On the Road to Emmaus

13 That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14 and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15 While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. 16 But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17 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. 18 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?” 19 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, 20 and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. 21 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. 22 Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, 23 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. 24 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.” 25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

Luke, Volumes 1 & 2 (Chapter 108: On the Gospel Road (Luke 24:13–27))

If you could travel back in time to witness any event in biblical history, which event would you choose?

Some people would go back to the creation of the world to see the first ray of light shoot across the blackness of space and hear the morning stars sing for joy.

Some would go back to the great flood, so they could see Noah and all his animals safe in the ark, while the rains fell from the darkening sky.

Some would go back to the exodus, when Moses and the children of Israel walked through the sea on dry land.

Some would go back to Joshua and the battle of Jericho, where the walls came tumbling down. Some would go back to the time of David, who slew Goliath, or Solomon, who built the golden temple.

Then there all the famous events from the life of Christ that people wish they could see:

the shepherds at the manger, the baptism in the Jordan,

the healing of the lame and the blind,

the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus walking on water,

or his glorious transfiguration on the mountain.

Perhaps you would choose to see your Savior weeping in the garden before dying on the cross.

Or would you choose to travel the gospel road from Jerusalem to Emmaus, walking with two disciples on an Easter afternoon and listening to Jesus explain how everything in the whole Bible is all about him.

Introduction

This is Luke’s first account of Jesus's post-resurrection appearance.

Jesus confronts two of His followers: ignorant, in the darkness, filled with doubt, confused, and distressed.

This gives them the clarity of a true understanding of Scripture. He opens the Scripture with them and shatters the darkness and confusion with the light of truth.

In fact, verse 27 of Luke 24 sums it up, beginning with Moses and with all the prophets,

“He explained to them concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.”[1]

They had a lack of understanding of the Scriptures. That’s why they couldn’t deal with the death of Christ.

They had no place in their theology for the death of the Messiah, and therefore, they had no place in their theology for a resurrection.

This is not because they rejected the Scripture.

This is not because they never read Scripture.

This is not because they never went to the synagogue to hear the Scripture taught.

This is not because they didn’t believe in the Scripture.

It is simply because they had a partial understanding of the Scripture … a partial understanding of the Scripture is not enough. [2]

The Time

Luke 24:13–14 (ESV)

13 That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14 and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened.

This encounter with Jesus took place towards the end of Resurrection Sunday.

We know from verse 13 that it was still “that very day”—the first day of the week,

when the women went to the empty tomb.

From verse 29, we know it was almost evening.

On this Easter afternoon, “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.”

These two are heading home. They live in a little village called Emmaus, and they’re going home because it’s over; as far as they’re concerned.

it’s gone … all their hopes, all their dreams,

all their explanations attached to Jesus have been smashed, dashed, crushed.

And there’s nothing to stay in Jerusalem for,

the Passover is over.

And they head home, gloomy, sad, and confused; how could they have been so wrong? How could it turn out like this?[3]

The Who

They are close friends who had been to Jerusalem for Passover and were heading home to spend the night. We know from verse 18 that one of them was named Cleopas.

They’re not apostles.

Cleopas and a companion are part of the group that heard the women's testimony and didn’t believe it and thought it was nonsense. [4]

They’ve heard it all. The testimony of the women, the whole thing. Not only had they seen the empty tomb. Not only had they heard the angels tell them He was alive, but they had seen Jesus on the road. And these two, along with the rest, didn’t believe it.

Jesus had been killed. He literally had been executed by the leaders of Israel. Unimaginable.

The Stranger

Luke 24:15–16 (ESV)

15 While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. 16 But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.

Out of nowhere, He appeared. They are not shocked by what they see.

There was a good deal to discuss, from the triumphal entry to the empty tomb, and they were probably taking their time doing it.

We know from the words used to describe them later in the chapter that they were disappointed, sad, and bewildered. Indeed, they were grieving, because their beloved Jesus had died and was now missing.

As they made their slow, sorrowful way to Emmaus, a stranger overtook them on the road: “While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him” (Luke 24:15–16).

They did not or could not recognize who he was, which is a common occurrence in the resurrection appearances of Jesus Christ.

What prevented these disciples from seeing Jesus?

Their eyes were prevented from recognizing him. It wasn’t their inability.

Maybe they failed to recognize Jesus because they never expected to see him again.

Or maybe they were too weighed down with grief to lift their heads and take a good look at him. Alternatively, Cleopas and his friend may have been prevented from seeing Jesus by a direct act of God.[6]

“If the disciples could not see Jesus, it was because God would not let them, at least not yet.”

This is a story of delayed recognition, therefore, and for that very reason, it can help us see Jesus for ourselves. It is not simply the physical sight of Jesus that brings the assurance of salvation but believing in Jesus by seeing him in the gospel, whether we have ever walked with him on the road to Emmaus.”[7]

The Conversation

“What are you talking about?”

Luke 24:17–18 (ESV)

17 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. 18 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?”

The disciples were downcast and dispirited, still grieving the loss of their beloved teacher.

Are You the Only One?

In truth, Cleopas was the one who did not know what was happening in Jerusalem!

Jesus knew it all, better than anyone, for it had happened to him!

He alone could explain what had transpired during his Jewish and Roman trials.

He alone could testify what it was like to be mocked and tortured and to die in disgrace.

He alone had felt the thorny crown upon his brow and the steely nail through his hands and feet. He alone could describe the inside of the dark tomb at the first light of the resurrection.

Instead of being the only person who did not know what was happening, Jesus was the only person who did!

But rather than acting like a know-it-all, he took the time to help these disciples see their salvation. “What things?” he said in verse 19, inviting them to tell him what they understood.

This is good evangelism: asking people questions that help clarify where they are in relationship to Jesus.

Jesus must have asked this question with a twinkle in his eye and kindness in his heart. David Gooding points out how loving it was for Jesus,

“Having journeyed from Galilee and entered Jerusalem as King, to travel back with two of his disciples down the road of their disillusionment,” and then to listen to all of their doubts. Jesus will show us the same kindness. He will overtake us along life’s road, falling in stride with our sorrow and confusion. Then he will ask what we know about him, hoping that we will listen to the gospel and see him as our Savior.”David Godding

The Cleopas Story

Luke 24:19–25 (ESV)

19 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, 20 and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. 21 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. 22 Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, 23 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. 24 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.” 25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!

Cleopas started with the life of Jesus—his earthly ministry (Luke 24:19).

He said that Jesus was a man—a real flesh and blood human being.

He also said that Jesus was a mighty prophet.

Next, the two disciples told about the tragic death of Jesus (Luke 24:20).

Rather than blaming the whole thing on the Romans, they rightly said that it was the chief priests and the rulers of Israel who set him up to die.

As a result of such animosity, Jesus, the mighty prophet, was condemned and crucified.

This broke the travelers’ hearts because they had hoped that Jesus would redeem his people, Israel.

More than anything else, this is why they were so disheartened.

They were at the place—and maybe you have been to a place like this in your own life—where all their expectations were dashed and all their hopes disappointed.

They discussed all the extraordinary things that had happened that very day.

They specified that this was now “the third day” since Jesus was crucified (Luke 24:21).

This phrase is a signal of the resurrection, reminiscent of the prophecy that on the third day, Jesus would rise again.

However, for the Emmaus disciples, it seems to have meant that the situation was beyond earthly hope.

They were not thinking in terms of a resurrection at all, so when the third day came, they thought Jesus was as dead as he could be.[9]

The disciples quickly recounted the events of the first Easter: what the women found and did not find when they went early to the empty tomb.

What the angels said about the missing body; what another party of disciples (presumably Peter and John; see Luke 24:34, John 20:3–8) saw and did not see when they went to investigate.

It had been quite a day!

There were many things to think about and talk about, but they ended it all by saying that they did not see Jesus.

They had basically all the facts they needed about the cross and the empty tomb, including the witness of the apostles, but in their confusion it did not yet add up to a gospel.

As Michael Ramsey has said,

“The Gospel without the Resurrection is not merely a Gospel without its final chapter; it is not a gospel at all.” 4

If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then everything that is wrong with this world will never be made right.

It is only when we see Jesus as our crucified Savior and our risen Lord that we know how he will satisfy every genuine need and every deep longing of our souls.[10]

Looking Right at Jesus and Not Seeing Him

Luke 24:25–27 (ESV)

25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

The word “foolish” is obviously intended to be a rebuke, but scholars disagree about how forceful it is. Some think it simply means that the disciples were slow on the uptake, whereas others see it as a sharper criticism.

Maybe a good parallel in contemporary English usage is the word “clueless.”

The Savior was staring them straight in the face, but their minds and hearts would not let them believe it!

Jesus Preaches the Gospel to the Emmaus Road Disciples

Jesus begins preaching about himself. The preaching is gospel-centered, including both the crucifixion and the resurrection:

Jesus proclaimed the agonies of the cross and the glories of the empty tomb. His preaching was persuasive:

Jesus argued for the absolute necessity of doing his saving work the way that he did it—it was necessary for Christ to suffer and then to be glorified.

There has never been a better evangelistic sermon than the one the risen Christ preached to his disciples on the first Easter Sunday.

somewhere on the gospel road between Jerusalem and Emmaus.

Jesus gives us the golden key to unlock the meaning of the Hebrew Scriptures: they are all about him. Every part of the Old Testament finds its meaning and purpose in relationship to the person and work of Jesus Christ. [11]

Even this is only the beginning, for after Jesus began with Moses and the prophets,

he went on to the rest of the Old Testament Scriptures.

What do they say about the sufferings of the Christ?

He also preached to them about the resurrection, providing the empty tomb of Moses and the prophets. We see the risen Christ in the faith of Abraham, who believed that God would raise his son from the dead (see Gen. 22 and Heb. 11:17–19). We see the risen Christ in the sign of Jonah, who spent three days in the belly of the great fish, just as Jesus spent three days in the darkness of the tomb (Matt. 12:39). Jesus is not just here or there in this prediction or that prophecy: he is everywhere in the Old Testament. [12]

The Old Testament is not simply background material for the New Testament, but it contains the very message of the gospel.

It is so full of Christ that Jesus could prove the good news from any page.

He knew that the cross and the empty tomb were the logical deduction, the necessary consequence of everything the Spirit taught from Genesis to Malachi.

Rather than pointing to his resurrection body first of all, Jesus pointed to the Scriptures that pointed to himself.

This, then, is how we know Jesus for sure: by believing everything spoken in the Word that proclaims his gospel.

Closing and Call

Have you met this Jesus before on some gospel road, or is he only now overtaking you?

Let him fall into stride and walk beside you like a friend.

Listen to his words.

See who he is.

Believe him as your Savior and your God.

Walking with God means that by the power of the Holy Spirit, because Jesus Christ is alive, you can actually have his presence.

To walk with him means when you’re reading the Bible, it’s not just interesting, you actually sense him speaking to you powerfully in life-changing ways.

To pray when you’re walking with him means not just that you’re sending up flares, “Oh Lord, if you’re out there, please do something about this situation,” but you sense him speaking to you and you sense you’re heard.[13]

G. Campbell Morgan, who was a British Congregational minister, tells a story about having gone to some place in Italy where there was this old cemetery. He was always so amazed by a place where an oak tree had grown up out of a grave.

There was this enormous marble slab over somebody’s grave, but centuries ago an acorn had fallen in there. It had grown up, become a tree, and eventually cracked the marble slab in two pieces. This huge tree came up right out of it.

Can you imagine? Take an acorn sometime and try to break a marble slab with it. The slab will be just fine, but the acorn will not, because that’s a crash course.

The acorn has organic growth in it and has a power, because eventually that acorn, if you just let it do its job over the years, can break a marble slab as if it was a matchstick.

Bringing the gospel into your life and then walking with Jesus day in and day out over a long period of time can change anything.

It can break any marble slab in your life.

It can change anything.

All because he’s risen, because he’s resurrected, he’s alive, and he can walk with you. Do you know what makes that possible? We could never walk with him unless he came to walk with us.

Do you know what he had to do in order for that to happen?[14]

[1]MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2014). John MacArthur Sermon Archive. Grace to You. [2]MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2014). John MacArthur Sermon Archive. Grace to You. [3]MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2014). John MacArthur Sermon Archive. Grace to You. [4]MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2014). John MacArthur Sermon Archive. Grace to You. [5]Ryken, P. G. (2009). Luke(R. D. Phillips, P. G. Ryken, & D. M. Doriani, Eds.; Vol. 2, p. 644). P&R Publishing. [6]Ryken, P. G. (2009). Luke(R. D. Phillips, P. G. Ryken, & D. M. Doriani, Eds.; Vol. 2, p. 644). P&R Publishing. [7]Ryken, P. G. (2009). Luke(R. D. Phillips, P. G. Ryken, & D. M. Doriani, Eds.; Vol. 2, p. 644). P&R Publishing. 1 David Gooding, According to Luke: A New Exposition of the Third Gospel (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987), 351. [8]Ryken, P. G. (2009). Luke (R. D. Phillips, P. G. Ryken, & D. M. Doriani, Eds.; Vol. 2, pp. 645–646). P&R Publishing. [9]Ryken, P. G. (2009). Luke (R. D. Phillips, P. G. Ryken, & D. M. Doriani, Eds.; Vol. 2, p. 647). P&R Publishing. 4 Michael Ramsey, quoted in Paul Beasley-Murray, The Message of the Resurrection, The Bible Speaks Today (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2000), 17. [10]Ryken, P. G. (2009). Luke (R. D. Phillips, P. G. Ryken, & D. M. Doriani, Eds.; Vol. 2, p. 648). P&R Publishing. [11]Ryken, P. G. (2009). Luke (R. D. Phillips, P. G. Ryken, & D. M. Doriani, Eds.; Vol. 2, p. 650). P&R Publishing. [12]Ryken, P. G. (2009). Luke (R. D. Phillips, P. G. Ryken, & D. M. Doriani, Eds.; Vol. 2, p. 651). P&R Publishing. [13]Keller, T. J. (2013). The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive. Redeemer Presbyterian Church. [14]Keller, T. J. (2013). The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive. Redeemer Presbyterian Church.

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