Introduction: On Resurrection Day, the first day of the week, the Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead. Mary Magdalene had seen and spoken with the Lord, and had shared this news with the other believers (John 20). As the day went on, a pair of disciples decided they would go back to their home at Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They met a Person on their journey that changed their lives forever!
1 The walk to Emmaus
Text, Luke 24:13-27, KJV: 13 And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. 14 And they talked together of all these things which had happened. 15 And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. 16 But their eyes were holden that they should not know him. 17 And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad? 18 And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? 19 And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: 20 And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him. 21 But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done. 22 Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre; 23 And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive. 24 And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not. 25 Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: 26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? 27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
Luke tells how two of the disciples left Jerusalem, where they had apparently been staying, so they could go back to Emmaus. This village was about seven English miles from Jerusalem but the actual location is not known for certain now. At the very least, this news, that there were at least two followers of Jesus who didn’t live in or close to Jerusalem had to be an encouragement to the Eleven and the other disciples.
But these two, even though they had heard from Mary Magdalene and other women (Luke 24:1-12) that the tomb was empty, and even though Mary Magdalene had come back another time explaining the message from Jesus (John 20), and even though Peter and John may also have confirmed the tomb was empty, it was either not enough or too much for these two to believe. They decided, that at least for now, they would go back home to Emmaus.
While they went back, they were talking to each other about all that had happened. Certainly, having someone to talk with as you walk can make any journey seem better or even shorter. I remember, before receiving my driver’s license, walking to a friend’s house a mile or so from our family home. Walking down there wasn’t too bad, but walking back was not something I enjoyed doing! Having someone to walk with or talk with (or, I admit it, giving me a ride) would have been even better, in my opinion! Now multiply that by seven and it’s easy to see that having a friend or companion made the journey better than if either one had gone alone.
The two were walking along, discussing the recent events (Dr. A. T. Robertson mentioned in one of his works they were throwing ideas back and forth, so to speak) when, to their surprise, they discovered they weren’t alone. Someone they knew had come along, somewhere between Jerusalem and Emmaus, but they didn’t know just Who this Person was.
For now, that is. Jesus, now alive and risen from the dead, was walking along with them on their journey to Emmaus!
But they didn’t know it was Jesus. Luke records that the eyes of these two disciples were “holden” or prevented from recognizing Jesus as their Fellow-traveler. And they didn’t miss a beat, so to speak, when they heard this Stranger asking them a question.
Verse 17 has the Stranger asking the two disciples, “What kinds of things are you discussing while you’re walking, and why are you so sad, by the way (paraphrased)?” Remember, this Person was the Lord Jesus Christ, and He knew exactly what they had said, and what they were thinking. After all, Luke didn’t mention their emotions as they walked along, only that they were discussing the latest news about this most unusual day.
Cleopas was one of these two disciples walking back to Emmaus and he asked the Stranger, “Are you a stranger in Jerusalem? Haven’t you (remember, Cleopas didn’t know Who he was speaking to) known about what happened these last few days?” Remember, Passover was one of the times when every male Jew was supposed to come (actually, required) to Jerusalem and there must have been thousands of Jews in the area at that time. The Crucifixion of someone like Jesus, Who had claimed (rightly) to be the King of the Jews and the Son of God, would have been very big news indeed, difficult to miss or not be broadcast.
Now the Stranger asked Cleopas another question, “What things?” What are you talking about? After all, Jesus was the Stranger and He knew all that had happened—up close and personal, as some might say! Then, after His reply, He waited for them to elaborate or share what they knew.
Most of verses 19-24 contain what Cleopas related to the Stranger. This brother summarized the last few days in just a few sentences, mentioning the trials, the crucifixion, the angels, the empty tomb and the people who had seen the empty tomb—but, incredibly, he says, nobody had seen the risen Lord with their own eyes.
It’s anybody’s guess how Cleopas had framed his response to the Stranger. After all, they were sad, and probably feeling a lot of grief, thinking that all their hopes and dreams had died with Jesus when He had been crucified. If they were able to relate these facts without coming close to tears, they did it a lot better than most could have done.
Now it was time for the Stranger to relate some news to them! As they walked, Cleopas and his companion had the first Bible study after the resurrection! The Stranger first called them “fools”, probably not the same words as “Raca” or “thou fool” in Matthew 5, but maybe “foolish ones” because—they saw the facts but didn’t draw the right conclusion! Dr. Vance Havner once wrote in one of his works that these two had their chronology right and their theology right but didn’t have any “doxology”!
Then, as they traveled to Emmaus, the two disciples heard the words of Jesus Himself as He explained all the Scriptures about Himself, beginning at Moses and the prophets. Of note is that in His true story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16, Jesus quoted Abraham saying to the rich man that Moses and the prophets were available. So many prophecies about Jesus were and are available in the Old Testament (examples, Psalm 16, Isaiah 7, 11, and 53 to name only a few), and Jesus used these as He taught this pair of disciples.
We’re not told when Jesus joined the two disciples after they left Jerusalem but we do know that He walked with them to Emmaus. When they got closer to Emmaus, what happened next?
2 The visit at Emmaus
Text; Luke 24:28-32, KJV: 28 And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further. 29 But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them. 30 And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. 31 And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. 32 And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?
In verse 28, Luke tells how Cleopas and his companion “drew nigh” to the village of Emmaus, where they apparently lived. They had walked from Jerusalem about seven miles and they were probably becoming tired or weary after walking all that distance (who wouldn’t!). Even the Lord Jesus Christ knew something about being weary on a journey: in John 4 He had sent the disciples into a city of Samaria to buy food but He was so tired He rested by the well. Granted, in His glorified, resurrection body, that may not have been the case (we’re never told one way or the other) but it was true for these two disciples. They were tired.
And it was getting late in the day. These events took place around early to mid-April in our calendar and the sun would set earlier then than later in the year. So, it was probably mid- to late afternoon when they got to Emmaus, and the two disciples were ready to “call it a day”, so to speak. No one could blame them, after the emotional toll on their spirits, considering all that had happened in the past few days, as well as the normal fatigue after a seven-mile walk.
But the Stranger seemed to have other plans. He acted as though He would go on further than Emmaus (but where?) when “they constrained Him”, inviting Him to “abide with us”, most likely in their house. No need to speculate why they did this, but among other things, this shows courtesy and concern for a Traveler they didn’t know.
And the Stranger did just that—and more! He “sat at meat” or reclined at the table (other versions) for a meal. We’re not told what was in that meal but it’s likely the meal was made “on the spot”. After all, the two disciples had been gone for several days, apparently, and any food that had been left out would have been, , , ;not exactly fit for consumption by humans!
Then the Stranger did something else. He took bread, blessed it, and “brake” it, then gave it to the two disciples. Some think this is a repetition of the “Lord’s Supper” or Last Supper, when the Lord took bread, broke it, and gave it to the disciples. We may never know exactly what was meant, but at the very least, this shows how much the Stranger seemed to reward His guests. Again, Dr. Vance Havner, gave three points in one of his written works, the Stranger was “ the guest who comes along”, then He was “the guest that would go on”, and He was “the guest who becomes the host”. So ended the meal.
But not the evening.
Once the two disciples took the bread (implied) something wonderful happened: their eyes were opened (!) and they could know Jesus! Their eyes had been “holden (verse 16)” so that they could not see Jesus, but now their eyes were opened and they could! This Stranger Who had walked with them from Jerusalem to their home in Emmaus was the Risen Lord Himself!
How long Jesus remained visible to them is not specified; probably it was not very long, just enough for them to see for themselves it was really Him Who had been fellowshipping with these two people. Then He vanished out of their sight, much as the Angel of the LORD had done any number of times in the Old Testament (see Judges 6:21 and 13:20, for two examples).
And after this, they expressed an emotion or a feeling: “Didn’t our heart burn within us when He was talking with us and while He explained the Scriptures to us?” Odd that they mentioned nothing (that is recorded) about the meal itself, the clothing Jesus wore, the condition of His body, or anything else. They were feeling a “holy heartburn”, as some call it, because of the things Jesus had taught them!
Now what were they going to do?
3 The return from Emmaus to Jerusalem
Text. Luke 24:33-35, KJV: 33 And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, 34 Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon. 35 And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.
They—Cleopas and his companion—had walked with the Risen Lord most of the way from Jerusalem to Emmaus. They had heard Him explain any number of Scriptures about Himself as they traveled, and they had shared a meal with Him in their house. Besides all that, they had seen Jesus: not just as a Stranger they didn’t know, but the Savior and Lord Whom they perceived or recognized! During the trip to Emmaus, the two disciples had spoken of the empty tomb and how some of the people claimed to have seen Jesus alive; now they could confirm it, having seen Him in person, and in their own house!
Then, even though it was already late in the day, Cleopas and his companion decided to go back to Jerusalem. They had news that needed to be shared with people! It’s my guess that it took less time heading back to Jerusalem than it took them to get to Emmaus but still, they were willing to risk even walking in the darkness just to find the other disciples.
After they arrived, they did find the Eleven Apostles together plus others with them, Chances are these are people Cleopas and his companion already knew; there is no mention of names or other forms of introduction. Cleopas and his companion simply announced the news, “the Lord is risen indeed (hallelujah!), and had appeared to Simon!” There may have been more but Luke simply gives the main idea here. Simon’s identity was known to them for certain even if we don’t know for sure who he was. Regardless, he was one of the chosen few to see Jesus alive after the Lord had been risen from the dead. Blessings are yours, brother Simon.
They didn’t stop with just a report of what they had seen. After all, earlier that same day, a group of women had reported the very same thing, that the tomb was empty and Mary Magdalene had said she too had seen the Lord that morning. Now here’s another report that Jesus was alive, and had been seen seven miles from Jerusalem.
That was something to think about!
Still, they didn’t stop with just what they had talked about, namely the Scripture expositions the Lord gave as they walked along on the journey. They’re walking, He’s talking, and what He said seems to have “clicked” or stuck with these two disciples. Now they’re repeating what they had heard Jesus teach them, and I doubt there was anything but silence at this point. The Lord had told the disciples what was going to happen—and everything did, just as He had predicted. Even so, the other believers seemed to have a hard time acknowledging the fact that HE WAS ALIVE.
And to prove He was alive, they gave one additional piece of evidence: He had eaten a meal with them and had broken bread then given it to them before He vanished. Clearly, corpses do not eat and spirits don’t eat, either, but humans do. This was proof the Lord was alive, and was walking in a body in which He could do something as universal as eating food!
Conclusion: The message stops here, but the story continues. These two disciples had a privilege which was granted to very few people. They walked and talked with Jesus and listened as He explained the Scriptures about Himself to them. After a meal, Jesus opened their eyes—they could recognize just Who had been speaking with them! They decided to return to Jerusalem and share this good news with the other disciples.
You and I will probably never have the opportunity to do anything like this but we can still share this message of the Risen Lord with as many as we can. And it doesn’t have to be a “known” person to do this, either: we don’t know much about Cleopas and we know nothing about his companion, except that they did what they could and they were blessed. O that we might receive the Lord’s blessings, too, as we honor Him!
Scripture quotations were taken from the King James Version of the Bible
