On the Way to Emmaus. Luke 24:13-35

Notes

1. Jesus will not force His presence upon anybody. He made as if He would have gone further, and so He would if the two had not asked Him to come in. He is willing to come in and sup with everyone, but waits for an invitation. "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock; if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me."

2. "And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the Scriptures?" In this we find out what is meant by expounding the Scriptures. Jesus expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself; and this was simply opening the Scriptures to them, and letting the truth that is in them shine forth. "The opening of Thy words giveth light." Ps. 119:130, Revised Version.

3. "Did not our hearts burn within us, while He talked with us by the way?" The same experience may be had to-day. Jesus says, "Lo, I am with you alway." His presence is as real as when He walked with the two disciples to Emmaus. His Spirit will open the Scriptures to His people now as well as then; and any disciple, however humble, may have that presence, and may have his heart made to glow as he is taught by the Master.

4. The two disciples went back to Jerusalem the same hour, although it was late. They could not keep the good news to themselves. They found the eleven gathered together, discussing what Peter and the others had told them. Some make the mistake of reading verses 33 and 34 as though it was the two disciples that said, "The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared unto Simon;" but it will at once appear that this was not so, when we consider that the two did not know that Peter had seen Jesus. All they knew about was "the vision of angels" which the women had seen. Besides, if they had known of what Peter had seen, that would not likely have been the first thing on their lips. They were full of the revelation that had been made to them, and the first thing they told was that which they had come all the way from Emmaus to tell. The difficulty has arisen over the fact that Mark says that the eleven did not believe the story of the two. But their minds were in a whirl of excitement. They had accepted Peter's story, but now when these two come and tell them how they had seen Jesus at Emmaus, they were ready to disbelieve everything. They did not yet understand the scriptures which set forth that Christ must needs have suffered, and then to enter into glory.