Recap: hard to believe we covered all of this. Send any questions if you have any. Ron
1. Who are the two disciples walking to Emmaus?
The were relatives of Jesus... Cleopas was either the brother, or brother-in-law, of St. Joseph, which would make him Jesus’ uncle. Cleopas and his son, Simeon, were disciples. It is thought that Cleopas and Simeon were the two disciples walking to Emmaus.
2. How would Cleopas and Simeon know everything about what happened at the tomb that morning?
Read earlier verse 24:9 “...and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the Eleven and to all the rest.” (“they” are the women who followed Jesus from Galilee, and included Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James; “to all the rest” refers to other disciples, which would include Cleopas...)
3. Why do you suppose the two disciples are leaving Jerusalem the morning of the Resurrection?
The two disciples are clearly discouraged, but discouragement is a sign of lack of faith. Consider: The women have said that the Lord has risen, which is what the Lord said would happen, and yet they leave that same morning?
4. Why don't the two disciples recognize Jesus as the man walking with them?
The literal Greek: "their eyes were held/bound so that they could not know him." The only question is whether this means that Jesus didn’t allow them to see, or if their blindness was self-imposed; either way, it seems tied to a lack of faith. Also notice how they described Jesus? As the Son of God or Son of Man? No. As the Messiah? No. As a mighty prophet. Clearly they have lowered their sights. It appears yet another case where a lack of faith clouded their brains.
5. "Oh, foolish men and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke!"
First part is an admonishment from Jesus, which only confirms the lack of faith. The 2nd part shows Son of God holds all the OT scripture valuable, not just the Torah (Sadducees).
6. Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into his glory?
a) Was it “necessary” given that God is all-powerful?
It was not necessary in the absolute sense, for God is, indeed, all-powerful. But it can be conditionally necessary, given God seeks to meet certain conditions. Clearly, God had the foreknowledge of what would happen, such that the prophets would be able to write about the Suffering Servant.
b) Does God’s foreknowledge mean God planned it?
No. God is honoring man’s free will.
c) Does this mean God could have done it differently?
Sure. Yet, God decided to let this happen. But why?
Let’s be clear: it was humanity that chose to torture and kill Jesus, not God. God chose to allow these events to happen; but then through them, He would accomplish everything that needed to be accomplished.
SUCH AS:
(1) In the Fall of Man, humans were not obedient. Human pride doesn’t like the word obedient, even when its for our own good. Was there a lesson in obedience in Jesus’ suffering?
(2) At our Fall, humans did not receive spiritual (eternal) judgement, which is what was meant by their not being allowed to eat from the Tree of Life in their fallen state. So, there was a suspension of justice. There still is. For justice to be pure/perfect, the scales of justice must be balanced. Can mankind possibly pay for all its sins? And not only for our past and present sins, but possibly pay if forward as well? No, mankind could not; but God could, if he only became man. Did Jesus’ passion (suffering and death) accomplish this? Yes, because God accepted it as payment. Because that made sense? No. Because of love.
(3) As Jesus, himself, said: the greatest love anyone can have is to lay his life down for his friends. If God truly believes this, if God IS love, should He not be willing to put His money where His mouth is? And is this not exactly what happened?
(4) Humans needed to learn that as great as love truly is, it comes with a cost. Love that bears no little is no love at all. The greater one is willing to give up, or suffer, for another, the greater the love. What did God love cost Him? Just look at Jesus’ suffering and death.
(5) Speaking of love (again), how could a mysterious, spiritual/non-human, all-powerful and all-presentful God convince us humans that He really did love us? Probably the best way was to become a human; to walk in their shoes and suffer with them; to personally teach them their purpose for existence and what they must do; and by dying for us if it mean opening the gates of heaven. Was this accomplished? I don’t know. Perhaps humans still want more.
(6) One other thing, regarding angels. In the realm of spiritual beings, humans are not at the top of the pecking order. In fact, we seem to be at the bottom. Tradition has it that some of the angels were rather put off by the whole idea of creating the lowly humans who would then fail immediately and then God would somehow go through a lot of trouble bailing them out. Why bother with all this? Why create them in the first place? Yet God did it anyway, and the story goes that this is why Lucifer bolted with the third of the angels. What effect do you think God’s act had on the dignity of humans? God becoming one of us? My guess is that this raised it infinitely.
(7) Since humility is so important to God, what could be greater than being willing to empty yourself of your pure divinity to become a human slug? Why else would God do this? Was humility exemplified by Him being born to a poor family in an occupied country? By choosing to spend time with the outcasts and sinners of that time? By choosing the motley crew for 12 Apostles just to show that nobodies could be great in the Kingdom of God? By choosing to take the punishment he did and not complain but instead forgive? If these didn't define the value God places on humility, then nothing could.
7. What does Jesus mean when he says he needed to do these things in order to "enter into his glory"?
To "enter into his glory" is the same as entering into His Kingdom
Once this Divine decision was made a gazillion years ago, Jesus had to actually do all these things. To undo the Fall, He had to live a human life (what spiritual being would want to do that?); he had to not sin; he had to be obedient; he had to fulfill all the Scriptures; and he had to love and forgive right to the end on the cross. THIS was the only way to break the chain of human slavery to sin and death. He conquered evil with love and then he stepped onto the threshold of human death and became our new doorway.
8. Jesus begins to teach them, beginning with the Torah and continuing with the books of the prophets.
Is Jesus giving them a bible study class? If so, what might we learn from Him?
The Jesus explains how all the OT passages and prophecies spoke about Him and His mission to save humans. In other words, typology!- where everything in the OT was a “type” of something in the New. Like the Passover in the OT was a type of the New Passover to come. The Exodus from slavery in Egypt was a TYPE of the New Exodus Jesus was going to bring us through his suffering and death. So, Christian theologians didn't come up with this methodology, Jesus did!
9. As they approached the village to which they were going, he gave the impression that he was going on farther. But they urged him, "Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over." So he went in to stay with them.
- Notice that Jesus does not force His company on them.
- Why do you think they insisted Jesus stay with them? It appears they had a burning desire to hear more. The truth is like that. And the desire for truth is part of all humans; it’s in our spiritual genetics.
10. What takes place during the meal that "opens their eyes" concerning the traveler's true identity?
Eyes were opened? Typologically speaking, where has this terminology been used before? See Genesis 3:7: "Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked…” This was immediately after the Fall. Jesus is in the midst of a New Creation, remember? Only this time, it is a reversal of the condition of Adam and Eve when their "eyes were opened" to sin.
Jesus first opens their eyes to the Scriptures en route to Emmaus. Now for the grand finale: Jesus opens their eyes to who he is – to his presence – at the breaking of the bread.
By the way… Scriptures, Explanation, Breaking of the Bread… have we not just witnessed the Mass?
BUT HOLD ON, Cleopas and Simeon were NOT apostles, which means they were NOT at the Last Supper. What's going on here?
That’s correct, the two disciples made no connection to the Last Supper. How could they? They simply recognized Jesus at the breaking of the bread. Read on…
11. The two disciples rush back to Jerusalem to tell the eleven. What's happens?
- The Eleven tell the two disciples that the Lord has indeed risen! Then what?
- Then the two disciples tell their whole story and conclude by saying how, when Jesus broke bread with them, they suddenly recognized it was Jesus and then, bam! he was gone.
Well, if you were the Apostles listening to this, would you not have said, "Say what? He just disappeared? Hold on and back up a second. What exactly did he say?"
"Uh, well, let's see, we were at table, he took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to us. That's it, then he was gone!"
The Eleven would have easily connected the dots, and said, “Holy Moses and Mother of Jesus!”
Compare Emmaus experience to Last Supper:
Road to Emmaus Last Supper (Luke 22:14-19)
... while he was with them at table ... he took his place at table with the apostles
... he took the bread …Then he took the bread
... said the blessing ...said the blessing
...broke it and gave it to them ...broke it and gave it to them
.... the Apostles would have recalled, "Jesus is reminding us that He is present in the bread, and he did exactly what he told us to do at our Last Passover meal. And, clearly, it is for everyone, not just for us!"
At the end of Matthew (28:20) when Jesus said, "And behold, I will be with you until the end of the age (time)" he meant more than just spiritually, but also in the breaking of the bread. Thus, He would never be limited by time or space (location) – he could literally be all over the world at the same time.
12. Is there any relevance to the Emmaus story for us now?
We say that if Jesus' messages are from God himself who came here to be one of us – then one would expect these stories to many levels of meaning; perhaps infinite, so they could conceivably meet each of us wherever we are in our lives. If that’s true, then there ought to at least be some meaning in the Emmaus story of us now.
The Emmaus story is kind of in undefined space. We don't really know who the characters are, or where they are going. In a sense, they could easily be us.
It seems the two disciples were fairly easily discouraged; even walking away from Jerusalem, which was the very place where Jesus came to deliver them from slavery (to sin), and where He had just been resurrected. Yes, yes, we’ve heard it all before; but we need to be moving on. We’re busy, you see.
Their discouragement and lack of faith … our discouragement and lack of faith … prevents us from seeing Jesus, even when he is right next to us.
It was also easy for the two disciples to find excuses to doubt, such as, "Well, it was the women who went to the tomb and saw him, women!” But, at the end of the day, were their excuses any worse or different than our own? Would our excuses just be more sophisticated?
Just like the two discouraged disciples when they re-engaged with Scripture, do we also begin to find our connection again? Perhaps, then, we begin to see Jesus more clearly, or more closely? Even better, can we begin to see him when He breaks the bread with us?
Still, Jesus respects our free will and doesn't force himself on us. Perhaps, occasionally, we may wish he did force himself on us! But then, it wouldn't be long before humans – or ourselves – would bitterly complain that it should be our choice, not God’s.
And so it is.
So, it’s not so hard to see that the two disciples from 2000 years ago are really just two humans anytime on the way to Emmaus. And the story is placed in Scripture not for them 2000 years ago, but for us, in the hope that some of us might turn around and head back.
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