall she be?

For they all had her. Speaking of this woman who had seven men. And Jesus said, you are mistaken, not understanding the scriptures or the power of God. For in the resurrection, they need to marry nor given a marriage, but are like angels in heaven. But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read? See, when Jesus was asked a question that is easily answered in the scripture, he says, have you not read? So when someone comes to you and asks you a question about homosexuality, what do you say?

Have you not read? Have you not read? When someone comes and asks you about divorce, you say, have you not read? When someone asks you about whatever question they have, you say, have you not read? Evidently you have not read because it's in the scriptures. Let me, let me show you what it says.

That's why it's imperative for you to know the Bible. Your kids come to you, they ask you a question. How do you answer? You answer this way. Have you not read? That's how you answer your children. Why do you spank me, daddy? Have you not read? Right? That's what the Bible says.

Dad, why, why are you disciplining me? Have you not read? See, that's the legitimate, have you not read what the Bible has said? That's how Jesus answers people who ask questions that were pertaining to life and death. Have you not read? And so we as parents, we as those who teach and lead need to know the scriptures. We need to be able to explain to people the scriptures and do it the way Jesus did. Have you not read what the Bible has specifically said? And that's what Jesus rebukes these men for.

You don't believe all the prophets have said. You believe some of it, but you don't believe all of it. You want some of it, but you don't want all of it. And so what does he do? What does Jesus do? Very simply this, verse 27, beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, he explained to them the things concerning himself in all the scriptures. That's what he did. Going all the way back to Genesis, the book of beginnings and taking them through the law, which is the Pentateuch, taking them through the prophets to explain to them everything pertaining to the Messiah.

You see, this is so important because what he did for them is open their eyes. And this is what caused their hearts to burn. This is what they will say. This is what caused seeing Jesus did not cause their hearts to burn. Hearing the word of God caused their hearts to burn because that's what happens in the life of a believer. Once the word of God has been spoken and explained, their hearts begin to be set ablaze. There's a fire that's kindled. There's a blaze that runs rampant through their soul because God's word has been spoken.

God's word has been explained. And now you know what has been said because someone's explained it to you. So important to understand that. And that's what happened to these men. Jesus takes them all the way back. What did he say? Don't you wish you could have been there? Don't you wish you could have been sitting there with them? It's a seven mile journey. Okay. Seven mile journey. That's a long, long walk. I mean, they weren't walking to get exercise and walking briskly. They were strolling along in a depressed state.

And Jesus shows up and begins to talk to them concerning the things of the Old Testament. And this journey would continue almost until it was the next day or evening time because the next day begins at 6 p.m. that night. And he goes and explains to them the Old Testament from Genesis to the end. Can you imagine sitting there and listening to Jesus explain to them about it? They had no idea he was Jesus because they were prevented from seeing him. But he spoke to them. What did he do? They knew about the atonement.

They lived the atonement. They knew that the life of the flesh is in the blood. They knew that the blood sacrifices would cover their sin. And they lived in anticipation of a removal of that sin. And they knew that on the day of atonement, the priests were involved in offering sacrifices who acted as butchers because there was always blood sacrifices to atone for the sins of man. They knew that because the Old Testament taught that. They actively involved themselves in that on a yearly basis than on a regular basis.

So they understood sacrifice, but they didn't understand the ultimate sacrifice. They knew that there was going to be a removal of sin. They just did not know how it all came together. So Jesus would explain that to them. And how did he do that? They understood the whole triumph part. They understood the Son of David. They understood the Son of God. They understood the Son of Man. They understood the sovereign rulership of the Messiah. They understood the fact that he was a satisfier of man's needs and man's soul based on the prophet Malachi.

They understood the fact concerning his triumphant reign. They understood Davidic covenant. They understood Abrahamic covenant. That's what they wanted to have happen. They wanted the king on the throne in their land that all would be theirs and their oppressors would be dealt with and they would rule supremely with their king. They got that. But what didn't they? They didn't get the fact that the Old Testament clearly taught that the Messiah would die. The Messiah would suffer. They missed that.

They knew the prophecy of Genesis 3.15 that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent's head. They understood that. They got that. They believed that. They didn't understand how that was going to happen. But we understand from the New Testament that Satan was crushed at the cross. So they understood that for a minimal degree. But as you go through the Old Testament, did they understand Genesis chapter 22 that the Messiah would be a substitute? Can you imagine Jesus explaining Mount Moriah to them?

Explain to them that God will provide himself as lamb to them? That the Messiah would be a substitute? Because they understood substitutionary atonement because they knew that the sacrifice of an animal and the bloodshed would cover their sins. But it would not remove their sin. And so they began to understand from Jesus' perspective concerning Genesis chapter 22 that there would be a substitute that would come and that Jesus was that lamb. That's why John the Baptist called him the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

They understood the Levitical system with the scapegoat, how the scapegoat and the blood would be placed on the scapegoat and he would disappear and it would signify the removal of the nation's sins. And Jesus explained to them the Levitical system, the Levitical law, how he was that scapegoat that would remove all their sin. He would do that for them. He would explain to them that he was the spotless lamb of Exodus chapter 12. They knew about the Passover. They knew about the history of the Passover.

They knew about the requirements of a spotless lamb that could be sacrificed that you bring that lamb to your home for three days and you'd love on that lamb and then you slaughter that lamb and Jesus would say to them, hey listen I am that spotless lamb or that Jesus of Nazarene was that spotless lamb, the sinless lamb. He would take them to Isaiah chapter 25 where it says the Messiah will swallow up death because the Messiah is a swallower of death. He would dispose of death completely in the fear of death.

He would have had to have taken them to Isaiah chapter 53 to show them that he was that ultimate sacrificial lamb, that he was the silent lamb, that he was the suffering lamb, taking them through Isaiah chapter 53. That's what Philip did. Remember in Acts chapter 8 when Philip was talking to the Ethiopian eunuch he was reading Isaiah 53. He was reading he was led as a sheep to the slaughter as the land before its shearers is silent so he does not open his mouth in humiliation his judgment was taken away who shall relate his generation for his life is removed from the earth and the eunuch answered Philip and said please tell me of whom does the prophet say this of himself or someone else who is the prophet speaking about and Philip says open his mouth and beginning from this scripture Isaiah 53 he preached Jesus to him Jesus would begin in Genesis take them through the Pentateuch the law take them through the prophets take them to Isaiah 53.

Philip began in Isaiah 53 and moved him backwards to show him who Jesus the Nazarene was because if you're going to explain to people Jesus you must help them understand that Jesus of the Old Testament is a Jesus of the New Testament he's the same and so you explain those things to them Jesus would take them and tell them yes you know you heard it right you said it right that Jesus the Nazarene was a prophet and in Numbers the book of Numbers it tells us that there'd be a greater prophet than Moses that will come so he began to tell them about that he began to explain this he began to tell them that he would be the one who would be be pierced as Zechariah chapter 12 telling him about Jesus and Nazareth as he hung on the cross that he was pierced with a spear and that one day they will look on him and whom they have pierced and mourned for him like an only child so he would draw all the parallels open up the door for them to be able to see that Jesus is alive because the Old Testament also taught the resurrection of the Messiah and so he would take them back and tell them about the tragic death of the Messiah as well as the triumphant resurrection of the Messiah and he would be telling them this on the road to their little village called the mass now look what it says Luke 24 and they approached the village where they were going and he acted as though he would go further okay so he is walking with them he for all practical purposes is going to keep on walking all right so what do they do it says and they urged him saying stay with us for it is getting toward evening and the day is now nearly over so now it's almost six o'clock Sunday night because the day is almost over and they're urging him to stay why why are they urging Jesus to stay with them simply because when the word of God is explained you don't want it to stop see see we forget that we can't wait to get out of here to get some bagels to get some juice to get some coffee to go watch a football game but not these guys they know no you stay with us or they urge him they compel them no you stay with us they listen they weren't going to have him stay for a meal because they weren't about to feed him Jesus acts as host we'll see that in a second he acts as host he breaks the bread why because eating wasn't on their mind they were being fed spiritually they were growing spiritually their hearts were ablaze with the truth they could not get enough of the truth have you ever gotten to a point where you say you know enough's enough not these guys oh man they just wanted more give us more give us more you can't go you gotta stay you gotta stay they urge him to stay they wanted to hear more about the truth they wanted to know more about Jesus the Messiah they didn't have enough so Jesus stays says and it came about that when he had reclined at the table with them he took the bread and blessed it and breaking it he began giving it to them that would be like like having someone that you just met on the road come to your house you invite them in to stay and they go into the kitchen and begin to prepare a meal and they begin to cook it and everything and set the table sit you down and say hey we're gonna eat that would be so rude so rude for someone who's a stranger to walk into your kitchen and begin to set the table begin to cook a meal because you needed to eat and that's exactly what Jesus did because in the tenderness and kindness of his heart he knew they needed to have something to eat but they weren't about to eat because they're not thinking about physical food they are so enamored with the spiritual food and so Jesus begins to break the bread and then he blessed it he gave thanks for it how did he do that the same way he always prayed our father and so as he blessed the food he broke the bread and he gave them the bread of course he had robes in those days and so when he would he would give them the bread the robes would rise up his arms and they would see the nail piercings in his wrists okay and then comes the revelation and their eyes were opened and they recognized him and he vanished from their sight boom he was gone just like that he vanished from their sight now look what it says we're not our hearts burning within us when we saw the nail piercing in his hands that's not what it says we're not our hearts burning within us when we recognize it was Jesus no that's not what it says it says we're not our hearts burning within us while he was speaking to us on the road while he was explaining the scriptures to us that's what caused the burning in their heart nothing is said about his vanishing nothing is said about hey wow did you see that wow that was Jesus and now he was here bang he was gone wow man put that on Instagram stand in some place somebody's gotta know that's not what turned them on that was minimal compared to the explanation of the truth to these men this chapter speaks volumes to the supremacy and to the authority of the word of God once explained what it does to a heart of a man this is what it does that's why we encourage you to read it to study it to hear it to listen to it that's why the book of Ecclesiastes says that when you when you enter the house of the Lord come in guard your steps when you go into the house of the Lord that you might go in to listen to listen because what you're going to hear if explained will set your heart ablaze and these men were filled with joy jubilation exhilaration excitement simply put these men were set on fire because listen once the word of God has been explained it is undeniable by those who believe it is uncontainable and that's what we're going to see next week when they go and tell the disciples it's uncontainable it is undiminishable when you read the book of Acts never was the fire put out never was their preaching diminished no matter the persecution no matter the severity of the persecution no matter the rejection it's undiminishable it is uncontainable because it is undeniable also it is unforgettable once the word of God has been explained the truth has been set forth it is unforgettable it's also unmeasurable it cannot be measured in human terms because it is a supernatural living and abiding word of God it is unnegotiable once the word of God has been explained it is unnegotiable it's not something you negotiate with no it's the absolute truth the sum of thy word is truth the psalmist said it is unshakable these men could not be shaken in their belief they would stand strong it is and was unrestrainable they could not be held back because that's the power of the word of God that's what happens now put yourself in their sandals and how do you respond how do you respond to the authoritative supreme prominent authority in life the word of God once spoken once explained what happens in your soul that tells you your spiritual condition it tells you where you're at in my prayer for you and me that every one of us would have our hearts set ablaze because the power of God's word let's pray father we thank you for today truly lord you are a great god and you alone are worthy of praise we read about these two men on the road to Emmaus and what it is you did in their lives simply by taking them back to the old testament and explaining to the messiah that yes he was this promised seed of genesis chapter 3 the promised substitute of genesis chapter 22 the promised seer of numbers chapter 24 the promised swallower of death in isaiah chapter 25 the promised silent one the promised scorned one the promised sacrificial spotless lamb the promised son of god son of david son of man the promised sovereign ruler of the world the promised separated one who would be unique because he is the messiah of israel this promised one that you explained to them was you and they didn't even know it was you but the power of the word of god transformed their lives may that be the case for all of us as well we pray in jesus name amen