Thomas Jefferson was a very important man in the history of the United States. He was one of the writers of the constitution, one of the "founding fathers," and one of the first presidents of the new country. He was a great statesman, a great man. Not so in his spiritual life. He could not accept the miraculous elements in scripture. He edited his own special version of the Bible in which all references to the supernatural were deleted. In editing the Gospels, Jefferson confined himself solely to the moral teachings of Jesus. The closing words of Jefferson’s bible are these: "There laid they Jesus and rolled a great stone at the mouth of the sepulchre and departed."

Thank God that is not the way the story really ends! I think that is about the way that the two disciples walking to Emmaus on that Sunday felt it had ended. They were downcast. Depressed. Their Lord, whom they had such high hopes for, was lying dead somewhere, for all they knew. Now they didn’t even know where. They were disappointed. Lost. What would they do now? Right at this point, at their lowest point, our risen Savior gives them a visit. We are going to see how He has just the right words to give them. And we are going to take a look at the two responses they had to Jesus’ words. (Read Luke 24:13-35.)

What Is Your Response to Easter? What is your response to the news of Jesus’ resurrection? These disciples from Emmaus had two responses. Their first response to Jesus’ explaining the Scriptures to them was pleading with Jesus, "Stay with us!" After He showed them that the Scriptures pointed to Jesus of Nazareth as their Savior, their hearts burned within them. They did not want the bearer of this Good News to leave their presence! They wanted to hear more! They wanted their hearts to keep burning like that! Their first response to Easter was to keep that Easter joy coming! "Stay with us, Lord!"

Is that our response? 43 people showed up to worship our risen Lord on Easter. Exactly one third of that number were here last week. Are we telling Jesus to "stay with us"? Many of you maybe were faithful in having Lenten devotions in your homes leading up to Easter. Has that habit continued? I wish it had in my house, but can’t honestly say it has yet.

The second response of the Emmaus disciples, upon realizing that the one eating with them was in fact the risen Lord, was to get up without even finishing dinner, and go on the 7-mile run (11.2 km) all the way back to Jerusalem, where they had just come from! The reason? To tell the others that Jesus was alive! To share this gospel! Have you ever run 11k? How about twice in one day? On an empty stomach? The only thing that mattered to them at this point was sharing this good news!

Has that been our response the last two weeks? I think we put a lot of effort into getting the message out before Easter. But now, that we have been motivated once again with the news of Jesus’ resurrection, have we dropped what we are doing and told others how great this news is? The temptation is usually to relax after Easter, isn’t it? We worked so hard up until Easter, and now we need a break. Those disciples needed a break after their walk out to Emmaus too. And this is most often true with church members and pastors – we need a break after Easter. And hey, we just moved, right? Instead, this should be highest moment of our desire to spread the news of our risen Lord! There should be no other time on my calendar that I am more motivated to drop everything and get out there and witness about Jesus! I am the first one to admit that it hasn’t received the highest priority on my schedule the past two weeks. Would you be able to admit the same?

Let’s go back to those two disciples from Emmaus. Before Jesus met them on the road, they thought they were once again trapped in the sinful world without a Savior. Their hearts were filled with despair and confusion. That is the despair and confusion that the world who doesn’t know Jesus feels. That is the despair and confusion that you feel when your faith is weak. But where can you draw strength from when you are weak? From the Bible! From Jesus’ words! And that is exactly what gave these two disciples their hope and joy back! Jesus’ words!

Jesus’ words made their hearts burn within them! They convinced them that this Jesus was the Messiah who was to come and bring peace between God and us! Jesus’ words proved to them that their lives were changed now, and that they could go on – free from sin! And Jesus’ living words, which explained to them what their Savior’s mission was all about, moved them to action! When they realized He was alive, they had to tell someone! And they became some of the first witnesses of the risen Savior!

The living words from our living Savior have done the same for you! They assure you that He had to go on this mission and die for you. He had to be raised from the dead as proof that this payment was sufficient and that you will also live. Jesus’ words let you know that He isn’t holding your sins against you. He loves you. That is all that matters. Everything is good between you and God now. Draw your strength from those words.

Let your Easter response imitate the two responses of the Emmaus disciples. First, ask Jesus to "stay with you." He will most certainly stay with you in the words from Scripture that He comforts you with. Stay with Him right here! Stay in his Word! Stay worshiping Him! And secondly, witness this Easter truth to others! Whether you have to run 7 miles or not. You can now be certain of the most important part of this story – that Jesus is risen and that your debt to God is paid.

This is the part of the story that our human nature has trouble believing. This is the part that our human nature wants to take out of the Bible, like Mr. Jefferson did. But let us thank God that this story did NOT end with the stone being rolled in front of the tomb, and these two disciples going home and going to bed depressed that evening! You know how the story ended. It ended with life. It ended with Easter. And because of that, the story hasn’t actually ended! What is going to be your response to Easter? Amen.

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