The True Companion for the Sojourner of this World – Luke 24:15-32
The True Companion for the Sojourner of this World
Luke 24:15-32
The ancestors of humanity, Adam and Eve, were banished from the garden of Eden because they fell for the serpent’s temptation, despite God’s repeated warnings, and ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil at the center of the garden. They were created in the image of God and could have lived forever, but they fell from that image and became more depraved than beasts and insects, just as described in Romans 1. Regardless of whether they succeed or not in this life, humans are born with a grave and can only head toward it.It doesn’t matter whether a person is success-ful in this life, for every human is born carrying a grave and is destined to head toward it. God, even before the foundation of the world, had predestined His one and only Son to bear the sins of all mankind, so Jesus was crucified on the hill of Golgotha. On that Friday, the last seven Words of Christ were spoken from the cross. From 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM, He spoke three times. Then from 12:00 PM to 3:00 PM, when the sun stopped shining and all the land became so dark that people couldn’t recognize one another, He spoke four more times. He spoke a total of seven times. By Pilate’s order, Jesus’ body was taken down from the cross at 3 PM. According to Scripture, the Lord never once violated Roman law or the laws of Israel, or even a single one of the Ten Commandments. And yet, to kill this one man Jesus, not a single religious leader was absent to vote for His death; every one of the 24,000 religious figures at the time, including the high priests, Levites, elders, and scribes, agreed He had to die. There were also 70 members of the Sanhedrin, the ruling council, who convened at 2:00 AM and were asked by the leader whether Jesus should be executed. Sixty-nine out of the seventy voted in favor of His death. Only one person said, “We must not kill Jesus.” The other 69 pointed at him, saying things like, “You too must approve. Raise your hand. Don’t you fear God?” But he still voted against them. Who was this man? It was Joseph of Arimathea, the wealthy man who owned the tomb in the garden where he eventually laid Jesus’ body.
Luke 23:50-51 And a man named Joseph, who was a member of the Council, a good and righteous man 51(he had not consented to their plan and action), a man from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who was waiting for the kingdom of God;
The twelve disciples swore an oath, even unto death: “Even if I die, I will never deny the Lord. How could I deny the Creator, the Author of life? If Jesus is taken to prison, I will follow Him. No matter the suffering or hardship, I will go with Him to the end.” Peter, the chief disciple, also made this vow. But our Lord is the God who sees the heart! He already saw Peter’s denial. “Simon, son of Jonah! Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times!” All the disciplesfled. On the cross, in broad daylight, Jesus was stripped of His clothes. All because of the sins we committed knowingly and unknowingly. They had no advanced technology back then, and the nails used to kill criminals were square and hand-forged in blacksmith shops. The edges were rough and jagged, like saw blades. We were born into this world and did things and went places we shouldn’t have, and we committed sin in our hearts, so Jesus poured out every drop of the water and blood from His body. A crown of thorns was pressed onto His head because of the sins we committed with our thoughts. The whips used at the time were made of three large leather cords, and each of those was split into three smaller cords, totalling nine strands. The ends were tied to sharp bone fragments or other heavy or sharp objects. When struck, they tore deep into the flesh. Jesus was also bound with ropes, blind folded, and beaten like a punching bag. “They say you can predict the future and know all things. Then tell us who hit you just now?” Some even spit on His face and kicked Him (Matt 26:67–68).
It’s not enough to simply be happy that Jesus rose again. Haven’t we committed many sins, both knowingly and unknowingly, before our parents, our spouse, our children, our nation and people? We can not bear those sins ourselves. But on this very morning, Jesus bore the sins of all humanity, broke the power of death, and rose again. This is the day the problem of mankind’s sin was fully resolved! How indescribable is the joy in this truth! Isn’t that reason for deep joy, awe, and true gratitude? Have you truly believed in God with that kind of awe, thanksgiving, and sincerity? Not one of the priests—who were like to day’s pastors—nor any of the 24,000 religious leaders stood on Jesus’ side. With the heavens watching, Jesus healed with those loving and merciful hands. He healed lepers, the blind, the lame, the crippled, and the woman who bled for 12 years. Yet when He was crucified, not a single person from the crowd who once shouted “Hosanna” showed Him compassion. People fled, believing that nothing good would come from violating Roman law by standing by Him. Jesus didn’t rise from the dead after living a comfortable life and enjoying a full meal. It was a time when even speaking with Jesus could get you expelled and cast out of the synagogue. They would see Him passing by and curse at Him and call Him a heretic. Likewise, the Korean church today has much to repent for. Labeling someone a heretic just because they lost a member, and speaking all kinds of slander just because someone is of a different denomination — this kind of attitude must not continue. This path leads to hell.
At a time like this, how can we waste time playing cards or going golfing? Even praying for the Shepherd’s flock feels insufficient. I wept in prayer throughout Passion Week, following in the footsteps of Jesus and interceding for our nation and her people. How long do we really have on this earth? I too am preparing to go. Through out history, kings, scholars, and warriors have all passed away. We must also prepare for our eternal home with faith. When we think of a new house we’ll be moving into, we tear down what’s broken and redo the cement and concrete. Heaven is the same. God calls us sojourners, temporary residents, aliens, with citizenship in heaven. That’s why I titled today’s message, based on Luke 24:15–32, “Who Is the True Companion of a Sojourner in this World?”
The Bible says 142 times that our lives are like that of a sojourner. We are travelers, born once and passing through this foreign world. The Bible also says that we are like mist. We are like smoke that vanishes when fire is lit. It’s fleeting. We are like passersby walking a set path. God has determined our destiny. According to the book of Job, from birth, we are destined to die the moment we are born on this earth. Hebrews 9:27 says, “It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,” based on what we believed, did, and sowed.
Because of sin, humanity was cast out of paradise, a place without sorrow or worry, and life became a long procession toward the grave. We’ve journeyed through pain, sorrow, and loneliness. I will go, and so will you. It’s inevitable. It’s our destiny. In this procession toward death, we have become companions. In that sense, a married couple is perhaps the best companion toward death. Whether the husband goes first or the wife does, during their time on this earth, they walk together. Our children, our friends, and all of you sitting here are precious companions. But where are we headed? To the grave, toward death. Some people can’t bear to part even at death, though parting is inevitable. Still, when the funeral comes, they look on in silence, staring blankly, as if death were a stranger, someone else’s problem and not their own fate. We may have companions in the bright of day, but how lonely it feels when the sunsets and evening falls. Then comes night. At night, without light, you can’t even see who is next to you—it’s as if they’re not there. But how comforting it is to meet your companion in the darkness! We’re not afraid, and we feel supported. Still, even the one who comforts, helps, and loves me will die. They’re not eternal companions. Many walk together in life, but disappear one by one, not knowing where they’re going. One by one, the messenger of death calls each sojourner walking the twilight road of death. Brothers and sisters, if Jesus had not broken the power of death and risen today, we would all just be companions of death.
Look at the disciples of the Lord who followed Jesus before He was crucified, hoping for positions of power when He overthrew the worldly government and became the ruler. But after His death, they each went their own way. Emmaus is 10 to 11 km from Jerusalem, and two disciples were walking there in discouragement and discouragement. See the risen Jesus who went to them! Their faces were dark with sorrow, and would Jesus, being God, not know what they were discussing” He asked, “What are you talking about?” They replied, ““Oh, you do not know? Jesus, who
is called the Son of God, is a righteous man and without sin, but the priests arrested and killed him.” Then Jesus explained the Scriptures, from Moses through the prophets. In Luke 24:25, He says to them, “How slow you are to believe the Scriptures!”
Luke 24:25 And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!”
This isn’t just a story from the past. Even today, among our Pyungkang saints, how many are slow to believe in the Bible, the Word of God? Do you not know Jesus, who suffered greatly, broke the power of death, and rose again? The disciples reached home in discouragement. Scripture says Jesus acted as if He would keep going, but they urged Him, “Please stay with us.” After preparing food, Jesus prayed and broke bread. As they received it, they recognized Him—“It’s Jesus!” Their eyes were opened, and at that moment, He disappeared. Shocked, they left their meal and ran back to Jerusalem. This is the point of the message. True faith and the gospel is believing in the risen Jesus who broke the power of death.
Examine these two disciples on the road to Emmaus. In any line of work, there are times of deep disappointment like theirs. Employees or workers around you could make you feel utterly lost in the dark. But in those very moments, I hope you will believe that Jesus the risen Lord of life will come to you. When your children trouble you, when relatives distress you, when your superior or subordinate schemes against you unjustly and puts you in difficult positions, please believe that the risen Jesus who appeared to the two disciples walking home in discouragement and despair will surely come to you as well. Don’t be discouraged! This is a world of darkness, full of the tricks of our enemy, Satan the devil. “Emmaus” means “hot spring.” But meeting Jesus is the true hot spring. Just as hot springs are hot, the disciples said, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32). May you become a visible hot spring as well as the unseen hot spring of faith, a hot spring of grace, a hot spring of the Word, and a hot spring of love for the Lord. I bless this upon you in the name of the Lord. We say we believe in Jesus, yet we keep Him in the guest room and only call on Him in emergencies, instead of welcoming Him into the main room. That must not be.
When we die, we are buried and remain in the grave. But Jesus was not just a corpse in the tomb. He went in Spirit to the souls who died in Noah’s time and preached to them: “You didn’t believe during the flood—how about now? Repent.” Look at God’s burning love for salvation! Even if a child wastes all their money and ruins the family, a mother is still a mother, and that child is still her child. Others may condemn them, but a mother’s heart desires their good. Likewise, God desires our salvation. He created us. Jesus preached to the spirits who died in Noah’s time while He was in the tomb. First Peter 3:18–22 testifies, “He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water.” Jesus didn’t just lie still in the tomb until His resurrection. God was working. Jesus rose again to bring humanity from death and hell to heaven, but even while He was in the tomb, He preached. We, too, must evangelize. In Luke 24:25-26, Jesus said, “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?” and He explained the Scriptures in detail. When the risen Jesus appeared again, they didn’t recognize Him and treated Him like a stranger. Only by believing the Scriptures and accepting the gospel can we know Jesus and know God. We’ve never seen Jesus or the spiritual world, but through the Holy Spirit and grace, God gives us this word and enables us to believe. We were given the Word through the grace of the Holy Spirit. God enables us to believe, and so we believe. The Bible says, “Whatever you do, whether you eat or drink,” and “whether in adversity, suffering, or in a position of honor,” give glory to God. Since we will not remain in our current place forever, God wants us to help the poor and those in need. The Apostle Paul said he labored more than many others. He was whipped with forty lashes minus one at five different times, beaten with rods three times, spent a day and night in the deep sea, and suffered threats from his own people. He was deprived of food, sleep, and clothing. He suffered more than others from exposure, hunger, and the cold. Yet in the end, he said it was not him, but the grace of God.
1 Corinthians 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.
Jesus resurrected. He went from death to heaven. On this morning of resurrection, we must have firm resolve and determination in prayer before God. Don’t you need a blueprint and detailed plans to build a house? The same goes for our lives faith. If we truly believe in the Lord’s resurrection, we must receive the Word today with a righteous heart and a good resolve, making a vow before the risen Lord, “For the sake of the nation, the people, my family, and the church, I will do something with the Lord during the life I have left.” Should Easter be reduced to a yearly routine, like a hamster running in a wheel?
Today aren’t we like the two disciples on the road to Emmaus? We’ve failed in business, in raising children, in relationships, in almost everything. So who must we meet? The risen Jesus. What good is it to stay in the corner of the house in Emmaus? As soon as the two disciples realized that they had met Jesus, they pushed the table aside and went to Jerusalem. See how God picked these two like precious pearls from among thousands and tens of thousands! See how He chose them as servants of God to testify of the gospel of life! If the nation and people were entrusted to
me, I must pray before God, with a firm resolve, on this morning of the Lord’s resurrection: “I will act justly, without hesitation or compromise, producing clear fruit and light for all to see.”
Beloved saints, the most serious and urgent issue in life is death. It is life’s most pressing and critical event. There is no falsehood or formality in it. Throughout history, countless people have walked the path of death, unable to escape it. But look at the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. They were also walking toward death, just like everybody else. But before they met death, the Lord came and met them on the roadside, and history was changed. Their lives were changed.
As companions in the resurrection with Jesus Christ, we live as we please, then cry out, “Lord, I’ve let go of Your hand. Risen Jesus, take my hand again!” The apostle Paul, in such faith, said, “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Just as it is written, ‘For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’ But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.” (Rom 8:35–37).
The apostle Paul never let go of the Lord’s hand. Had he not met Jesus, he would have been respected as a nobleman, as the “Pharisee of Pharisees” who would be served food before even requesting it. From a worldly view, he lost everything because of Jesus. Just think about it, how he was completely ruined in the eyes of the world. But he held firmly to Jesus’ hand and went with Him to heaven. Paul was a graduate of Tarsus, comparable to Harvard in the U.S. or SNU in Korea. He was from the tribe of Benjamin, circumcised on the eighth day, a Pharisee among Pharisees.
God said he was blameless regarding the law of the Ten Commandments. He was devout. But after receiving Jesus, the religious leaders labeled him a follower of Jesus, expelled him, and cast him out. Still, Paul rejoiced. He made a living by pitching and mending tents, carrying a small knap sack with thread, a hammer, and scissors. Whenever he earned a little, he went out to preach. Did he have a maid or a woman by his side? Don’t call yourself a disciple of the Lord lightly. Have you even tried to imitate Paul’s shadow? Paul himself cooked and fed the poor and hungry.
That kind of man met the risen Lord. Jesus appeared eleven times over forty days, and lastly to Paul—making twelve appearances. Look at Paul’s confession! He said that even to someone like him—like a stillborn, unworthy to be born—the risen Lord appeared last of all. He experienced the risen Jesus with his own eyes, so he was able to personally testify. When soldiers earn merit, they receive medals. What were Paul’s medals? Every wound on his body from all the beatings and persecution were his medals. Paul experienced the resurrected Lord. Don’t believe in Jesus only by words or written knowledge. A pastor is the servant of servants. An elder is a servant of servants of the congregation. They are to serve, not to be honored. Jesus said it is not those who are served who are great, but those who serve. To those who are arrogant and proud, may this holy morning of the resurrection be one where you, like the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, meet the Lord.
Jesus loved His disciples to the very end (John 13:1). Meet the risen Lord! Meet Him in your marriage, parenting, or at work. When you encounter the risen Lord, there is no hatred. Love is the fulfillment of the law, and God is love. “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20). We have affection for people from our hometown or old classmates, but we don’t feel the same toward strangers because we don’t know if they might be thieves or swindlers. When we meet criminals or people on the margins of society, our hearts don’t go out to them the same way it would to someone of high status. That’s human nature. But look at Jesus. He went even to those who wanted to kill Him. He went to prostitutes, tax collectors, and sinners. When He sat and ate with them, what do you think the so-called holy religious leaders said of Him? But Jesus said, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:17). Pride comes before destruction. We must remain humble to the end. So if there is any pride or contempt for others in our hearts today, let us meet the risen Lord this morning and walk with Him. Then all the sins we knowingly or unknowingly committed in the past will melt away like ice. Now, with the heart of Christ, may we all run boldly toward the eternal heavenly kingdom with the risen Lord. I pray this upon us all in the name of the Lord.
Philippians 2:5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus
I will now pray. Lord, after You rose from the dead, You remained on this earth for forty days, appearing a total of twelve times, the last of which to Paul. You appeared before 500 witnesses (1 Cor 15) and ascended into heaven from the Mount of Olives (Acts 1). Our living Lord, is there still deceit or anything to repent of in our hearts? In the past have we hated others, or judged them
from the Your seat? We believe that if we meet our risen Lord today, all those sins will be forgiven and erased. We want to enter into Your kingdom with You, our risen Lord. From now on, may we welcome Your resurrection into our hearts and firmly resolve to pray, “I will serve this nation, this people, and the church.” Starting today, bless us to love and cherish each other as we would ourselves. May we become holy and spiritual messengers who lead others to heaven, boldly proclaiming Your gospel to the many souls You yearn for. The time we have left is Yours. Through us who remain, may You be glorified. We pray and ask all these things in the holy name of Jesus with full thanksgiving. Amen.
April 23, 2000, Easter Sunday
Rev. Abraham Park
- 25년 4월호