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LESSONS ON THE EMMAUS ROAD
“And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself” (Luke 24: 27)

The passage in Luke 24: 13-32 gives us a fascinating account of the Lord’s gracious ministry to His two dejected followers on the road to Emmaus. Luke gives the name of only one of them - Cleopas (v. 18).

The two travellers were in deep conversation over the dramatic events of the past few days: “Was Jesus truly the Messiah? What do we make out of His death, and now the latest news of His resurrection? What are we to do?” As they walked along, “… Jesus drew near, and went with them. But their eyes were holden that they should not know Him” (vv. 15-16). The “Stranger” wanted to know the reason for their sad discourse.

Answering the Lord, they spoke of their “lost” hope and bitter disappointment when the religious leaders crucified their Lord and Master : “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and have crucified Him. But we trusted that it had been He which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done” (v. 19-21). “We were so full of hope, that this had been the Messiah we had long waited for; we had expected great things from Him Who was the promised ‘Consolation of Israel’ (Lk. 2: 25); but, this being the third day since He died, we now think that we are mistaken.” “The concept of the Messiah being a temporal Saviour, was so deeply rooted in the minds of the disciples, that it remained here with them, even after He was risen from the dead. They here acknowledged Him to be a prophet mighty in deed and in word, but they doubted His Messiahship. “They could not reconcile the ignominy of His death with the grandeur of His office; nor conceive how the infamy of a cross was consistent with the glory of a king” - William Burkitt.

To add to their confusion, they had received some remarkable news that morning : “Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre; And when they found not His body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that He was alive. And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but Him they saw not” (vv. 22-24).

The Best of Teachers

Along the seven-mile journey, the “Stranger” condescended to minister to the despondent duo. Their journey turned out to be a most profitable one for they had for their Companion, the Best of teachers – “the interpreter one of a thousand, in Whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” – C H Spurgeon. Graciously, the Lord cleared their doubts and encouraged them with the truth of God’s prophetic words.

The Best of Books

Reproving them for the weak faith, the Lord proceeded to instruct them from the Old Testament: “O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself” (vv. 25-27). He reproached them for not seeing what He had Himself so clearly predicted, and what had been foretold of Him by the prophets.

Jesus taught the two disciples from Moses (the Torah), the Psalms (the “writings”), and the Prophets (Isaiah to Malachi) which comprised the whole of the Old Testament Scriptures. “The unrivalled tutor used as His class-book the best of books. Although able to reveal fresh truth, He preferred to expound the old. He knew by His omniscience what was the most instructive way of teaching, and by turning at once to Moses and the prophets, He showed us that the surest road to wisdom is not speculation, reasoning, or reading human books, but meditation upon the Word of God – Spurgeon.

The Best of Subjects

The favoured pair was led to consider the best of subjects, for Jesus spoke of Himself. Our Lord must have pointed to the “proto-evangel” in Genesis 3: 15, quoted from the Messianic Psalms (probably Psalm 22), and expounded out of the prophets, the classic chapter of Isaiah 53 – “in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (v. 27).

“The Master of the House unlocked His own doors, conducted the guests to His table, and placed His own dainties upon it. He who hid the treasure in the field Himself guided the searchers to it. Our Lord would naturally discourse upon the sweetest of topics, and He could find none sweeter than His own person and work: with an eye to these we should always search the Word” – Spurgeon.

What a joy and privilege to be taught by the Risen Saviour Himself! When the two disciples finally realised that it was the Lord Who had ministered to them, “they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the scriptures?” (v. 32). When they now recalled His instructions, they remembered how His words brought them joy and comfort. O for grace to study the precious Word of God with our risen Lord as both our Teacher and our Subject! Thank God that He has today given us the Spirit of Christ to enlighten us in the truths of Holy Scriptures. May we learn much of the Lord and grow in the grace and knowledge of our Saviour!