This is another of Luke's exquisite and unique stories. Various students of it have noted its similarity to the stories of the feeding of the 5,000 (9:10-17), the appearance in Jerusalem (vv. 36-49), and the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:26-40). Luke's purpose in recording the incident seems to have been to demonstrate the reality of the Resurrection and the identity of the risen Christ. It also unites many of Luke's major themes.
24:13-14 Luke described the two men as "two of them."The antecedent seems to be the apostles (v. 10). Luke used this word in its broad meaning rather than as a synonym for the Eleven (cf. v. 33; Acts 14:4, 14; et al.). These apostles were going somewhere, but they had no good news. The day in view was Sunday, the day of the Resurrection, the "Easter event."
Luke presented Jesus as heading to Jerusalem and the Cross through his Gospel. Now he told of two disciples heading away from Jerusalem and the Cross. He probably intended his readers to see these people as representative disciples going out from Jerusalem to witness for Jesus (cf. Acts 1:8). Shortly after Luke recorded that Jesus set out resolutely for Jerusalem (9:51) he wrote that a man approached Him about discipleship. Now we see Jesus approaching two disheartened disciples as they began to leave Jerusalem. They needed more training before they could represent Him effectively. Emmaus (lit. warm springs) was about seven miles west of Jerusalem, toward the Mediterranean Sea.
24:15-16 Luke pictured the scene dramatically. The two people were walking along discussing Jesus' death and the reports of His resurrection (v. 10) but not knowing what to make of them when Jesus Himself joined them. Some writers have seen this situation as parallel to Jesus' presence with His often non-perceptive disciples in the present age.516Luke's obvious implication was that God was preventing them from recognizing Jesus (cf. 9:45; 18:34). Evidently Jesus looked like the real man that He was albeit now immortal, but they could not recognize Him. The key to recognizing Jesus for who He was would be the illumination of God through the Scriptures.
24:17 Jesus' question apparently so shocked the two disciples that they stopped walking. It opened a wound in their hearts and renewed their sorrow. Cleopas' casual comment tells the reader that Jesus was the talk of Jerusalem. Everyone there, residents and pilgrims alike, knew about Him and what had happened to Him. Luke may have mentioned Cleopas by name because some of his readers knew him or knew about him. According to Christian tradition he was Jesus' uncle, Joseph's brother, and he became a leader of the Jerusalem church.517He could have been the husband of Mary, the wife of Clopas, a variant spelling of the same name, who was present at Jesus' crucifixion (John 19:25). However that may have been a different man.518
24:19-20 Jesus was bating His companions, getting them to articulate what they knew and to reveal what was important to them. They viewed Jesus as a mighty prophet in the eyes of God and the people (Gr. laos, the open-minded public, cf. Acts 18:10).
"This characterization, together with the assertion of full publicity amongst the people, contains pointed echoes of Luke's introductory summary of Jesus' ministry [in the power of the] Spirit (Lk. 4, 14; cp. Acts 10, 38)."519
"The importance of the affirmation of the two disciples here in 24:19 must not in any way be underestimated. It is integral to Luke's theology and purpose."520
They also laid the blame for Jesus' death on the religious leaders, another point Luke had been making throughout his Gospel. The rulers did not acknowledge Jesus as a prophet from God.
24:21 The travelers, in contrast to Israel's leaders, hoped that Jesus would prove to be their nation's deliverer (cf. 1:68; 2:30, 38; 21:28), namely the Messiah whom they evidently saw as a political liberator. Of course Jesus did redeem Israel by His death on the cross, but they were speaking of physical deliverance from Rome and the establishment of the kingdom. Their reference to the third day since Jesus' death implied that they had expected something important to happen by then. The fact that nothing had happened disappointed them.
Possibly these disciples were not yet believers. They appear not to have recognized that Jesus was more than a prophet or a political Messiah but the divine Son of God.
"Observe that the verb is hoped,' not trusted' (as in KJV); there is a big difference between trusting Jesus as our Deliverer and Savior and hoping that he will prove to be our Deliverer and Savior."521
However another possibility is that they were believers who had simply become discouraged by Jesus' death (cf. John the Baptist, 7:19).
24:22-24 Even they were not aware of anything outstanding happening on the third day yet since the report of some women in their group of disciples puzzled them. There was evidence of an empty tomb but no evidence of Jesus (cf. v. 12). This shows that the Resurrection is all important in the Christian faith. An empty tomb was just a strange puzzle that discouraged these disciples. Even an angelic visit did not lift their spirits (cf. 1:22). Jesus' resurrection would prove to be something infinitely more significant.
24:25-26 A fool in the Old Testament is a person who does not allow the Scriptures to influence his thinking or behavior. These disciples had failed to do that. They were also slow to believe what they did know that the former prophets had revealed. They had overlooked the prophecies about the Messiah having to suffer preferring rather to focus only on those that predicted His glorification. Their error constitutes a warning for all subsequent disciples. All Scripture is profitable. We should not slight any part of it but should strive for a comprehensive understanding of its teaching. If these disciples had understood and believed what the Old Testament revealed, they would not have felt depressed but would have been full of joy.
"Acceptance of what the prophets said should have led the disciples to believe the reports of the women at the tomb; one may believe in the resurrection on the evidence of others, although this does not mean that the Lord withholds personal evidence from those who need it."522
Luke highlighted Jesus' identification as the risen Christ by placing the word translated "he"in the emphatic position in the Greek text in verses 24 and 25. Jesus stressed again the divine necessity (Gr. dei) of Messiah's sufferings.
"This scene suggests that a meal with Jesus is an especially appropriate place for the revelation and recognition of Jesus as the (risen) Messiah, and that the feeding of the five thousand is understood by the narrator as a first experience of this revelation at a meal, resulting in Peter's recognition of Jesus as the Messiah."523
24:27 Jesus gave these privileged disciples a unique short course in Old Testament Christology. He evidently pointed out the passages that spoke of Messiah's sufferings particularly, beginning in the Law and the Prophets sections of the Hebrew Bible. What an exposition of the Scriptures this must have been! It is no wonder that they later commented that their hearts burned within them as Jesus explained the Scriptures to them (v. 32).
Jesus' method of bringing spiritual illumination to these disciples is a paradigm that the apostles followed in their preaching, as is clear from Acts. It centered on explaining the meaning of what God had revealed. This method is still essential for spiritual enlightenment. That is why we stress it so much at Dallas Seminary and why we seek to equip our students to give it the most important place in their ministries.
24:28-29 Jesus did not force these disciples to believe or to entertain Him. He whetted their spiritual appetites and then left those decisions up to them. However, God's Spirit had been at work in their hearts, and they did not resist His working. Consequently they wanted to hear more. They urged Him to stay with them for further fellowship and illumination. This was obviously more than just a gracious offer reflecting oriental hospitality. Jesus naturally accepted their invitation. He always gives more to those who receive and believe His words (cf. Rev. 3:20).
24:30-31 Jesus' praying over the bread and breaking it opened the spiritual eyes of Cleopas and his companion. They had not been in the upper room when Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper, so remembering that occasion is not what proved to be catalytic (cf. v. 21). Probably they had been present when Jesus fed the 5,000 (9:10-17) or the 4,000 or on some other occasion when Jesus had eaten with people. Luke recorded several such instances (cf. 5:29; 7:36; 9:16; 10:38-40; 14:1, 7, 12, 15-16). Perhaps they had heard about those miracles.
"The description of the Emmaus meal is closer to the feeding of the multitude than to the Last Supper in some details."524
The fact that Jesus acted as the host shows that He was the most important person present, which these disciples evidently recognized even before they knew who He was. Jesus' role as host may have been a factor in their recognizing Him. The wounds in His hands may not have been since Luke did not mention them.
Their recognition of Jesus for who He was is the climax of the story. Now they knew that the man they hoped was the Messiah, who had to suffer and then experience glorification, had indeed risen from the dead. Luke said that their eyes were opened (passive voice, cf. v. 16). Someone did it for them. Clearly God gave them understanding. God is the One who reveals His Son to people by His Spirit. In both Luke and Acts the "breaking of bread"has connections with instruction concerning Jesus' person and mission.525
After His resurrection, Jesus could appear and disappear at will (cf. v. 36). This is an attribute of His resurrection body. He disappeared then because these disciples had become believers in and witnesses of His resurrection. He left them to carry out their duty as His witnesses. Perhaps Luke also included Jesus' remarkable disappearance to impress on his Greek readers that Jesus is supernatural, not just a real man.
24:32 Luke probably recorded this conversation to stress the supernatural power and convincing effect of the Scriptures on people when God empowers His Word. All disciples need to remember that the Bible is what God uses to solve life's mysteries. John Wesley also testified that he felt his heart "strangely warmed"at his conversion when he heard the Scriptures expounded.
24:33-34 Cleopas and his friend's eagerness to return to tell the other disciples that Jesus had appeared to them confirms the reality of His resurrection. They could not keep the good news to themselves. There were others back in Jerusalem that did not know it and needed to hear it. When they returned, they discovered that "the Lord"had also appeared to Peter. No New Testament writer described this appearance in detail (cf. 1 Cor. 15:5).
Thus Luke included a second testimony to the Resurrection. The women and Peter had witnessed the empty tomb, and now these two disciples and Peter bore witness to the Resurrection. "Simon"was Peter's normal Jewish name.
24:35 These two witnesses then proceeded to tell others about their experiences with Jesus and who He is. They serve as models of what disciples of the risen Christ should do. Perhaps Luke mentioned again that the disciples recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread since for Christians that happens whenever we observe the Lord's Supper, though in a different sense.
