Notes to Download: Road to Emmaus
Luke 24:13 Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 And they talked together of all these things which had happened. 15 So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. 16 But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him. 17 He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?” They stood still, their faces downcast. Then the one still whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, “Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have you not known the things which happened there in these days?”
A carpenter and teacher, a wonder-worker and healer, a raiser of the dead, a calmer of the sea, the feeder of the famished multitudes – touching lepers, telling stories, sheathing the treacherous mouths of enemies – walking waves, blessing children, and sinner’s guest.
Jesus was hope; their hope. And they loved Him.
A prophet? Certainly! The Messiah? Yes. They held it in their hearts. They spoke it with their tongues. They looked eagerly for the fulfillment of this — their greatest hope. They ate it. They slept it. They prayed it.
“O God, let it be now! Let our eyes see Messiah.
Let our eyes behold Your Chosen One seated
on David’s throne in Jerusalem.”
It was for this they had come early.
This was Passover, the time of deliverance.
Exodus means redemption. Redemption means the restoration of that which was lost to the original owner.
For weeks, the nation of Judah had been a full bow. Prophecies of Daniel 9 talked about the messiah the prince —which is why a nation committed suicide in A.D. 70 in Rebellion against Rome.
And now the Feast of Freedom had come. Jesus would surely act now. He must act! Oh, how much they wanted to be a part of it all; to see the ancient prophecies fulfilled, to sing Messiah’s praise, to walk it, talk it, touch it, and live it with Jesus.
But now Jesus was dead, and they turned their backs on Jerusalem. Jesus had chosen the day he was to ride into Jerusalem…Psalms of Ascent – Messiah the king.
How their hearts had swelled as the crowds cheered Jesus! He had ridden into Jerusalem on the customary kingly donkey, amid songs and shouts, with palm branches waving and cloaks laid on the cobbles. How they had exulted when the news spread that He had taken possession of the temple and driven out the money changers!
To cleanse, clear and control the temple was the first duty of a Deuteronomic King.
They had looked for the crown, the scepter, and the throne to follow.
Jesus said Himself: The stones would cry out if they did not… He asked for the colt to ride on. He was part of the planning.
Surely it was to be now — the liberation and restoration of Israel.
Instead they had seen the judgment fall, the cross and the tomb. Their brightest hopes died on Calvary. Their fondest dreams were buried in a tomb. Ahead lay only the empty road and the shadows.
With crushed hope, and lost dreams, they ran away.
Luke 13:17 …They stood still, their faces downcast.
They left the 11 behind. They are traveling alone to get out of town. They are leaving behind their losses: dead dreams on empty crosses. Were they one of those who said, Come down off the cross! Save us!
Are we like them, staring at our crosses and crying that God take us off them?
Mark 15:30 Save thyself, and come down from the cross. (KJV)
Mark 15:32 Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reviled him. (KJV)
And they tell Jesus those fateful words we all so often cry out to God.
Luke 24:21 But we hoped that it was he who should redeem Israel. Yea and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things came to pass.
Note, Jesus Christ never corrected any of the Disciples about the restoration of Israel and Him sitting on David’s Throne.
We had hoped. We had an idea of what should happen and the opposite happened.
We had dreams – Here we are in a prison. Here we have lost our kids. We have ruined our lives.
Some of us are leaving marriages. Here we are with those two lonely sad guys, on a road away from where we should be.
Are we on a road away from where we should be…? But Jesus meets them in suffering and shows how he suffered, and the cross. He has 40 days to wrap everything up with His disciples, but He spends the first afternoon with two sad men who have lost hope.
