Jesus Wants Fellowship With Us - Lee Dodd

Luke 24.

I would love to read the whole

of verse 13-35,

but for the sake of time

let's pick up in verse 25.

I think we are probably familiar

with this account of Jesus

meeting the two disciples

on the road to Emmaus.

In verse 15, we see that Jesus Himself

drew near and went with them.

I'll read v. 25 down through 32.

"And He (Jesus) said to them,

'O foolish ones,

and slow of heart to believe

all the prophets have spoken.

Was it not necessary that the Christ

should suffer these things

and enter into His glory?'

And beginning with Moses

and all the prophets,

He interpreted to them
in all the Scriptures,

the things concerning Himself.

So they drew near to the village

to which they were going.

He acted as if He were going farther,

but they urged Him strongly,

saying, 'stay with us.

For it is toward evening

and the day is now far spent.'

So He went in to stay with them.

When He was at table with them,

He took bread and blessed and broke it

and gave it to them,

and their eyes were opened,

and they recognized Him.

And He vanished from their sight.

They said to each other,

'Did not our hearts burn within us

while He talked to us on the road,

while He opened to us the Scriptures?'"

So, commonly, there's rich content shared

about Jesus opening the Scriptures

to His disciples.

But that's not what I want
to focus on this morning.

I want to just look at two things really

from verses 28 and 29,

which I'll re-read.

"So they..." this is Jesus

and the two disciples,

"drew near to the village

to which they were going.

He (Jesus) acted as if
He was going farther,

but they urged Him strongly, saying,

'Stay with us.'"

And I think the encouragement here

is two-fold.

Number one, it struck me as I was reading

verse 28,

to see that Jesus acted

as though He was going to go

on down the road to the next village.

In some sense, it looks
like He was putting on.

And we say why?

Why is Jesus acting as if
He's going to go on farther?

We see clearly when we read v. 29

why Jesus was acting as if

He was going to go on down the road.

He was provoking within His people

a desire to cry out to Him,

to entreat Him to stay.

And this is remarkable.

This is the warm, relational Jesus Christ

that so desires the hearts of His people

that He will even act in such a way

to draw out our affections to Him.

And this is happening today.

If you're a believer here,

in my life and your life,

there are things that our kind,

dear Savior does

to draw out our affections toward Him;

to stir up our love toward Him;

to drive us into the
mode of entreating Him.

He wants communion with His people.

He had no intention of
going on down the road.

He wants to be with His people.

And that is remarkable.

If that doesn't fuel prayer,
I don't know what does.

He is delighting in the prayers
of His people this morning.

Think of Jacob wrestling

with the Angel of the Lord.

What is that about?

The Angel of the Lord -

this pre-incarnate Christ.

He's not wrestling with anyone.

He's not challenged.

He's not actually kept by Jacob.

What does He say? "Let me go."

He could withdraw at any moment.

Why "let me go"?

Because He was aiming
for a response in Jacob.

"I won't let you go, unless You bless me."

You remember Samson's dad?

Manoah in Judges 13.

And the Angel of the Lord visits.

What is happening here?

There's this encounter -

this divine encounter,

and Manoah comes to the
point where he says,

"Please let me detain you

and make a meal for you."

I'm not even going to eat the meal,

but I'll be detained.

The Syro-Phoenician woman
in the New Testament.

That whole encounter?

Boy, that kind of reads
confusing at first, doesn't it?

Jesus seemingly insults her.

Jesus seemingly ignores her.

Why? What is He doing?

He is cultivating in the
heart of His people

this strong desire to seek Him.

So, I think that's one thing we glean

from the text.

And secondly, you just can't get away

from this phrase in verse 29.

"They (the two disciples)
urged Him strongly."

Urged Him strongly.

All I'll say about it for the sake of time

is we ought to be those that ask much

and ask often.

We ought to be those that lose nothing

because we're not asking.

So, let's storm that gracious throne

this morning.

Let's boldly entreat our kind,

warm-hearted Savior.

Let's pray.

Father, there is none like You.

Divine Son, our
tender-hearted High Priest.

There is none like You.

Holy Spirit, our Help and Comforter.

There's none like You.

We desire Your presence.

We want to detain You this morning.

We want You to draw near this morning.

We need Your help.

We need Your presence.

We need You to do what You did

for those two disciples

on the road to Emmaus,

and open our eyes

to the precious truth of Your Word.

So, come, and infiltrate
this time of prayer.

Manifest Your presence to us,

in Jesus' name.