Original Meaning

THE ENCOUNTER BETWEEN Jesus and the two disciples on the road to Emmaus is one of the most vivid resurrection appearances. The account is unique to Luke and contains key themes of the Gospel: the importance of the promise of the Word, the status of Jesus as prophet, and his messianic role. The passage closes with another instance of table fellowship. Disclosure by Jesus occurs in the context of intimacy with him.

The passage starts with another journey. Two men are traveling to Emmaus, a village whose exact location is unknown. The one usually chosen, known in other ancient sources, is twenty miles from Jerusalem.1 These disciples apparently are heading home after a traumatic weekend.

They find themselves discussing what has taken place. Verses 19b–24 give a glimpse of the issues they are working through. The discussion seems to have been intense, since the word used (syzetein) suggests strong debate (cf. its use in Luke 22:23; Acts 6:9; 9:29).2 Perhaps they are disputing the meaning of the empty tomb. Jesus approaches them as they talk, though they cannot tell it is him. Their eyes are “kept from recognizing him.” Jesus’ first postresurrection appearance in Luke is both normal and mysterious at the same time. He has a normal human appearance, but is different enough that he is not initially recognized. This description adds to the drama and the mystery of resurrection.

Jesus asks them about their discussion. That question brings them to a halt, and their demeanor changes. What they left behind in Jerusalem is painful to recall, for hope departed with Jesus’ death. One of the two, Cleopas, is amazed. With irony he asks, “Are you the only one who travels in Jerusalem and does not know the things that happened in it in these days?”3 Of course, Jesus knows exactly what has happened, since it happened to him! Part of the narrative delight in the story is that the reader knows the secret the characters do not. No one could have missed what took place, at least if they were circulating among the pilgrim crowds. Nonetheless, Jesus asks, “What things?”

The disciples answer immediately, “About Jesus of Nazareth,” and note his prophetic work as one “powerful in word and deed before God and all the people.” Luke’s readers, if they recall much of Luke 4–18, can identify with this description (4:16–30; 7:16, 22–23, 39; 9:9, 18; 13:31–35; Acts 3:14–26; 10:38–39). They note how the chief priests and rulers handed him over for death by crucifixion. The disciples themselves thought Jesus was more than a prophet and hoped he would be the one to redeem Israel. That was the hope that they saw nailed to a cross in the capital.

But there is more to tell. Three days later, some of the women among the disciples stunned the group.4 They went to the tomb only to find it empty. They also reported angels telling them that Jesus was alive. Other companions (an allusion to Peter and others) went to the tomb and found it empty, just as the women reported, but Jesus was nowhere to be seen. How ironic the report is in light of Cleopas’s audience! The two disciples are baffled by what has taken place. The last thing they expect is a resurrection.

Jesus then launches into a rebuke, whose rationale becomes clearer as events move on. He calls them “foolish” and “slow of heart to believe.” For Luke’s readers, this is a call to believe and not slip into the fog that these two disciples are currently in. They must believe all that the prophets have spoken, a brief way of referring to the messianic promises of the ancient Scriptures—what Christians call the Old Testament and Jews call the Tanach. Luke spends much of Luke-Acts noting specific Old Testament texts about these promises. The career that Scripture outlines for the Messiah is suffering, then glory. This sequence is necessary, since God designed it. Luke again uses dei to make the point about the divine design. These things “have to” be, since they are part of God’s effort to restore relationship with humanity.

Jesus then begins to explain these promises to the two travelers, working from Moses through the Prophets. These promises concern him, though they do not yet know who is speaking to them. The Emmaus discussion underscores the point that the traumatic events surrounding Jesus are part of God’s plan of deliverance. What they have seen is not the end of hope, but its beginning.

As the three near their stop at the village, it appears as if Jesus will journey on. But the two men persuade him to stay with them, since the day is nearly over. As Jesus reclines at the table with them, he shares a meal. In a setting with a pastoral feel and a picture like that of the Last Supper, he takes the bread, gives thanks, breaks it, and gives it to them. In the rush of the narrative up to this point, there is something calming about this scene. Suddenly, their eyes are opened. They see that it is Jesus. They have been spending time with the one they were discussing! But as soon as they recognize him, he is gone.

Cleopas and his friend acknowledge how amazing their walk and talk have been. “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” Had not God been at work through Jesus’ words to help them see what God was all about in the suffering and the glory of Jesus? Was it not the promise of God that they have just experienced? Their reaction communicates no real surprise in light of what has taken place on the road. Now it all makes sense.

It is late, but what they have seen cannot wait to be reported until tomorrow. They must tell the others about Jesus’ appearance to them. So they return at once to Jerusalem. There the Eleven and the others are still gathered and quite excited. Before the two from Emmaus can get their story out, the report of the truth of the women’s story fills the room. “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” The Emmaus disciples then tell what has just happened to them on the road and how Jesus revealed himself to them at the table. Jesus is starting to show up everywhere. Despair becomes delight as the truth about Jesus’ resurrection begins to sink in.

Bridging Contexts

THE MAJOR SUBJECT of this passage is the same as the previous one, the resurrection. But the discussion has deepened. The previous passage simply announced the empty tomb and the reality of the resurrection. This text involves an appearance of a physically raised Jesus. Now we no longer merely have a claim to resurrection, but a manifestation of the result. Such experiences pushed the disciples from the category of skeptic to persuaded.

Perhaps the major challenge of this text in our modern world is the believability of such an event. It is important to note that those to whom Jesus appears seem as empirical about the possibility of a dead person reappearing alive again as any modern person. The announcement of an empty tomb was not enough to convince them. Only visible evidence that Jesus has been raised will prove convincing. The reaction of Cleopas and his friend, hesitant to embrace the resurrection, even to the point of being subject to a rebuke by Jesus, helps prove that what is related here really happened. After all, would the church create stories that make Jesus’ followers lack faith? Here are two disciples who felt that the cross meant the end of the hope Jesus brought. Only Jesus himself, appearing in his restored existence, can change their minds. In every sense of the term, Jesus is the author of resurrection faith.

A second element of the passage reflects another key theme that spans the centuries between the text and the present. This passage highlights the trustworthiness of God’s Word as expressed in promise. Jesus contends that the twofold division of suffering followed by glory is the messianic portrait of the Old Testament. This is a fresh understanding of the Jewish Scriptures.

We know that the Jewish faith, rooted in the promise to Abraham, pondered how to put the Old Testament revelation together when it came to how God would finally deliver his people and bring his rule back to earth. There were passages of hope that the end would produce a great prophet, a great king, a great figure who received authority from God, a servant figure who would proclaim God’s hope and yet suffer, and a salvation where God would be present in the life of the community with an intimacy that meant the law written on the heart. All these strands of prophecy contended with each other in Judaism, along with various priestly images. The Jews struggled to determine how many end-time figures there might be and what their relationship to each other would be. Into this world Jesus stepped.

In the Gospels and in Acts, Jesus claimed that the Old Testament promise was unified in him. He was the prophet like Moses, the Son of David, the Suffering Servant, the Messiah, and the Son of Man all wrapped together in one person. His career involved both suffering and triumph. The bridge between the two stages was the resurrection. This is why Jesus claimed to be teaching what the whole Scriptures taught. Only this understanding of who he was made sense of the various strands of promise in the Scriptures. When Luke 24 describes Jesus as prophet and Messiah, it underscores how the promise only makes sense when it is combined with Jesus. This is the central interpretive claim Christianity makes about God’s promises and their relationship to Jesus.

Though this passage only gives a general reference to the promises in the Law and the Prophets, the specific texts in view have been noted throughout Luke. Consider Isaiah 40 and its promise of a forerunner (Luke 3:4–6), Isaiah 61 and its proclamation and realization of deliverance (Luke 4:18–19), Psalm 118 and its call to receive one who comes in the Lord’s name (Luke 13:35) and its warning that the rejected stone will be exalted (Luke 19:38), Psalm 110 and its promise of a shared rule with God and an exaltation to come (Luke 20:42–43), and Daniel 7 and its picture of the Son of Man coming on the clouds (Luke 21:27).

Many texts not mentioned here will surface later in Acts: for example, Joel 2 and its promise of the Spirit (Acts 2:17–21), references about God’s promise to Abraham (Acts 3:25), the declaration of Psalm 16 and a hope for messianic rescue (Acts 2:25–28; 13:35), and Isaiah 55 and the promises to David now available in this new era (Acts 13:34). No doubt the church learned about such texts from Jesus himself during the time of his ministry and in the period just after his resurrection.5 This central claim of the faith about fulfillment serves as a guide to understanding God’s plan.

Furthermore, it is no accident that Jesus is revealed as he sits having table fellowship with the two disciples. The table was the place for fellowship in the ancient world. Here family and friends gathered to share time with each other. Luke has underscored the importance of meal scenes throughout his Gospel. The table was a place where Jesus was heard and where his presence came across most intimately. This fact suggests that Jesus reveals himself in the midst of the basic moments of life. He is at home in the midst of our everyday activity.

This theme will emerge in the next scene as well. When Jesus appears in verses 41–43, he will again sit with his disciples at the table. The imagery is replayed in the church in the Eucharist, which affirms the Lord’s presence. Yes, he is raised and serving alongside the Father. As we partake of that meal, we look for the day of his return to sit at the final banquet table in full celebration of his salvation.

Contemporary Significance

THE MOST BASIC application of this section, as with all of the resurrection accounts, is to reassure us that Jesus has arisen and is alive. Such reassurance should deepen our faith each time God’s work for us is affirmed. Acts 2 will develop what grows out of the resurrection by noting that Jesus now sits at the right hand of God (cf. 5:31; Rom. 1:3–4), where he rules along with the Father (Ps. 110:1; Dan. 7:13–14), intercedes for us (Rom. 8:34; 1 John 2:2), and mediates the blessings that God gives his children. Hebrews 5–10 refers to a ministry according to the order of Melchizedek, a king-priesthood where Jesus mediates blessings to his own in such a way that sacrifices are no longer necessary.6 Thus the resurrection serves as the basis for our being able to receive the many blessings of grace that God gives his children (cf. 1 Peter 1:3–6), notably, forgiveness of sins, the Holy Spirit, and eternal life. First Corinthians 15 explains exactly how the resurrection achieves this hope by calling Jesus’ resurrection the “firstfruits” (v. 20), with more resurrections (ours!) to come.

The two disciples were not the only ones to whom Jesus appeared. This point is significant, because the resurrection is witnessed by many different believers. First Corinthians 15:5–8 gives a short list of Jesus’ appearances. The multiple reports in this passage indicate how widespread the testimony became. As already noted, the author of resurrection hope is Jesus himself.

The declaration of Jesus at the right hand of God found its way into the oldest creeds of the church (e.g., the Apostles’ Creed). This is not an abstract declaration. Central realities of the Christian life are bound up in this affirmation. Jesus’ place at the right hand of God means that he possesses authority over all those forces that stand opposed to humanity, both in this age and in the age to come (see Eph. 1:19–23). Such authority stands behind his ability to give us new birth (Eph. 2:1–10).

This aspect of resurrection hope is important, since we often feel that our sin or the devil is more powerful than we are. Yet in the context of Jesus’ power obtained through his resurrection, we have access to the one who enables us to overcome whatever obstacles Satan places in our path. The call of disciples is to follow the leading of the Lord and to draw on the spiritual resources he makes available to us. One could well argue that the letters of the New Testament, besides being commentary on the cross, are commentary on the resurrection, since everything that we have in Christ ultimately is only possible through the resurrection.

In fact, there is a combination at work in this Lukan passage that reflects two key features of the Christian reality. The resurrection and the Word of God combine to illustrate the reality of the realization of God’s promise. At the one end stands the Word revealed and moving towards realization. As revelation of God, it is to be embraced and believed, something the disciples were slow to grasp. This is why the church has always emphasized that people be taught the Word, for here is found the way and wisdom of God. On the other end stands the raised Jesus, exercising the many prerogatives the Word attributes to him in fulfillment of God’s promises. Some of those promises still remain to be fulfilled. When the Lord returns, he will finish what he has started (cf. Acts 3:21). So the resurrection is a bridge into new life and the first step of glory that leads to the consummation of his promise.

There is perhaps no better commentary on this passage than Hebrews 1:1–4. God has spoken to us in his Son, who, as heir of all things, has sat down at the right hand of the Father, having made purification for sins and become superior to the angels, reflecting in the process the name, nature, and role of Son. There is no greater privilege than knowing the Son of God. He is known only through the recognition that God raised him from the dead to become the centerpiece of his promise and plan.