04-15-07-The Road to Emmaus
Last week we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus. We saw how the stone was rolled away and the tomb was empty. To us as modern day Christians, the resurrection is the high point of the story of Christ. Yet, unfortunately in that day it was not a time of great celebration by many of Jesus’ disciples because they did not believe that Jesus had risen from the dead. The scriptures tell us that Jesus appeared to over 500 people after He rose from the dead (1 Cor 15:5-8). Today, we are going to look at one of these appearances of Jesus. Come along with me on the Road to Emmaus. Our scripture is found in Luke 24:13-32, but rather than just reading this lengthy passage, let me tell you the story.
Two men who were called disciples, one of them named Cleopas and the other one unnamed were traveling on the road to Emmaus to return home from the celebration of the Passover at Jerusalem. Emmaus is about 7 miles west of Jerusalem. Now a normal person can walk 7 miles in about 4-5 hours on a level road, but Jerusalem is about 2500 feet above sea level and the area to the west is rocky and hilly. So it more likely that it took them about 6-8 hours or a full day to make this journey home.
Imagine yourself on a full day’s journey heading home after the great Feast of Passover. Passover was an annual feast that was full of excitement, because it represented the time when God delivered the Jews from the bondage of Egypt. They celebrated the fact that as His covenant people He had not forgotten them and delivered them with a mighty hand of power and miracles. It was a wonderful time of remembering the redemption of the Lord. Immediately following the Feast of Passover was the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of the First-fruits. So for a week they celebrated these 3 feasts and remembered the goodness of God.
But as we read the scripture, we see that these two disciples were not excited about the Passover as they returned home. Instead they were sad (vs. 17), disappointed, discouraged, and full of doubt. What happened to make them so sad when they should have been happy? Let’s imagine that we could listen in on their conversation as they walked along: (I’ll call the unknown disciple Benjamin (or Ben) and Cleopas, Cleo for the sake of discussion)
Cleo: Wow that was really some week we just went through!
Ben: Yeah, Passover was really different this year. It seems hard to believe that so much happened in one week. Why, just last week we saw the Messiah entering Jerusalem riding on a donkey.
Cleo: Man that was some time of shouting “Hosanna, God save us!” as Jesus rode into Jerusalem. I was waving my palm branch with all my might, before I laid it down in honor to the King in front of His donkey. I was hoarse afterwards, but it sure was fun!
Ben: Do you remember how upset the Pharisees got? They told Him to tell His disciples to be quiet. As if we could stop our joy and praise for the King we’ve been waiting for all these years. I was grinning from ear to ear. You couldn’t have wiped that smile off my face if you had tried.
Cleo: Yeah, I loved it when He told them, “if they don’t praise me then the rocks will!” Can you imagine if some those cold-hearted, stone-faced Pharisees would have started shouting out praise to Him as their Messiah?
Ben: Yeah, it sure was good seeing them get put in their place by Jesus. Then remember when Jesus went into the Temple and overthrew the money changers’ tables. Those religious leaders were so angry at Him. That’s when they vowed to kill Him. As if they could kill the Messiah!
Cleo: But Ben,. . . that’s exactly what happened! I don’t know all the details, but I heard that one of Jesus’ own trusted men turned Him into the religious leaders for 30 pieces of silver.
Ben: I sure wouldn’t want to be him. That must have really taken guts.
Cleo: Or maybe he thought that somehow he could force Jesus to take His throne and get rid of those horrible Romans for good.
Ben: Oh man, don’t remind me about the Romans. They are awful people and I sure hope someday they get what they deserve. They have really made things hard on us with all their taxes and cruelty.
Cleo: Now Ben, that is not what Jesus taught us. He told us to love our enemies.
Ben: Well a lot of good it did for Jesus to love His enemies. They were the ones who released that murderer Barabbus and sent Jesus to the cross to be crucified.
Cleo: I heard that the Romans beat Jesus to within an inch of His life before they took Him to the cross. Those Romans sure know how to swing that cat-o-nine tails.
Ben: I just couldn’t go to Golgotha to see Him hang there. I know some of the women did, but I just couldn’t. Can you imagine what Mary must have been feeling to see her son dying like that? How horrible!
Cleo: Speaking of the women, some of them said they saw the tomb empty and an angel who told them that Jesus was alive. In fact, they say that Peter and John also saw the tomb empty.
Ben: Crazy women! I think they were just overcome with grief and imagining things. No one rises from the dead. Not even the Messiah!
Now imagine that at this moment, a stranger joined with them as they were walking along. As He greeted them, He saw their sad faces and heads hanging down, so He asked them why they were so sad. Cleo asks Him where He has been for the past few days. Didn’t He know what all had happened? The stranger responded, “What things happened?”
So they told this stranger (v. 19) about Jesus of Nazareth who was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. He had been setup by the chief priests and killed by crucifixion on the cross. Then they spoke these words,
Ø “21 but we had hoped that He was the one who was going to redeem Israel.” And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 but didn’t find His body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said He was alive. 24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but Him they did not see.”
Instead of joining in with their pity party, this stranger said to them,
Ø 25 “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Christb have to suffer these things and then enter His glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself.
What a Bible study that must have been! They surely were in awe as this stranger revealed to them the truth about the Messiah from Genesis to Malachi. He told them how the Mesiah had to suffer before His glory could be revealed.
As they neared their village, the stranger looked like He was going to go on further. But Cleo and Ben asked Him to stay with them, since it was late. But imagine their surprise when their guest took the role of the master of the house by taking the bread and blessing and breaking it and giving it to them to eat. The scripture says
Ø 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him, and He disappeared from their sight. 32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
What a great story concerning our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But how does it apply to us today in the year 2007? I think the 2 phrases that stand out to me are at the end of the story.
1. Their eyes were opened—Obviously, this does not mean their physical eyes were opened, but their spiritual eyes. The power of the truth of the Word of God is that it can open up blind eyes.
2. Our hearts burning within us—What was it that made their hearts burn within them? Was it the bread they were eating that gave them heart-burn? No it was when they heard the truth of God’s Word.
Here is the key to this whole story—the truth of God’s Word has power to change our lives! Notice that these disciples were discouraged, depressed, and full of doubt as they thought about the circumstances they had witnessed. They had put their hope in Jesus that He would be their deliverer. They believed that just as God had delivered Israel from Egyptian bondage many centuries before, so they expected Him to deliver them from Roman bondage with power and might. They expected this because they believed that Jesus was the promised King—the Messiah—that they had waited for all those hundreds of years.
Oh but when He did not fulfill their expectations, they became discouraged, depressed, and full of doubt. As they walked along they rehearsed all the problems of the situation and it only made them sink lower in their feelings of despair. So much so, that when Jesus did come to them, they didn’t recognize Him. They had recognized Him when He was riding into Jerusalem on the donkey as their King, but they didn’t recognize Him now as the one who came to suffer and die as their Savior. They thought this stranger was a man who was unconcerned and uncaring about the great things that had taken place since He seemed to be unaware of the events that had just happened.
Even when confronted with ample evidence that Jesus was resurrected from the dead they did not believe it. What evidence? There was the testimony of three women who saw the stone rolled away and the tomb empty. There was their report of an angel telling that Jesus was alive and would meet with them in Galilee. There was also the report of Peter, John, Mary Magdalene and others to whom Jesus had appeared. In fact, there was the testimony of Jesus Himself who had told them that He would rise from the dead after 3 days.
So why did they not believe the evidence in front of their eyes? Because their eyes were blinded and needed to be opened. You see they had put their hopes in Jesus as their Messiah (vs. 21), but they now only saw Him as a great prophet (vs. 19). Yet the mystery and wonder is that the truth of who He was, was revealed to them in the ordinary breaking of bread—not a great sign from heaven or a miraculous deliverance from their enemies.
Today, many see Jesus as a great prophet who lived and walked among us. They say that He was a great teacher who was kind and taught great truth. But many do not see Him as the One who came to suffer and die so that they can have eternal life. Many Jews are still looking for the Messiah to come. Many Gentiles are also looking for a deliverer, not from their sins—which is the real problem—but from the pain of life. Paul said it is only the revelation of the Holy Spirit of God that opens up God’s Word so that we can see the truth.
Ø 1 Cor 2:14 (NIV) 14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
In another place, Paul said this was his prayer
Ø Eph 1:18 (NIV) 18 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and His incomparably great power for us who believe.
This is why we need the truth of God’s Word to open up our blind eyes.
We also need the truth of God’s Word to make our hearts burn for Christ No, I do not mean that when we read God’s Word, it makes our stomachs churn and get upset. I am talking about the fact that the truth of God’s Word about our Savior should burn within us so that it penetrates into our hearts and not just our heads.
As Jesus walked along with these disciples it says that He explained to them the scriptures about who He was from Moses to all the prophets (vs. 27)—that’s the Old Testament. Oral Roberts has a book called Christ in Every Book of the Bible. Listen to how from Genesis to Malachi, Jesus Christ is described:
Genesis The Seed of the woman
Exodus The Passover Lamb
Leviticus Our High Priest
Numbers The Pillar of Cloud by day, the Pillar of Fire by night
Deuteronomy The Prophet like unto Moses
Joshua The Captain of our Salvation
Judges Our Judge and our Lawgiver
Ruth Our Kinsman-Redeemer
1 & 2 Samuel Our Trusted Prophet
1 & 2 Kings & Chronicles Our Reigning King
Ezra Our Faithful Scribe
Nehemiah The Rebuilder of Broken Walls of our shattered lives
Esther Our Mordecai
Job Our Ever-Living Redeemer
Psalms The Lord, Our Shepherd
Proverbs & Ecclesiastes Our Wisdom
Song of Solomon Our Lover and Bridegroom
Isaiah The Prince of Peace
Jeremiah & Lamentations Our Weeping Prophet
Ezekiel The Wonderful Four-Faced Man
Daniel The Fourth Man in the Fiery Furnace
Hosea The Eternal Husband forever married to the backslider
Joel The Baptizer in the Holy Spirit
Amos Our Burden-Bearer
Obadiah Our Savior
Jonah The Great Foreign Missionary
Micah The Messenger with beautiful feet
Nahum Our Avenger
Habakkuk The Evangelist pleading for revival
Zephaniah The Lord Mighty to Save
Haggai The Restorer of the lost heritage
Zechariah The Fountain opened to the house of David for sin and uncleanness
Malachi The Sun of Righteousness rising with healing in His wings
Continuing on in the New Testament, Jesus is:
Matthew The Messiah
Mark The Wonder-Worker
Luke The Son of Man
John The Son of God
Acts The Holy Spirit moving and working among men
Romans The Justifier
1 & 2 Corinthians The Sanctifier
Galatians The Redeemer from the curse of the Law
Ephesians The Christ of Unsearchable Riches
Philippians The God who Supplies all our need
Colossians The Fullness of the Godhead Bodily
1 & 2 Thessalonians Our Soon Coming King
1 & 2 Timothy The Mediator between God and man
Titus The Faithful Pastor
Philemon The Friend of the Oppressed
Hebrews The Blood of the Everlasting Covenant
James The Lord who raises the sick
1 & 2 Peter The Chief Shepherd who soon will appear
1, 2 & 3 John Love
Jude The Lord coming with ten thousands of His saints
Revelation Our King of Kings and Lord of Lords!
Oh church, this only scratches the surface as to who Jesus is. He is Abel’s Sacrifice, Noah’s Rainbow, Abraham’s Lamb, Isaac’s Well, Jacob’s Ladder, Ezekiel’s Burden, Judah’s Scepter, Moses’ Rod, David’s Slingshot, Hezekiah’s Sundial, a Husband to the widow, a Father to the orphan, the Bright and Morning Star, the Lily of the Valley, the Rose of Sharon, the Honey in the Rock, the Staff of Life, the Pearl of Great Price, the Rock in a Weary Land, the Counselor, the Everlasting Father, and the Government of our lives is on His shoulders, the Suffering Servant, He is Peter’s Shadow (Acts 5:15), John’s Pearly White City. He is Jesus . . . Jesus of Nazareth, Son of the Living God!
He is all of this and much more!!
Do we know who our Savior is from the scriptures—both Old and New Testaments? Does the Word of God burn in us to want to know Him more or are we satisfied with how we know Him today? It is this truth of the Word of God of who Jesus truly is that needs to burn in our hearts and will lift us up when we are discouraged. Let the revelation of our risen Savior open our eyes and burn in our hearts today as we leave this place to walk on our Road to Emmaus!
Ø Luke 24:13-32 (NIV) 13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven milesa from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus Himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing Him.
17 He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?” They stood still, their faces downcast. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked Him, “Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in these days?”
19 “What things?” He asked. “About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed Him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified Him; 21 but we had hoped that He was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 but didn’t find His body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said He was alive. 24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but Him they did not see.”
25 He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Christb have to suffer these things and then enter His glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself.
28 As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if He were going farther. 29 But they urged Him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So He went in to stay with them.
30 When He was at the table with them, He took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him, and He disappeared from their sight. 32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
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b Or Messiah; also in verse 46
a Greek sixty stadia (about 11 kilometers)
b Or Messiah; also in verse 46