Slow To Believe

路加福音第24章：13-35节
Sermon on Luke 24:13-35

Reading the Chiasm [1]

It has been three years since 2011 where we have systematically preached from each of the Gospels from Advent to Easter. Two years ago, it was Matthew. Last year, it was Mark. And this year it is Luke. Next year, it will be John. I hope you have enjoyed it, and found it as refreshing as the pastors who have prepared it. Now, allow me to share something interesting. On the powerpoint slide, I’m showing you the content page of the new Testament originally in Greek. Do you see that the first four books are kata Matthew, kata Mark, kata Luke and kata John? Why the “kata”s? Kata has many meanings, and in this case, it can be translated as “according to”. So the original names of the first four books of the New Testament were According to Matthew, According to Mark, and so on. I think it is unfortunate that something is lost in translation when we label our gospels only with the names, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and dropping the kata, which means “according to”. The kata is an important reminder, that these gospels are not just a collection of stories and sayings of Jesus. They are presented in this final form in accordance, according to the overall message of these four writers. When we dropped the kata, we often also dropped the discipline to interpret each passage in accordance to the writer’s presentation.

Is it a big deal? Well, in some cases, it may just be weird, you may end up with a nativity scene with the wise men from Matthew clashing with the shepherds of Luke. It’s awkward since they come from different stories, but perhaps that kind of blending is still relatively harmless. As long as you don’t have a shepherd and a wise man start chatting with one another, I’m not going to protest, much. But in some cases, it may be serious, like when the Great commission is separated from the rest of Matthew, and John 3:16 is separated from the rest of John, and then you mesh the two together to promote evangelism. I don’t have time to go into details, but I would say that they each originally had their own focus, and a call to universal discipleship becomes very different when converted into a call to universal soul-saving. This is why in Jubilee, we have a strong emphasis on the kata. Each bible passage is interpreted in accordance to the literary flow of each gospel writer. When you do that, you capture the essence of each gospel book better, and on the whole, you end up with a more holistic and richer view of the gospel.

Now, why are we talking about this, and what do I mean by a richer gospel? We are now in the season of Easter. Easter marks the conclusion of the Jesus event. By Jesus event, I refer to his birth, his ministry, his death and his resurrection. So the event has passed. It happened. But knowing what happened is of no use unless we also understand what it means. Is there any significance to the event? That depends on how we choose to look at it. And we discover that when we look at an event from different perspectives, we can derive different significances from the same event. The Jesus event can be interpreted in many different ways, even simply just based on the four gospels alone. It may sound confusing to have multiple interpretations, but don’t worry, it is actually a blessing in disguise. All of us, in different circumstances or at different stages of our lives, need a different message of the gospel at a different time. To the troubled, you need a gospel of hope. To the sinful, you need a gospel of judgment. To the faithless, you need a gospel of strength. To the lost, you need a gospel of redemption. This is why the gospel we learn and preach needs to be richer. A rich gospel that is laden with multiple meanings. And we should be thankful that there are so many different voices presenting the gospel in different ways to us in the Bible. In that way, no matter how long you have been a Christian, it is always a gospel to us, a good news to us, a good news in whichever situation we are. I am slowly guiding you into such an understanding, because today’s sermon is an introduction to our new sermon series: the speeches of Acts. For the next 3 months, from April to June, we will be looking at a few key speeches in Acts. In these speeches, we have different characters presenting their unique take of the gospel. What is the good news for them? They each had to be different, depending on who they are, who they are speaking to, and what is the circumstance prompting the speech. But because they are different, they provide a fresh insight into our understanding of the gospel. A gospel presented to us in very different ways, according to each person: a gospel according to Peter in Acts 2, a gospel according to Stephen in Acts 7 and a gospel according to Paul in Acts 13.

In our passage today, there is also a gospel according to Jesus. This gospel was told to two persons on the road to Emmaus on Easter day. They had just heard about the resurrection of Jesus in the morning. In short, in their context, the entire Jesus event just happened. Yet, knowing what happened is different from understanding what happened. They did not understand its significance. Not yet, until Jesus presented his version of the gospel to them. 25 He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken!” I can tell you all the bible stories, but without explanation and without an overall message and presentation, there is no belief. Knowing does not mean understanding. Jesus needed to tell them the gospel, so that they can have understanding of the meaning of what happened. Hence, we were told later that “27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.” The two also described their experience in the same way, “32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” Jesus opened the Scriptures to them. The significance of the Jesus event had to be enlightened using the Scriptures. And this is what we hope to do for the next 3 months. Using the words of Peter, Stephen and Paul, and in accordance to each of them, we will open the Scriptures to you. As a church, using the gospel of Luke, we have experienced the Jesus event from Advent to Easter, let us also continue to move from knowing to understanding.

It might seem strange that if you have a gospel explained in accordance to Jesus himself, yet that speech isn’t recorded while the speeches of the other disciples are. Why don’t we have a few extra chapters where Jesus says this means this, and that means that, and this is why I did this and that? I don’t have the answer, but I feel it doesn’t matter. Perhaps it is for the best that we don’t have a version of the gospel elevated above all the others just because that version is directly from Jesus. Each of us, at any given time, needs to hear a different aspect of the good news. I don’t believe in a one size fits all version of the gospel. In our passage today, even though Luke didn’t record the final product – which is the gospel according to Jesus that some may wish for – Luke found it more important to record the process itself, the process of Jesus sharing the gospel for the 2 confused disciples. The message of today’s passage is not to share the ideal version of the gospel that is according to Jesus. The message is to share the ideal process, that we need the Scriptures to be opened for us, so that we may truly understand the significance of the Jesus event. The ideal gospel may vary for each of us, but the ideal process is the same: don’t just know what happened, let the richness of the gospel speak to you in its own way.

For the two disciples, they were Jews living under Roman oppression. It is no surprise that their main concern was on the kingdom of God’s people. If they were to receive a gospel, this must be addressed. Observe how they described the Jesus event before they were enlightened by Jesus himself. Yes, Jesus is a great prophet sent by God. We have just heard about his resurrection. But “21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.” This is the crux of the matter for them. What had Jesus to do with the redemption of Israel? This was the same for many of the early Apostles. In Acts 1: 6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” Does the gospel of Jesus address this? This was the salvation they needed. You could have told them that their souls would be saved, but it would not be true salvation to them. They remained troubled and downcast because they thought that Jesus’ death meant that the redemption of Israel had failed, yet again. Jesus’ gospel must speak to them in this regard. Since it is not recorded, I do not know the exact content of Jesus’ gospel that day to the two disciples. But I would wager that Jesus explained to them how his death and resurrection was the redemption and restoration of Israel. He would demonstrate how he was the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Old Testament that described a redeemed and restored Israel. In the coming weeks, we will look at some of these from the speeches in Acts.

But for us, as Gentiles, I suppose we need a different gospel. This is why in our baptism classes, we have chosen to interpret the Jesus event in light of Genesis 1-3. That is a significance that can be more universally applied to all of humanity. But our reflection of the Jesus event must move beyond just the baptism classes. That is merely a good start. All of us, whether we are new to the Jesus event, or we have heard and read about Jesus for decades, we are all walking on this road to Emmaus. The road to Emmaus is a road from knowing to understanding. We need to look at what happened to Jesus, what happened with Jesus, and come to a new understanding of the gospel every time. We need the good news in our lives. The gospel is not just John 3:16, it is much richer than you think. And because it is so rich in meaning, no matter how long a Christian you have been, there is always something fresh and deeper for you to believe. Don’t be slow to believe. There is still much unbelief to conquer in your life. There is unbelief when you think a situation is hopeless. There is unbelief when you think people don’t change. There is unbelief when you think you are good enough. There is unbelief when you care only for yourself. There is unbelief when you think God doesn’t care. There is unbelief when you think God isn’t fair. There is unbelief simply because there is so much more to believe in.

But on the road to Emmaus, Jesus walks alongside us. There is a little reprimand, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe”, but there is also the giving of the gospel. We all come with different concerns, but there will be a gospel that will warm your heart and open your eyes. I believe in this because that is what God wants to do. Here in Jubilee, you have come to the right place. Allow us to also walk alongside you on this road to Emmaus. In all these years, we have endeavoured to stay true to this ministry, to walk with you and to open the scriptures to you. When you come every Sunday, when you go to attend a cell group, are you always ready for a gospel? Are you ready to receive the good news? In the beginning of the sermon, I introduced the concept of kata, a unique gospel according to each gospel writer. We can only be ready to receive the good news, when we accept that the gospel is so much richer than we have come to know. We will open the Scriptures to you, it’s time for you to believe.
[1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5WF6ReM6mU