109. Emmaus

[Pastor Ralph]

Please share your thoughts on one or more of the questions in this lesson. 

[Irmela]

1. How would you describe the spiritual and emotional temperature of Cleopas and his fellow disciple before Jesus teaches them? (Luke 24:13-24)

They were perplexed, sad and downcast. Their hopes had been dashed. Hopes that Jesus would redeem Israel and set it free. They were also mystified about the report from the women, that the grave was empty and they had seen the angels, who emphatically told them that Jesus had risen. (The Amplified Version translates this as ... the women drove us out of our senses ...). The disciples had then also gone and indeed found the tomb empty but they had not encountered the angels. These happenings were all very disturbing, confusing or thought provoking to our two friends walking to Emmaus. 

2.  Why don't they seem to believe the women's report of Jesus' resurrection? (Luke 24:22-24)

They don't seem to believe the women, because by the time the men had gotten there, the angels were no longer at the tomb. I can only guess that the women were highly excited about it all. Probably also all spoke at once in their joy and eagerness to get the men to believe. 

[Irmela]

3.  Why does Jesus rebuke them? Is his rebuke fair or warranted? Why or why not? (Luke 24:25-26)

Jesus rebukes them because it is as if they don't want to believe. He had told them openly on at least three separate occasions that the Messiah would be put to death and be buried only to rise again. Now it had happened and the women had related the fact and yet again they would not believe. It was as if they had blinded their emotions to the truth. Jesus's rebuke could only help jolt their memories. 

[Irmela]

4.  Examine Isaiah 52:‪13 - 53‬:12. How could you relate the Suffering Servant (52:13; 53:11) to the Messiah? How could the Jewish rabbis miss this?

In 52:14 describes the face of One who had been tortured severely. Jesus went through all that. 

In 53:2 it describes that He did not appear in all kingly pomp. Jesus did not come in kingly finery and with all kinds of men revealing His presence. He came as a normal human being. 

In 53:3 He is described as being despised, forsaken and rejected. Jesus was despised by the religeous leaders, He was forsaken by those who loved and followed Him, to stand alone, and He was rejected by His people as being the Messiah Who had come. 

In 53:4&5 it is poignently described how He carried our griefs, sickness, distress, our sorrows and pain. How He was wounded for our guilt and iniquities. This is exactly what Jesus came to do on the cross. 

In 53:9 we find that it describes that He died with the wicked, (even though He had done no violence, nor had He been deceitful,) but was buried in a rich man's tomb. This is what happened. The two thieves were hung on either side of His cross and He was buried in the tomb of Joseph of Aramethea, who was a wealthy man. 

They were blinded so that the SACRIFICE could take place and redemption get put into place. If Jesus had not pd the price at Calvary, we would still be condemned. Now He has pd the price and we are set free and can appear as righteous in Him before our God. Because it is Jesus whom He sees. 

[Irmela]

5.  In 52:‪13 - 53‬:12 what is the meaning and significance of the Servant's death? What in the passage indicates his resurrection to life?

His death was in our stead. He died so that we might enjoy LIFE. He took our sin and shame upon Himself. In verse 10 it states that ... He has risen from the dead in time to come. 

[hanks]

1. How would you describe the spiritual and emotional temperature of Cleopas and his fellow disciple before Jesus teaches them? (Luke 24:13-24) 
Cleopas and his fellow disciple were travelling from Jerusalem to Emmaus, returning from the Passover celebrations. They were downcast, walking slowly, and sadly discussing the death and burial of Jesus. They looked sad, for the happenings of the last few days had filled their hearts and minds with sorrow and a feeling of disappointment. They could not understand why their Lord had allowed Himself to be arrested and put to death. After a while a stranger, Jesus unbeknown to them, joined them asking them what they were discussing, not because He lacked knowledge, but because He would have an opportunity to explain what they needed to know. When the two men heard this question, they stood still, surprised by the question. Cleopas was surprised that this stranger had managed to remain completely uninformed about matters that were on everybody's lips. Of course, they were hoping for a Messiah who would break the rule that the evil Romans had over them. What type of Messiah was Jesus who managed to allow Himself to be caught by the Jewish authorities, handed over to the Romans, and be crucified? Their hopes had been devastated. Their sadness was rooted in misunderstanding; misunderstanding led to disappointment; disappointment led to doubt; doubt led to discouragement. 
 

[hanks]

2. Why don't they seem to believe the women's report of Jesus' resurrection? (Luke 24:22-24) 
Cleopas and his fellow disciple had left Jerusalem hopeless and downcast, not believing the women’s report, “because their words seemed to them like nonsense” (24:11b), neither could they explain it! The women who had been to the tomb and heard the angels’ words said that Jesus’ body was missing and that the angels had said Jesus is alive. But even with this news, these two disciples still failed to understand that this pointed to the great news that Jesus had been resurrected from the dead! When Peter and John verified the women's testimony that the tomb was empty (24:12), this was still not enough for them to understand, possibly because Peter and John had not reported actually seeing Jesus alive. So, there was still gloom, as noted by these disciples who had all this information, but had left the city still believing that all their hopes in Jesus had been dashed. They had hoped that Jesus was the One who would redeem Israel, but now all hope is gone. 
 

[hanks]

3. Why does Jesus rebuke them? Is His rebuke fair or warranted? Why or why not? (Luke 24:25-26) 
Jesus lovingly rebukes them for not realising that what happened is exactly the pathway the prophets of the OT had foretold for the Messiah. First, He must suffer, then He would be glorified. When Jesus told them how foolish they were, it was not an expression of contempt; I think He only meant that they were thoughtless in not considering properly the evidence of the prophets that the Messiah must die and rise again. The two disciples must have believed many things which the prophets had spoken, but they did not believe all. They believed the predictions of Messiah’s glory, but not of Messiah’s sufferings. This was the same trouble with the Jewish religious leaders of the day, who on the whole in reading the Old Testament, they saw only the glory and victory of the Messiah, not the fact that the path to these blessings was one of suffering. But there was no excuse for this, as they had not only the OT, but they also had the Lord Jesus Christ in their midst, who was constantly teaching them the Scriptures. I feel His rebuke was fair and warranted for not seeing what He had Himself so clearly predicted, and what had been foretold by the prophets. 
 

[hanks]

4. Extra credit: Examine Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12. How could you relate the Suffering Servant (52:13; 53:11) to the Messiah? How could the Jewish rabbis miss this? 
Most of this rich passage is about the suffering and rejection of the Suffering Servant, but the main point is that His suffering will lead to exaltation and glory. Of course, referring to the Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ, who came to save sinners, and He did this by paying the penalty for our sins by dying on the cross as God’s Sacrificial Lamb. The Suffering Servant, as the term used in Isaiah 52:13, is the Messiah, our Lord Jesus. He would be highly exalted because of His sacrifice, described further in Isaiah chapter 53. His suffering is important, but His glory, which will be revealed, is equally important for it will show that the Servant did the will of God voluntarily. The Jewish rabbis never expected the Messiah to be shown by His humility, suffering, and mercy. He was to be the strong conqueror who was to overthrow the evil Roman Empire. They saw Jesus on the cross as being punished by God for His own sins, never ever believing that it was for their/our transgressions, and for their/our iniquities. The truth is that they/we were the ones who went astray and who walked in self-will, and Jehovah placed their/our iniquity on Him, the sinless Substitute. Today some rabbis believe that the Suffering Servant refers to Israel, to Isaiah himself, or even to Moses or some other prophet. 
 

[hanks]

5. Extra credit: In 52:13 - 53:12 what is the meaning and significance of the Servant's death? What in the passage indicates His resurrection to life? 
We learn that God chose to save the world through the death and sacrifice of the Suffering Servant. This passage predicts that the Servant would die in the place of guilty sinners, in order to satisfy God’s judgment on sin. This Servant took on Himself all the sins of the nation, and the whole world, and carried them on Himself. He Himself had no sin; it was for our sins that He was nailed to the cross. "He himself bore our sins" in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed" (1 Pet 2:24). When Jesus was crucified, Israel thought His hardships were deserved for His supposedly having blasphemed God. Actually, He was bearing the judgment that their sin required. “See, My Servant will act wisely; He will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted” (Isa 52:13). The Servant will act wisely, doing what His Heavenly Father wants Him to do. And His lifted up refers to His resurrection and Him being exalted at God’s right hand. The exaltation refers to His resurrection, ascension, and glorification at the Father’s right hand (Act 2:33; Heb 1:3). 
 

[hanks]

6. Why do some Christians seem to be proud of their unbelief? How should we deal with the doubts we have? Ignore them? 
I don’t think one can be called or be a true Christian, and at the same time have doubts about our Lord Jesus Christ. There has to be total commitment and faith in Him as our Saviour. As an unbeliever we come to Christ seeking to have sin and guilt removed and to enter into a genuine personal relationship with Jesus that will last forever. We should find that our faith in Jesus should increase as our knowledge about Him increases. When we have true information about Christ, we will be better able to put our total trust in Him. But this faith or belief, which is an attitude of trust and confidence, is not something we can obtain without help (Mark 9:24); for faith is a gift from God (Eph 2:8-9). It all originates with the grace of God: He takes the initiative in providing it. Growing in faith is a constant process of daily renewing our trust in Jesus. However, Satan will attack us and try and convince us to have doubts, especially about our salvation. If this does happen, I feel we should deal with immediately, repent, and ask Jesus for forgiveness and help to strengthen our belief. Remembering that salvation is given to those who are utterly unworthy of it, and on the basis of the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 

[hanks]

7. In what sense is Jesus revealed to us today in "the breaking of bread"? (Luke 24:31, 35) 
The breaking of bread, is used in the NT to refer to either the Lord’s Supper, or to eating and enjoying a common meal together. Here it obviously refer to having a meal together with our Lord. He took bread, blessed and broke it. Both these men were unaware of the sacramental nature of breaking bread, since they were not with Jesus at the Last Supper. This was a frugal supper in a village home of two tired travellers, and another. Yet it was then - in the breaking of bread, and not in any vision of resurrection splendour - that they knew that their companion was the Lord. Their eyes were opened and they knew Him. We don’t know how they recognised Jesus after the breaking of the bread. Maybe the marks of the nails in His hands? Whatever the answer, His resurrection body now possessed qualities enabling Him to appear at will and also, as here, to vanish at will. So, almost before they fully realized what had happened, He was gone. 
 

[Irmela]

6. Why do some Christians seem to be proud of their unbelief? How should we deal with the doubts we have? Ignore them?

I feel if there are doubts or uncertainties in our belief, we should really talk it over with a righteous man/mentor and pray together about them. Let God help us through this and draw us closee to Him. 

Make Christ our example and not fellow-believers. Something small could trip us up for a lifetime. 

In what sense is Jesus revealed to us today in "the breaking of bread"? (Luke 24:31, 35)

The bread as a whole. Jesus said He is the Bread of Life. When the bread is broken, this is significant of His body which was broken for us. In that way we all partake of it.

[Katy]

Q1. Cleopas and his friend were walking slowly and dejectedly from Jerusalem to Emmaus they were leaving the city after the Passover celebrations but also more importantly after the trial and death of Jesus. They were in a state of sadness, loneliness, bewilderment and dejection. They were trying to process and understand all that had happened and they were having difficulty at trying to understand how and why Jesus had been so wrongly treated and put to death.

Q2.These two disciples did not believe the women because what they were saying did not make sense to them that Jesus had gone from the tomb. They were totally missing that this was exactly what The prophets had said would happen and that Jesus had predicted for himself. 

[Katy]

Q3. Jesus rebuke is justified, because Scripture teaches us that : Jesus would suffer at the hands of His enemies and be put to death, but also that on the third day He would rise again. They either had not understood the Scriptures or they didn’t recognize Jesus as the Messiah. Jesus walks with them on their journey and starts to explain the Scriptures to them and showing them how the passages from the Torah related to the Messiah. I question myself, I wonder would I have understood or been any less ‘ slow of heart’. I am not sure!

Q4.This passage describes accurately the suffer and death of the Messiah, but also our rejection of Him . It makes hard reading for us now, when you can recognise your own part in it. But then we are told in 52v13 “He will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted”, 53v11 “ After the suffering of His soul, He will see the light of life, and be satisfied ,”, but terrible suffering had to go before that to give us the opportunity of going to heaven.  Maybe the Rabbi’s were slow of heart, and still are today. Maybe too steeped in ‘ tradition’ and not searching the Scriptures for answers. 
Q5.The meaning and significance of the Servants death is that this is a picture of the Messiah who would be our sacrificial lamb, who would suffer and die on a cross for our sins and the sins of the whole world. 53v 11-12, and 52v 13, both indicate that Jesus would be raised to glory. 
Q6. I haven’t met a Christian who is proud of their unbelief, but if I did I would be wondering if they were a fully committed Christian. As a follower of Jesus we must believe the Bible in its entirety and not pick and choose what we will believe and what we don’t believe. I know there are areas of the Bible that I have struggled with but I accept that God knows best and He has a reason as to why we can and cannot do certain things. We should not ignore our doubts but seek guidance from more mature Christians, study Scripture and pray that God will enlighten you or give you acceptance of the issue you are having difficulty with.

Q7.The breaking of bread is an important part of our worship. It is a time of quietness and reflection when we draw close to God and as a body of believers and think about all that Jesus did for us through His suffering and death. Jesus is in our midst in a special way , Scripture tells us that when two or three are gathered in His name He is there in our midst, especially during these times of quiet reflection, remembering and thanksgiving. 

[haar]

1.    How would you describe the spiritual and emotional temperature of Cleopas and his fellow disciple before Jesus teaches them? (Luke 24:13-24)

Spiritually, they were dull and could not remember that Jesus had told them that he must suffer, die and rose to his glory. And because they could not remember this fact, they were emotionally worried and disturbed that their master was dead and could not be traced in the tomb.

2.    Why don't they seem to believe the women's report of Jesus' resurrection? (Luke 24:22-24)

They could not believe the women’s report of Jesus resurrection because  of forgetfulness and lack of faith as I said above.  

3.    Why does Jesus rebuke them? Is his rebuke fair or warranted? Why or why not? (Luke 24:25-26)

He rebuked them for forgetfulness and lack of faith.

4.    Extra credit: Examine Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12. How could you relate the Suffering Servant (52:13; 53:11) to the Messiah? How could the Jewish rabbis miss this?

Jesus is the fulfillment of the suffering servant prophesied in the book of Isaiah.

5.    Extra credit: In 52:13 - 53:12 what is the meaning and significance of the Servant's death? What in the passage indicates his resurrection to life?

Jesus the servant died and rose that we may have life eternal.

6.    Why do some Christians seem to be proud of their unbelief? How should we deal with the doubts we have? Ignore them?

I can’t understand why anyone would be proud of his unbelief.

7.    In what sense is Jesus revealed to us today in "the breaking of bread"? (Luke 24:31, 35)

As we partake in the Holy Communion today, we are reminded of Jesus’ death and resurrection for the remission of our sin.

[George L]

1. How would you describe the spiritual and emotional temperature of Cleopas and his fellow disciple before Jesus teaches them? (Luke 24:13-24) While not low ebb they were struggling to sort out all the pieces into personal understanding.
2. Why don't they seem to believe the women's report of Jesus' resurrection? (Luke 24:22-24) The present has not connected to the prophetic teachings they were steeped in. Yet.
3. Why does Jesus rebuke them? Is his rebuke fair or warranted? Why or why not? (Luke 24:25-26) The watchman does not focus on one point, but seeks to see the entire picture. The Hebrew definition of knowledge is inclclusive of the whole. Necessary. They were distracted by the sudden, not seperated from the hope of a earthly victory.
4. Extra credit: Examine Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12. How could you relate the Suffering Servant (52:13; 53:11) to the Messiah? How could the Jewish rabbis miss this? From our experience it seems so obvious with our post reserection, post apostles ministery before us. The Ravi’s were overtaken by tradition and walking out more of a long history without expectation. That expectation was available to the spiritual Jews Anna and Simeon in the temple on Jesus eighth day give proof that the knowledge of Christ age was arriving and had begun was upon them.
5. Extra credit: In 52:13 - 53:12 what is the meaning and significance of the Servant's death? He came to and did give great service. And was executed. The parable of the distant lord sng the vinyard servants rings a similar bell. What in the passage indicates his resurrection to life? 53:11-12 speak to me of the fulfillment of the Lamb of God’s sacrifice beginning the mercy and period of the costly grace.
6. Why do some Christians seem to be proud of their unbelief? They are deceived by eorldly thought and not listening to the Holy Spirit.  How should we deal with the doubts we have? Ignore them? I take my doubts to the heavenly in prayer. The Holy Spirit coaches me into very practical knowledge.
7. In what sense is Jesus revealed to us today in "the breaking of bread"? (Luke 24:31, 35) the power of believing his broken body was payment in advance for our health and healing is a good start. The trusting the Lord to mend broken abused hearts and souls. Especially of those molested and or abused in their lives. It is paid for already. No price required of you, no payment, no sacrifice other than your giving Him way to heal the hurt and cleanse the damage.