On The Road To Emmaus
Luke 24:13-35
Verse 13 – And,
behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was
from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs.
There is 606 feet in
a furlong. Three score furlongs is
60 furlongs. Multiply 60 times 606
feet, then divide by 5280 feet and it is 6.8888 miles from Emmaus to Jerusalem:
west and north of Jerusalem.
They are making this
trip on a Sunday afternoon, probably in the afternoon because it would take
approximately 2-3 hours to walk 7 miles and they got to their home about
evening. See verse 29.
This particular
Sunday afternoon is in the middle of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
Christ was crucified on Passover afternoon (Wednesday) and placed in the
tomb as Thursday began (at the going down of the sun).
Thursday begins the seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which
all the Jews celebrated. I have a
notion these two disciples are leaving Jerusalem and the Feast of Unleavened
Bread because they are disgusted with what their rulers have done to the one
they believed is the only hope of Israel.
See verse 20.
Who are these two
disciples? One is Cleopas, (verse
18) and I do not know who the other is.
The other might be his wife, but it is difficult to understand why the
wife of Cleopas would leave the side of Mary, the mother of Christ at this time.
She was with Mary at the cross, see John 19:25, and it is probably she
remained by the grieving mother. It
is also very possible that Mary was not grieving.
She knew from the very beginning that this son of hers was the Son of
God. Even though she did not
understand all the things he would do, or the facts of the crucifixion, she knew
that her son had special directions from God, and would follow him.
The only reason I think Cleopas and his wife traveled from Jerusalem to
Emmaus is that they settled in (what I think was) their home.
There is no doubt
that these two disciples, along with the other disciples, did not understand the
resurrection. Their hopes were
dashed and they might not have known what they were doing as they were in the
midst of confusion, dashed hopes, and uncertainty.
It is also true that other disciples left the congregation of the church:
Peter and Thomas left. The
Bible records in verse 34 that when the two disciples returned to Jerusalem and
to the church assembly, one of the first things they heard (before they could
tell that Christ had appeared to them) was that Christ was indeed risen and had
appeared to Peter. I Corinthians
15:5 confirm that the Lord first appeared to Peter.
It is true that Christ first appeared to Mary, but this passage is
speaking about the appearance of Christ to the apostles as leaders of the first
church.
Verse 14 - And
they talked together of all these things which had happened.
Of course, they were
talking about all the things that had happened.
Verse 15 - And it
came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself
drew near, and went with them.
It is good for
believers to commune together and reason of scriptural things.
It is remarkable
that Jesus appeared to them. I do
not know why these two disciples left Jerusalem in the midst of the Feast of
Unleavened Bread, or in the very midst of the revealing of the resurrection of
Christ, but they did. Christ would
not allow them to continue away from him, which is very encouraging to me.
In the midst of all my confusion about scriptural things, God will not
allow me to continue in my path away from him, but will come to me in my
confusion, reveal his word to me (give me faith) and bring me back to the
church.
Verse 16 - But
their eyes were holden that they should not know him.
Why did Christ hide
himself from them? Because they are
church members, and they must see Christ through the church.
Unto Him be glory in the church – Eph. 3:21.
At this point, these two disciples are going away from the congregation,
not toward it. Christ will cause
them to return, then he will reveal himself to them.
Verse 17 - And he
said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to
another, as ye walk, and are sad?
Christ asks this
question as if he does not understand.
Christ often speaks
to us on this manner in order to cause us to understand where our difficulties
are and to force us to communicate with him.
Verse 18 - And
the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only
a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass
there in these days?
Cleopas is not
berating Christ, but stating that he must be a stranger in Jerusalem, or he
would know something of what has happened.
Verse 19 - And he
said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of
Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the
people:
Christ desires them
to tell him exactly what things, even though he already knows what things, and
the thoughts of both of these travelers.
The first thought of
the two travelers is not of the rulers, but of Christ, who is the reason for
their sadness. They state that all
the people knew what a mighty prophet Christ was, not only before the people,
but also before God.
Verse 20 - And
how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and
have crucified him.
The two travelers
describe the betrayal of Christ by their rulers.
It is not wrong to state the facts about political and religious leaders,
but it is wrong to berate them because of their wickedness.
It seems to me the
two travelers speak with some bitterness toward their leaders at this point.
When they got up in the morning to celebrate the Passover, almost the
first thing they heard was that Christ was being crucified, as he was placed on
the cross about 9:00 am in the morning.
They would then hear of the wicked false trial during the night when
everybody (at all the defenders of Christ) was asleep.
If the common people had known what their rulers were doing, they might
have intervened and saved his life, which was against the determination of God.
Verse 21 - But we
trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all
this, to day is the third day since these things were done.
The hope of Israel,
as far as these two travelers were concerned, lay in the hands of this mighty
prophet of God. Look at how they
misunderstand the intentions of God.
Their thoughts are for the restoration of their nation, not the salvation
of the world.
How we need to be
careful and pray that God would give us proper understanding, that we would
understand his will, and not be confused or bitter when things go against what
we believe it should.
Today is the third
day – a special day. It is amazing
that the disciples remember the words of Christ concerning his resurrection on
the third day, but fail to believe his resurrection!
Honestly, it would be very difficult to believe that a person would be
able to rise from the dead when they were dead.
It is one thing to believe that a person is able to give life to a dead
person, but to believe that a dead person could rise from the dead all by
himself is another thing.
Verse 22 - Yea,
and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at
the sepulchre;
It is important to
understand that the two travelers were in the company of the disciples when they
returned to the congregation and told of the resurrection.
Verse 23 - And
when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a
vision of angels, which said that he was alive.
The women did not
“jump to the conclusion” of the resurrection of Christ, but were told by a
vision of angels of his resurrection.
There is no room for human error here.
Verse 24 - And
certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so
as the women had said: but him they saw not.
The two travelers
were also still in the church congregation when Peter and John went to the tomb
and returned.
Note:
In verse 23, the women said Christ was alive, but verse 24 records that
Peter and John only said they did not see him.
They also did not see the vision of angels which told them of his
resurrection and life.
Verse 25 - Then
he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets
have spoken:
Jesus calls them
“fools” because they do not believe what God said, not that they do not believe
in God. They are “slow of heart” to
believe. May God help me to be
“quick of heart” to believe all the Bible teaches.
Verse 26 - Ought
not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?
The first thing
Christ relates to them is that the suffering of Christ is absolutely necessary,
not the restoration of Israel.
Salvation is more important than the restoration of any nation.
The glory of Christ will come from the suffering and resurrection of
Christ, not from the restoration of Israel.
Israel will receive all the glory if they are restored.
Verse 27 - And
beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the
scriptures the things concerning himself.
Christ gives them
faith. He gives them the word of
God. Romans 10:17 declares,
“Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.”
Hebrews 11:1 states that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the
evidence of things not seen. The
only way we can ever get faith is from the Word of God.
If you do not have a scripture, you do not have faith.
If you have faith, you will have a scripture.
Christ speaks to
them concerning himself, not concerning the restoration of Israel, or of
themselves and their own personal growth.
So much preaching today is how you can be a success in this life,
not about how Christ is the success.
Verse 28 - And
they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he
would have gone further.
Why did Jesus make
as if he would go further? He did
not lie to them. Christ wants
willing worshippers, not worshippers that are forced into worship.
See Exodus 35 and 36 for an example of willing people giving freely to
build the tabernacle. Christ could
have made a bunch of dummies to worship him, but he wants willing worshippers.
When Christ seems so
very far away from you, what do you do?
Do you wait on him to come to you, or do you seek to go to him?
God wants us to seek to come to him.
Verse 29 - But
they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the
day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them.
The two disciples
constrained Jesus to abide with them.
This is Christian hospitality toward strangers.
It is toward evening, which makes me believe the two travelers left
Jerusalem sometime after lunch to travel to Emmaus.
It is always good to
have Jesus in our home, even if we do not know he is Jesus.
Verse 30 - And it
came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and
brake, and gave to them.
Jesus is the
initiator at this meal provided by the two travelers.
The two travelers are submissive to him, even though they do not know he
is Jesus. Christian people will
always be submissive to the leaders God gives them, even though they do not
necessarily know who those leaders are.
Verse 31 - And
their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight.
Their eyes are not
their physical eyes, but their spiritual eyes.
Why did Christ
vanish out of their sight? Because
he gets glory in the church, not in individuals. Christ reveals himself to
individuals, but gets his glory in the church.
These disciples are being lead back to the church they have left, and to
the nation of Israel, which they have also left in a symbol.
Verse 32 - 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?
They now relate to
each other how their hearts burned with them, and that is internal evidence they
have seen the risen Christ.
Verse 33 - And
they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven
gathered together, and them that were with them,
I do not know if
they finished eating the meal or not, but I imagine they were more interesting
in sharing the good news of the risen Saviour than in eating.
It would take them
the same amount of time to return to Jerusalem as it took in going from
Jerusalem, unless they hurried along the way.
They knew where to
find the church.
Note: not only were
the eleven there, but also others.
I do not know who the “others” were, but I imagine the women who traveled with
Christ were there, along with other believers.
It should be noted that Thomas was not there at this point.
It is not wrong to say the eleven, because that is referring to the group
of the apostles, not to the particular individual people called apostles.
Verse 34 -
Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon.
This is what the
church is saying to the two travelers, not what the two travelers are saying to
the church.
Verse 35 - And
they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in
breaking of bread.
Here is the two
travelers sharing what happened to them on the way to Emmaus, and how the Lord
revealed himself to them.
It must be stated
here that the two travelers were present when Christ revealed himself to the
church, see verse 36.