THE ROAD TO EMMAUS
Luke 24:13-35
Our Lord assured His disciples that though He must leave them, He would not leave them comfortless or without enablement. He promised them that He would come to them through the ministry and work of the Holy Spirit for fellowship, guidance, comfort, and strength. He also promised that by abiding in Him they would experience His life to become fruitful disciples, men with a mission and purpose in life. Yet, after His death we find the disciples sad, gloomy, fearful, perplexed, scattered, defeated, and running in retreat with no sense of mission or purpose. They were men in desperate need of the Savior’s touch; they needed His comfort and direction.
Jerusalem to Emmaus is seven miles. 7 = completion or fullness
Jerusalem represents to the Jew the City of Promise, Purpose and Presence
Emmaus represents or means obscure, people despised according to Hitchcocks Bible Names
The picture we have here then in this scripture is of those who are walking away from purpose and promise towards a place of obscurity or being despised. These two had expected much but had come to believe they had received little. Let’s see why this was happening:
1. They were walking away from their promise – instead of towards it
2. They were reasoning in the natural – v15 the greek word here is sunzhtew, “to search, examine together by discussion.” questioning – was Jesus who He really said He was, what shall we do now, have we believed a lie, what will the future hold? Quite clearly, in their disappointment and perplexity over the turn of events, they were looking for answers, they wanted to understand, and they were searching.
a. Their conversation was woefully inadequate and their deliberations impotent because, their deliberations and discussions were not founded on the Scripture or on what the Lord had taught them.
b. Aren’t we often just like this? We can get together and reason and discuss, but just being together to talk, share our experiences and ideas for the purpose of comforting one another cannot truly answer the main problems and questions of life or give us peace.
c. We need something more, much more. We often hear about support groups, and they can be helpful, but they will always be inadequate and without God’s answers unless founded on the Word of God and fellowship with the Savior.
3. They were blinded to spiritual truth – they did not recognize Jesus who had drawn near to them and was actually walking and talking to them – (the word drew near is the greek engisas which is used to denote the coming of the Kingdom of God – Luke 10:9,11) In conclusion they did not understand the Kingdom of God, the King, Jesus. But perhaps this also illustrates how, if we are ignoring His Word and its careful application to the details of our lives, and so walking independently of His fellowship and guidance; if we are ignoring His answers to life and its questions as found for us in the Scripture, then we become filled with unbelief, blind, and insensitive to His presence and working in our lives
4. They were despairing of the future – because they believed their own thinking over the word of God!
How do we overcome and return to our first love and hope?
1. Contact with Jesus – Jesus initiates restoration “And it came about that while they were conversing” introduces us to a significant time element which shows us that right in the middle of their plight of perplexity, the Lord Himself came on the scene. The pronoun “Himself” is an intensive pronoun which meant it is emphatic drawing our attention to His personal involvement in their need Really, the issue is never a matter of His presence, but of our awareness of His presence.
2. Conversation with Jesus – reminds us of spiritual truth - “And they said to one another, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?’”
Let’s also note that the method of Christ’s communication with these two was through the Word. The text says literally that “He was opening the Scriptures.” The Bible needs opening for it is sealed until He opens it to our spiritual eyes.
“But a natural (unregenerate or unsaved) man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised” (1 Cor. 2:14)
The ministry of the indwelling Holy Spirit through His control as the Spirit of truth is essential for grasping the Word through confession and faith.
"I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now” (John 16:12).
“And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to babes in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?” (1 Cor. 3:1-3).
“Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Thy law” (Psalm 119:18)
These men had known the Old Testament Scriptures, Moses and the prophets. Yet, they were sad, downtrodden, in retreat, and sorely perplexed about the turn of events, and in part, unbelieving. We should note that they did not say, “Did not our hearts burn within us as we talked about this truth or that truth,” but as “He talked with us.” It is the Lord who teaches us truth and part of the goal of Bible study is personal fellowship with Christ in the Word. So often, rather than intimacy with Christ, we find ourselves studying to prove our point and prove someone else wrong. We need to check our motives.
We might, in this light, compare John 15:7, “my words,” and Eph. 6:17, “the word of God.” These passages use the Greek rhema rather than logos. In contrast to logos, which speaks of “the word, the Bible as God’s inspired revelation to us,” rhema seems to refer to the specific words or lessons or truth He speaks to us from the Word (the logos). It is this that ignites in our understanding and that transforms lives (cf. Col. 1:9 “. . . spirit taught understanding and wisdom.”)
3. Communion with Jesus – causes us to burn again – the word for burning in this passage is Kaioit meaning to be set on fire with passion they learned that He is Igniter of our Hearts.
This encounter with Jesus caused them to return to Jerusalem, the place of Promise, Presence and Purpose.
