Read:
Reflect:
The resurrection of Jesus really surprised his followers. They were puzzled, amazed, skeptical, and even disbelieving. Who would not be if a person known to be truly dead for several days suddenly appeared alive again? It would even be difficult to believe reports that he was alive if one had not actually seen him. This was the experience of the two disciples who made there way to Emmaus on Easter Sunday. Cleopas (v 18) was one of them, and the other may have been Mary the wife of Clopas (the Hebrew spelling of the Greek name Cleopas, see John 19:25). It is their story we will explore in this devotional reflection.
When Jesus joined them on the way their eyes were kept from recognizing him (v 16). Perhaps their misconceptions about Jesus needed to be cleared away before they could properly understand his resurrection. They correctly believed that Jesus was a mighty prophet whose actions and words were acceptable to God and people (v 19). On the other hand his death had dashed their messianic hopes that he would redeem Israel (v 21) through a great military victory over the Romans. This assumption, based on a misreading of their Scriptures, could easily make them think that his resurrection signalled a renewal of that hope. So the Lord veiled their eyes until they could properly understand their Scriptures and the significance of his resurrection.
Jesus gently rebuked them for their foolish/dull-wittedness and slowness of heart to believe all that the prophets had said about Messiah. Their reading and understanding of Scripture had been too selective. For example, they had missed the fact that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer (v 26) as the messianic servant, made so clear in Isaiah 52:13-53:12 (Jewish interpretation generally thought this meant the sufferings of their nation). So Jesus took his travel companions into an interpretive survey of the Scriptures to show how they spoke of him (v 27). Starting with Moses’ words, Jesus probably drew their attention to how he was the new prophet predicted in Deuteronomy 18:
15 The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—…18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.
Then he moved on to explain at length (much can be said in a seven-mile walk) about what all the prophets said concerning him. It was through a diligent search of Scripture that they were prepared to have their eyes opened to recognize the resurrected Jesus in truth.
It took one more step to have their eyes opened. As Jesus blessed the bread, broke it, and gave it to them they suddenly recognized him (vv 30-31). Perhaps memories of the last supper flashed through their minds and they finally understood that it was the risen Jesus at the table with them. Jesus did not linger, but vanished, leaving them to ponder what had happened. In retrospect they recalled how their hearts “burned” within them as Jesus clarified the Scriptures for them. They rushed back to Jerusalem to share the message how Jesus, risen from the dead, had became known to them in the breaking of the bread (v 35).
Perhaps the key lesson we can learn from all this is that we too can encounter the risen Jesus when we prayerfully immerse ourselves in the Scriptures (whether privately or with others, and while hearing the Word proclaimed), and when we humbly observe the Lord’s Supper. He will make himself known.
Respond:
So let us seek our risen Lord with burning hearts in both Word and worship.
The unfolding of your words gives light, it imparts understanding to the simple.
(Psalm 119:130)