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LUKE - Christ, the Savior of the World
A Bible Study Course on the Gospel of Christ according to Luke
PART 6 - THE REPORT OF CHRIST'S SUFFERINGS, DEATH, AND RESURRECTION (Luke 22 - 24)
14. The Disciples Going to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35)
LUKE 24:25-31
25 Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” 27 And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. 28 Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther. 29 But they constrained Him, saying, “Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.” And He went in to stay with them. 30 Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.
After the disciples finished speaking, and testified to the end of their hope, Jesus began his hard lesson to them. He did not speak to them gently with merciful words, but rebuked them, for they were foolish men. Those who hold high diplomas and impressive titles remain ignorant and foolish as long as they do not know Christ as Lord, for they do not know the Son of God and his redemption.
This foolishness is not due to lack of intellectual activity in the brain, but is a result of slowness of heart to believe the word of the gospel. Today, we are inclined to unbelief. We believe in natural sciences and technology more than we trust the words of the prophet Isaiah, and the indications of John the Baptist. In the issues of climate, wars, and economics we rely on radios and newspapers’ reports more than we depend on our prayer and our reading in the Bible.
Jesus commanded the men to believe in all the sayings of the prophets, as the child believes the sayings of his mother. They believed and understood much of, but not all of God’s word, and were sure of God’s oneness, but could not grasp the thought that God had a son. They were sure of God’s mightiness and of Christ’s coming authority, but could not understand his crucifixion. Consequently they did not understand the meaning of the word “must” in Jesus’ sufferings as the Lamb of God to redeem the world, nor did they know the depth of wickedness of the human heart. They did not sense their need of salvation, and the fact that the only way to God was through the cross. There is no salvation in any one else but him who was crucified. The cross is the door to the glory of God. Christ was born to die for us, and open to us the door leading to his Father. Without being reconciled with God in Christ we have no communion with the Holy One, as the apostle Paul said: “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Abraham’s descendants could not grasp that the Holy One needed a son as a Lamb and a Mediator to redeem the world. Christ toiled along the way from Jerusalem to Emmaus to expound all the promises of the Torah, the Psalms, and the Prophets concerning his sonship and cross, so that these dull Jews might grasp his divinity in his humanity.
Would that we were participants in Bible study at the hands of Jesus Christ. God himself explained his word to men. So pray to Christ that he may clarify to you the meanings of his sufferings, death, and resurrection. There the Holy Spirit dwells in the heart and enlightens the thoughts of the mind, for Christ personally stands by us, inspires us with divine truth, and guides us to his truthful words. Will you ask him about his revealed word, or will you continue in your natural human foolishness?
When they arrived at their simple house in the village of Emmaus, Jesus tested his hearers to see if they wished to penetrate more deeply into his word, or were tired of hearing him, and satisfied their knowledge. Were their heads filled with the sermon during the two hours they spent with the Teacher Jesus, or were their hearts still hungry for the word of life? So Jesus acted as if he were going farther.
The disciples passed this test for they insisted that Jesus spend the night with them. They taught us the prayer inspired by the Holy Spirit which still applies to us, “Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.” Is this petition your prayer too? Do you constrain Jesus to abide with you day and night, and do not reject his fellowship? The disciples did not allow Jesus to continue on his way, urged him to stay with them.
Blessed are the homes and the city to which this King comes. God comes to men, and is not ashamed to live in our humble homes. Your house will become God’s house if you pressingly invite him to abide with you, that you may hear his word.
When Jesus sat down to eat with his followers, the Lord did not wait until the master of the house blessed the bread, but took bread himself, as he did when he fed the five thousand, also at the beginning of the last Lord’s Supper. Looking up to heaven, he blessed and broke the bread as a token of our unity with him, and gave the loaves to the disciples, as God gives his good gifts to his creatures, in his love which passes knowledge.
Immediately the scales fell from their eyes, and they saw him to be Jesus. They tried to touch him and talk to him, but he vanished out of their sight. They had known him for certain when he undertook the office of the master of the house, which he performed as he had always done, and as what he used to do among his disciples. It was he. He was present and did not leave them even though they could no longer him.
PRAYER: O Lord, You are the Living One. Forgive my living independently, away from you. I believe in your presence with me. Teach me to think and act before you, and speak in your Spirit, that I may listen to your word at all times. We all do not understand your gospel unless you enlighten us. Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.
QUESTION 145: Why did Jesus rebuke the two disciples, saying to them, “O foolish ones!” while they spoke about him and believed in him?