On the Road to Emmaus – Luke 24:13 – 34

The Story in a Nutshell

The story continues…

The story continues later on Sunday, after the women had been to the tomb and found the body of Jesus missing. 

Two men were walking on the road to Emmaus, a village about seven miles from Jerusalem.  They were talking about all the events that had happened the past three days.  Suddenly, Jesus came up alongside and began walking with them.  They didn’t know it was Jesus, however, because God kept them from recognizing him.

“You seem to be having quite a discussion,” Jesus said.  “What are you talking about?”

The two men appeared very sad and disturbed.  “Don’t you know what’s happened the past few days,” one asked.

“Tell me about it,” Jesus said.

The two men told Jesus about “the man from Nazareth.”  They said he was a prophet, he did miraculous things, and he was a mighty teacher that was highly thought of by God and many people.  Then they talked about the Pharisees and religious teachers ─ how they plotted against the man, had him arrested, and turned over to Pilate.  Pilate knew the man wasn’t guilty, but he condemned him to death anyway to satisfy the demands of the people.  And after that the man was crucified.

“That all happened just three days ago,” the men said.  “Then earlier today some women went to the tomb to prepare the body, but the body was gone.  It seems angels appeared and told the women that the man was alive.”

Then Jesus said to the two men, “Don’t you understand what’s happening?”  Why is it so hard to believe what the prophets wrote in the Scriptures?  Wasn’t it clearly predicted what would happen to the Messiah?”   So Jesus took the two men through the writings of Moses and the prophets and explained all the things that were said about him.  And as Jesus explained the Scriptures, a strange warm feeling filled the hearts of the men.

By now the three were nearly at Emmaus.  Jesus would have continued on, but the two men begged him to stay the night with them.  Jesus went home with the men, and they prepared for dinner.  Jesus took a small loaf of bread, blessed it, and gave it to the men.
At that moment the eyes of the men were opened and they recognized Jesus.   Then, in a blink of the eye, Jesus disappeared!

The men were in awe; they remembered how warm they felt as Jesus explained the Scriptures.  They decided to hurry back to Jerusalem and tell the eleven disciples and other followers of Jesus what happened and what Jesus explained to them.

When the two men arrived in Jerusalem, they were greeted with a good report.  “The Lord is alive!  He has risen!”   It confirmed what they already knew.

To be continued…

What did you learn from the story?

If you want to gain a better understanding of the complete story, and for help in answering some of the questions below, you may want to have the following items as resources:  a Bible, a dictionary, and a Bible commentary on the Book of Luke (optional).

1. What day did the story take place?
2. Where were the two men going and what were they talking about as they walked?
3. Who came alongside the two men?
4. What did Jesus say to the men?
5. What did the men tell Jesus?
6. What comments did Jesus make to the men?
7. How did Jesus explain what had taken place and what was taking place?
8. As Jesus was explaining the Scriptures, what were the men experiencing?
9. Where did Jesus go when they reached Emmaus?
10. What happened when Jesus and the two men sat down for dinner?
11. What were the men thinking when Jesus disappeared?
12. What did the men do next?
13. What happened when the men arrived back in Jerusalem?
14. What did you learn about God, Jesus and people from the story?

Have questions about God, Jesus, and the Bible? An excellent source for answers to your questions is gotquestions.org. Check it out. gotquestions.org.

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