Proclaimer Blog
Exegetical reflections on Luke ch.24, part 2
Now to the famous Emmaus Road, vs.13-35.
Much more than this could be said, but here are a couple of thoughts:
1) Central to this event as Luke tells it is the contrast between what the Emmaus Two expected of the Messiah (vs.19-24), and what Jesus says the Messiah actually had to do (vs.25-27).A careful contrasting of these two portions gets us to the heart of things, I think. They expected that he would do for their nation the very things that they themselves wanted done for their nation: sort out the Romans, and renew the nation’s life and status. In their expectation, God’s plans just happened to include the things that they themselves wanted.
Jesus, though, uses Scripture to describe God’s plan for the Messiah entirely without reference to the redemption of the nation which so concerns them. For Jesus, it is all about the Messiah’s glory, which had to be preceded by the very suffering which the Emmaus Two thought proved his defeat. If we expect God to work in ways that will also just happen to lead to our glory and comfort here and now, most of us will be disappointed in him. But if we expect that he will work to bring the Messiah glory – and that through suffering, as throughout Scripture – then he will never disappoint us.
2) How is it that they came to recognise him at the breaking of the bread (vs.30-31, 35)? Most evangelicals reject any overt reference to the Lord’s Supper, and have sometimes wondered if the disciples noticed the nail-marks in his hands at that point. Luke, though, makes no reference to that, so that can only be guess-work. What Luke does describe is Jesus acting as host at a meal at which is he technically a guest (v.30). That points us in the right direction, I think. Twice before, Luke has used similar words to describe Jesus hosting a meal: the feeding of the five thousand (9.16) and the last supper (22.19). In the first of these, he is the host who provides for the Lord’s people in the wilderness, and in the second he is the provider of the atoning sacrifice for sin.
This suggests that Luke is showing us that the risen Christ was recognised as risen when he was seen to be the Provider who was still among his people. Faith in the resurrection is therefore not just faith in a miracle, but is trust in Jesus as the provider of all that his people need to cover their sins and to sustain them.