Luke 24:13-35 NRSV
The Walk to Emmaus
13 Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called
Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14and talking
with each other about all these things that had happened. 15While
they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, 16but
their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17And he said to
them, ‘What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?’ They
stood still, looking sad. 18Then one of them, whose name was
Cleopas, answered him, ‘Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not
know the things that have taken place there in these days?’ 19He
asked them, ‘What things?’ They replied, ‘The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who
was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20and
how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and
crucified him. 21But 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
took place. 22Moreover, some women of our group astounded us.
They were at the tomb early this morning, 23and when they did
not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a
vision of angels who said that he was alive.24Some of those who were
with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did
not see him.’ 25Then he said to them, ‘Oh, how foolish you are,
and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! 26Was
it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then
enter into his glory?’27Then beginning with Moses and all the
prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.
28 As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked
ahead as if he were going on. 29But they urged him strongly,
saying, ‘Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly
over.’ So he went in to stay with them. 30When he was at the
table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.31Then
their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their
sight. 32They said to each other, ‘Were not our hearts
burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was
opening the scriptures to us?’ 33That same hour they got up
and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions
gathered together. 34They were saying, ‘The Lord has risen
indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!’ 35Then they told what
had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the
breaking of the bread.
This passage tells of the ability of Jesus to make sense of
things when hopes and dreams have been shattered. Cleopas and his companion
(many think it was his wife) were deeply disappointed: they thought that Jesus
was the Messiah and that he was going to rescue Israel. Jesus walked with them.
“When we walk with the Lord in the light of his Word” as we sing in this lovely
him, so too can he make sense of things in our lives.
All too often people struggle to cope with the challenges of
life and this can be because they are trying to achieve everything in their own
strength. The joy of our faith is this, the same Jesus that we read of in the
Gospels is available to be with us by his Spirit, to meet with us and give us
the strength we need to face and overcome our challenges
While on the journey, Jesus expounded the Scriptures to them. This has been central to my calling as a
preacher because I do believe that the truth is to be found in a careful,
prayerful study of God’s revelation to the world in the Bible. This is the most important way in which Jesus
still speaks to us. The truths he expressed 2000 years ago which lifted the
spirits of the people then, can speak to us today. But we need to be cautious;
as too often some people tend to treat it literally when that is clearly not
what the original authors intended. Careful, prayerful, study – even struggle –
reaps rich dividends as God speaks to us through His Word today.
Notice also the courtesy of our Lord. He never presumed anything
and waited to be invited to stay with them. Barclay writes: “God gave to men
the most perilous gift in the world, the gift of free will; we can use it to
invite Christ to enter our lives or allow him to pass on.” Jesus never forces
himself on us, he offers himself to us, but waits for us to invite him to
journey with us.
Jesus was made known also in the breaking of the bread. It is
easy to think automatically that this is a reference to the Eucharist – and it
probably is – but not only this special sacrament. The meal that Jesus was
sharing with Cleopas and his wife was an ordinary meal in an ordinary home.
Jesus is made known to us as we share ordinary fellowship as well as special
occasions (sacraments) with others. Here too is the truth, that Jesus meets us,
comforts us and strengthens us in the fellowships and friendships we share with
others.
When they received the great joy, they were anxious to share it
with others; they were eager to return the seven miles back to Jerusalem where
they found others who had similar experiences. It is our joy that we share
fellowship with others who have so much in common with us and we are always
richly blessed. Barclay adds: “... true fellowship begins only when people
share a common memory and can say to each other: ‘Do you remember?’”
J C Ryle points out the importance of spiritual conversation
because it provides encouragement and that our Lord draws near to us in these
times. Ryle writes: “Conference on spiritual matters is a most important means
of Grace ... It brings special blessing on all who make practice of it.” When
we do this our hearts, like those on the Road, will also be strangely warmed
within us as we find encouragement.
When they arrived at Emmaus, Jesus made as if he was going on.
This is a special verse as it tells us so much about human free will. Scripture
is full of references to this important feature in the human’s relationship
with God: Jacob at Pniel, the Canaanite mother, the blind man at Jericho, the
nobleman at Capernaum, the parable of the unjust judge and the friend at
midnight – all these remind us of the need for persistence and to ask God for
his blessing in our lives. Ryle comments: “All show that our Lord loves to be
entreated and like importunity. When we pray ‘Let us ask much and ask often and
lose nothing for want of asking.’”
Jesus appeared to Cleopas and his partner ‘suddenly’. At the
time they assumed that he was just another traveller. Later he disappeared –
just as suddenly. This shows that Jesus was different – he was no longer bound
by the rules of time and space. In retrospect Cleopas and his companion
realised that they had been liberated when they came to understand the
significance of the fact that Jesus has been resurrected. The dawning for them
came in the experience of the breaking of bread – something so familiar – but
now given special significance.
It took time. Like the modern day sceptic, before this
experience on the Road to Emmaus, they probably just thought that this sort of
thing just never happened – could not happen. They were probably especially
sceptical, because all their other dreams had also been shattered and – to
begin with – Jesus had turned out to be a disappointment.
Jesus dealt with their disillusionment by expounding the
Scriptures to them – not a selection of proof texts – but the essence of the
message of all Scripture.
The joy of it all for me is this: that today we can (and do)
have the same experience. As we spend time studying Scripture and as we break
bread together, as we share fellowship with one another, Jesus comes into our
midst and is present with us.
Jesus was not merely alive again – like Jairus’ daughter, the
woman’s son at Nain or Lazarus – for they would still die again one day. Jesus
had passed through death and had come out the other end a new, deathless
creation ‘... still physical but somehow transformed ...’
When we realise that this same Jesus is with us in the Holy
Spirit, and as he is present with us as we explore Scripture together with him,
we too feel our hearts strangely warmed as we understand its truth. Study needs
to bring together head and heart ‘... understanding and excited application.’
We also recognise Jesus in the breaking of bread. Cleopas and
Mary (his wife) had not been present at the Last Supper and so what he did with
them at this last meal, he probably had done with them countless other times.
This was soon to become a defining feature of the early Christians. We too meet
Jesus in Word and Sacrament. Take the Sacrament away and it becomes ‘... an
intellectual and emotional exercise, detached from real life.’
Jesus journeys with us – and faith is our journey. We can face
and overcome the challenges of the journey, because we do not travel alone. As Tom
Wright concludes:
“Hearing Jesus’ voice in Scripture, knowing him in the breaking
of bread, is the way. Welcome to God’s new world.”