What Can We Learn from the Road Trip to Emmaus?

While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them.
Luke 24: 15 (NKJV)
Scripture: Luke 24: 13-35

As two men were walking along toward Emmaus, the resurrected Jesus joined them. They didn’t know it was Him until He opened their eyes. This devotion looks at how Jesus not only came to comfort them, but also to instruct them what Scriptures mean.

I’ve always wondered why Jesus appeared to the two men on the road to Emmaus before He appeared to all the disciples. You would have thought He would first have appeared to the Eleven, His friends, His constant companions.

But He didn’t. He appeared to two men who were obviously well acquainted with Him. It sounds like they were disciplines, even though they weren’t among the “chosen” ones. They were present when the women brought good news back from their visit to the tomb (Lk. 24: 24).

Let’s take a look at these men. Mark 16: 12-13, the only other gospel to record this, summarizes that Jesus appeared to two men walking in the country. The passage doesn’t tell us much except that they tried to tell the disciples what they saw, but they didn’t believe them.

As They Went Walking

Luke 24: 13-35 gives us a more complete account. So, let’s break it down.

The story starts out with a time reference. It happened on the day that Jesus rose from the grave. Now remember, the Feast of the Unleavened Bread was still going on. We have previously talked a little bit about the Feast.

To read What Is the Significance of Jesus Observing Passover?, click the button below.

The Feast commemorated the Jews being rescued from bondage in Egypt. Occurring right after Passover, the feast lasted for seven days. So, it is about half over.

I have always wondered why they were leaving? Were they close enough they could make it a come-and-go event? Or did they have to get a hotel room for while they were in Jerusalem?

Maybe they were so disillusioned after Jesus’ death that they decided to cut their trip short and go home. Verse 14 says that they were discussing current events, trying to process what all had occurred.

The men were obviously hurting. Verse 17 says they were downcast (NIV) or sad (NRS). They were probably shell shocked. The rug had been pulled out from under their feet.

Enter Jesus. The men didn’t recognize Him (Lk. 24: 16). To them, He was just another traveler on the road.

I love verse 18. “What hole have you been hiding in that you don’t know what has been happening?” They filled Him in — even though He knew better than them what happened because He actually lived it.

Let’s do the bullet points of how they described the events.

Jesus was a prophet (Lk. 24: 19)
He did great works and was a great teacher (Lk. 24: 19)
It was the chief priests’ and rulers’ fault at He was condemned and crucified (Lk. 24: 20)
They were looking for a military Messiah (Lk. 24: 21)
By the way, He rose from the dead on the third day (Lk. 24: 21)
He appeared to the women at the tomb (Lk. 24: 22-23)
Some of the men went to the tomb but couldn’t find Him (Lk. 24: 24)

So, Jesus set them straight. Okay, He got on their case first (Lk. 24: 25). Then He laid it all out for them.

Jesus started way back in the Scriptures and explained it all to them. How long did it take? It probably wasn’t a three-point sermon with a poem and a funny story. It wasn’t watered down so it wouldn’t make them feel uncomfortable.

But it doesn’t sound like it took that long. He gave them the connections plainly and simply. Part of it was, though, the light bulb came on. They understood so it was easier to understand it all.

What Does This Mean?

These men were obviously hurting. Where was Jesus? Walking right beside them. How many times does that happen to us? We think God has left us, but He is right there all the time.

Jesus will initiate the comfort. Even if we have our doubts, He comes to us. We still mean that much to Him.

The different books in the Bible are not just stand alone stories. There is a connection — and that connection is Jesus. He is in the Old Testament as well as the New.

Look at Genesis. He was there at creation (Gen. 1: 26). Isaiah, Daniel, David, and others prophesied of His coming. The gospels tell of His time on earth. Revelation talks about when He is going to come again.

Jesus may have comforted the two men, but His main focus was instruction. It sounds like He gave a comprehensive but concise account of the Scriptures and what they mean.

Did they always get it? No. John 20: 9 says, “for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead” (NKJV). Here, it says, “But their eyes were kept from recognizing him” (Lk. 24: 16 NKJV).

Do we always get it? No. But then, God doesn’t lay it all on us at once. We get chunks of it at a time. This is so we can process it.

It means there will always be something more for us to learn, no matter our age. Young or old, there will always be something more He is revealing to us.

When do we learn of Jesus? It is during quiet reflection. It generally isn’t out among the crowd. It is when we have hidden ourselves away with just Him and us.

But we do need the crowd at times — the fellowship with other believers. They can comfort us when we are down. We can discuss what we believe and grow through what others have to share with us. It may be in a small group or a large group, but God has made us a fellowship of believers.

How Can We Apply This?

We are lucky to have the written Bible — in many versions. Even though my ladies and I grew up on the King James Version, it can be difficult to understand.

Well, all of the versions can be difficult to understand sometimes. Especially in some of Paul’s letters, we say we wish he would have said it in plain English.

But there are many times that, to understand it, we have to dig deeper than just a surface read. We have to actively seek God and what He is trying to tell us.

The surface read is good for us to get an idea of who God is. But once we start believing in Him and have turned our lives over to Him, He will start giving us a greater understanding.

To read How Can We Understand God?, click the button below.

I do several things when I am trying to figure out what a passage of scripture means. I frequently use a couple of different websites.

If I am looking at a complete passage, I use BibleGateway. This allows me to look at a whole chapter at a time to make sure I get the right context. I can choose the version in which I want to read. I can also search on topics, but I haven’t used that much.

If I am tripping on a single verse, I look it up in BibleHub. I like this because it gives me several versions at once. It also has access to several online commentaries, so I can see what others have said about it.

I look at the Holman Bible Dictionary when I want to define something or look up something specific, like festivals. It also gives me the background on the people mentioned in the Bible.

Generally, when I am searching on a topic, I just google it. I type in the question I am trying to answer. True, you get some interesting things sometimes, but as with anything, you have to evaluate material to see how it aligns with what you believe. It pulls up some Jewish sites sometimes, which gives a whole different perspective on some things.

I am still old school enough that I have print copies. I have a bunch of Bibles in different versions, a Bible dictionary, a Bible handbook, and Mom’s old Wycliffe commentary.

The Bible that Mom and Dad got me when I was a teenager is a reference edition. Take, for example, our focal verse. When I looked it up, it referenced Matthew 18: 20. That shot me to Ezekiel 48:35, and Zechariah 2:5 and 28:20. It can go on and on sometimes; other times, you hit a dead end real fast.

We should study God’s Word on our own, but we also need to study it in the company of other believers. Look for a church that believes as you do and is welcoming and open.

The moral of this story is that we need to seek what God wants us to know. God will make Himself known to us when the time is right. We just have to be open to Him.

Our Father. We are so thankful that we have so many resources through which we can hear Your Word. Our greatest resource is You Yourself. We are humbled by the fact that You come to us. You comfort us. You instruct us. Open the eyes of our hearts so that we may understand You. Grow us to who we need to be to further Your kingdom. Amen.

What do you think? What resources do you use to dig deeper into scriptures? Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.

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