That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing Him. And He said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered Him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” And He said to them, “What things?” And they said to Him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered Him up to be condemned to death, and crucified Him. But we had hoped that He was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, and when they did not find His body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that He was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but Him they did not see.” And He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that 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 the 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?” And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of the bread. Luke 24: 13 - 35 (ESV)
On that Easter Sunday we read about in this passage, two forlorn disciples left Jerusalem for Emmaus, a small village about seven miles away. On Friday these two disciples along with many others had witnessed the painful, humiliating and violent death of their beloved leader, teacher and friend. That night and through the day on Saturday they sat with each other in utter despair. Walking wearily from where Jesus had been crucified, buried, and raised, they were discouraged and burdened. They had expected Jesus to be the political Messiah who would deliver Israel, like the angels proclaimed. They’d been looking for a King, but their king’s mission had been cut short - or so they thought. Now He had nails for a scepter, a cross for a throne, and for His kingdom - a narrow tomb. But they didn’t know that story was only half done.
Who were these disciples? Cleopas was one of the many who followed Christ. The portions of scripture from both Mark and Luke however do not tell us who the second disciple is. But we can find it out from some clues in John 19:25 (ESV) - “but standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.” Thus, we learn that the wife of Cleopas was also present in Jerusalem at the time of the Crucifixion. And we may, therefore, assume that she was the one returning to Emmaus with him on the morning of the Resurrection.
By this time, the talk of resurrection had reached Cleopas and his wife, but it was too soon to tell whether it was a miracle or just a hoax of some sort. They had hung around in waiting mode as long as they could, and now it was time to get back to real life.
These disciples had lost so much more than just a friend. Their dream of what the kingdom of God would look like as they had imagined it… the hopes and dreams around which they had oriented the past few years of their life… the vision that had caused them to give up their work and their daily lives in order to commit themselves to following Jesus… it was all gone. Not knowing what else to do, Cleopas and his wife were now wandering home, trying to make sense of it all. They were suspended somewhere between loss and possible gain, grief and possible joy, profound human suffering and perhaps some kind of redemption, dashed hopes and maybe daring to hope again. They were wrung out - emotionally, spiritually and physically. They had been powerless to prevent the events of the last days, and they were powerless now to do anything to change their situation. The road from Jerusalem to Emmaus was the road between the now and the not-yet.
The 2 disciples in this portion were on the precipice of discovering one of the greatest mysteries known to humankind and yet they had no clue what beheld them. Yet, as they despair in their faith, Jesus comes alongside them. He inquires what they are talking about and then goes on to teach them about the scriptures from the Old Testament that foretold what had to come to pass. And as they invite the master in and break bread together, He finally reveals Himself.
What are we to learn from this encounter on the road to Emmaus? When we celebrate Easter, we celebrate the fact that our Risen Saviour has brought Salvation to us all. Today we look at 2 disciples who are on the edge of discovering the same truth, but they haven’t yet. Their lives are hung between the now and not-yet. Human as we are, we hate this space. We dislike ambiguity, tension and in-between periods of life. Yet, we need to understand that most people who encountered God in the Bible happened to be going through such periods in life.
It is Joseph in the pit. It is the Israelites wandering in the wilderness between Egypt and the Promised Land. It is Jonah in the belly of the fish. It is Mary weeping at Jesus’ tomb. It is the disciples huddled in the upper room. It is the disciples on the Emmaus Road betwixt and between the life they had known and whatever was supposed to come next.
And I submit to you that the true message of Easter is exactly this. It teaches us how to live life in the now but not-yet by contrasting the responses of many different people to the news and sighting of the Risen Lord and Saviour; beyond what seemed to be happening from an earthly perspective. It reminds us how to live life through the eyes of faith even during the most despondent times in our lives.
In his book Surprised by Hope, Biblical scholar and author N. T. Wright wrote, “Easter was when Hope in person surprised the whole world by coming forward from the future into the present.” A couple of weeks ago I was teaching a teens Sunday school class and I asked the question what does Salvation mean? The answer across the board was that we will go to heaven when we die. But I submit to you that the Resurrection event that assures us of our Salvation is so much more than that. Resurrection doesn’t just mean going to heaven when you die… It is certainly not about keeping the commands of a distant deity. Rather, it is the new way of being human, the Jesus-shaped way of being human, the cross-and-resurrection way of life, the Spirit-led pathway. It is the way which anticipates, in the present, the full, rich, glad human existence, which will one day be ours when God makes all things new. Christian ethics is no longer a matter of discovering what’s going on in the world and getting in tune with it. It isn’t a matter of doing things to earn God’s favor. It is not about trying to obey dusty rulebooks from long ago or far away. It is about practicing, in the present, the tunes we shall sing in God’s new world.
But most of us fail to understand this simple truth. This is the same reason Cleopas and his wife were kept from recognizing Jesus for hours while having a conversation with Him (v. 16). We find the reason stated explicitly in vs. 25. Jesus called them “foolish” and “slow of heart to believe” the Scriptures. Their outward inability to recognize Jesus mirrored their inward unbelief of what the Scriptures revealed about Him.
Now, Jesus fully intended to help them see. But notice the priority of Jesus’ revelation: before He opened their physical eyes, He purposed to open their heart-eyes - i.e, their understanding and their minds.
Why? Because it was of utmost importance that they “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7).
Jesus knew that between His resurrection and the full establishment of His kingdom would be the church age. His ascension was nearing. That meant these two disciples, all the other witnesses of the resurrection, and every generation of believers to come would not have His bodily presence for proof or guidance. They would have to rely on His living and active (Hebrews 4:12) Word to light their path (Psalm 119:105). Post-ascension, Jesus would be seen through the inerrant testimony recorded in the Scriptures and the imperfect testimony of followers whose heart-eyes were opened.
When God ordains things to happen contrary to our expectations (like Cleopas not expecting Jesus to die), those are times when we are tempted to doubt His word - lose faith - and as a result lose sight of Him. But not being able to see Him doesn’t mean that He isn’t there walking with us. We may not recognize Him. Those are not the times to neglect the Word. Rather, those are the times to spend hours looking. That is where you will begin to recover your sight. Sadly, many of us live our entire lives as Emmaus Christians. We have our chronology right and our theology right, but we have no doxology!
All over the world I have met modern disciples of the Emmaus Road. Some admit their condition; they come forward in meetings with wet eyes or write letters full of doubt and despondency. Others are too proud or afraid to admit the truth that they are disappointed, not in the Lord, but in their experience of Him. They trusted, like the Emmaus disciples, but delight has become despair. They wouldn't have anyone in the world know that their experience is not real, so they keep going through the motions of religious activity in a form without force. They say the words and sing the songs, but they are like fountains in public squares where water gushes out of lips that never taste it. These disciples would be awfully embarrassed, after all these years, to confess that they are Emmaus Christians. Yet, when they are alone with their souls and absolutely honest, they know that they live in the bitterness of Romans 7, not in the blessedness of Romans 8. It is not that they don't believe the doctrines. Some are not burdened any more about it. They are resigned to live at a poor dying rate, their love so faint, so cold to Christ, and His love for them so great. At least the Emmaus disciples were troubled over the situation!
I am convinced that our greatest trouble we face as believers is not false doctrine or worldliness but an inadequate experience of Jesus Christ. A handful of men and women who loved Jesus and were filled with the Spirit shook the world one time. It could be done again, but never by Emmaus disciples like those who were living on the memory of a dead Christ instead of in communion with the living Lord. And yet, within an hour or two, the same disciples became radiant witnesses. Some of us live on a mosaic of other people's experiences, getting our spiritual thrills by proxy. Yet the Lord wants for each of us to have our own spiritual experience while on our own road to Emmaus.
The Lord does this in each of our lives in the same way He dealt with Cleopas and his wife by opening them to 3 things - He opened them to the Scriptures, He opened their eyes, and He opened their minds or their understanding. The first opening takes place in the middle of the episode Luke 24:25-27, but the phrase itself occurs a bit later, in verse 32, as they reflected on what Christ had said to them. “Did not our hearts burn within us while He talked to us on the road, while He opened to us the Scriptures?”
Where are we going to find out the truth about God? Many have a different idea about Him. Many write about Him. Where can you find out the truth? The answer is that you will find out about God as you find out about Jesus Christ. He said in John 14:9, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father”. And you will find out about Jesus Christ only as you open the Scriptures.
The second opening is in Luke 24:31, and it is a consequence of the first. Jesus had taught them on the way. And then, as He sat with them and broke bread with them in their home, “And their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him.” This is as true today as it was then. If you will open the Scriptures, God will open your eyes by means of His Holy Spirit so you will recognize Jesus.
The third opening is the one we find at the very end of the episode after Cleopas and Mary had returned to Jerusalem and had told the other disciples of Christ’s appearance to them. We are told that as they were speaking Jesus appeared again in their midst and then “Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures” - Luke 24:45. It was the opening of their minds so that they might begin to understand in some depth the things that were written in the Old Testament concerning Him.
Now each of these three openings had an important consequence in their lives as it should in the life of every believer. And these three results should also occur for us when our Bibles, eyes, and minds are opened. Firstly, when Jesus opened the Scriptures we are told that their hearts burned within them. They were saying, “Isn’t this exciting? Isn’t it thrilling?” And, of course, the opening of the Scriptures should be equally exciting for all who study them today. If this is not true in your life, you are not really opening the Scriptures as you ought.
The second consequence was when Jesus opened the eyes of Cleopas and Mary to recognize Him. No doubt they had arrived in Emmaus toward the end of the day. They were tired. It was dark. The way back to Jerusalem was difficult, long, and dangerous. Nevertheless, they experienced an immediate desire to tell others about the risen Lord. And thus, without any great deliberation, they set out for Jerusalem the same night and there told their story. Perception of the risen Christ always leads to such action. There is always testimony.
Thirdly and finally, as Jesus opened their minds to understand the Scriptures they doubtless entered into a phase of their life in which they understood both the Scriptures and the Lord Himself differently. Before, much of the Word of God was a mystery. Hereafter, when they would return to the book of Genesis and read about the seed of the woman who would bruise the serpent’s head, they would know that the seed was Jesus. And thus, Genesis would be new for them. And they would understand the Lord Himself better. They would read a bit further and find that He is not only the seed of the woman, He is the seed of Abraham also, the one who was to bring blessings to the nations. They would recognize the fulfillment of this prophecy in the subsequent proclamation of the gospel to the Gentiles.
Cleopas and Mary would see Jesus prefigured in the life of Joseph. In Exodus He would be perceived as the Passover lamb. In Numbers He is the rock in the wilderness from Whom we all receive the water of life freely. He is also the cloud Who guides His people and covers them with His protection. Deuteronomy pictures Jesus Christ as the righteous One, and it defines that righteousness. In Joshua He is the captain of the Lord’s hosts. In Psalms and in the prophets we are told of His suffering, death, and Resurrection. In some of them — Ezekiel, Daniel, and some others — we learn of His Second Coming in great power and glory. The last book of the Old Testament, Malachi, portrays Him as the Son of Righteousness risen with healing in His wings.
These three openings - the opening of the Scriptures, the opening of the eyes, and the opening of the minds - are their three great consequential blessings are we should all desire of the resurrected Lord. Because when the Bible is opened and we see the Lord Jesus Christ as He is interpreted to us by the divine operation of the Holy Spirit, we will never be the same again. The Word itself will be different. It will not be a mystery. It will have a theme. It will make sense. And what is more, it will be a great triune blessing. For it will be the place where we meet with Jesus Who died for us and Rose again that we might truly live our lives in abundance (John 10:10).
The question is are we willing, wanting and expecting our meeting with Him when we are on our road to Emmaus?
