Third Sunday of Easter April 18-19, 2026
“What Is Easter To You?” Luke 24:13-35
Rev. John R. Larson Ascension Lutheran Church Littleton, Colorado
Do you know what we are good at around here? We are good at lingering. You would think that when a worship service is over people would have places to go and things to do and people to see. But not here. We are good at lingering.
Here’s why I say that. Our 10:30 service lasts about 70 minutes. I raise my hands, give the benediction, and tell everyone to go home – get out of here. I do that every Sunday by 11:40. But, do you know when the last person waves at the others and leaves the parking lot. 12:30. 12:30!! Now here are the regular culprits: The Lawrenz family, or their relatives, the Kirschner’s. They are very social people and have social kids. And, when they leave the building they head to the playground – so they really haven’t left. Lingering becomes loitering!! Here’s the others: The Utecht’s. Infamous for lingering. And they, with the help of people whose last names sound like Donovan, McConnell, or Hitztaler tell me, “We’re leaving soon.” I stopped believing them a long time ago.
So, we’re good at lingering. And that really is not a bad thing. Eating a hot lunch is really overrated.
We are good at lingering at times of the church year. We start the Christmas season early and love having it continue until mid-January. Today, we call this the Third Sunday Of Easter. Not the Third Sunday After Easter – no, Of Easter. We’re not done with Easter. We don’t have the big celebration on Easter Sunday and then put it away until 2027. No. We celebrate Easter today. We’re going to linger a bit today.
Two followers of Jesus leave Jerusalem on Easter afternoon and are heading to Emmaus – 7 miles away – a walk that was to take about 2 hours. One guy is given a name and the other is not. But I know what they were doing just outside of Jerusalem. They were arguing. The Greek words used about the conversation between the two literally says, “They were throwing words against each other.” (Luke 24:14) You ever “throw words against another”? Sure. We call it an argument. And what were they arguing about? They were arguing about Easter. They were arguing about Jesus.
Jesus, who was kept from being noticed by them, asked them about their discussion. “What were you discussing as you walked along the road?” It went something like this: “We were talking about Jesus. He was a prophet. He did miracles. His teaching was beyond compare. We had hoped that God had finally answered our prayers and sent the one who was going to be our redeemer. But such grand hopes about who he was and what he could do have been dashed. He was crucified just the other day.”
The two men who were “throwing words against each other” continued their story, “And then the story got weird. The women who had gone to the tomb were greeted by some angels that said he was alive. They went into the tomb and the body was gone. But they didn’t see him. And some of our friends also went to the tomb and found things just like the women said.”
And what did those two men, Cleopas and the other one, go on and do? They lingered. For 7 miles. Two hours. Jesus said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory? And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.” (Luke 24:25-27)
What is Easter? It is the whole story about the awful things done to Jesus and the great things done by Jesus. Every one of them had to happen. When the trip began for those two men our reading says, “They stood still, their faces downcast.” (Luke 24:18) But that is not how this day ended for them. After they realized that it was the resurrected Jesus who was the man traveling with them, they said, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32)
What was Easter to them? And what does Easter mean to us? Easter is God’s divine necessity in our life. After Jesus heard about the questions from these two men, about their confusion about the events of Good Friday and even Easter morning, Jesus made things clear for them. “Jesus said to them, ‘How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?’” (Luke 24:25-26)
There was a divine necessity to the cross and to the empty tomb. Do you remember Zacchaeus, the “wee, little man”? Zacchaeus, who climbed the sycamore-fig tree, so he could see Jesus coming, was greeted by Jesus, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately, I must stay at your house today.” (Luke 19:5) Or how about the father who was waiting for his wayward son to come back home? The prodigal, who had lost his way, who screwed up his life and the life of his family, came home and the father threw one heck of a party. But the older brother wouldn’t step one toe inside that door. But the father pleaded, “But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found.” (Luke 15:32)
There is a divine necessity in the Emmaus walk, to Zacchaeus, and with the wayward son and his brother. “Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” “Zacchaeus, I must stay at your house today.” “But we had to celebrate and be glad…” Easter didn’t happen two weeks ago and now we move onto other things – no, we linger, we loiter there, because this Lord Jesus has some amazing things that He has to do in our lives. And what God wants to do in your life, and my life, won’t get done unless we understand that He had to suffer for our many sins and He had to rise to give us new life. The writer, Marcus Borg, wrote, “The story makes the claim that the risen Christ journeys with us, whether we know that or not, realize that or not, even as it also affirms that there are moments of recognition to which we do realize that.”
What is Easter to you? You want to know that He is alive, right? You want to be sure that His presence is not just in heaven, but with you, now? You face the struggles against the devil. You battle your own sinful intentions. You have stuff that is bigger than you. Look at where the risen Lord Jesus showed Himself present with these two men.
He showed Himself alive in the words of Scripture. It was their “Ah-Ha” moment. They got to stop and listen, hear and reflect when Jesus, in that two-hour conversation told them the great things that the Christ had to do to bring all people hope and life and salvation. “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” Easter was the physical resurrection of Jesus and it is our spiritual rebirth.
Jesus showed Himself alive at the meal. “When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him.” (Luke 24:30-31) How Lutheran can it get!! At the end of the Emmaus account we read, “Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.” (Luke 24:35)
When is the last time you lingered long enough to realize what Jesus has done for you? When is the last time you went from sullen and sad to amazed and joyful? If it has been a while maybe now it is time to linger. Linger in His word and take in His words. His living words can cause you to go in a new direction in life. Linger at the Table and find that your eyes are opened to take in the Bread of Life – Jesus Christ Himself.
Jesus had to suffer and die and rise. He had to. Jesus had to eat with Zacchaeus so Zacchaeus could speak of repentance and faith. Jesus said that father of those two boys, the one who was lost and knew it, and the one who was lost and didn’t know it, had to celebrate the resurrection of his own son from his spiritual death.
Jesus has to do many things in us. Jesus has done many things in us.
Those folks, those lingerers, the ones who don’t clear out so quickly after the “Amen” is spoken, have something to teach us. It is all right to linger and see what God is still doing. Amen!!
