Luke 24:13-35

Luke 24:13-35 Jesus walks with two men on the road to Emmaus and breaks bread with them

It is Easter Sunday.  Angels have told the women at the empty tomb that Jesus is alive, and Peter has verified that the tomb is empty.  Now, two disciples are walking 7 miles from Jerusalem to a village called Emmaus.

Verse 18 tells us that one of these disciples is named Cleopas.  It is possible that this is the same man as the “Clopas” in John 19:25, but there is no way of knowing.  An early tradition in the Church says that Clopas was the brother of Jesus’s adoptive father, Joseph.

Verse 14 tells us that the two disciples are talking with each other about all the things that have happened, and verses 19-24 provide the specifics of their conversation.  How do you think they feel about what has happened?

A man joins them on the road and walks with them, but they do not recognize that it is Jesus (verses 15-16).  Why do you think they don’t realize it is him?

There are several possibilities.  Jesus may have, in some supernatural way, prevented them from recognizing him.  They may be sufficiently overcome with grief that they aren’t paying much attention to the details of this man walking with them.  And Jesus’s resurrected body may look a bit different than his body previously looked, although it is still his body.

What stands out to you in verses 19-24, in their summary of what has happened?

Luke often points out the role of women in Jesus’s story.  In verse 22, the disciples note that some women have delivered the message, proclaimed by angels, that Jesus is alive.  But they clearly don’t believe it.  How are the words and contributions of women often ignored or treated as less trustworthy in our day?

Based on verse 19, what kind of person do they think Jesus is?

In verse 21, they say that they had hoped Jesus would “redeem” Israel.  What do you think that means to them?  What do you think they had hoped would happen?

They were probably envisioning that Jesus would bring political freedom from Roman oppression.  But Jesus’s mission was to free all people from sin and death and fill them with his Spirit in order to empower them to live as members of God’s kingdom even in the midst of the political kingdoms of the world.

Some scholars think that these disciples have lost faith or have given up on Jesus (verse 21), and that is why they are leaving Jerusalem while his whereabouts are still uncertain.  Others think that is an unfair interpretation.  If it is true, Jesus does not give up on them but comes after them.  And they immediately return to Jerusalem once they recognize him.  How might this be symbolic of our experience of repentance and renewed faith after times when we doubt?

In verse 25, in most translations Jesus calls them “foolish.”  However, the Greek word can mean “without thought” or “lacking in understanding” (Liddell and Scott, p. 145).  Jesus is saying they haven’t thought things through the way they should have.  What have they missed?

How do we sometimes fail to think things through and properly understand what God has taught us?

In verse 25, Jesus also says they are “slow of heart.”  The Greek word for heart, kardia, was seen as the core of who a person is, the center of a person’s thoughts, will, and emotions.  When Jesus says they have been slow of heart, what does he mean?

How are we sometimes slow of heart: slow to respond with our whole being to the reality of who Jesus is and what he seeks to do in our lives?

In verse 26, Jesus says that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer.  That was not the expectation of the Jewish people in Jesus’s time.  Christians see passages in the Old Testament that describe a man who suffers and apply them to Jesus (for example, Isaiah 50; Isaiah 53; Psalm 22).  (Jews often interpret those passages as applying to the nation of Israel as a whole.)

In verse 26, why does Jesus say that it was “necessary” for the Messiah to suffer?

In verse 27, how do you think the disciples felt when Jesus opened up their understanding of the many passages in the Old Testament that refer to Jesus?

How do you find Jesus in the Scriptures?

Around AD 140, a Christian theologian named Marcion argued that the Christian canon (i.e., the Christian Bible) should not include any books from the Old Testament.  This was rejected and the early Church excommunicated Marcion when he persisted.  Why is the Old Testament so important to Christians?

Do you feel like you have a good understanding of the Old Testament passages that refer to Jesus, or is that something you might want to explore further?  If you think more is needed, what can you do about it?

In verse 28, why do you think Jesus acted like he was going to travel further?

In verse 29, the disciples say, “Stay with us.”  Why do you think they are so eager to keep this traveler with them?

Those words “Stay with us” might be good words for us to say to Jesus.  How can we keep inviting Jesus to stay with us by the way we live?

What does Jesus do in verse 30?  What does it remind you of?

What Jesus does here is what Jews would do at the beginning of a meal.  However, it is also what Jesus did at the Last Supper (Luke 22:19).

Compare Jesus’s actions in verse 30 with his actions at the Last Supper in Luke 22:19, where he also “took . . . said the blessing . . . broke . . . and gave.”  Jesus chose to join the disciples at a meal, bless the bread, and break it and share it.  In doing so, he linked his first appearance in Luke’s Gospel with the Last Supper.  Since he also said, “Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19), what he did at Emmaus is connected to what we call “Holy Communion” or “the Eucharist.”  Why do you think Jesus chose to include Eucharistic imagery in his first appearance after his resurrection?

Verse 31 tells us that when Jesus blessed the bread, broke it, and gave it to the disciples, it was then that their eyes were opened and they recognized him.  Why do you think that was the moment they recognized him?

There is a symbolic meaning when Luke says their eyes were opened (verse 31).  How does the symbolism of their eyes being opened serve as a good image of what it means to come to faith in Jesus?

How are our eyes “opened” when we gather for the breaking of the bread?

None of this story would have happened if the disciples had not shown hospitality to a stranger.  What does that say to us?

At the Last Supper in Luke 22:16-18, Jesus says that he will not eat and drink with his disciples again until the Passover is fulfilled in the kingdom of God (22:16) or until the kingdom of God comes (22:18).  How was that fulfilled?

What do you think is the turning point or high point in this story: The disciples’ hospitality which brought Jesus to their table?  Jesus’s implicit forgiveness of their unbelief?  The breaking of the bread?  The extended Bible lesson as they walked?  Something else?

What do you most need to take from this story and apply in your life today?

In verse 32, the disciples say, “Were not our hearts burning within us” as he opened the Scriptures to them?  What do they mean?

How does your heart burn within you when you see new insights from the Scriptures?

Jesus’s extended Bible Study with the disciples as they walk shows how important Bible Study is.  Does your church put enough emphasis on helping people study the Bible?  What more could be done?

The disciples return to Jerusalem and receive great news from the apostles and other disciples who are gathered together: Jesus has appeared to Peter.  None of the Gospels tell us about this meeting between Jesus and Peter.  Why do you think Jesus made a separate appearance to Peter, and what do you think they talked about?

Read Luke 22:32-34, where Jesus says he will pray for Peter.  What difference do you think that made?

Do you think of Jesus praying for you?  Do you think of his sacrifice on the Cross as a prayer offering for you?  In what ways is Jesus bringing you before the Father even now?

In Luke 22:32, Jesus tells Peter, “When you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”  Do you think they talked about that when Jesus appeared to Peter?  How do you think Peter went about trying to fulfill that command?

Take a step back and consider this:

Most Christian denominations see images of both the Word of God and the sacrament of Holy Communion or the Eucharist in this story.  The disciples learn from Jesus as he teaches from the Old Testament and then join him in the breaking of the bread.

Our worship services include readings from the Bible (with a sermon exploring its implications for our lives) and a celebration of Holy Communion (whether daily, weekly, or quarterly, depending on the denomination).

Why are both of those elements (word and sacrament) central to our worship services?

How do you recognize Jesus in the Word of God?

How do you recognize Jesus in the sacrament of Holy Communion?