The Road to Emmaus

“Were not our hearts burning within us as He spoke with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” — Luke 24:32

That same Sunday, two of Jesus’ followers were walking from Jerusalem to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles away. As they walked, they talked about everything that had happened.

Then Jesus Himself came up and walked along with them. But they didn’t recognise Him.

“What are you talking about as you walk along?” He asked them.

They stopped, and their faces were sad. One of them, called Cleopas, said, “Are You the only visitor to Jerusalem who doesn’t know what has happened there these last few days?”

“What things?” asked Jesus.

“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they said. “He was a prophet, powerful in everything He said and did. But the chief priests and our leaders handed Him over to be killed, and they crucified Him. We had hoped that He was the one who would rescue Israel. And now it’s the third day since all this happened. Some of the women went to His tomb early this morning, and His body wasn’t there! They said they had seen angels, who said He was alive. But nobody has seen Him.”

Then Jesus said, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe everything the prophets said! Didn’t the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter His glory?”

And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, Jesus explained to them everything the Scriptures said about Himself.

Imagine it. Jesus Himself, walking along the road, taking them through the whole Old Testament! Perhaps He told them about the promise in the garden, that the snake’s head would be crushed. And the lamb God provided on the mountain. And the Passover lamb. And the snake on the pole. And Isaiah’s Servant, who was pierced for our sins. All the stories you have read in these books, Jesus showed them how every one of them pointed to Him.

As they came near Emmaus, Jesus acted as if He was going further. But they begged Him, “Stay with us. It’s nearly evening, and the day is almost over.” So He went in to stay with them.

When they sat down to eat, Jesus took the bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to them.

And suddenly their eyes were opened, and they knew Him! It was Jesus! And at that moment, He disappeared from their sight.

“Weren’t our hearts burning inside us,” they said to each other, “while He talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?”

They got up at once and hurried all the way back to Jerusalem, in the dark. They found the eleven disciples gathered together, and they were saying, “It’s true! The Lord has risen, and He has appeared to Simon!” Then the two told what had happened on the road, and how they had recognised Jesus when He broke the bread.

The promise kept: “Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was written in all the Scriptures about Himself” (Luke 24:27). Every “promise kept” in these books, and every “Looking ahead to Jesus”, comes from this: the whole Bible is about Him.

Read it in your Bible: Luke 24:13–35

Dear Jesus, thank you that the whole Bible points to you. Please open my eyes to see you in it, and make my heart burn with love for you, like the friends on the road to Emmaus. Amen.