Preparing for the Lord's Day
Easter Sunday
Today more than ever it is easy to believe that you know someone when all you truly know is information about that person. Social media has created a relationship environment in which you can share much information without sharing your life with others. For example, you might have a Facebook account. On this account, you can create a profile that shares your age, your hometown, your work history, your relationship history, and your interests. On your wall, you can share photos, videos, and comments. As you share all this information your “friends” can read all about you. They can see what is happening in your life. They can react and comment on what you share. All this sharing of information creates an illusion of knowledge. It makes people believe that they are truly connected with one another. However, at best social media allows you to know about a person, and at worst it offers a carefully curated illusion of a person. These types of friendships feel similar to true relationships however, they are mere shadows of what it means to truly know someone. They provide fleeting pleasure but in the end, it does not fulfill the deep need for a true relationship that we were all created to enjoy.
In our passage for this Easter Sunday, we come to Luke 24. Here we read about the encounter that two disciples had with the resurrected Christ. As they walk along the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus, they speak directly with Jesus, but they fail to see him. They profess true information about Jesus but even as they look into his face, they do not recognize him. We can be guilty of such blindness as well. We can know that Christ rose from the dead but fail to know the Christ who rose from the dead. We can know about Jesus, but we can fail to have a personal relationship with Jesus who rose from the dead and is even now alive. And what we will see in our text is that if we would truly know the resurrected Christ, we must see that we are blind until we seek him in the Word, receive him in the sacrament, and share him with the World. To come prepared for our Resurrection Day sermon, take time this week to read and to meditate upon Luke 24:1-35, Luke 22:19, John 17:3, 2 Timothy 1:12, and Westminster Confession of Faith 8.4.
This Easter Sunday we will celebrate the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper during our worship service. As we receive the elements of bread and wine, we look in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ. For as we physically receive the signs of the Lord’s body and blood, spiritually we feed upon him and all his benefits to us. Our hymns for this week include “Jesus Christ is Risen Today,” “I Am the Bread of Life,” and “The Day of Resurrection.”
Sermon Information:
Text: Luke 24:13-35
Title: Knowing the Risen Christ
Outline:
You Must See Your Spiritual Blindness (vv. 13-24)
You Must Seek Christ in the Word (vv. 25-27)
You Must Receive Christ in the Sacrament (vv. 28-31)
You Must Share Christ with the World (vv. 32-35)