The Road to Emmaus

All Peoples Church

The Road to Emmaus

Luke 24:13-35

Main Point of the Sermon: The Holy Spirit is the solution to our inability to see and trust the Jesus of the Bible.

We’ve come to the final chapter in Luke’s Gospel and nearly to the end of our two year journey as a church through this book. And while these final pages are certainly a testimony of the finished work of Jesus on the cross and the truth of his resurrection, Luke’s major emphasis is on something else: Scripture. This book.

He starts his Gospel by telling his readers why he writes, so that “you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught” (1:4). And here, at the end of his writing, he grounds that certainty on the totality of this book. In other words, it’s not just the Gospels that confirm that Jesus is the Savior of the world, but the entire Bible.

And I know it can be hard to understand how a book like Leviticus or the Song of Songs could do that, but it does. This is why we need God to teach us today like he does in this story. This is why we start out every sermon with prayer, asking the Spirit of God to shine on our dull hearts and open our eyes.

Last week we saw that Jesus was crucified and buried, to the shock of his disciples and all of Jerusalem. But three days later, some of the women disciples of Jesus found the tomb empty and angels there saying, “He is not here, but has risen,” like he said (24:6). Our story ended with the women racing back to tell the rest of the disciples, who did not believe their story, and with Peter seeing the empty tomb and marveling at what had happened. Here’s where we pick up.

¹³ That very day [it was still Sunday] two of them [that is, some of the other disciples of Jesus besides the eleven (24:9)] were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem,

If you’ve ever been overseas, you’ll understand this scene well. Cities like Jerusalem were the center of commerce and worship, but most of the people traveled from smaller villages where they lived. These two men who had become disciples of Jesus at some point and had likely been in Jerusalem to celebrate Passover. Now, they were traveling home after all that they had just seen and heard. Life went on.

Verse 14 says that “they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened [as they walked].

You can imagine the scene. This wasn’t a boring conversation, like they were discussing an uneventful day at work or the weather. No, they were probably animated, filling in each other’s sentences, like you do when you’ve just experienced something spectacular with another person. “The temple curtain tore in two!” “Yeah, from top to bottom!” “And the darkness, what do you think that was about?” Right? It was midday!” “I just want to know where he is…”

Then, while they were discussing these things, verse 15, ¹⁵ “…Jesus himself drew near and went with them.” ¹⁶ But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.

This is the first encounter with the risen Christ that Luke records. He was indeed risen as the angels had said, and he showed up to two relatively unknown disciples from a little town outside of Bethlehem. Isn’t this just like our Lord? He goes to the least, the unexpected.

But they didn’t know that it was him. Why? Verse 16 says that “their eyes were kept from recognizing him.” That’s strange. He was there with them bodily, but they didn’t recognize him. This is actually the same experience recorded in multiple other encounters with the risen Christ, like Mary, who thought that she ran into the gardener outside of his tomb (John 20:14-15; c.f. 21:4). Did he just look like a completely different person? No, clearly something else was going on here, and it’s actually key to our text today. Their eyes were kept from recognizing Jesus. Who kept them from seeing? This is something we find in Scripture called a divine passive, where the text implies an actor, but doesn’t say who. Context shows that God is clearly at work behind the scenes.

But why would God keep them from seeing? He had something important to teach these men and something to teach us as well. Let’s keep going to see.

Then Jesus, who knew these men well, asked them a leading question, Verse 17: “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad.

The men stopped, shocked and obviously 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?”

This is probably not overstated. Most everyone in Jerusalem would know about these events – the temple curtain was torn and darkness was over Jerusalem for three about three hours midday. Verse 19:

[Jesus said], “What things?” This is comical to me. He almost seems to be playing with them. He knows exactly what they are talking about, even as God knew when he asked Adam and Eve where they were when they hid from him in the garden. He asks because he wants a relationship. He wants to know us. He wants to know how we think and how we feel. He wanted to know what these men were thinking about the whole situation.

I imagine a long pause before these words came spilling out: Act this out “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.”

What do we learn from this summary of events.

1) Cleopas, who probably is a good representation of what the other disciples were thinking at that time, understood rightly that Jesus was a prophet accepted by God and the people. He had likely experienced many of his mighty deeds and heard much of his powerful teaching.

2) But verse 21 also shows that he didn’t rightly understand what Jesus had come to do. He said to Jesus, “we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.” They still were under the impression that their greatest need was to be saved from Rome instead of being saved from their sin. They did not understand that Jesus had provided rescue from sin and the opening of the kingdom of God through his death!

They didn’t believe that Jesus had risen. It doesn’t seem that they were even looking for a resurrection. They thought it was all over, which is solid proof that it actually happened and wasn’t made up.

Now, listen to Jesus’s response. Verse 25:

²⁵ “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.

Wow. There’s so much here to unpack here.

I will touch on three things:

1) Human unbelief

2) The Bible’s main character

3) Scripture’s sufficiency

1) Human unbelief.

Jesus rebukes these disciples for being so slow to believe what the prophets had spoken. Verse 26 assumes the clarity of the prophetic word about the suffering and future glory of the Messiah. The prophets have shown that “It was necessary” that he suffer before he enter his glory.

He’s saying to them, “You know the Scriptures. You’ve studied since your youth, and if you believed what the prophets said, you would not be sad or confused right now, but would understand what I have just accomplished. In addition, Jesus had told them plainly before heading to Jerusalem in Luke 18:31: “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished (Lk 18:31). It's noteworthy that Jesus doesn’t mention specific prophets or places that spoke of these things. We would expect him to go to Isaiah 53 or perhaps Psalm 22, but for Jesus and the Gospel writers, it’s not just one or two prophets, but “all” the prophets “everywhere” spoke of Jesus and these events.^[2]

It's all there, but Jesus says that they don’t see it because they are dull and unbelieving.

Is your heart slow to believe too?

Friends, Jesus’s rebuke is just as relevant for us today. How slow are we to believe what God has made plain to us. How many times has God spoken to us in his Word that trials are sure to come and yet we are surprised and have faith crisis’ when they do.

What’s the problem then? Is it God? Has he not spoken clearly? No, it’s us. Humans are slow of heart to believe God’s Word.

We, like these disciples, have been given everything we need to live righteous lives before God, but because of our hardness of heart we often misunderstand or disbelieve the Scriptures and demand that God give us something more, perhaps something we can see.

This should be a correction to each and every one of us. When God seems distant, when his promises seem irrelevant or untrue, it is not because he has been silent or instructed us insufficiently. Rather, it is that we are slow to believe all that he has said. We have dull sight and hard hearts. So, what’s the answer to this problem? Well, we need God’s help. The Good News is that he readily gives it.

Look at verse 27: ²⁷ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

Though we are slow to believe, our Lord is ready and willing to keep teaching us, keep showing us, keep massaging truth into our hearts until we believe. What a gracious and merciful God we serve. Maybe you feel today like your doubts are too much for God. No, like a Father with his child, he will always keep stooping down and with patience, saying, “here, let me show you again.”

Jesus slowly begins to unpack the Scriptures with these two men, explaining “in all the Scriptures,” the things concerning himself.

2) The Bible’s Main Character

Friends, you need to understand the massive point this is making. This book is all about Jesus. We so often think that the God of the Old Testament is different than the God of the new, like he was just angry and erratic and needed Jesus to convince him to love humanity! No, Jesus is showing us that it’s the same God throughout this book. It’s the same loving Father. The same God who provided a substitutionary lamb for his people, sent his Son to us out of love for us.

The Old Testament, made up of Moses’ Law, the Torah, the Prophets, and Psalms (that is, the wisdom writings) is preparation for Jesus. It shows us God’s holiness, our sinfulness, and the way to atone for sin. The New Testament, then, answers questions like: “how is Jesus the fulfillment of the OT” and “Why is Jesus’s death and resurrection how God redeems mankind?” This book is all about Jesus!

For seven miles, Jesus taught them the Bible and showed them how his life, death, and resurrection fulfilled all that God had promised. He showed them how his death and resurrection give proper meaning to the Scriptures.^[3]

Man, I wish I could have been there! Don’t you? Well, I have good news for you, we have something better than seven miles with Jesus. We have the written Scriptures in our language and the Holy Spirit to walk with us through all of life, teaching and instructing us like Jesus did these men. We have the present church and the church through history, which has worked together by the Holy Spirit to unpack the depths of Scripture.

Taking our cues from Jesus and his apostles: we are taught to see Christ:

…in every genre of the Bible. We find that even long genealogies in the Old Testament anticipate Christ as he is the second Adam, the son of Abraham, the son of David.

As we study, we find Christ in every theme of the Old Testament, that he is the king, the inauguration of the new Covenant with God; he’s the temple of God; he is our rest; he is our justice, our righteousness, the clothing for our nakedness.

We find that every major figure in the Bible points to Jesus, in both their strengths and their flaws. Jesus is the true and better Adam, who passed the test in the garden; Jesus is the true and better Moses, who mediates for us a better covenant than the first; he is the true and better David, who’s victory became the people’s victory.

We find Jesus in every major image or symbol in the Bible such as: the bronze serpent, the water of life in the wilderness, the temple, the bread, the lamb, the tree of life, etc.

We find Jesus bringing meaning and fulfillment to every deliverance narrative.

In the pages of this book, you will find Jesus everywhere. And I’m not talking about unfaithful eisegesis, where you just paste him into any story you choose without intellectual integrity. I’m talking about careful and thoughtful reading by the Holy Spirit in the company of the church, that tracks themes and connects stories to Christ as God always intended.

We try to model this for you each week we preach, but if you want more training or resources on how to do this, come talk to me.

3) Scripture’s Sufficiency

Multiple times in this chapter, Jesus helps his disciples stand on the solid rock of his Word. In fact, he starts there!

He doesn’t start with these men by showing off his resurrected body, but instead shields them from seeing who he is. Why? So that he can first explain to them the validity and sufficiency of the Scriptures. That they are enough. He wants you to know that if you believe this book, you will be safe. Your hope is sure. You don’t need a miracle. You don’t need to see Jesus in person. You just need to believe what God has spoken. The Apostle Peter makes this same point in 2 Peter 1, when he explains that they were eyewitnesses of these things, even hearing God’s voice and seeing Jesus in his glory on the mount of transfiguration. But then he says this:

And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place…

He goes on in verse 21 explaining that “no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

Our Lord Jesus and his Apostle Peter want you to know that you stand on solid ground when you believe the Words of Scripture.

Do we really believe that? That this book is as sure as seeing the risen Christ? Many of us would say “amen” to this, but does your life prove that you hang on the promises of this book? Does what you do with this book, the time you spend studying and how you obey these words show that this book is your guide, your lifeline, your rock?

Let’s continue in the narrative. Verse 28:

²⁸ So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, ²⁹ but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them.

How beautiful is this. It’s getting dark now. Jesus’s first day in his resurrected body is spent largely with two nobody’s, walking with them and teaching them the Bible in an intimate setting. But he’s going to show them even more. Verse 30

³⁰ When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. ³¹ And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight.

So much here.

Jesus taught his disciples over meals many times. He often used simple things in life, like bread, to explain profound truths about himself. Like when he told the crowd of 5000 after he miraculously fed them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger… (Jn 6:35). Or when he broke bread with his disciples and instituted the Lord’s Supper, saying, “this is my body, given for you.”

What we see in this mysterious moment is an example of how God shows up to commune with us and give us faith when we open his Word, when we remember him around this table, when we speak about him to one another. It’s not just the disciples of the first century that Jesus wants fellowship with. Even though we don’t now see him, he is present with us. When we open the Bible and break bread together, do you know that God comes near to fellowship with you and teach you.

This all seems very natural doesn’t it. Eating bread and reading a book together seems very natural. But there’s so much more going on here! Jesus, who is the Word made flesh, comes near to us by his Spirit and feeds us a meal that satisfies us more than anything else in this world when we do these things. That’s why the church read the Word and broken bread together for millennia and it’s why we keep doing it!

God’s Book is true food and it is all about Jesus. When we come to this book, we are fellowshipping with Jesus, who alone satisfies.

But we need God to open our eyes and our open our minds to understand like he did for these men.

“And their eyes were opened.” Who opened their eyes?! God! Just as he kept their eyes from seeing, now he opens their eyes to see. God is able to keep eyes from seeing and he is able to open eyes to see. This is actually very good news for us, because when we are left to ourselves, none of us would ever come to Jesus, or ever see because of our sin.

This verse is strikingly similar to verse 45, when Jesus was with the eleven, ⁴⁵ Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures…,” and I believe it is tied also to verse 32.

³² They said to each other [after Jesus miraculously vanished], “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”

Their hearts burned within because God was near.

In the same way, when we open up God’s Word and when we fellowship together, something supernatural is happening. When we come to God with hungry hearts, wanting to know him, God comes near by his Spirit, even as Jesus came near to these men, to teach and to shine light on your hearts – so that what seems foolish to men – burns in our hearts, confirming to us that this story is truth and light, that it is everything we need.

This alone is proof that Jesus is risen from the dead! He is alive and actively working in people so that people all over the world even to this day are turning to Jesus and confessing him as Lord.

This is exactly what Jesus told to disciples before this, that he would send the Holy Spirit to them after he ascends. He says in John 14:

25 “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. (Jn 14). 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, (Jn 16).

We don’t see Jesus right now, but I can tell you this, he is alive and he is speaking right now to hearts in this room and around the world and fellowshipping with his people.

³³ And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem.

Seven miles at night time would have been dangerous, but when God’s light shines on our hearts and the Holy Spirit awakens our souls to believe, no danger or distance or circumstance can keep us from telling others of the Good News!

And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, ³⁴ saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” ³⁵ Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.

When the two disciples got to Jerusalem, they found the eleven Apostles and those with them already celebrating that Jesus had risen from the dead and that he had even appeared to Simon. They also told everyone about what had happened to them on the road and around the table. Proofs that Jesus was alive were stacking up!

I want to end with a note about Luke’s use of Simon instead of Peter here. Jesus called Peter “Simon” when he spoke of his betrayal (Luke 22:32). So, I believe Luke is highlighting the fact that Jesus had come to Peter despite his betrayal.

Why does this little detail matter for us today?

It matters because we too are slow to believe like these men on the road and quick to fall away like Peter. Yet, graciously, our God keeps seeking us out like he did Peter and these men. Our sin blinds us from seeing God, ourselves, and the world rightly, leading us to rebel against God and choose our own way. And though God could leave us in our foolishness and rebellion, he came to us in human form so that he could show us again who he is and how he is our rescue. And instead of punishing us for our unbelief and rebellion, he willingly took our punishment on the cross so that we would not have to die in our sin, but could rise to newness of life in him and live eternally.

This Good News is for you today. If you believe it, hold fast to it. Come daily to this book and discover Jesus in it, asking and expecting his Spirit to open our eyes and enliven our hearts when we do.

Or perhaps you don’t believe, but your heart is burning within you today confirming this all to be true and the way of salvation. He is ready and willing to receive you and teach you in an intimate relationship if you will come to him. Come to Jesus. Eat and drink freely. He alone can satisfy your soul’s longings. Come today, turn from your sin, confess Jesus is Lord, and be baptized.

Now Church, because he has risen and is present with us, let’s worship him like it’s true.

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^[1] Stein, R. H. (1992). Luke (Vol. 24, p. 612). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

^[2] Ibid.

^[3] Pao, D. W., & Schnabel, E. J. (2007). Luke. In Commentary on the New Testament use of the Old Testament (p. 401). Grand Rapids, MI; Nottingham, UK: Baker Academic; Apollos.