Welcome to the expanded edition of #LentenDaily2025, The Kingdom of God Drawn Near. While the Lenten season came to an end as we celebrated Christ’s resurrection two days ago, we’re not quite finished yet. That’s right, we’re going to continue this study through early June, peeking in on important highlights of Jesus’ resurrection appearances, His ascension to heaven and the gift of the Holy Spirit on His apostles at Pentecost. We’ll pick up in Luke 24 and then move through the first several chapters of the Book of Acts. This will be a weekly edition, dropping into your inbox each Tuesday, from today through June 3.
In today’s reading from Luke, we get to listen while Jesus gives a masterclass in presuppositional apologetics. You may be thinking, “What in the world is apologetics, much less presuppositional apologetics?” I’m so glad you asked! First, apologetics is an exercise in which one defends the truth of the Christian faith, addressing everything from the existence of God to the reliability of the Old and New Testaments. Apologetics is different from evangelism in that evangelism is simply telling others the gospel message of Jesus Christ, while apologetics often involves logical arguments, historical debates, philosophical discussions, and more. The flagship scripture in the New Testament supporting the exercise of apologetics is 1 Peter 3:15, “But in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, ready at any time to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.”
Presuppositional apologetics begins with the assumption that God exists and that the Bible is authoritative. As Cornelius Van Til once noted: “Can I see the beams underneath the floor on which I walk? I must assume or presuppose that the beams are underneath. Unless the beams were underneath, I could not walk on the floor.” Likewise, presuppositional apologetics means presupposing the truth of Christianity and then uses reason from that point. As we read today's scripture passage, pay close attention to how Jesus uncovers his fellow travelers’ presuppositions regarding messianic prophecy clashing with their devastating disappointment that Jesus is dead.
Read Luke 24:1-35
It’s over…everything we had put our hopes and dreams in…over.
Cleopas and an unnamed disciple had left Jerusalem and were heading to a small town, Emmaus, about seven miles away from Jerusalem. One commentary I read challenged a presupposition that I had about the disciples walking to Emmaus, stating that the Greek text does not specify whether they were two men or a man and a woman, perhaps a husband and a wife, walking back home together. Were they returning home after the Passover festivities? Maybe they just needed to get out of Jerusalem, disappointed and even embarrassed that the One they had pinned their hopes for rescue on was dead. Luke indicates that they were walking home on the same day of Jesus’ resurrection, underscoring how on the very day that the heavens were celebrating, these two were walking away with regret and sorrow. If there was a day in the history of the world that called for a loud shout of victory and renewed hope it was this day. Instead of ecstatic joy, these two were let down and disappointed.
“And while they were discussing and arguing, Jesus himself came near and began to walk along with them.” (v 15, emphasis mine) It is so important that we notice Jesus’ approach here. The disciples were headed out on a 3-hour journey and in a heated debate about what just happened in Jerusalem and what their next steps should be, when Jesus Himself came near. Jesus didn’t wait for them to figure everything out or even remember all that He had instructed them about His betrayal, death, burial and resurrection. In fact, Jesus understood all too well how limited we humans are. He had spent the past 33 years with us, patiently sharing the Good News of the Kingdom of God and experienced firsthand how we often jump to the wrong conclusions concerning the evidence before us. So He came near to them and started walking with them. They didn’t recognize Him and wouldn’t until an emotional memory was unlocked for them later, when Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it and gave it to them. For now, Jesus was a stranger, walking alongside them. They were so invested in their grief and confusion that they barely noticed Jesus, much less recognized Him. But then He asked, “What are y’all talking about?” (from v 17) and they were shaken back into the present. They stopped in disbelief and asked, “What rock have you been hiding under?” to which Jesus replied, “Well, not exactly hiding under a rock, but a large rock was involved…” Okay, that’s my sanctified imagination at full speed, but I always imagine Jesus bringing a little levity to a situation when appropriate.
The disillusioned disciples proceeded to explain all of the things concerning Jesus of Nazareth to the strange traveling companion. Little did they know they were disclosing their presuppositions that Jesus would then expound on to help them see and understand the truth. They shared that Jesus was a powerful prophet, obviously anointed by God. He was a fantastic speaker and miracle worker, miracles they had seen with their own eyes. Their Jewish chief priests and leaders handed Him over to the Romans; He was consequently sentenced to death and crucified. “We had hoped He was the Messiah, the one to redeem Israel, but no…it’s been three days. Some of the women in our group went to anoint His body this morning and found the tomb empty! Apparently they had some type of vision of angels who told them He was alive, but surely that can’t be. Others from our group (Peter and John) ran to the tomb following the women’s reporting and found it empty as well, but no Jesus.” (from vv 21-24) We’ve wasted enough time following this guy who apparently isn’t Who we thought He was!” Disillusioned, they quit and were going home!
Experiencing their emotions and the confusion their presuppositions were causing them, Jesus proceeded to engage these disciples in an apologetics masterclass, explaining how everything that had happened was foretold. Beginning with Moses and the prophets, He went prophecy by prophecy, making connections to their fulfillment in Messiah. These disciples were limited in their ability to discern God’s good but hard plan of redemption, requiring the ultimate sacrifice of Christ as well as patience and trust from those He came to save.
They were hanging on Jesus’ every word, not realizing how far they’d walked, when they looked up and saw that they were at the entrance to the village of Emmaus. The disciples asked Jesus to please come home with them and have a bite to eat before continuing His journey. “It was as he reclined at the table with them that he took the bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.” (v 30) Wait a second! This was familiar…Jesus reclining at a table, taking bread, blessing it, breaking it and sharing it with everyone around Him. It had just happened three evenings prior, as He shared the last Passover Seder with them. Following the meal, Jesus took the dessert matzah, the Afikomen, that had been hidden, and passed it around for everyone to share saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” (22:19) As this emotional memory surfaced for them, the disciples instantly recognized Jesus! And just as quickly, He disappeared from their sight. (from v 31) They turned to one another dumbfounded, then said “Weren’t our hearts burning within us while he was talking with us on the road and explaining the Scriptures to us?” (v 32) Even before the two disciples recognized Jesus, as He opened and interpreted the Scriptures their hope was reborn and they became increasingly convinced of the resurrection.
The disciples immediately started back for Jerusalem and the Eleven, who informed them that Jesus had appeared to Peter. “Us too!!” they excitedly exclaimed, and told them the whole story!
Big Picture Questions for Today:
Like the disciples on the Emmaus Road, Jesus walks with us and reveals himself in different ways and to different degrees from day-to-day. How has He revealed Himself to you through His Word recently? We cannot grow in our knowledge of God or His ways except that we are looking through the lens of Scripture.
Jesus does not waste our circumstances, trials, or grief but draws near to us in our moments of deepest despair, and in his own time, he peels away the cataracts that distort our vision so that we might know him and the power of resurrection. Have any of your presuppositions regarding prophecy or the gospel been challenged by today’s devotion?
Pray for faith to believe that even when we can’t see what God is doing, He is trustworthy and true.
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