Recognizing the Calm

By Gus Andrews

How recognizing who Jesus is & what Jesus did brings calm into a believer's life.

Luke 24:13-35 Introduction

We begin a new series this morning that we are calling “The Calm Before the Storm.” When I googled that phrase the first definition that popped up was this one:

“a period of unusual tranquility or stability that seems likely to precede difficult times.”

And that’s the time of the NT Church that we are going to look at over the next eight or nine weeks. We’re going to look at the time between Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection– and the time when the Church began preaching and reaching and bringing thousands to the Lord Jesus AND SUFFERED INCREDIBLE PERSECUTION FOR DOING SO! And we’re going to try to use their example of how they prepared for their upcoming storm to see if we might gain a few insights about how we might prepare for whatever storms might be coming our way as well. Helpful insights about…

Recognizing the Calm (And using the time provided by the calm for…) Substantiating A Faith of Your Own (And Thinking Twice) Before You Go Running Half Cocked Into the Storm (And) Powering Up While Things Are Still Calmed Down (As well as something About) Prayer Before the Storm (And) Listening to the Lord (How) A Little Help From Heaven Never Hurts! (And About) Making Hay While the Sun Still Shines! (How) Happy Days (Can Be) Are Here Again!

All great lessons that those early Christians teach by the way they prepared for their upcoming storm. And the first lesson they teach us is about “Recognizing the Calm.” And how to do that. We do that by seeing Jesus for… 1

Who He Is Explanation

And not merely wait until all storm clouds finally roll out of our lives. Because that day may never come. Especially if you live in Ohio where the typical color of the sky is battleship gray!

I was thanking one of the new docs at LMH for moving from India to Newark Ohio where he was providing some essential medical services for us. And I asked him how he liked Ohio. And he said, “Does the sun ever come out in Ohio?”

Coming from India I can see how he questioned that. Because it does seem like it can be a long time between sunny days sometime. But think how dark and gloomy it must have seemed for Jesus’ first followers, who saw the way Jesus died on the cross, and the way Jesus’ lifeless body was laid in the tomb, and then for the Body to go missing come Sunday morning; you talk about a pretty gloomy day! We have the record of two of those disciples in our text this morning. Bible Verse

Luke 24:13-17 (ESV)

13That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem,

14and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened.

15While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them.

16But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.

17And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. Explanation

But had they recognized Jesus for Who He was, Who it was that was standing right in front of them, walking and talking with them; and would very shortly be explaining Scripture to them– had they only recognized Jesus for Who He was THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN RUNNING ALL THE WAY BACK TO JERUSALEM, like the Christmas shepherds who returned, after seeing the Christ-Child born, all wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. Remember? How…

Luke 2:20 …the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen…

And that’s just what our two disciples did. At the very end of our reading this morning the Bible says as… Bible Verse

Luke 24:28-35 (ESV)

28So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther,

29but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them.

30When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them.

31And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight.

32They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”

33And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together,

34saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!”

35Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread. Application

Because now they knew Who Jesus was! And oh, the difference that recognition makes! That’s why Jesus asked His disciples point blank… Bible Verse

Matthew 16:13-18 (ESV)

13Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

14And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

15He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

16Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

17And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.

18And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Explanation

Not on Peter, but upon Who Peter confessed Jesus to be! Because Who Jesus is… changes… everything! That’s why we try to lead people to that recognition that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God! Because of the difference that recognition will make in their life, the calm that will bring into their life, and into the life of others, both in this life, and in the life to come. Illustration

Recognition is what we are talking about this morning. And recognition is something that more of us are learning more and more about all the time, what with all the computerized recognition going on.

Facial recognition Vocal recognition Fingerprint recognition

I guess there are programs out there now that recognize us by the gait of our walk! Each of us having our own unique stride that computers are able to identify and track! As well as our own distinctive smell! Where’s this gonna end? Who knows? Just the other day I uploaded a picture of my wife and I out on a date to my Facebook page. And I had no idea Facebook was doing this, but Facebook tagged our names on our faces simply by going through all my Facebook friends and matching names to our faces. And when I posted the picture Facebook labeled it:

“Gus Andrews and Lynn Andrews out on a date!”

I didn’t tell Facebook who we were. I just told Facebook we were out on a date. Except that Lynn really looks a whole lot like her baby sister, and what Facebook actually said was:

“Gus Andrews AND ROBIN O’DELL out on a date!”

And I can assure you I was not out on a date with Lynn’s baby sister! But that’s what it said. Application

Who do you say,,, Jesus… is? In Jesus’ day Jesus was said to be all sorts of things. Jesus was said to be…

The son of David The son of Joseph The son of Mary A Nazarene A Galilean A Blasphemer The Prince of demons The Prince of peace A Troublemaker A Miracle worker A friend of tax collectors, and sinners and prostitutes Prophet Priest King The Savior of the World King of the Jews

Who do you believe Jesus to be? Your answer, to that question, makes all the difference in the world. These two disciples who thought Jesus to be…

a man a prophet mighty in deed & word before God but dead and gone

…felt dejected and sad, all their hopes, all their dreams, gone, dashed upon His death– until their eyes were opened, AND THEY RECOGNIZED JESUS FOR WHO HE IS! And that made all the difference in the world!

And that can make all the difference in the world for you too, if you can just see Jesus for Who He is, and for what He did! 2

What He Did Explanation

Before Jesus revealed Himself to these two men in our text this morning He said to them… Bible Verse

Luke 24:25-27 (ESV)

25And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!

26Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?”

27And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. Explanation

Now we are not told which writings of Moses, or which prophets, Jesus might have used to point to His coming, and all His doings in Jerusalem. But wouldn’t you have loved to have been there to hear Jesus teach from whatever OT passages that pointed to Himself! Maybe Jesus started with the “Protoevangelium,” what many scholars believe to be the first messianic prophecy in the Old Testament. How Moses records God saying to the serpent who had successfully tempted the first man and the first woman into sinning against God, God said to that old snake in the grass… Bible Verse

Genesis 3:15 (CSB)

15I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel. Illustration

Our own Michelle Davis posted this picture on her Facebook page this past week of a snake that made it’s way into their new house in Arizona! How many of you want to go out there and visit Robin and Michelle and jump in their pool now that you know of the other house guest they are sharing their house with!

That’s what God said was going to happen. God would put “hostility”, between the snake and the woman! A hostility that would continue, and would be passed down, from generation to generation, between the “offspring” of the snake and the “offspring” of the woman. And that one day the “Offspring” of the woman would “strike” the serpent’s head while the snake would “strike” the “Offspring’s” heel. Wouldn’t you have loved to have been there to hear Jesus say that’s just what had happened in Jerusalem that Passover weekend! How Satan hurt Jesus, and hurt Jesus bad. But Jesus totally crushed Satan’s head under His feet when Jesus died on the cross for our sin and then was raised from the dead come Easter morning! Explanation

Could that have been one of Moses’ teachings that Jesus referred to? Or maybe Jesus pointed out how just as Moses… Bible Verse

John 3:14-15 (ESV)

14And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

15that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. Explanation

Like Jesus did with Nicodemus in the NT.

Maybe Jesus pointed out how the prophet Isaiah spoke of One Who would… Bible Verse

Isaiah 53:4-5 (ESV)

Surely he has borne our griefs ?and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, ?smitten by God, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions; ?he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, ?and with his wounds we are healed. Explanation

Whatever passages Jesus pointed to, Jesus showed those two disciples how those passages pointed to Him, and what Jesus did that Easter weekend in Jerusalem. How Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection were the end of a long “Scarlet Thread” that could be traced throughout the Bible, from beginning to end. And our Scripture read to us this morning says after being shown that “Scarlet Thread” that pointed out not only Who Jesus Is but What Jesus did, those two disciples… Bible Verse

Luke 24:32-33 (ESV)

32They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”

33And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, Explanation

Because seven miles away, in the middle of the night, is a cake walk, after you experience that kind of calm in your life. Conclusion

And that’s what we are talking about this morning. “Recognizing the Calm” that Jesus can bring into your life when you see Jesus for Who He is and What He did.

And God’s people said? Amen.

Anyone BEGINNING to see that? Anyone coming to BELIEVE that? Maybe it’s time you BECOME a follower of Jesus Christ! And begin experiencing this kind of calm in your life! And join us in BUILDING His kingdom as we are trying to do around here, so that others might experience this kind of calm in their lives.

If anyone has any inclination, or even a question about what it takes to do such a thing, we hope you’ll stop by our BEGINNING POINT on your way out. We have folks out there waiting to talk with you.