The Emmaus Road – Part I
TRANSLATION
(13) That very day, two (disciples of Jesus) were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, (14) and they were discussing with each other all that had taken place. (15) Now it so happened, as they were talking together, that Jesus himself approached and joined them. (16) However, their eyes were kept from recognizing him.
(17) Then he asked them, “What have you been talking about as you were walking together?” And they stood still, looking sad. (18) One of them named Cleopas responded, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know what has happened there the past few days?” (19) And he asked them, “What things?” And they replied, “The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth who was a prophet powerful in deed and word before God and all the people, (20) and how the chief priests and rulers handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified. (21) We had hoped that it was he who would redeem Israel. Yes, and beside all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. (22) Moreover, certain women in our group amazed us, having gone early to the tomb, (23) and, when they did not find his body, they came back telling us that they had seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. (24) And certain 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.” (25) Then he said to them, “How foolish you are and slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! (26) Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?”
OBSERVATIONS
This first segment of the Emmaus Road narrative contains several repetitions that help us discern its message. “Jerusalem” occurred twice, giving us the geographical context (vss. 13 & 18). “Talking” (vss. 14, 15, & 17) shows us that the conversation among the three walking together was the subject of this passage, while the phrase, “things that have happened” (vss. 18 & 21), points us to what this conversation was about. One other repetition, “tomb,” (vss. 22 & 24) identified a key aspect of the issue that dominated their thoughts. The phrase, “had hoped” (vs. 21), expressed the disappointment all the disciples had felt when Jesus was “condemned to death and crucified” (vs. 20). At this point these disciples were thoroughly confused by the reports of an empty tomb, the appearance of angels, and news of his resurrection.
OUTLINE
I. The events that had recently taken place in Jerusalem dominated the conversation of the disciples on the road to Emmaus. (13-16)
II. A “stranger” who joined them explained the significance of those events. (17-26)
IDEA STATEMENT
In their disappointment and confusion over Jesus’ death, the two disciples gave the mysterious person who had joined them the opportunity to explain the significance of what had just taken place.
APPLICATION
God is in the business of doing far more than we could even dare to hope or imagine. The two disciples on the Emmaus Road provide us with helpful insights into what it was that drew people to Jesus during his earthly ministry. They called Jesus of Nazareth “a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people” (vs. 19) and expressed the hope that he had been “the one to redeem Israel.” We who know the rest of the story realize how incomplete that view of Jesus’ person and work really was. He was certainly a prophet mighty in deed and word, but he was so much more. True, he had come to redeem Israel, but the scope of his ministry included so much more than just Israel.
Here is what we now know, truths that those disciples were just beginning to grasp. Jesus, the Lamb of God, God’s Son come in the flesh, fully God and fully man, came to offer his life as a sacrifice for sin. His crucifixion was anything but a defeat. By dying he conquered death, destroyed the work of Satan, and provided for the redemption of all, both Jew and Gentile, who put their trust in his atoning sacrifice. This briefly encapsulates what the stranger on the road to Emmaus must have told the two disciples as they walked and talked together. How often have those of us reading this account wished that we could have been there to hear all the words that Jesus spoke that wonderful evening!