Beyond Vanity & Despair, Towards Resurrection
Bible passage: Luke 24:13-17, 25-27
“13. Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16. but they were kept from recognizing him. 17. He asked them, "What are you discussing together as you walk along?" They stood still, their faces downcast. ”
There are many religions in the world.
Although exact statistics are not available, it is said that if you include the primitive religions in remote areas of Africa, there are over hundreds of them, and if you only consider religions with more than 500,000 followers, there are about 20. Among these numerous religions, which religion is the true religion?
‘Siddharatha’, who founded Buddhism, is buried in India; Islam’s ‘Muhammad’ has a tomb in Saudi Arabia; The tomb of Confucius, the founder of Confucianism, is in China. After they died, they entered the tomb and were unable to overcome the power of death, where they rotted into dust and returned to vanity and despair. But there is no tomb for Jesus. At first there was a tomb, but three days after His death, He overcame the power of death in the grave and was resurrected, so the tomb is now empty.
If a religion that can give life to humans is a true religion, Jesus' empty tomb serves as evidence that Christianity is the only true religion. When the philosopher Socrates was dying after taking poison, his disciples mourned the death of their teacher and asked him, “It would be nice if people could die and live again. Can’t people live again?” He answered: “I wish so, but no one can live again.” And he too is dead and buried in the grave. But Jesus speaks clearly in John 11:25 saying, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies. ”
In today's scripture, the two disciples, who did not believe in the fact that Jesus was resurrected, left Jerusalem in emptiness and despair and went down to a village called Emmaus. However, the two disciples who were going down to Emmaus met the resurrected Jesus on the road and were able to return to Jerusalem with hope and energy. In a world full of vanity and despair, we must overcome darkness, overcome the forces of death, and live a vital life full of hope, joy, and life with the spirituality of resurrection. In the scripture given today, let us find out how the resurrected Jesus enabled the two disciples to overcome vanity and despair and live a life of resurrection and hope. The resurrected Jesus broke the stereotypes of the two disciples who did not believe in resurrection.
In the scripture (Luke Chapter 24), on the Sunday morning that Jesus was resurrected, when Mary Magdalene and some women went to the tomb to prepare spices to put on Jesus' body, they met an angel who told them that Jesus had been resurrected. The angels said to the women, “Remember what Jesus said when He was alive: that ‘He will be crucified, but on the third day He will rise again.’ ” They said, “Yes, we remember Jesus saying that,” and ran to the apostles to tell them the news of Jesus’ resurrection. At a time when the fact of Jesus' resurrection was becoming known, two disciples who were not apostles but still followed the Lord zealously, did not believe in the resurrection of Jesus and, falling into emptiness and despair, were leaving Jerusalem and going down to a village called Emmaus.
The road to life in this world is like the road to Emmaus; Endless sadness and despair of vanity are our path in life. Even though the resurrected Jesus appeared to them and walked with them, they did not recognize Him at all. What could be the reason? 3 Verse 16 of the scripture says, “But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him.” The Greek word for blindfolded here is ‘krateyo’, and its original meaning is ‘a state of being strongly obsessed with something.’ What on earth were the two disciples going down to Emmaus so obsessed with that they did not believe in the resurrection of Jesus? They were caught up in preconceptions and stereotypes. What stereotype? A stereotype is a fixed idea. I was strongly obsessed with the stereotype that ‘people are finished when they die’.
If a person is obsessed with fixed ideas, he becomes sad, depressed, and lives a lonely life, as shown in verse 17. We each have our own prejudices and stereotypes. If you are unable to see new things because of your prejudices and stereotypes, and thus make no progress in your faith or progress in life, you are a truly foolish person. What breaks this is the Lord’s resurrection event. So, Jesus said this to the two disciples who were obsessed with the stereotype that ‘once a person dies, it is over.’ In Verse 25, He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken!” Is there anyone who still doesn't believe in the resurrection?
Some people do not believe in the resurrection or the events mentioned in the Bible. Some people say, “How can we believe in this when we are going to the moon by rocket?” Jesus called those with such prejudices and stereotypes ‘fools.’ He rebuked them for being dull-hearted and slow to believe. There is a proverb in Korea that says ‘a frog in a well.’ A frog living in a well knows the extent of the sky as the width of the well entrance. This is because when you look up at the sky from inside a well, you only see the width of the mouth of the well.
The frogs living in the well will think, ‘The sky looks small and round.’ It is a proverb that teaches the lesson that people who are immersed in their own world or who do not know how to live in the world cannot properly understand broad issues or truths. People who are bound by their own righteousness and framework think that they are the standard, that only they are right, and that only their judgment is right. But we can always be wrong. The only one who is right is God, the Lord, and the Holy Spirit. This world is not just about humans.
There are plants and animals. Because beings from multiple dimensions live together in the same space, knowledge of dimensions allows us to understand our lives more broadly. Last week, while studying the topic ‘Space and Dimension’ in the Academy MIS class, I gave the following example. It was an example from a book I read a long time ago. The title of the book was ‘The 4th Dimension,’ and I am telling you this story because I think it will be very helpful in understanding dimensions. A caterpillar and a caterpillar larvae were taking a walk on a trail when a child came out for a walk and found two caterpillars crawling on the ground. 5 Out of curiosity, the child picked up the caterpillar larvae. He looked at it and found it disgusting, so he just put it down on the ground. Caterpillar larvae belong to the second dimension. This is because it does not recognize space and only crawls on a flat surface.
However, a human child belongs to the third dimension. When a child picks up a caterpillar and puts it down, the action is nothing to the three-dimensional child, but in the two-dimensional world of the caterpillar, something very mysterious happens. The caterpillar is surprised and questions caterpillar larvae, who has reappeared. "No? Where have you been? How did you suddenly come back to life after disappearing in an instant?” The caterpillar larvae replies, “I do not know either. I suddenly lost consciousness and when I opened my eyes, I found myself back here.”
The caterpillar remarks, “Wow, how could this happen? It’s truly unbelievable and amazing.” There is a story that the caterpillars in the neighborhood found out about this and said, “Wow, he really came back from the dead. Let’s have a party.” So, it is said that all the caterpillars in the neighborhood were so happy that they had a party. This is nothing to a child in the third dimension. However, in the two-dimensional world of caterpillars, something miraculous, surprising, and truly incomprehensible happened. In terms of the concepts of space and dimension, humans live in a one- dimensional world, which is the space of the first heaven, and Jesus belongs to the fourth dimension, which is the space of the fourth heaven. The Bible records events from the first to the fourth dimension. So, when people who come to church for the first time listen to a sermon, they often don't believe it because they hear it from the level of the first dimension of human flesh. ‘When a person dies, it's over. How does one come back to life?’
This is a one- dimensional idea. And this is impossible in the one-dimensional physical world. However, Jesus belongs to the fourth dimension of spirit. Therefore, if you think four-dimensionally, the resurrection of Jesus is possible. In John Chapter 11, there is a scene where Jesus raises Lazarus, who had been dead for three days. This is impossible in a one-dimensional world, but it becomes possible when Lazarus' tomb is covered with a four-dimensional space and Jesus, who belongs to the fourth dimension, acts with the power of the fourth dimension. The splitting of the Red Sea is impossible in the first dimension, but it is possible in the third dimension, the spirit dimension. This is because the principle of dimension is that the high dimension dominates the low dimension, and the principle of dimension is that the characteristics of the high dimension appear in a space where the high dimension and the low dimension coexist. In this way, I hope that you will break through narrow-minded prejudices and stereotypes and move beyond vanity and despair to the faith of resurrection.
The resurrected Lord broadened the horizons of the two disciples, enabling them to look beyond vanity and despair and even to resurrection. Jesus visited the two disciples who were going down to Emmaus in vanity and despair, and even shared a meal with them in an intimate manner, as in verse 27. As a result, in verse 31, the spiritual eyes of the two disciples became bright and they recognized the resurrected Lord. And they said to each other in verse 32, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?” The word ‘burning’ here is ‘kaio’ in Greek, which means to kindle, turn on a fire, a burning flame, or a light that brightens the darkness.
Therefore, the words that “the two disciples’ hearts burning” can be interpreted as ‘their vision became brighter.’ When they heard the words spoken by the Lord, a light was turned on in their hearts, the darkness disappeared, their spiritual light became bright, their vision broadened, and they recognized Jesus. What people who do not believe and those who do believe but do not believe well have in common is that they have a narrow perspective. They can only see what is in front of their eyes every day, that is, what is in the physical world. If you truly believe in Jesus, your perspective will broaden and you will be able to see the world after death. So, if you look at the people living in this land, they have a narrow perspective, so they can never live at a loss. In this world, if you die, it's over, so how can you live at a loss? You can never sacrifice. You can't live for others.
However, as your perspective expands, life on this earth is seen as a place to practice to become spiritually mature, and you become good at giving in, giving alms, and making sacrifices. Why? You can do these because your perspective is broadened and you look beyond this world to what you will stand before God after death. There is a term called ‘the overview effect.’ A major psychological change seen in astronauts who have explored space is that their values change and their outlook on life changes when they view the Earth far away from space. Most astronauts who have been to space may have pride and arrogance in saying that they have been to space, but on the contrary, they become more humble. It makes one wonder how small the Earth is compared to the vast universe and how insignificant the humans within it are.
The Earth seen from space is just a tiny dot, so how foolish it is to argue and fight with each other. 8 Rather than just looking at the situation right in front of you and fighting and hating each other, if you look far from a high place, you can change your negative mind and there is no difficulty nor misfortune that you cannot overcome. Don't just look at what's right in front of you, look further ahead and draw the bigger picture. There is a famous quote from Charlie Chaplin: ‘The farther you look at life, the more comedy it becomes.’ Apostle Paul also experienced this perspective effect. In 2 Corinthians 12:2, the Apostle Paul has a mysterious experience of going to paradise in the third heaven. Apostle Paul, who came to see the indescribably beautiful paradise, said that knowing Jesus alone was the noblest knowledge, and confessed that he came to regard everything in this world other than Jesus as ‘dung.’ If we knew the world of resurrection, we would not live so narrow-mindedly. You can live boldly. In 1967, Erickson, a 17-year-old athlete, suffered an accident while diving in the ocean.
Paralyzed from the neck down, she was overcome with all the unhappy emotions a human being could experience, to the point where she felt bitterness, frustration, resentment, anger, and even the urge to commit suicide. Then one day she saw her vision of Jesus hanging on the cross. She saw Jesus hanging on the cross, helpless, like her, unable to move at all. However, when she heard that Jesus was resurrected after three days, her perspective on life broadened. She learned that the glory of resurrection comes only through the pain of the cross. She was given perspective not only on her present but also on her future aspirations. So, she confessed as follows, “I now have hope for the future. The Bible says that our bodies are ‘glorified’ in heaven.
Although now my fingers are shriveled and bent, my muscles are weak, my knees are twisted, and I have no feeling from the shoulders down, one day I will have a new body clothed in righteousness that is light and bright and powerful and dazzling. No other religion or philosophy promises a new body and mind. Only in the gospel of Christ’s resurrection can wounded people find this amazing hope.” Yes, for Christians, death is like the door into heaven. Just as when you open that door, another yard appears, just as when the door of death opens, heaven appears. We can look out the heavenly landscape through the window of resurrection. When Jesus returns, those who have died in the Lord will be transformed into a spiritual body like the resurrected body of Jesus, a body that will never get sick, nor die, nor rot again and will live forever.
Also, the fact that the two disciples’ hearts were burning literally means that their cold heart became burning with passion. The two disciples who went down to Emmaus, discouraged by vanity and despair, must have felt like they had made every step. However, after meeting the resurrected Lord, their perspective broadened, they regained vitality, and their heart became warm. When they regained that burning heart, their joy and enjoyment were restored. I hope that your joy and enjoyment will be restored in your worship. Why do you drink, take drugs and smoke? Because there is no joy and no pleasure in life. There are people who get upset no matter what you do. Aren’t kids like that during their adolescence? I think faith also has adolescence.
People who are always moody, prone to saying “I’m annoyed,” stubborn, and rebellious should quickly get out of their religious adolescence. 10 Please. There are people who only worship with their head. Now, I want you to not only worship with your head, but bring it down to your heart. If the Word is only lingering in your head, you cannot live a dynamic religious life. You have to pull it down to your heart. Even though the distance from head to heart is 30cm, it is said to be the longest distance in the world. I hope that when you meet the resurrected Lord, your perspective will broaden and your heart will become warm, so that you can live the rest of your life for the Lord and live a dynamic life of faith that is passionately loyal and bears fruit. The resurrected Lord made it possible for the two disciples to overcome their limitations and live a life of resurrection.
In today's scripture, before meeting the apostles, the resurrected Jesus personally appeared to the two disciples at Emmaus, met them, had a meal with them, and taught them the Bible, making them believe in the resurrection. How much grace, love, and consideration is this? Nevertheless, the two disciples did not readily believe that Jesus had been resurrected. Why is that so? Because this was the limit of the faith of the two disciples. During our lives, we may encounter various kinds of limitations, become frustrated and despair, but the greatest limitation humans have is death. Who can overcome this limitation of death? According to 1 Corinthians 15:55, only Jesus abolished death, the greatest limitation of humanity, by breaking the enemy devil's power over death and resurrecting from the grave. Therefore, true Christians who believe in the Lord's resurrection can live a life of resurrection that goes beyond limitations. There is a world-renowned vocalist from Italy named Bocelli. He had poor eyesight from a young age, and at the age of 12 he was hit in the eye by a ball while playing soccer and lost his eyesight completely. He was poor. He also lost the opportunity to study. He was a good singer, but because he was blind, no one invited him to the stage, which made him frustrated. This was his limit. Isn't it clear to anyone that life has its limits?
However, he gained courage after hearing the message of the resurrection from the dead at a church on Easter. He overcame the limitations of his blindness and went to law school to study and become a lawyer. After his life as a lawyer gave him some leisure time, he could not give up his dream of vocal music and worked hard to overcome the limitations of his blindness and sing deeper and more stable songs. By the way, when Bocelli meets people and greets them, doesn’t he usually bow with two of his fingers while making a V shape? However, Bocelli is said to have always raised three fingers in greeting. So when people ask why he greets with three fingers, he says it is because no matter what difficulty he encounters, all problems are solved within three days, and because Jesus rose from the grave after three days, all dark forces will be gone in three days. The limitations of the dark life of blindness and poverty were all swept away by the power of resurrection.
I hope that you, too, will have faith that overcomes your limitations and the faith of resurrection that will resolve all your concerns and worries within 3 hours, not 3 days. The resurrected Jesus allowed the two disciples to overcome the limitations of vanity and despair and return to Jerusalem to live a wonderful life testifying to the Lord's resurrection. Life is like driving a car with limited gas and going to your destination. When driving a long distance, if you run out of gas, you can refill at a gas station along the way, but in life, there is no gas station where you can refill your gas. This means that you cannot ask for 3 or 5 years of time, like putting fuel in a car, to be put back in as much as you have wandered as you hit a limit in your life. There is not enough fuel in life to live like that, leaning to the left or right, wasting time on carousing, and wandering here and there.
In Korean, there is a word called ‘end’. I introduce it because it seems like a very meaningful word and is also related to resurrection. It means ‘the end’, but the word ‘head’ is added to the end of the word and the word ‘end’ is used. ‘End’ does not simply mean the end of something, but a new beginning. Just as one day ends but the next new day begins, just as a year ends at the end of the year but becomes the beginning of a new year, there is death at the 'end' of our lives, but death is not the end, but the beginning of a new life of resurrection. Please remember that the end is not the last, but the beginning of a new beginning. There is a saying like this in English too. The word ‘last’. It means it is the last. However, ‘last’ has another meaning. It means it continues. ‘Last’ seems to be the last, so it means that something new continues. If you stop, it becomes your limit. If you go back, it becomes a limit.
Despair becomes your limit. If you give up, you become your limit. Peter made the mistake of denying Jesus three times. This almost became a major limitation in Peter's life. However, the resurrected Lord visited Peter and asked, “Do you love me?” And By asking the question three times, Peter broke the limitations of faith. In the Lord, mistakes and failures do not become limitations, but become another beginning to move forward. The enemy, the devil, wants us to sit there, faced with the limits of frustration and despair, but the Lord of resurrection moves us and keeps us going. God tested Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his son Isaac. If a test of this magnitude comes to most people, this will become their limit and they will wander in such great pain and anguish that they will no longer be able to live a life of faith. However, because Abraham had faith in resurrection, he was able to overcome this limitation and become the father of faith. Hebrews 11:19 says, “Abraham considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received Isaac back from death. ” If you look at 1 Corinthians Chapter 15, you will find detailed information about resurrection. That’s why it’s called ‘Resurrection Chapter.’ Apostle Paul explains the resurrection and at the end in 1 Corinthians 15:58, he says: “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm.
Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” We too must overcome whatever limitations life may present to us and live this life of resurrection. Conclusion When you go to a cemetery, there is a tombstone erected and an epitaph written on it that sums up the life of the deceased in one word. A person who has lived a beautiful life will leave a beautiful epitaph, and a person who has lived a life stained with regret will leave an epitaph full of regret. For example, the tombstone of Abraham Lincoln, who brought American democracy to fruition through the emancipation of slaves, reads, ‘The government of the people, by the people, for the people will last forever.’ Educator Pestalozzi's epitaph reads, “He did everything for others and nothing for himself.” Inventor Thomas Edison has an epitaph that gives hope and courage to future generations, saying, “Imagination, great hope, and a firm will will lead us to success.”
American black activist Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Freedom at last, freedom at last, thank you, Almighty Lord. You can see the tombstone of the pastor, a black human rights activist, saying, “I am finally free.” Some comedians say, “I came here to laugh, but I leave crying.” This is a comedian's epitaph, so it's a bit funny, but I think it's still a great insight into life. What message will be engraved on your tombstone in the distant future? Among the people who lived and died in this world, there is one person who does not have a tombstone. He is Jesus. Jesus is resurrected and He has no tomb, so there is no tombstone or epitaph.
However, if one were to sum up the life of Jesus in one word, it would be that he ‘carried the sins of mankind and died on the cross, but was resurrected on the third day.’ I hope that we, who must become like the resurrected Lord, will nail the vanity and despair of life to our own crosses and live a life of resurrection full of vitality and hope. - END -
