Luke 24:13-35: The Road to Emmaus

Whatever the motivation behind it, part of the miracle of it is that this story becomes a parable of Salvation for those of us who came after. We are the Disciples on the road to Emmaus. We are in the midst of our own journeys of life. 

Introduction

(Read once to be introduced to the series. After that skip this to go right to the good stuff!) 

Welcome to my Devotions Series. This series features devotions based on the Scriptures of the Common Lectionary. The series is being prepared for eventual and hopeful print publication.

By going to my Main Article List you can also find the complete collection posted on Gather, including the additional readings not posted to any groups. New Scriptures selections will be posted every Monday through Thursday to my main page and to my groups.

The series is also posted and regularly updated on my official blog every Monday, with the entire selections for the following Sunday: http://www.cedwardsellner.blogspot.com/

You can find a host of additional information, online resources and links to my other work there. This includes a cross-referenced Archive that lists the various Sundays, but then also lists all currently published Devotions by their sequence in Scripture as well as a Topical Index.

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Each Scripture is also hyperlinked to the online Bible at Bible Gateway in the NIV version I used in preparing the series.

As I mentioned this series is being prepared for print publication, so I of course would welcome any and all feedback, either through Gather, or directly to cedwardsellner@aol.com

Lectionary Series Year A: Third Sunday of Easter
Luke 24:13-35 (Read it on Bible Gateway)
The Road to Emmaus
The passage from Luke for this week continues with Jesus' resurrection and appearances to various Disciples. Its also one of my favorite Scripture passages, and yes, I have quite a few of those. This passage is a wonderful story of a mysterious encounter and a wonderful revelation.

This story takes place still on that first Easter Sunday, just a few hours after the first encounter between the women and Jesus at the tomb. We find two of the Disciples (not the inner circle of eleven, but disciples nonetheless) on the road to Emmaus. We're not sure why they were on that road, but the passage does let us know that even though they had heard the story from the women at the tomb, they did not personally believe that Christ was alive. Though Disciples, they only refer to Jesus as a 'prophet' and state that they had 'hoped' he was the Messiah, with the obvious implication that they had now lost that faith.

Scripture then tells us that Jesus appears to them and his identity was kept from them. That used to always interest me when I read this Scripture as a young man, it was puzzling. Was Jesus playing with them? Was he wanting to see what they really thought of him? Was he like the king out legend who dons beggar's robes to walk among his people in order to see what they really think of him? While the passage does not come right out and say what the purpose was in this approach, the sequence of actions that follow points out some clues.

Jesus plays naïve and clueless at first with his question of "what things?" They then share the sequence of events that had taken place over the prior three years, then specifically, the last three days. They tell this stranger briefly about Jesus' ministry and then his death and supposed disappearance, not knowing they tell Jesus himself.

Then we come to the turning point of the story. Jesus, still veiled, confronts them, then begins teaching them. He shares with them at length about what Hebrew Scripture had to say about this Messiah and what he must go through. Now, it may be that Jesus' identity was kept from them simply that they might hear what he had to say. After all, most likely if Jesus had appeared to them and they knew who he was right away, their minds would have been far too overwhelmed with joy, relief, wonder and awe to listen to a discussion on Scripture. Jesus probably would have gone on talking, and the whole while they would have kept thinking "he's alive! He's really, really alive!" However, it may also be that Jesus taught this while still veiled in order to re-awaken the hope in them to give them the chance to come around to believing.

As they reached Emmaus, Scripture tells us Jesus feigned going on further, as if to see if they would invite him to stay. Had they taken in his words and teaching? Had they opened themselves to that possibility? When they do, Jesus accepts their invitation, breaks bread and is revealed.

Whatever the motivation behind it, part of the miracle of it is that this story becomes a parable of Salvation for those of us who came after. We are the Disciples on the road to Emmaus. We are in the midst of our own journeys of life. We no doubt have encountered this Jesus of Nazareth, heard of him, know he was a great man that did great things. We're given the opportunity to come directly to Scripture to learn all those things put out that Jesus shared with those Disciples, no doubt many of which have been Scriptures we've been looking at right here in these Devotions. Ultimately, Scripture is the Word of God, as is Christ himself, so, we receive the benefit of the teaching. Then the question for us becomes, are we willing to welcome it? Are we willing to take the chance? Are we willing to see the possibility and potential? Are we open to inviting those teachings into our life and to accept them?

If we do, we can also be like those Disciples on the Road to Emmaus, who once they have extended the invitation and welcomed the 'teacher' into their lives, asking him to bide a while with them, we just might be surprised to have Christ revealed to us in all his glory and wonder.

For the complete listing of our Devotions, see our Devotions Archive