JESUS’ APPEARANCE ON THE EMMAUS ROAD, Luke 24:13-35

The sudden appearance of Jesus with those walking on the road to Emmaus as well as their inability to immediately recognize Him is often used to imply that the resurrection of Jesus was spiritual and therefore not physical. A clear summary of the resurrection of Jesus and thus the futuristic resurrection of all believers is that it is physical but supernatural. All this really means is that the body of Jesus was the same physical body that was placed in the tomb, but that once resurrected it has the ability to do supernatural things. In this text, Jesus ate, spoke and walked with a normal physical body, yet he suddenly appeared and disappeared in a supernatural body, proving He was sovereign over death in His resurrection appearance.

Actually, He was capable of supernatural activities even before His resurrection, such events as, walking on water, feeding 5,000 people until they were filled by breaking pieces of a boy’s lunch, etc. People, who have trouble with Christ being creator, will always have trouble with His miraculous abilities, pre- or post-resurrectional. These same people often have trouble with the whole body of scriptural truth.

I. THE LOCATION, 24:13

A. The Biblical site is debatable; however, the site most often considered is a village in the country located about 6-7 miles from Jerusalem.

B. One site was renamed Nicopolis in 221 and it was listed as having a church built on the site believed to be the house of Cleopas where Jesus ate dinner. Later basilicas, were built on the same site.

C. Another site that may have been the New Testament Emmaus is four miles from Jerusalem. This is the site recorded by historian Josephus in the first century.

D. The site was clearly close enough to Jerusalem in order for the two involved to walk home, have dinner with Jesus and return to report to the other disciples of their meeting with Jesus before the evening was over.

II. THE CONVERSATION, 24:14

A. I take the two people to be Cleopas and his wife since they went to their home and had dinner. Others take the two to be male disciples traveling together. The joint offer of hospitality argues for husband and wife. This is the only mention of Cleopas.

B. All of Luke's references to the resurrection take place in and around Jerusalem and do so on the first Lord's Day following the resurrection.

C. In the conversation of the two travelers ,the movement is from gloom to glory. It moves us from speculation to revelation. It replaces doubt, discouragement and fear with faith and determination to report the certainty of the resurrection.

D. Before His death, the Lord said He would not leave them comfortless and would send the Holy Spirit to "come beside them with power, like a fort." He ministered to the believers from the resurrection to the descending of the Holy Spirit.

E. The text begins in verse thirteen with "behold", Greek idou meaning, "to discern."

F. Without the clear teaching of Biblical information, all discussions and deliberations will tend to end in frustrations, which while often promising and pleasing still lack the power to produce purpose and worthwhile mission in life.

III. THE QUESTION, 24:15-17

A. The disciples were discussing, Greek sunzhtew meaning, "to search and look for meaning" about the death and reported resurrection of Jesus.

B. Clearly, all the believers were wondering what to do without the earthly presence of the Lord. The lesson they were to learn is the same all believers need to know, the Lord is always with us, at all time and under all situations.

C. Jesus, "Himself, drew near." He became the personal answer to their question. In doing so He taught us that He is always personally interested, available and has our interest in mind.

D. The problem of not knowing immediately who the Lord was is not without good explanations.

1. They were not expecting Him.

2. It was near evening.

3. Many would be traveling the same road.

4. It would be normal to talk to people as you walked.

5. The manner of dress such as robes and hoods would make many look alike.

6. The problem was not the matter of His presence, but their awareness of His presence.

7. The scripture indicates the lack of awareness was not actually their fault. Their eyes were prevented (held back, restrained, and hindered) from immediately knowing who came beside them.

8. The problem was one of perception and comprehension. Even though He was standing in their presence, they were unable to perceive His presence. They needed to learn that even if the Lord was remote, He was no less related to their situation in life. We all need to know this!

E. The spiritual stage of the two disciples was one of sadness. We would all be sad if the suffering and death of Christ ended in a forgotten tomb. Their sadness was a form of self-pity. Self-pity is like being buried upside down in an ever-deepening hole in which the more you dig the deeper you get! Often it takes the assurance of the personal presence of the Lord to get one out of such a hole.

IV. THE STRANGER IN TOWN, 24:18-20

A. Jesus asked why they were sad and they replied by asking if He was a stranger in town. They assumed that only a stranger would have failed to know about the crucifixion of Christ.

B. Their discussion was limited to their own ideas, which often is like "throwing a ball back and forth." Human reasoning, alone, seldom solves a sad situation.

C. Theological information that does not address the complexities of life is also of little value. Faith, trust and making personal spiritual principles are of great importance in daily difficulties.

D. Comprehension is applied understanding.

E. Cleopas clearly understood the essential ingredients of the gospel up to the death of Christ. They are:

F. They had perhaps only heard reports of Christ's resurrection.

V. THE DISCOURAGEMENT, 24: 21-24

A. If Christ's life and ministry was limited only to His public ministry there would be great reason for discouragement.

B. Much of Israel had anticipated Christ to become their King.

C. "Redeem" in this text implies Christ as King and restorer rather than redeemer/savior.

D. "Had hoped" gives the sense that they had given up hope on Christ as three days had passed since the crucifixion. Past tense hope is always a sad situation and deepens despair.

E. If they had remembered the statement of Jesus that on the third day He would rise again, John 2: 19, it would have encouraged their faith.

F. The facts reported by the women referred to in the text are accurate. It did not produce faith, but only fascination. Many are still fascinated with the Jesus of the Bible, who do not believe in Him as savior. The bodily resurrection of the Lord is one of the "fascinations" often denounced even by Christian theologians in their demonstration of faithlessness.

G. The women at the tomb saw and heard only angels.

What they reported stopped short of seeing the Lord in all His resurrected glory.

VI. THE DISCOURSE, 24: 25-27

A. When Jesus disclosed who He was, He started by calling the two "fools"! The language was strong, but fitting to their failure. "Fool" is from the Greek word anoetos meaning, "without understanding" and implies a sense of moral guilt and blame for the failure.

B. There is a very important lesson to be learned from our Lord on this occasion, He is not pleased with the anything and everything kind of teachings produced by religious leaders as a result of their own self- deductions and indifference to revealed scripture. Human rationality will most often be in contradiction to divine revelation, and when it is it always nullifies the gospel.

C. God does not give individuals the privilege of picking and choosing what they want to believe in the scripture. If God has revealed error along with truth then the whole principle of divine communication is untrustworthy. Anything God says is equal to everything He says. Jesus scolded the disciples for failure to believe all the prophets said.

D. Doctrine is systematic and interdependent, but never selective and falsifiable.

E. On more than one occasion Jesus stated that people would not believe in a saving manner if they rejected "Moses and the prophets". This

He said was true even if one came back from the dead with a different message. Paul instructed the Galatian believers to reject anyone who changes the Gospel of individual grace, even if the individual was an angel who said he came from heaven. In fact, Paul required that they reject him if he changed the inspired message in any manner.

VII. THE INVITATIONS, 24: 28-31

A. The disciples invited Jesus to their house for an evening meal, which was customary. Jesus refused which was also in agreement to the custom. An individual would only accept the invitation if it was offered a second time.

B. A surprise took place at the table. Jesus became the host in another person’s home. He broke the bread and He gave the blessing, in doing so served the "Lord’s Table" for the second time.

C. As soon as the Lord served the bread He vanished. In some manner He rapidly left in an invisible fashion. Clearly, while the Lord had a physical resurrection, the body was not subject to the laws of nature. This would be expected both because He had a glorified body and because He could rearrange the laws of nature even before His death and resurrection. By definition this is what constitutes a miracle.

VIII. THE BURNING HEARTS, 24:32-35

A. The teaching of the scripture had opened their minds and hearts to the work of God in their lives. The scriptures are life giving rather than what we say about them. The Bible is a miracle book. It can give spiritual life to spiritually dead individuals!

B. The convicting and converting work of the Holy Spirit accompanied the teaching of the scriptures and the two were lifted from doubt, discouragement and despair to excited, spiritually alive people.

C. Their new awareness of the living Christ caused them to return to Jerusalem in spite of it being late and at night.

D. They reported seeing the resurrected Christ alive, talking, teaching and eating. While is it not said that He ate, He did break bread and later ate with the disciples.

E. They also reported that Jesus had met with Peter earlier in the day.

APPLICATION: CHRIST OUR COMPANION