Appearance on the Emmaus Road (Luke 24:13-35)

This sermon was preached on 30/10/2010

This encounter of two travellers with Jesus on the road to Emmaus is also mentioned briefly in Mark 16:12: ‘After these things he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country.’ Mark’s reference may help explain why the two disciples did not recognise Jesus for it describes his appearance as ‘in another form’, which may simply mean that he looked different from his previous appearance or that he interacted with them in a way that they had not experienced previously.

The order of events

The two disciples seem to have left Jerusalem before news of Jesus’ appearances to the women had become widely known. They are aware of two details from the events of that morning: (1) the women went to the tomb and were informed by angels that the tomb was empty; (2) two disciples [Peter and John] had gone to the tomb. But they do not mention the Saviour’s appearances to Mary Magdalene or to the group of women. As was suggested in earlier studies, the disciples may have been in different locations, so it would take a while for knowledge of all the details to get around.

It is not clear who these two individuals were. It has been suggested that Cleophas is the same person as Clophas, the husband of the Mary who went early to the tomb and later met Jesus as she and her friends went to bring the news to the disciples. The name of Cleophas’ companion is not given, which has led to the speculation that it was his wife (of course, this would not be possible if his wife was the above Mary because she already had met Jesus whereas the companion of Cleophas had not). Personally I think they were husband and wife, a couple of otherwise unknown disciples; yet although they were nobodies in a sense, they were important enough to Jesus for him to appear to them.

Jesus’ coming to these two disciples shows his desire to meet with his people. It is clear that these two disciples did not know where things were as far as the resurrection of Jesus was concerned, but it was good for them that Jesus knew where they were. In fact, he knew where each of his disciples was that day. He appeared to them in different locations and helped them in a variety of ways. Mary was helped by one word whereas these two disciples needed a long walk, a sermon, and a meal before they recognised him.

We know from the Gospels that the appearances of the risen Christ on this first day of new life climaxed with his appearance to the apostles (without Thomas). Perhaps we find it surprising that he did not appear to them initially. There may have been a practical reason for this, which is the possibility that the disciples were not in one location until the evening. In any case, Jesus anticipated meeting with them as a group, but he prepared them for it by giving a series of appearances to individuals or small groups of disciples. It is impossible to say why Jesus did this, yet we can note that he appeared to disciples who were discreditable witnesses (testimony of women was not accepted usually in Judaism), who had denied him (Peter) and who were disappointed with what had happened (the two on the way to Emmaus). And we can deduce that the appropriate way to prepare for a communal meeting with Jesus is to have personal encounter with him.

1. Disappointed by providence

As we consider this incident, we can observe firstly that here are two disciples disappointed by providence. They had assumed that their cause had been defeated and did not anticipate a chance of its revival.

Along with their disappointment or perhaps as aspects of it we can see a variety of features. For example, they are experiencing the equivalent of bereavement because the Master they followed is now dead. They also are devastated because their dreams have been dashed. Further, everything is now futile, even the news that the tomb is empty. We can almost imagine them shrugging their shoulders and saying, ‘So what!’

As we look at their response to disappointment, are there lessons that we can learn? I would suggest two: they continued to meet together and they spoke ardently about the Saviour.

It is the case that most of us, if not all, have experienced disappointing, even devastating providences. Sometimes, our hopes can be almost destroyed. When that happens, we need the solidarity of Christ’s people not because they will have the answers but because they will share our concerns. When we meet with them, we should talk about the Lord’s dealings in our lives before the difficult times came.

When that happens, Jesus draws near to listen. This is a wonderful example of Jesus’ way of dealing with his people. There are many methods that Jesus uses, even in this incident. But it is good to know that he is prepared to listen as his disciples speak about their concerns, even although he knows that they have nothing to worry about.

2. Corrected by unknown Christ

Right away we note the Saviour’s concern for them. This concern is revealed in the fact that he located them and then accompanied them for nearly seven miles. He went with them step by step.

We can also see the Saviour’s wise dealing with them. What he did was to encourage them to speak about himself. Instead of stating an assessment of their situation, he first asked them questions that caused them to review what had taken place.

So they said that (1) Jesus was a prophet sent by God, (2) a victim of the treachery of their religious leaders, (3) the deliverer of Israel, (4) was possibly risen from the dead. Their words were a good summary of who Jesus was, but there was a major flaw in their outlook: they were not basing their beliefs about him on what the Old Testament said. They knew Jesus was a prophet because he did miracles and preached powerfully; they knew what the priests had done; their understanding of redemption was limited to one of political liberation for Israel; their faith in the resurrection was dependant on human witnesses and since they were not aware of any, they were not sure what had happened. Because it was based on experience, they had a mixture of truth and error.

Therefore, Jesus rebuked them for their failure to understand the content of the Bible. This was the root of their trouble; they had turned away from the proper source of comfortable information. Note that he stressed all the Scriptures, not just some of it, spoke about him. It used to be said that, just as there is a road from every hamlet to the capital city of London, so there is a road from every verse in the Bible to Jesus. So these men should have known what each Bible book said about the promised Messiah.

There was also a second reason for their failure, which was not to heed the testimony of their friends concerning the resurrection of the Saviour. The ladies had been told by the angels that Jesus was risen, and that testimony should have been believed.

We may ask why Jesus took this approach when dealing with these two disciples. The answer, I think, is that he wanted to honour his Word by explaining it before then revealing himself. This is a reminder that the Bible is very important to Jesus. He lived his life on earth according to the scriptures. He refuted the devil by saying that man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

So Jesus diagnosed the problem before giving the cure. The rebuke, however, is not harsh. In Jesus’ eyes, they are slow of heart, not hard of heart. His aim is not to pour water on the smouldering embers and dampen them; rather he wants to add more fuel to them in order to fan their hearts into a flame. And to bring this about he gave them a summary of what was said about him in the law and in the prophets.

This would have been a wonderful sermon to listen to. Jesus would have told them of the promise given in Eden concerning the coming Deliverer, of the promises to Abraham concerning salvation coming from his descendants; he would have interpreted the significance of the various kinds of Old Testament sacrifices; he would have shown how the Messiah would be a descendant of David; he would have explained the many prophecies about him found in the Old Testament prophets. And he would have shown them that they referred in the main to two aspects of his work, either his suffering or his glory.

Jesus as he speaks here is in-between these stages, as it were. His sufferings are past and his full glory is yet to come. He must have spoken with a sense of gladness and anticipation. No doubt these two disciples had heard Jesus speak about his sufferings before they occurred, but there must have been a difference between these occasions and now because he now had already made atonement for their sins.

3. Discover the Stranger’s Identity

Eventually Jesus and the disciples reach the house in Emmaus. Immediately Jesus applies a simple test, the test of hospitality. If these men had failed it they would have not received the blessing that evening of knowing that Jesus had risen from the dead. No doubt they would have heard some days later, but until then they would have been still perplexed about things. The test concerned a simple command to entertain strangers. If we can modify Hebrews 13:2 (Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares), we could say, ‘Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby two disciples from Emmaus entertained the Saviour unawares.’ Often this type of test comes our way and it is usually a little thing that is required. Perhaps after a good church service, we sense Jesus asking us to do something such as apologize for a wrong word or give a word of encouragement to somebody. These disciples would have been able to recall the wonderful sermon and the good feelings they had as Jesus had been explaining the Bible to them. But they would have lost a great experience if they had failed the simple test of hospitality.

Sitting down at the meal, the guest becomes the host. Whether it was at their invitation or his own choice, Jesus proceeds to give thanks for the bread. The period was still during the feast of unleavened bread, the week-long celebration that followed the Passover. It must have been a wonderful experience to listen to the Passover Lamb giving thanks for the redemption of Israel.

Then he handed to them pieces of bread and gave it to them. It was then that they recognised him, perhaps by the nail marks on his hands. That was a great sight to see. But before they could embrace him or worship him, he disappeared.

At a basic level, his disappearance is a reminder that special experiences with him in this life cannot last for ever. Mary Magdalene had already discovered this, as did the other women and Peter. We have to move on to other experiences, which is what happened to them because they later met Jesus that evening in Jerusalem. If they had stayed where they were, they would have missed the next blessing. Perhaps Jesus disappeared because he did not want them to delay rushing to Jerusalem with the news that he was indeed alive. After all, in his wisdom Jesus had decided not to appear unto the eleven until after these men had told their story.

This incident tells us that Jesus’ resurrected humanity had powers it did not possess before and we will consider the significance of them in the next study. Meanwhile we can say that the more powers Jesus has the better for us. He is not limited now by things that limit us.

4. Delight in sharing the news

Immediately they thought of their fellow-disciples in Jerusalem, so they rushed back along the road to tell them the good news. When they arrived, they were informed that Jesus had also appeared to Simon. Then they told in detail what had happened to them.

Although we are not told what took place between Jesus and Simon, it is worth thinking about. Firstly, it tells us that Jesus holds no grudges against those disciples who fail him. Secondly, Jesus did not want Peter to persist in sorrow for his sins, but wanted him to have the assurance that he was forgiven. Any Christian who fails can have a personal meeting with Jesus and get it sorted out.

As we conclude, there are some lessons worth noting. First, there is no road on which we travel that Jesus cannot meet us on it. We all go down roads marked by disappointment, so if you are on this road, ask Jesus to come and join you. We can go down roads marked by uncertainty, so ask Jesus to come and join you. But in reality, we are all on one of two roads: we are either on the road to heaven or the road to hell, and neither road is the same length for all who are on it. If you are on the road to heaven, ask for Jesus’ company all the way. If you are on the road to hell, the way of it is to trust in Jesus. He will be available to rescue you before your journey ends, but not after. And none of you know when it will end.

Second, the company of Jesus changes a slow heart into a warm heart. The things that affect adversely our spiritual temperature, such as sins or adverse providences, are decreased when he draws near. Therefore to those who are his professing disciples this story says that we should desire the presence of Christ in every circumstance that we sense spiritual sluggishness.

Third, it is the responsibility of those who have met the risen Christ to go and tell his disciples that they have met him, and to do so as soon as possible.