Are you on the road with Jesus beside you? on Luke 24:13-35 by Neil & Virginia Lettinga - April 27 2025

Today we're returning to Luke.  Luke is the author of the books of Acts.  That's the Bible book we're studying as a church and today we are finishing  a bit of a "break" that we took for the special weeks around Easter.  You may remember that Luke wrote two of the books in the New Testament.  Today our Bible text comes from the last chapter of his first book, called the Gospel of Luke.

Most of the Bible's accounts of Jesus' life were written by men who had walked with Jesus. Luke is different.  He wasn't among the first disciples.  And he wasn't a Jew.  Luke seems to become a believer through the Apostle Paul's preaching.  If you look carefully at Acts chapter 16, you'll see when Luke joins Paul on his missionary travels.  

Though he wasn't among the first disciples, Luke gives us a wonderful account of Jesus' life.  He tells us in the first few verses of his gospel that his account of Jesus' life is the result of "careful investigation of everything" about Jesus. 

(1) Luke is a researcher.  And Luke tells us that his goal is to create an "orderly account."  

(2) Luke values clarity and organization.  And Luke tells us that the point of what he writes is to give us confidence in what we believe. 

(3) Luke loves God's people. 

Research, organization & love for God's people makes Luke a wonderful author through whom the Holy Spirit works.

A little background to the story:  It was the Sunday after Good Friday. 

Q: What does that mean? (Easter Sunday.  the RESURRECTION Day!)

But this is NOT yet a moment of joy and rejoicing.  

The women who showed up at the tomb with spices were shocked to find the stone rolled back and Jesus' grave empty.  They were frightened and confused.  

Luke tells us that "Two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning" then proclaimed to the women that Jesus has risen and was alive.  The women raced back to tell the 11 disciples  

Q: What is the disciples reaction?  

The disciples don't believe the women.  They think the women are talking nonsense.  Think what this must have felt like.  The men are heartbroken over Jesus' death, frightened about their own lives and safety, and think the women have just tipped over the edge.  The women must have felt indignant at the men... and bewildered about what they had seen... and surely hanging on to hope.  Confused hope, but hope. That's where today's Scripture starts.

Luke writes that "after his suffering... Jesus gave many convincing proofs that he was alive...over a period of forty days and spoke about the Kingdom of God..." Acts 1:3.  

Q: So why doesn't the Bible tell us more of the things Jesus said and did after the resurrection?  

(That's a question to tuck in your head...and we'll share our ideas about it at the end.)

At the very least, it is good to pay attention to the few post-resurrection stories that the gospel authors DO share.  Luke and John each share a major story.  

Remember, Luke announced on his 1st page that wants to give an "orderly account." You can see his organization in the post-resurrection appearance we will look at today.  Part of his organizational bent shows up in the QUESTIONS that Luke uses to move the story along.  

So as we read the Bible, watch for 5 questions. What are they?  Who asks them? 

Today our text is a story about Jesus from after his resurrection.  Luke 24:13-35. 

It's an exciting story, isn't it?

Cleopas and his friend were heading home feeling disappointed and worried.  They were sad, troubled and confused. 

Have you ever felt anything like that?  Expectations dashed.  Hopes upended.  Who knows what's next.  

We know these feelings, don't we?  We, too, have prayed and felt unheard as terrible things unfolded.  But on the road to Emmaus the New Creation is starting.  With the resurrection, the world has changed.

1. Because Jesus joins the two on the road.  

This is the first of five points we'd like to highlight from this text. 

The two travellers didn’t expect Jesus or recognize him.

But he joined them.   He joined them. 

For centuries this image of the risen Jesus joining his followers – unannounced, unexpected, unrecognized – 

has comforted believers. 

Think about it!  

We too can think of this and think of this moment and feel comforted.  Jesus walks with his people. Not that they recognize him at first!  In fact, that is one of the features of the risen Christ. There is something about him that is so different no one recognizes him at first.  Mary didn't at the tomb. Neither do these two disciples.  Later the 11 disciples will be slow to recognize him -- both in the upper room and on the beach. 

So Jesus joined the two walking to Emmaus without their invitation. Without them having any expectation of this.

And still...      Jesus showed up and walked with them. Jesus comes and walks with his people.  Watch for him walking beside you.

2. Jesus encourages the two to tell him what’s on their minds.

… even though he knew it all already…  Of course he did.  He's God.  But Jesus asked.  In fact, he asks twice.  

(Q: Did you note the question in vs 17 and vs 19?)

I think that we should hear Jesus asking the disciples from Emmaus to tell him what's on their minds and take courage when we pray. 

Have you ever hesitated to pray, because “God already knows...”  So what's the point? And that's true.  Sort of. But here,  Jesus wants to hear from his followers. He wants to hear from you and me, as well.

Jesus is clear about this on the road to Emmaus. He is ready to hear what we know from our vantage point. This should encourage us to have more, longer and deeper conversations with God.

3. Jesus opens the Scriptures for his disciples

He scolds them a bit first.  (What's the question that shows this to us?  Question 4: "Didn't the Messiah have to suffer these things?") 

They had just told him so much that was correct in what they experienced of Jesus and what they had seen in Jesus. They "hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel."  But they were missing many of the ways in which Jesus fit with the Old Testament Scripture. 

Until Jesus helps them understand the Scripture, the disciples don’t really get it.   

In the Reformed churches, we’re part of a tradition that emphasizes this.  

Did you know that?  John Calvin says that the Holy Spirit gives Christians “eyeglasses” that allow them to read the Bible clearly and rightly.  Without these glasses, people can’t grasp the Bible truly.  It's an interesting way to think of it.  Maybe you've experienced this in your life?

Luke emphasizes that Jesus opens Scripture – and surely Luke wants his readers(us)  to know that we need the Spirit of Christ to open Scripture for us, too. In fact, Luke repeats this theme multiple times in this chapter.  Verse 27 tells us that Jesus opens the Scriptures to the couple in Emmaus. Then Luke hammers it again in verse 32, 

And Luke writes something similar in verses 44 & 45, when Jesus shows up to the disciples gathered behind a locked door in the upper room.   Jesus “opens their minds to the Scriptures."

Maybe you pray for Jesus to open your eyes as you read the Bible?  That is a great way to read Scripture! 

May His Spirit open our minds and hearts as we read.  We need Jesus to open the meaning to us. 

The first disciples had followed Jesus loyally for years.  They were solid, Scripture-trained Jews.  But STILL they missed vital truths -- until Jesus opened Scripture for them. Surely we should be careful to listen for Jesus coaching us to read Scripture rightly.   

4. The Emmaus couple recognize Jesus at the table.  

Do you look for Jesus at the Table of the Lord’s Supper?

... or at the tables where you share coffee and treats or sit at potlucks?  

… or at the table when you invite guests to eat with you? 

Q: How, exactly, do you think the Emmaus folks recognized Jesus at the table?  

-- Maybe the way he gave thanks before the meal? 

-- Maybe the gestures he used when taking the bread, giving thanks, breaking it, sharing it?

-- Maybe the scars they saw on his hands?

If you look at verse 30, you'll see that Luke tells the story so that the table in Emmaus parallels the Communion Table.  

When we share communion  we often use these words, 

 “He took bread, gave thanks and broke it.”

In the “breaking of bread” the two followers recognize Christ….

(this is a theme our Catholic brothers and sisters love to emphasize)    But it is good for all of us to think about.

There is something special we share at communion.

There are special ways to connect at the table.

The two from Emmaus recognize Jesus — > and then Jesus vanishes…

Q: Wouldn’t you think that they would be bothered that he vanishes? 

I think I would have been!  But they don't seem to be.  

The two disciples don't ask where Jesus went.  

They don't ask how he did it. They are excited and exhilarated.  So excited that they are ready to enthusiastically set out on the 7 mile return trip to Jerusalem -- at night!

Q: What is the question that they do share?  

This is the final question Luke gives us in this story. 

(Q: What is it in verse 32?) 

They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

Didn't our hearts burn within us?!

This is a sentence Christians have repeated across the centuries as Christ’s words have set hearts afire.  Maybe you remember a moment like that?  I hope so!

"Didn't our hearts burn within us!?"

Jesus walked beside me on the road…

Jesus opened the Scriptures for us…

Didn’t our hearts burn when he did so?!!

The two disciples from Emmaus raced back to Jerusalem, And they told their experience to the disciples & those with them…

How they recognized Jesus when he broke the bread…

5. Jesus doesn’t show himself to the people that we might expect…

None of the first people to whom Jesus first appeared after the resurrection were the important disciples.  Jesus doesn’t first appear to the 11 chosen apostles.

Instead he first appeared:

-- to a cluster of women near the tomb

-- to a couple heading away from the big city

Clearly you do not need to be an “important” Christian to discover Jesus walking alongside you!  

In this story I think Luke means to show us what Jesus taught his disciples after the resurrection.  

(Do you remember that opening question? v17)

He taught them how to understand himself --Jesus-- as the key to understanding everything God teaches in Scripture...  Look at verse 27:

"...beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself."

When you read the gospel accounts and see Luke or Matthew, Mark or John adding things like "This happened to fulfill Old Testament Scripture" or "they did not understand this at the time, but later..."

Then I think that you and I are hearing the things Jesus taught in the 40 days between the resurrection and his ascension.  We have few stories from the days between the resurrection and the ascension, but we have the perspective Jesus provided. He didn't give new teachings, but as the risen Saviour, Jesus taught his followers to understand both the Old Testament Scriptures and the parables, teachings and signs he had given them.  Jesus is the centre to knowing and following God.

As he shares about the Road to Emmaus, Luke gives us a summary of what the whole Christian life is about:

a) meeting Jesus as we walk along in our journey… even though we do not recognize him at first…. 

b) but feeling our hearts burn within us as we learn to understand that what we read in Scripture is ALL about Jesus….

c) and ultimately recognizing him at the Table…

This is great good news: Jesus died and is alive, the 1st of the new creation. Our Messiah surprises us, 

loves us, walks with us, opens his word to us, and will show himself to us.

Pause to ask yourself where you are in Luke's sketch: 

• Are you on the road with Jesus beside you?

• Does your heart burn as he opens Scripture to you?

• Are you discovering him with his people at the table?