The Road to Emmaus.
Jeff Unsworth
The Road to Emmaus.
(Luke 24: 13-32)
And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures, (vs. 30-21).
This is one of the most well known accounts that refers to the resurrection of Jesus. It is the account of two disciples of Jesus, two ordinary believers, who had lost their hope after the death of Jesus Christ.
What they had experienced that week had driven them to sadness and despair.
It’s difficult for us to imagine how the disciples of Jesus must have felt as they watched the one they loved most on earth die on the cross that week. Even if they remembered Jesus words about Him rising from the dead, it must have been hard as they saw the tomb guarded by capable Roman soldiers and the tomb sealed by the governor of Rome.
They must have been filled with doubt, which is the enemy of faith.
What we see in this account is that in spite of how they felt about the things that happened that week, God has a plan and you can’t stop it. Little did they know that what they had experienced that week was part of the plan and purposes of God.
If we gather nothing else from this passage, we can learn this: when life gets hard and it looks like there’s no end in sight to tragedy and heartache, remember that:
“The same Jesus that did the impossible by rising from the dead on day three will help us emerge from the impossible places in life.”
We see first of all
1. Discouragment – (vs. 13-14)
And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. And they talked together of all these things which had happened.
In these verses two disciples are walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus. Emmaus was seven plus miles northwest of Jerusalem. Apparently they had been to Jerusalem that week for Passover. They were disciples of Jesus. Little else is known about them, but what we read in Scripture here. One of them was named Cleopas. We don’t know the name of the other.
It was Sunday, the first day of the week. It is the same day that certain women had reported the “empty” tomb of Jesus. This particular Sunday was “resurrection” day. Though they heard the news, they were very skeptical about the Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.
On their way to Emmaus, sadness and discouragement was how they felt. They were in despair over the death of their Lord Jesus. They had hoped that He was the Messiah that should come, but that hope had been dashed after seeing Him beaten almost to death and then nailed to a cross to finish Him off.
During the walk home, their minds must have been in a muddle, not being able to put it all together. They heard the reports, of an empty tomb but what did these things mean?
Why were they saddened?
Well! They knew Jesus was dead. Hope of deliverance was gone. Even if he was not the promised Messiah, he was their friend.
No man deserved to die that way!
They had believed Jesus words, that he was the Messiah. So why had this happened?
They were confused over the conflicting reports of Jesus’ resurrection.
There are some deep theological truths being presented here, that these and many others of Jesus’ disciples and followers were not ready to receive. However, there are some practical truths as well. On top of everything else that is going on here:
This account symbolizes all the events in life that squeeze the hope out of people. These things that made these two disciples “sad” are the things that quickly and unexpectedly take away our hope when things go wrong in our lives, when we question what is the meaning and purpose of what we are going through.
In their sadness and discouragement, they heard reports of “good news,” but these reports were ineffective because they didn’t know what to believe anymore. I am sure that each one of us can identify with this.
But then they were joined by this stranger who shared with them a seven mile Bible study. Jesus, as a stranger, explains the scriptures to them, showing how the prophecies about the Messiah were fulfilled through his life, death, and resurrection. When they reach Emmaus and shared a meal, Jesus blesses and breaks the bread, and it is then that they recognize him.
Their eyes were opened.
“Did not our heart burn within us,”
“Thine eye diffused a quickening ray, I woke, the dungeon flamed with light, I rose , went forth and followed thee.” Charles Wesley
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.
The truth of the resurrection has been revealed to each of us and we remember this at this breaking of bread.