The Road to the Cross

Big Idea: Jesus teaches that his suffering was not a tragic detour from God’s plan but the necessary path to glory that was foretold in the Old Testament. Introduction: I have a hard time on Good Friday. I don’t like to rehearse the cross. It’s painful to see images of Jesus, the only perfect and most beautiful human being to ever walk this earth, be so misunderstood, and then rejected, that fallen, sinful, guilty people horribly hurt him. If Jesus’s suffering wasn’t in the Bible, it would be beyond belief. In our text today, Luke places us on the road to Emmaus, just hours after the resurrection. A Word about Emmaus: a) Location - About 7 miles (60 stadia) from Jerusalem (Luke 24:13). The exact site is debated. It is most commonly associated with Emmaus Nicopolis, northwest of Jerusalem b) Meaning of the Name - Likely from a Hebrew root meaning “warm spring” or “hot baths.” It suggests a place of rest, retreat, or recovery and that happens in this text. c) Biblical Significance - Only mentioned explicitly in Luke 24. Where are we so far in God’s redemptive story? The tomb is empty, Jesus has risen, but The meaning of the cross is still unclear. So, these two disciples are not doubting the facts as much as They are misinterpreting them. They have heard the reports, but they don’t yet understand the story. What do they need? Well, remember Nehemiah 8. After Ezra read the Bible, he organized the people into small groups and sent “teaching priests” (KJV) into the congregation. – 8:8 - “They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.” a) “Read… clearly” - They proclaimed the text publicly and distinctly. This is the act of reading the Bible itself. b) “Gave the sense” - They explained the meaning of the text. - This is interpretation, not just repetition. c) “So that the people understood” - The goal was comprehension, not mere exposure. These two disciples need “the sense” of what happened so they can “understand” it. This is also why you need to be in a CG where you can ask good questions and find important answers to life’s most important questions. But note: These two disciples are walking away from Jerusalem, away from the place where redemption has just been accomplished, because they can’t reconcile a suffering Messiah with their expectations of glory. Many people struggle with this same concept. ILL: What do we do when our experience and resulting thinking don’t match what we think the Bible says? Perhaps a better question is, “What should we do?” Here’s an example - In Acts 8, an Ethiopian official is leaving Jerusalem and reading Isaiah 53 along the way. It’s the very passage that speaks of a servant who suffers and is led like a lamb to the slaughter. He does not understand it either. Acts 8:26-35 - Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.” And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. Do you see the difference? These disciples are walking away from Jerusalem, confused and discouraged. The Ethiopian eunuch, just as confused, leans in and says, “How can I understand unless someone explains it to me?” These disciples are moving away from the very place of redemption because they can’t reconcile suffering with glory. The eunuch stays with the text until God gives him understanding. These three people share the same confusion, but not the same posture. The disciples seem to drift. The eunuch seeks answers. Don’t ask the Bible to match your experience. Ask the Bible to explain your experience. First: The Question Beneath the Question - “We had hoped…” (v. 21) Observation - The disciples recount the events with accuracy but interpret them with despair, saying, “We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.” Their problem is not lack of information. It is misplaced expectation. Interpretation – As many of the Jews, including the disciples, they assumed redemption would come through visible triumph, not suffering. They expected a conquering king, not a crucified Savior. Their question, though unspoken, is this: “If Jesus is the Redeemer, why did He suffer?” That’s a great question and… Correlation - This tension runs through the Bible: a) Isaiah 53 presents a suffering servant, “pierced for our transgressions” b) Psalm 22 describes a righteous sufferer surrounded and mocked. Psalm 22:16c-17 - …they have pierced my hands and feet – I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me… c) Daniel 7 presents a glorious Son of Man receiving a kingdom The Bible never separates suffering and glory. It always holds them together. APP: We often ask the same question in different language: If God is good, why is there suffering? Why am I suffering? If Christ has saved me, why is my life so hard? Like these disciples, we tend to interpret our circumstances apart from the Bible. When your expectations collapse, don’t rewrite the Bible story. Don’t reinvent God. Return to the Bible. Let God define what your redemption actually looks like. GOOD CG QUESTION: How do people reinvent God when their expectations don’t match their life? First: The Question Beneath the Question - “We had hoped…” (v. 21) Second: The Necessity of the Cross - “Was it not necessary…?” (v. 26) Observation - Jesus does not comfort them first. Instead, he corrects them. = 25 - “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.” Then He asks the pivotal question: 26 - “Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” Interpretation – The answer is “yes,” and the word “necessary” is the key to the entire passage. It was not Plan B Ephesians 1:4-5 - …he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will So, the cross was not accidental It was unavoidable It was required. Required by what? By the plan of God – Romans 3:24-26 – [We] …are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. By the righteousness of God This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. By the justice of God It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. God’s will for you does not come apart from suffering. It comes through it. Correlation - This necessity is woven through the Bible: a) Genesis 3:15 — the serpent-crushing seed is wounded b) Exodus — redemption comes through blood c) Leviticus — atonement requires sacrifice d) Isaiah 53 — the servant suffers to justify many The entire Bible is moving toward a cross that must happen. APP: We often treat suffering as unnecessary interruption. Jesus calls it necessary participation in God’s plan for our lives. So, don’t interpret your suffering as evidence that God’s plan has failed. In Christ, suffering is not meaningless. It is often the very means God uses to accomplish His purposes in you. Suffering is not a detour. You are on a road the Bible has already mapped for Christ, others before you (think Hb 11), you, and others after you. Third: The Bible Interpreted Through Christ “Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” (v. 27) Observation - Jesus opens the Bible to them. He does not give them a new experience. He gives them a new understanding. Interpretation - Jesus teaches that the entire Bible points to Him. Not just predictions, but actual patterns: The Passover lamb The sacrificial system The rejected prophets The suffering righteous one All of it converges on Christ. So, the cross is not one event among many. It is the center of the story. Correlation - Later in Luke 24:44, Jesus will say that everything written in: the Law of Moses the Prophets the Psalms must be fulfilled in Him. IMP: The Bible is not a collection of disconnected stories and humans aren’t the point of those stories. The Bible is one story, with one hero, moving toward one necessary moment – the cross! APP: Many people read the Bible for guidance, inspiration, or comfort. All of those things matter, but if we miss Jesus, we miss the whole reason for the Bible and its meaning. Always read the Bible with this ultimate question: “How does this text lead me to Christ?” And… when you suffer, don’t first look for an explanation. Look at Jesus who stands at the center of the story and realize suffering is essential to our salvation. ILL: Hebrews 12:1b - …let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us… Weights are our interpretation of God and his story: comfort, our way, anything that is counter to our interpretation of how our lives should go. Bottom Line: (Theological Weight) The question “Was it all really necessary?” receives a clear answer from Jesus: Yes. It was all, really necessary. It was necessary for redemption It was necessary for the fulfillment of the Bible It was necessary for the glory of Christ It was necessary for the salvation of sinners The cross was not a tragedy that interrupted God’s plan. It was the plan. Conclusion: These disciples were walking away from hope while speaking to the risen Jesus. They did not recognize Him because they misunderstood the necessity of His suffering. And we are often not that much different. You may be looking at your life, your pain, your unanswered questions, and asking: Was this necessary? Jesus does not answer that question with sentiment. He answers it with the Bible. All the Bible leads you to a Savior who suffered, not because He lost control, but because He was in control. If the cross was necessary, then your salvation is secure. If the cross was necessary, then your suffering is not wasted. If the cross was necessary, then glory is coming. So, don’t walk away from Jerusalem. And don’t walk away from the cross. Stay on the road where suffering leads to glory.