Where in your life have you assumed you were walking alone? What would change today if you took seriously that he has been on the road with you the whole time?

Kent has had some road trips worth remembering. One of them ended with a nervous man on a Mexican bus pointing a gun at him and his friend Jerry, hand shaking, asking for their money. He had been smart enough to leave his wallet behind. Jerry had not. But that trip doesn't hold a candle to the one Luke records. Two followers of Jesus walking the seven miles from Jerusalem out to Emmaus, on the same day he rose — and Jesus himself came near and walked with them. And they had no idea. "Their eyes were kept from recognizing him." Not because they were foolish. Because grief has a way of narrowing your vision until the only thing you can see is what you lost. Here is the quiet comfort of this story: Jesus was with them the entire time they thought they were walking alone. Before they recog

What is the 'but we had hoped' in your life right now — the thing you have quietly moved into past tense?

Three of the saddest words in the Bible: "But we had hoped." Had. Past tense. We used to. We don't anymore. These two are describing the death of an expectation. They had hoped he was the one to redeem Israel — and then Friday happened, and the hoping stopped. Notice they aren't lying. Every fact they list is accurate. He was a prophet mighty in deed and word. The rulers did deliver him up. He was crucified. It is the third day. They have all the right information and exactly the wrong conclusion. That is worth sitting with, because it is possible to be completely correct about the details of your life and completely wrong about what they mean. They thought they were walking away from a failed hope. They were actually walking beside a risen Lord. The facts were not the problem. The en

When you open the Bible this week, what would change if you read it looking for Jesus rather than looking for instructions?

Here is what Jesus does not do. He does not immediately say, "It's me, look." He could have ended their grief in a second with one gesture. Instead he gives them a Bible study. Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he walks them through the whole of Scripture and shows them himself in it. Seven miles of it. The risen Christ's first instinct on resurrection Sunday was to open the Scriptures and say: this was always about me. Which tells you something about how God usually works. We want the dramatic reveal. He often gives us the slow walk through his Word until the pieces move. It also tells you what the Bible is for. Not a rulebook, not a collection of moral improvements — a book with a person at the center. If you have ever read it and found it dry, it may be that you were readin

Where are the ordinary tables in your week — meals, conversations, hospitality — where you might be more likely to meet Jesus than you expect?

They finally recognize him at a table. Not during the sermon. Not while he was explaining Moses and the Prophets. At dinner, when he took bread, blessed it, broke it, and handed it to them — and their eyes were opened. There is something almost tender about that. The moment of recognition comes in the most ordinary act in the world: someone passing you food. It is worth noticing that these two had begged him to stay. "Stay with us, for it is toward evening." They did not know who they were inviting in. They just did not want the conversation to end. And their small hospitality to a stranger turned into the moment they saw the risen Christ. And then he vanished — because he did not need to stay at that table. He had given them something better than his visible company: he had given them

Looking back over the past year, where can you now see your heart was burning even though you could not name it at the time? Who needs to hear about it?

After he disappears, they look at each other and say it: "Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?" They felt it before they understood it. Something was happening on that walk that they could not name until later. That is often how it goes. You are in the middle of a season and it just feels like walking — long, dusty, unremarkable, sad. It is only afterward, looking back, that you realize your heart was burning the whole time and God was doing something you could not see from inside it. And then look what they do. It is late. They are seven miles out. They have already eaten. They get up that same hour and walk the whole seven miles back to Jerusalem in the dark, because news like this cannot wait until morning. That i

Read Luke 24:17-21 out loud. Two people are walking seven miles telling a stranger the news about Jesus, and the stranger is Jesus. Sit on the line "but we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel" — what do you hear in the past tense of "had hoped"?

Discover the incredible encounter between the risen Jesus and two disciples on the road to Emmaus in this powerful Easter message. Learn how Jesus explained Old Testament prophecies that foretold His…

They already had the facts: the tomb was empty, the women had reported it, others had gone and checked. Kent pointed out they still "stood still, looking sad." What does that tell you about the distance between knowing the information and having your eyes opened?

Discover the incredible encounter between the risen Jesus and two disciples on the road to Emmaus in this powerful Easter message. Learn how Jesus explained Old Testament prophecies that foretold His…

Kent walked through prophecy after prophecy — Isaiah describing crucifixion 150 years before crucifixion was invented, Micah naming Bethlehem, David describing pierced hands and soldiers casting lots. Which one landed hardest for you, and why that one?

Discover the incredible encounter between the risen Jesus and two disciples on the road to Emmaus in this powerful Easter message. Learn how Jesus explained Old Testament prophecies that foretold His…

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The Road Trip that Changed Everything · Resources

Luke 24

Kent Keller Sunday, April 5, 2026

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Summary

It is Easter, and Kent Keller opens with two road trips of his own that both ended with a gun pointed at him — then turns to the seven miles between Jerusalem and Emmaus. He walks the messianic prophecies one by one, some written centuries before crucifixion had been invented, and asks whether you have enough skepticism in you to be skeptical of your own skepticism.

Sermon Outline

1

Everybody's Thinking About Road Trips ▶ 0:00

Kent introduces himself on Easter Sunday and announces, improbably, that this morning is about road trips.
2

Shepherdsville, Kentucky, 1979 ▶ 0:36

Twenty-two years old, car broken down, 350 miles from the pulpit he was due to fill, he sticks out his thumb — and the car that stops greets him with a gun barrel.
3

Mexico City, 1988 ▶ 2:59

Sunburned and asleep on a bus back from the ruins at Teotihuacan, he and Jerry Reed wake up to a nervous thief and a shaking pistol.
4

The Road Trip That Beats Them All ▶ 4:28

Two of Christ's followers walk seven miles to Emmaus on the very day he rose, and Dr. Luke wrote down what happened.
5

Reading: Luke 24:13-27 ▶ 5:43

Jesus draws near, their eyes are kept from recognizing him, and they tell him the news he lived through himself.
6

Forty-Eight Messianic Prophecies ▶ 9:22

Old Testament scholars count roughly 48 major messianic prophecies; Kent puts the date each was written beside the date it was fulfilled.
7

Genesis 3: The Serpent and the Bruised Heel ▶ 10:14

The first promise, written down around 1400 B.C. — he shall crush your head, and you shall bruise his heel.
8

Isaiah 53, Before Crucifixion Was Invented ▶ 14:24

Isaiah describes pierced hands and a crushed servant 150 years before anyone in the ancient Near East had thought of crucifixion.
9

The Old Testament Class to End All Classes ▶ 19:35

Imagine seven miles of Jesus himself explaining Moses and all the prophets — the survey course no seminary could match.
10

Lee Strobel Investigates a Death ▶ 20:10

A hard-drinking atheist reporter for the Chicago Tribune sets out to debunk the resurrection like any other murder case, and the facts line up on him.
11

Texas, Two Feet Deep in Silver Dollars ▶ 23:08

Louis Lapides on the odds: one man fulfilling eight of these prophecies is one chance in a hundred million billion — one marked coin, found blindfolded.
12

The Rest of the Story ▶ 26:27

Luke 24:28-35: stay with us, the bread is broken, their eyes open, and they run the seven miles back to Jerusalem — and Kent carries it straight to the table.

Key Points

Our faith is a matter of acts and facts — these things happened, and God took pains to have them recorded.
Jesus died in one world on Friday afternoon and rose in a completely different world on Sunday morning; the power of sin is broken and death is defeated.
Roughly 48 major messianic prophecies run through the Hebrew Scriptures, and one person in history fulfilled all of them.
Isaiah 53 describes a crucifixion 150 years before crucifixion existed and 650 years before Jesus.
"Father, forgive them" is, in Kent's judgment, the most unbelievable sentence ever spoken — asking God to forgive the men torturing him to death.
If you are Jewish and you embrace Jesus as your Messiah, you are still Jewish. You do not lose your Jewish card.
Because he lives, everything changed: suffering has meaning, we can stand before the judgment of God, and death is not the end.

Quotable Moments

“Jesus of Nazareth died in one world on Friday afternoon. He rose from the dead in a whole different world on Sunday morning, and everything is different now because he lives.” ▶ 5:19

“You should know that Isaiah uttered these words 150 years before crucifixion was invented.” ▶ 14:42

“In my opinion, the most unbelievable sentence ever uttered in the history of mankind, asking God to forgive the very ones who were torturing him to death.” ▶ 16:05

“If you're not a skeptic, do you have enough skepticism in you to be skeptical about your skepticism?” ▶ 25:32

“Because Jesus suffered, our suffering has meaning. Because Jesus submitted to the judgment of men, we can stand before the judgment of God. Because Jesus endured death, we have life. Because Jesus conquered hell, we have access to heaven.” ▶ 26:08

Take It With You

The claim is checkable. Look at the prophecies and the dates yourself before you decide.
Be skeptical about your skepticism — doubt deserves the same honest examination faith gets.
He walked seven miles with two men who did not recognize him. He is nearer than you can see.
Come to the table expecting him; that is where their eyes were opened.

The study guide above (summary, outline, key points, quotes, questions) was generated from the sermon transcript with AI and reviewed by our team. Spot something off? Let us know.

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The Road Trip that Changed Everything · Resources

Luke 24

Watch & Listen

Summary

Sermon Outline

Key Points

Quotable Moments

Take It With You

Related Reading

Did Jesus Really Rise From the Dead? The Evidence From 1 Corinthians 15

How to Study the Bible

Why Is the Church Full of Hypocrites?

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