Luke 24:13 ¶ And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. 14 And they talked together of all these things which had happened. 15 And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. 16 But their eyes were holden that they should not know him. 17 And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad? 18 And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? 19 And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: 20 And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him. 21 But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done. 22 Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre; 23 And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive. 24 And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not. 25 Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: 26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? 27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. 28 And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further. 29 But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them. 30 And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. 31 And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. 32 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? 33 And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, 34 Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon. 35 And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.
A Greek stadion from which the translators used
a more common measure to them, a furlong,
was 606 feet 9 inches. So threescore or 60 with a score being twenty would
equal a journey by foot of a little less than 7 miles.
Verse 21 is another one
of those indicators that the Jews were not expecting their Messiah to suffer
and die and then be resurrected. They were expecting Him to somehow restore
Israel to a position of prominence, free of the yoke of Roman rule. See what
they ask the risen Christ in Luke’s book entitled The Acts of the Apostles
which we call simply Acts.
Acts 1:6 ¶ When they
therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at
this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
As I noted previously
in my comments on Luke 7 and 18 I read in a study entitled A History of Messianic Speculation in Israel from the First through the
Seventeenth Centuries by Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver that there was an
expectation of two messiahs at times, one; Messiah ben Joseph and, two; Messiah
ben David. One is a conqueror and one suffers for the people of Israel and dies
fighting the enemies of God and Israel. Jewish tradition also refers to, “The
Four Craftsmen.” The Dead Sea Scrolls also speak of something like a
war-messiah from the tribe of Ephraim dated to the first century before Christ,
a suffering Messiah, and a priestly Messiah figure. There is some question
about when these interpretations came about but it is interesting to consider. All
of the prophecies were fulfilled in one man; Jesus Christ.
This makes it quite clear
that the Jews, unlike what most evangelical preaching says, were not looking
forward to the Cross, the death, burial, and resurrection of their Messiah.
They had no clue.
This is reinforced
throughout the gospels.
Mark 9:9 And as they came
down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what
things they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead. 10 And they kept that saying with themselves,
questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean…31 For he
taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the
hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall
rise the third day. 32
But they understood not that
saying, and were afraid to ask him.
John 20:9 For as yet they
knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.
Peter had no previous
knowledge or understanding of this prophetic event to come.
Matthew 16:21 ¶ From that
time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto
Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes,
and be killed, and be raised again the third day. 22 Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him,
saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. 23 But he turned, and said
unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto
me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
This is why Paul, in
his argument with the Jews at Thessalonica had to first teach them from the Old
Testament that the Messiah had to suffer and die before he could preach that
Jesus was indeed that very Christ.
Acts 17:1 ¶ Now when they
had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where
was a synagogue of the Jews: 2 And Paul,
as his manner was, went in
unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the
scriptures, 3 Opening and alleging, that
Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and
that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.
Again, in his letter to
the Hebrews he makes it quite clear in the context of the Old Testament
sacrifices in Hebrews 9:23-28 which I will quote fully in a minute.
But, Jesus told them
that the things that are about to happen to Him were written of in the books by
the Prophets. First, there is the most famous passage in Isaiah 52:13 through
53:12.
Also regard this
important prophecy made by Abraham just before a ram is found in a thicket for
his sacrifice in place of his own son.
Genesis 22:8 And Abraham
said, My son, God will provide himself
a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
The entire Psalm 22,
the first verse of which Jesus quoted from the Cross, is a prophecy of Christ.
There are many others. Notice this reference in Hosea.
Hosea 6:2 After two days
will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall
live in his sight.
I could go on from the
Prophet Moses spoke of in Deuteronomy 18 and referenced in Acts 3 through Job’s
acknowledgement in Job 19 that he would see his Redeemer, who is God, in the
flesh in the latter days though Job’s own body was consumed away. But, what is
clear is that the Jews did not get it, did not understand what was to happen.
Don’t think badly of them as I recently spoke to a person who considers
themselves to be a Christian and is active in their church who did not know
that Jesus quoted the first verse of Psalm 22 from the Cross. There seemed to
be no clear teaching on the Messiah to come in first-century Judea. Tying
together all of the threads of the Old Testament regarding the Jewish Messiah
was left up to Christ before His Crucifixion and after His Resurrection as in
Luke 24 here on the road to Emmaus.
They thought the Christ
would come as a king first and this is what Satan was trying to accomplish in His
temptation of Christ in chapter four, trying to get Jesus to take the Crown
before the Cross and subvert His mission. Here is another verse about His
suffering.
Zechariah 12:10 And I will
pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit
of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have
pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in
bitterness for his firstborn.
But from the time of
Christ’s birth even to His execution the powers that be even referred to Him as
being a king, which in the first place greatly concerned them and in the latter
gave them a source of spite at the Jews and mockery. First, Herod the Great.
Matthew 2:1 ¶ Now when
Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold,
there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the
Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and
all Jerusalem with him. 4 And when he
had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he
demanded of them where Christ should be born. 5
And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written
by the prophet, 6 And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the
least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that
shall rule my people Israel.
Then, at the end, Roman
governor Pontius Pilate.
Mark 15:9 But Pilate
answered them, saying, Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews?
The people, at points,
wanted to make Jesus king.
John 6:15 When Jesus
therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a
mountain himself alone.
Even after His
Resurrection His disciples wondered when He would restore Israel’s lost glory.
Before, though, Christ
assumes the role of a king over a physical kingdom He must suffer for the sins
of the world. His disciples did not understand this. As Paul will say;
Hebrews 9:23 ¶ It was therefore necessary that the
patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the
heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24
For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true;
but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: 25 Nor yet that he should offer himself often,
as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others;
26 For then must he often have suffered
since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he
appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die,
but after this the judgment: 28 So
Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for
him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
These disciples report
back to the eleven remaining Apostles what they have seen and how the risen
Christ revealed Himself to them. Again, we have one of the great statements of
the Bible we should remember at all times, The
Lord is risen indeed. It is on this statement of fact that our faith is
based. Without it, Christianity is just another philosophy as people like the
news commentator Bill O’Reilly appears to believe, that Christianity is just a
philosophy and that there is no need to believe that Jesus was God in the flesh
as the Scriptures insist.
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