Encounter the Truth

Jonathan Griffiths: Perceiving and recognizing Jesus Christ for who he is, it is supremely a spiritual and a supernatural one. And so the great need is for the Lord himself to do a miraculous work in our hearts, to give us the spiritual sight. He needs to do a work that only he can do.

Steve Hiller: Welcome to Encounter the Truth with Jonathan Griffiths. I'm Steve Hiller and glad you're with us. Jonathan, there are people in my life who don't know Jesus. And they've heard the gospel so many times and I've had the opportunity to share that with them. And there's that part of you that just says, "Why can't you guys get it? This is so clear, it's so simple." But is it because God actually needs to be involved in their coming to faith? It's not just a matter of them being like, "Oh yeah, okay, that makes sense."

Jonathan Griffiths: It takes a miraculous work of God to open our eyes to really see and understand who Jesus is and the significance of his work for us at Calvary and the power of his resurrection. It's not something that we're naturally going to perceive. The facts are there, the facts are historical, and the facts are compelling. But it does take that work of God to open the eyes of our hearts to really see and perceive and respond.

And so for us who have a desire for friends and loved ones to see Jesus as we see him, we need to recognize that alongside sharing and talking and persuading, there's a work of prayer that needs to be done. And for the listener who is intrigued by the message of Jesus and the person of Jesus Christ, but feels I'm just not quite getting there, it doesn't make sense to me yet, I would urge you if that's your situation, why not call out to God in prayer and ask him to open the eyes of your heart that you would really see Jesus and understand him for who he is.

Steve Hiller: What a great prayer that is and encourage you to do that right now as we open our Bibles together to the book of Luke, we're in chapter 24 as we begin a message called "A Journey to Understanding." Here is Jonathan.

Jonathan Griffiths: It is possible, isn't it, to have something very wonderful, something perhaps very valuable before your eyes, but to fail to see it, to be oblivious to it? My wife went to a boarding school in the countryside in England that was situated in what used to be a very grand country house and country estate before it became a school about a century ago.

During Gemma's time there, the school made a very wonderful discovery that eventually made them a great deal of money. In the school tuck shop, a room that kind of doubled as a common room for the students, there was a carving set into the wall that had been there for as long as anyone could remember. It was painted over, it was whitewashed, no one took very much notice of it.

The dartboard was hanging just next to it, so it was in kind of constant danger of stray darts, constantly in risk of damage and destruction. Anyway, in 1994, a professor from Columbia University began to suspect that this carving was in fact a missing panel from an ancient Assyrian palace at Nimrud, now in modern-day Iraq.

To cut a very long story short, the panel turned out to be genuine. The professor was right. The Victorian owner of the house had a relative who was an archaeologist, a famous archaeologist, and he gave this as a gift to the house. Well, anyway, the carving went to auction and it raised over six million pounds a quarter of a century ago, so a very great deal of money. Gemma remembers that all the students were given a free Mars bar at the tuck shop for their share of the windfall.

It's just possible, isn't it, to have something of tremendous value before our eyes, but to fail entirely to see it, to recognize it for what it is? As we draw together to the end of Luke's gospel, we pick up the story on the day of Jesus's resurrection. He's left the tomb. Various of his followers have come looking for his body but discovered that it is gone.

Luke tells us that Peter went and saw this but left confused, wondering to himself what had happened. Of course, Jesus had previously predicted both his death and his resurrection on the third day, but the disciples, they're slow to understand, they're slow to believe. Later this same day, two of the disciples, one called Cleopas and another whose not named, they're walking to a place called Emmaus, somewhere just outside Jerusalem.

And as they are walking and as they are talking together about recent events, the risen Jesus comes up beside them, asking them, "What are you talking about?" Luke tells us that with downcast faces and you can just imagine these guys, shoulders dropped, a grim look on their faces, maybe just staring down at their shoes, not even looking up. With just a hint of rudeness, Cleopas asks Jesus if he is just a visitor around here, if he really has no idea what's been going on in Jerusalem in recent days.

Jesus allows the conversation to proceed just for a bit. "What things?" he asks. And they proceed to tell him. To tell Jesus the story of Jesus, of their hopes for him, of the tragedy of his crucifixion, of the puzzle now of this empty tomb. And at that point, as he's waited this thing out, Jesus now has some quite strong words for them. Gracious words, but strong words. "How foolish you are and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken."

You should have understood something more of this. You should have understood and seen that the Christ, the Messiah, would have to suffer, would have to die before his glory. And so now Jesus takes time and he opens up the Old Testament scriptures with them. And he shows them how the promises of old are fulfilled in him. It must have been some Bible study, mustn't it?

I mean, can you imagine the risen Lord Jesus going through the scriptures and unfolding promise after promise and how it finds fulfillment in him? A wonderful study it must have been, but whatever benefit these disciples received from that study, they still didn't actually recognize who their teacher was. They didn't see that it was the Lord Jesus himself who was speaking with them.

Eventually, they reach their destination and they prevail upon this supposed stranger to stay with them and to eat with them. And as they sit and as they eat in a scene very reminiscent of the Last Supper just days before, as they sit and eat, Jesus takes the initiative. And he breaks the bread and he gives thanks for the food and he distributes it. And suddenly in that moment, these followers of Jesus, the penny drops, they recognize him. And as they recognize him, he disappears from their sight.

And so these two disciples go to the eleven apostles and report what they have seen. In a sense, after the great drama of Easter, the agonies of the garden, the trial, the crucifixion, the days of waiting, the empty tomb, after all this drama, it's easy for us to skim over now what remains of the gospel account, to imagine that by now we have heard all and seen all that we need to hear and we need to see.

But of course, we know that would be a great mistake. What Luke has for us now is of central importance to the whole sweep of the story of Jesus. This incident recounted here in Luke 24, it is of central importance because it shows us that if the work of Jesus at the cross is going to lead to the salvation of anyone, if the events of Easter are going to have any impact on the world, then the resurrection of Jesus, the bodily resurrection, must be followed by another miracle, one no less grand and one no less significant, the miracle of spiritual sight.

The miracle of spiritual recognition. The moment comes at verse 31 in our narrative. It's this: "Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him." That's the moment. That's when the disciples see and recognize the treasure that is before them, the Lord Jesus himself. The central issue of this passage, of this incident, is simply this: what does it take to see Jesus, to gain true spiritual sight?

If we are to be saved by the events of Easter, then we need to be able to recognize Jesus for who he is. We need to see him with the eyes of faith. And if those around us, the lost in our community and the lost in our world, are to be saved by the crucified and risen Christ, they need to see him. And they need to see him clearly.

But the reality, of course, is that many will be presented with Jesus, will be presented with the record of his life. Many will hear the gospel, will be familiar with Jesus in some way, but they will fail to see him. They will fail to see the wonder of all that is before them, the treasure that is in their very midst.

That's true today even in our secularized society. Many around us will know something of the story of Jesus, the facts of his life. But knowing something, they will still be blind to who he truly is. You may have someone on your heart in your own family, a child, a sibling, who grew up in a Christian environment, a Christian home, going to Sunday school, going to church. Someone who knows all the facts there are to know about Jesus Christ from the Bible, but they cannot see him for who he is. Do you know anyone like that?

How can this be? Why don't these people recognize Jesus for who he is? What does it take to see Jesus?

Steve Hiller: You're listening to Encounter the Truth with Jonathan Griffiths and a message called "A Journey to Understanding." It's part of our larger series, "An Invitation to Paradise." And if you missed any part of today's broadcast because maybe you joined us late or you know you have to leave early or you just want to go back and listen to this program or any previous broadcast in our series again, you can do that when you come to our website, encounterthetruth.org. There you can stream the program or download an MP3 for free.

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So again, look for Encounter the Truth on YouTube, listen at our website, encounterthetruth.org, or go get the free app at your app store. Well, if you joined us a little bit later, we're in the book of Luke, chapter 24, as we continue our message, "A Journey to Understanding." Again, here's Jonathan.

Jonathan Griffiths: How can this be? Why don't these people recognize Jesus for who he is? What does it take to see Jesus? As we look at the story and examine the record of this process of recognition here in Luke 24, three essentials become clear. To see Jesus requires first a miracle of God.

I recently saw a brain teaser photograph that had been produced by one of the newspapers. It showed a scene of a messy bathroom with an invitation attached to it to find the toothbrush located somewhere in the photo. Now, I knew that this was designed to be a challenge, so I felt myself particularly virtuous when I more or less instantaneously located the little toothbrush sitting on the counter right in front of the sink in the foreground of the photo. Well done me, I thought. Easy peasy.

Sadly, I had to stop patting myself on the back a few moments later when I saw the giant, six-foot-long toothbrush lying all the way at the back of the counter just beneath the mirror. It was no exaggeration to say that this giant toothbrush totally dominated the whole image and on first glance I did not see it at all. The little toothbrush, it was just a decoy for the unobservant. The real event was further in the background.

Now, once I got over the disappointment of realizing that I'm not in the special 2% of the extraordinarily observant people, once I realized that I had been fooled like everyone else, I took on board the message of the picture and the exercise. We have an amazing ability to fail to see what is right before our eyes. And what is true of normal observation is all the more true when it comes to spiritual things.

The big surprise of this story, the big surprise of the text before us, is not that these people come to see Jesus by the end of the story. That's not the surprise. The shock of the text is that they don't recognize Jesus right away. Isn't that right? Two followers of Jesus, two friends of Jesus, they encounter the risen Lord, he stands before their very eyes, yes, no doubt some way changed by the resurrection, but he speaks with them and they can't for the life of them see who it is. They fail to see him.

In fact, there are multiple layers here in their failure to see Jesus. The obvious failure is, of course, their inability to identify the one who is standing before them. But beyond their inability to recognize him physically, they betray a failure even to have truly seen him before. Notice what they have to say about him in the middle of verse 19.

"He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who would redeem Israel." See, what becomes clear as these guys get talking, what becomes clear is that these disciples only ever had a limited insight into the identity of Jesus Christ. They saw that he was a prophet, powerful in word and deed. They had hoped that he might redeem Israel in some way. They had some understanding, but they hadn't yet really come to see and understand that Jesus is God become man, the divine Son, the Savior of the world.

Now, what's going on here? Why this remarkable blindness? Why was it so hard for them to see Jesus and why is it so hard for many even now, even today? To answer that question or at least to begin to answer that question, we need to notice carefully what Luke tells us about their condition. And verse 16 is very important. Although the risen Jesus was walking alongside them, verse 16, "they were kept from recognizing him."

Luke doesn't say that they refused to recognize him or they were too unobservant to recognize him or too unintelligent to put two and two together. He doesn't lay all the blame at their door, but rather he uses what is sometimes called a divine passive to speak of God's sovereign work. They were kept from recognizing him. And they were kept from recognizing him because God himself held back their recognition.

Now, that is really quite puzzling. That's very interesting and we need to chew on that for a moment. But as we think about it, just jump forward with me to verse 31. They're at the table, they're eating together, Jesus breaks the bread, he thanks the Father, and as he did what he did at the Last Supper, verse 31, "then their eyes were opened and they recognized him."

Here we've got another one of those passive forms, those divine passives, those indications that God is at work doing something here, that God is opening their eyes that they might be enabled to recognize him. Now, why would Luke highlight that for us? Why would he say it like that? Why indeed would God withhold recognition of his Son?

And then why would he give it a little bit later? What are we to see there? What are we to learn? What are we to understand? I don't think I have a complete answer to that, but at the heart of it, I think the lesson is this: there is a supernatural, spiritual dynamic at play when it comes to recognizing Jesus.

There is a supernatural dynamic to understanding Jesus, to seeing Jesus. We human beings, as intelligent as we may be, we can have all the information before us. We can have the risen Jesus standing in our very midst and yet we can completely fail to see. Perceiving and recognizing Jesus Christ for who he is, it is not a purely and merely physical or intellectual exercise. It is supremely a spiritual and a supernatural one.

And so the great need is for the Lord himself to do a miraculous work in our hearts, to give us the spiritual sight that we lack. He needs to do a work that only he can do. You see, the disciples had all the information about Jesus before now. They had been told that he would die and that he would rise, that he would provide the forgiveness of sins. That much was clear from his ministry already, but they didn't get it.

All they understood, as they say here, is that he was a prophet, powerful in word and deed. And for them to move from information to recognition, it was going to require something extra. It was going to require a miraculous work of the Lord himself. That was true then and it's true today. I believe that truth should drive us to our knees, actually.

If we long for friends and family and colleagues and neighbors to know Jesus as we know him, well, we need to be bold in speaking of him. The Lord doesn't bypass that. We need to be winsome and wise in engaging with them, speaking the gospel. But more than all those things, we need to pray that the Lord in his mercy and the Lord in his grace would give them the spiritual sight that they lack.

If you're here this morning as someone who would like to know Jesus but feels like you're not getting there, however hard you try, it's not falling into place for you yet, here's a suggestion for you from what we're seeing here in Luke's gospel. Why not take a small step of faith and pray? Pray, asking God to give you the spiritual sight to see Jesus. And just see what he might do. See what he might do with that prayer. To see Jesus, it requires first a miracle of God.

Steve Hiller: Part of a message called "A Journey to Understanding" here on Encounter the Truth with Jonathan Griffiths. And if you've missed any part of our broadcast or any previous broadcast in our series, "An Invitation to Paradise," you can always listen online. Our website is encounterthetruth.org. There you can stream the program or download an MP3 for free. You can also listen if you have the Encounter the Truth app, that's free. You'll find it at your app store. Simply look for Encounter the Truth or again, come and listen online at encounterthetruth.org.

Encounter the Truth depends on your generosity to keep Jonathan's teaching on this station. We truly are listener-supported. And as you give a gift of any amount this month, we want to send you a book that Jonathan has picked out called *The Case for Easter*. It is written by Lee Strobel and Jonathan, what are some of the reasons that Lee Strobel lays out here as to why we can really believe that Easter happened?

Jonathan Griffiths: Well, in a very methodical way and in a way that's easy to follow, Lee Strobel goes through a few different categories of evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. He looks at the medical evidence. Was Jesus's death a sham and his resurrection a hoax or did these things really happen from a medical perspective? He looks at the evidence of the missing body. Was the body of Jesus really missing from the tomb and what would that mean if it was?

Then the evidence of the appearances of Jesus after his resurrection. Was he really seen alive and how do we know? These are vitally important questions because as Christian believers, we place our hope on the fact that Jesus really rose from the grave. Well, let's have a look at the evidence. Let's have a reasoned faith, a thoughtful faith. I'd commend this resource to you. I think it'll be a tremendous help.

Steve Hiller: It is called *The Case for Easter*. Again, it's our thank-you gift to you as you give a financial gift and support Encounter the Truth this month. You can find out more or give online at encounterthetruth.org or call 1-833-99-TRUTH. That's encounterthetruth.org or 1-833-998-7884.

You can also write us at Encounter the Truth, 2176 Prince of Wales Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, K2E 0B1. Or in the US at Encounter the Truth, 215 North Arlington Heights Road, number 102, Arlington Heights, Illinois, 60004. For Jonathan Griffiths, I'm Steve Hiller. Thanks for listening and I hope you'll join us next time.