04/19/26: The 3rd Sunday of Easter

1 Peter 1:17–25 | Luke 24:13–35

HopeFULLY : To Emmaus and back.

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Alleluia, Christ is Risen!

As we continue through this season of Easter, one word presents itself as the theme for today and for the whole season. The Word is HOPE. In many ways the Biblical virtue of HOPE is the theme of the Easter season. HOPE lays at the center of the resurrection account and it’s aftermath.

But it is not hope in the way that the world often uses that word. The HOPE we find in the scriptures in not an idle, powerless wish for something.  It is not the hope we have when we say: I hope the weather is good for our vacation. I hope the doctor gives me a clean bill of health. Or I hope gas prices don’t get much higher. Oh, I do hope that…I was just in California where gas is around $6 per gallon. I hope we don’t get there. But these kinds of hopes, you see, are just wishes, desires, but with no real substance or power.

Don’t get me wrong, these matters all impact our lives. And you and I do well to submit all of these things to God in prayer. We cry out to Him, Lord have mercy on us in everything, big and small. But frankly we have no assurance even when we pray that it won’t rain on every day of our vacation. We have no promise that the price of gasoline will stay under $6, Or even under $10 per gallon. And dear Christian friends, we cannot be certain that the doctor will not discover some dire and deadly condition at our next visit.

And likewise, as a church, we have no assurance that we will not face some new crisis or tragedy that will stifle our efforts to pay off debt, or to grow our school enrollment, or to reach out to our neighbors and our community.

Oh we hope for these things, we desire them, and we pray earnestly for them, but these things are not our real and true HOPE. Because our HOPE, our real and true HOPE, dear Christians is a living HOPE, resting in a living Savior, Jesus Christ.

And it is for this reason that we cry out with:

Alleluia, Christ is Risen!

Yet in today’s readings there is a struggle between the living hope of the risen savior and the harsh and difficult realities of life as sinners in a broken world.

We see part of that struggle in the Gospel reading for today. This account of the disciples on the road to Emmaus is all about hope that was lost and hope that is regained. It takes place on Resurrection Day. The disciples say so themselves. As they speak to the stranger our the road, the say, it is now the third day since these things happened. (Luke 24:21)

On Easter Sunday, these disciples left Jerusalem on 7 mile walk. We don’t know why. But we do know that their journey and their conversation were all about the life and the death of Jesus.

The Lord whom they had followed for years, whom they had trusted and believed in…who had taken the bread and broken it 4 days ago, proclaiming it to be His body and blood given and shed for them…this great man who they believed was the Messiah and King, He was betrayed. He was arrested. He was beaten and shamed. He was sentenced to death. He was brutalized and nailed to a cross. The Jewish leaders handed Him over to the Roman government. And he was executed.

He was dead. This fact is well established. Despite the confusion of false religion and modern skeptics, the death of Jesus on the cross is a well established fact. The record of this is found both within and outside of the scriptures. It comes to us by way of the command that the legs of the crucified ones should be broken. Breaking their legs would hasten their death. What might have taken hours would now take minutes. With broken legs they would all suffocate, no longer able to push themselves up and free their diaphragms for the work of taking in a breath.

But when they arrived at Jesus, He was already dead. Just to make sure, the punctured His side. And out flowed water and blood. The separation of red blood cells from water and their flow from this wound indicated the advanced and final effects of His bodily trauma. Life function had ceased. He was definitely dead.

The disciples on the Emmaus road relay all this to the stranger who walks with them. And they add that all this has resulted in the loss of their HOPE.

Luke writes that they stood still, looking sad (Luke 24:17) and they said, we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel (Luke 24:21)

On Easter Sunday we shouted out our alleluias. But on the first easter sunday, even after the tomb was found empty and the angels proclaimed that He was risen, still the disciples were sad, and had lost all HOPE.

Have you every felt like that? Have you every felt like your whole world is crashing down around you. Like everything you knew and believed and trusted in was falling apart.

As sinners in this broken world, we all face moments like this. Losing a job can do it. A sudden turn in our health can do it. Conflict in relationships can cause it. It can happen when we say or do something foolish and sinful. It can happen again when that same foolish and sinful thing becomes known to our family or friends. Or when someone else sins against us or against our family.

So much in our lives is fragile. It is so common to see things fall apart and crash down around us. It is so easy to lose hope.

But that’s only if our hopes are set on earthly things. If our hope is instead set on the living one and has promise, then that hope can never perish, never fail, never be lost.

So says the apostle Peter in his letter to the church.

We read some of this letter last week and a bit more today. But first we should note how Peter addresses his letter. He writes it

To those who are elect exiles (1 Peter 1:1)

What a way to think about the church. We are, Peter says, the elect exiles. ELECT: that is, chosen and set apart by God to be His own people. Our as Luther puts it in the catechism, we are those whom the Holy Spirit has called by the Gospel and enlightened with His gifts. (Luther’s Small Catechism, Apostles’ Creed, Third Article, Explanation).

We are ELECT but we are also EXILES…meaning we are outcasts, living in a land that is not our own, under powers that are opposed to the Gospel and foreign to the mind and life of Christ. We are exiles because Christ was an exile. He came to His own but His own did not receive Him. Instead, He was rejected and outcast and finally crucified by this world, which He came to redeem.

It is no surprise then, that we, His people, would be exiles too. This self-understanding of the church as ELECT EXILES is important. It stands against false gospels of health and wealth which imagine that a good Christian should not suffer in this life.

Indeed, Peter is speaks to a Christian Community that is deep in the midst of suffering and persecution from both Jews and Romans. In the Roman world, Nero has risen to power. And his reign was brutal toward many. In fact, Nero is the one who finally orders and oversees the execution of both Peter and Paul. Suffering was the way of life for those in the early church.

But it was suffering with HOPE.

Peter writes in this context of suffering, and what does He say?

Peter says first, that our hope is a living hope. It is a hope that is not idle, not wishful, not powerless, but a hope that is located in Christ, who rose from the dead, and who lives and reigns to all eternity. Because He lives forever, we have true HOPE, which rests on the firmest foundation.

Peter goes on saying,

Yes, Peter says, you are facing trials. Your life is filled up with pain and suffering, sorrow and loss. Nero is raging. The Devil is attacking. The World is screaming out against Christ and His people. But still, you rejoice. And you know…you KNOW…that this suffering is just for a little while. Oh, it may last your whole life in this broken world. And that is a LITTLE WHILE, compared with eternity. And eternity is where your HOPE is ultimately found.

Again Peter continues, saying.

¹³ Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:3-4, 6, 13)

Prepare for action and be sober minded. Don’t be lazy, don’t be confused. Instead, set your hope fully on the grace of God in Christ Jesus.

Hope fully. In English when we put those two words together. HOPE and FULLY. It becomes hopefully. Which is back to idle hopes and wishful thinking. Hopefully it doesn’t rain today.

But that’s not what Peter means when he puts those two words together. He says set your hope is not an idle hope. It is not wishful thinking. Rather, HOPE, FULLY on the grace of God. That word “fully” is from the Greek word for perfect completion. In Greek the root is τέλος (telos). And you should know that another Gospel word comes from that same root. Jesus spoke it from the cross, when He said, τετέλεσται. It is finished.

Your hope is set fully on the Word and Promise of your Risen Savior. Your hope is full, because He finished His Work on the cross. And this is no vain hope. O, you will face many trials and temptations. You will suffer pains and grief of many kinds. But all that is nothing compared to the Word and Promise of God in Christ.

As Peter reminds, us,

And this word is the good news that was preached to you. (1 Peter 1:25)

For the disciples on the Road to Emmaus, the sadness and hopelessness had overtaken them. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons they could not recognize Jesus. Perhaps their unbelief kept them from recognizing the risen and glorified savior.

But notice how all that changes. He rebukes them for their unbelief.

O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! (Luke 24: 25)

Then he teaches them His Word: beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. (Luke 24: 27)

At his Word their hearts burn within them. What He is telling them is true, and good and beautiful. His Words are life and light forever.

And slowly their unbelief, their hopelessness, their sadness is fading.

But still they don’t recognize them…until he takes the bread and blesses it. Until He breaks it and gives to them. And then they see Him. He is risen indeed. And their faith and hope are restored.

And so it is with you and me today. Truly I say to you, you will face trials of many kinds. Life will be hard. Even our church will have ups and downs. You may even grumble at your pastor and be frustrated by those God has placed in leadership here. And in fact, you may be right in doing all that.

Moreover, you may…you will…face challenges in your life. Sadness may overtake you when money runs short, when conflicts arise, when you make mistakes and sin, when others sin against you. Hope may falter when your health and the health and wellbeing of those you love is threatened.

But in all this, remember dear Christians that

Christ is Risen!

And your hope your future is fixed firmly on Him, who loves you and lives forever and ever. Who has promised you paradise in His kingdom which has no end.

And that same Christ is revealed to you this day. He is here, and has come as He did on the Emmaus Road. He has come with His Word, to forgive you and renew you in the one true faith. He has come also in the breaking of the bread, that you may taste and see that the Lord is good. For on this day, Christ our Lord yet again gives to you His peace, which surpasses understanding. He gives you Himself. His body and His blood, given and shed for you. And this is your HOPE. Your living HOPE, which will never disappoint you.

I should finally point out what the disciples do next. After their seven mile walk to Emmaus, they are tired. They say, it is evening and the day is far spent. It’s time to stop and rest here at this village.

But notice what they do instead. When they finally recognize Jesus, in His Word and in the breaking of the bread, they are renewed. And Luke says They rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, 34 saying, “The Lord has risen indeed”…and they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread. (Luke 24:33-35)

And so also with you. As your faith and hope are renewed this day by the Word our Lord speaks and by Sacrament of His True Body and Blood, you too are to go, and to proclaim to friends and family and neighbors…that the Lord has risen indeed. Amen.