Luke 24:13-35 - Who do you think Jesus is?

Have you ever been looking at something and couldn’t see? Perhaps you've opened the refrigerator or the pantry and it took someone else to enable you to see it? How did you feel during those few moments before being helped?

Our passage finds us on the third day after Jesus has completed His work of redemption on the cross. It is still the day of his resurrection. After being met by angels and told that Jesus is risen just as he said he would, the women have told the disciples. The disciples thought the women were speaking nonesense and didn't believe them. But Peter and John ran off to double-check and reported back that his body wasn't there but they didn't see Jesus. Now, it is a bit later in the day and we get to hear the story of two of these disciples who didn't believe and what happened to them.

The disciples' problem wasn't that they hadn't heard that Jesus would rise from the dead or that they hadn't heard that he was risen from the dead, their problem is that they were blind and slow of heart to believe the Scriptures had taught this. They "saw" through the glasses of their own expectations, that the Messiah shouldn't die. You know, we aren't that different. Without Jesus revealing Himself to us, we doubt God's promises when they don't align with our plans.

But what if Jesus could take away our broken glasses and give us new lenses through which we can finally see Him? And in seeing Him, believe in Him, live in His joy, and tell others about Him.

Today's passage from Luke 24:13-35 is giving us this opportunity.

Luke 24:13–35 ESV

That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.

The thing we can see most clearly in this passage is that...

Spiritual eyes are required to see Jesus

Seeing something is not always a matter of having healthy eyes. Sometimes the problem is that we don't know what we're looking for. Other times, as in this passage, someone must enable us to recognize what has been right in front of us all along. That's why we can stare at a can of beans and still ask, "Honey, do we have any beans?" We were looking right at them but couldn't recognize them. In much the same way, these disciples were looking at Jesus Himself, yet they could not recognize Him until He opened their eyes.

Jesus sovereignly conceals Himself (vv. 13–24): As the disciples were walking away from Jerusalem to Emmaus on the very day Jesus had been raised from the dead, Jesus drew near and went with them. After the disciples were shocked that Jesus seemed unaware of everything that had happened in Jerusalem, they told Him how they were amazed that Jesus' body was missing. Although they were even talking about Jesus' recent death and things surrounding it, and they physically saw Him, they did not recognize Him because their eyes were kept from recognizing Him. Their inability to recognize Jesus shows us that physical sight alone is insufficient to know and see Jesus. He must reveal Himself to us for us to see Him.

Jesus reveals Himself through the Scriptures (vv. 25–27): Jesus then rebukes the disciples for being foolish, literally, "without understanding", and slow of heart to believe what was spoken by the prophets in the Scriptures. Jesus was essentially rebuking them for thinking that the Messiah shouldn't have died. He then told them that it was necessary that the Christ have suffered and died in order for Him to be glorified. He then interpreted everything in Moses and all the Prophets. Moses and the Prophets is a technical way to refer to the whole of the Scriptures. Jesus literally walked them through the Scriptures showing them that Jesus had to die to fulfill God's plan of redemption for his people. This shows us that to understand the Scriptures you need more than the ability to read and process what you read; you need spiritual eyesight. You need Jesus Christ to reveal Himself to you as their fulfillment and meaning.

Jesus opens spiritual eyes to recognize Him (vv. 28–32): After getting a massive Bible lesson on how all the Scripture is about the Christ and the necessity of his death and resurrection, they were nearing Emmaus. As they are likely heading for their lodging, Jesus acts as if he is going further, and being good Jews, they offered Him hospitality, to stay with them. Jesus did and they eventually sat down to eat. During the meal, Jesus took up the bread, blessed it, and broke it, giving it to them. It was in this moment that Jesus opens the disciples' eyes so that they recognize Him. We might think that his doing that reminded them of the times that he was with them, but the Greek use of the passive voice shows us that this eye-opening was done to them. 

I want you to know that this is incredibly good news. If our spiritual sight depended on our intellectual horsepower or emotional strength, we would remain blind. Because it is a work done to us by a sovereign Savior, we can rest.

You see, even after hearing the Scriptures explained by Him about Him, true recognition only came when Jesus graciously opened their eyes. We cannot see, know, and believe in Christ apart form his sovereign self-revelation.

After they recognized him, he vanished in front of their eyes. But now that Jesus opened their eyes, even though he isn't there, they see him.

Just like the disciples couldn't see Jesus even though he was in front of them...

Our hearts are slow to see and believe Jesus

The thing is, we don't just miss the can of beans because it is behind something or because the label has changed since we last saw the can, rather, even after our spouse tells us that it is there, we simply are slow to believe them. Sometimes we don't see because we don't recognize. Other times we don't recognize because we don't believe what we've already been told. This analogy is helpful in thinking about why we are slow to see and believe Jesus. 

We do not believe what the Scriptures reveal concerning Christ (vv. 19-24): Like the two disciples, we are without understanding and slow of heart to believe all that the Scriptures reveal concerning Christ. Let's be honest, as people, we don't like to believe things that are uncomfortable for us or disagree with our expectations. Though they were told by the women on testimony of the angels that Jesus was risen, they were still unwilling to believe. When God's plan does not align with our expectations or our understanding of the world, we are tempted to reject what He has said even if it is in the Bible. The necessity of the Messiah's suffering, death, and resurrection appears foolish to natural reasoning, even though it is the very center of God's redemptive plan and laid out explicitly there. This failure to believe is because naturally our hearts are darkened and we are spiritually blind. Just like the disciples who couldn't get confirmation from the disciples who went to the tomb that they actually saw Jesus, we want things to align with our natural understanding and our physical senses.

We do not look at Jesus with the eye of faith (vv. 28-31): Like the two disciples, even after hearing someone tell us and show us how the Scriptures point to Jesus, His person, and His work, we cannot recognize Him apart from His gracious self-revelation. It wasn't until Jesus opened their eyes that they could recognize Him. Their glasses needed replaced by Jesus, and only He has the prescription that can enable us to see Him. We are naturally blinded by the darkness of our corrupted natures. Only Jesus' self-revelation enables us to see Him as the crucified and risen Lord who fulfills the Scriptures and accomplishes God's salvation, forgiving our sins and making us children of God.

This is incredible news, isn't it? Because...

Through His necessary death and resurrection, Jesus enables us to see and believe Him

Jesus didn't just make a prescription for eyeglasses so we can see, he entered into the darkness of humanity, and the darkness of death on a cross where he bore the wrath of God for our blindness so that He could unite us to himself and bring us into the kingdom of light so that we see and believe Him.

Jesus' suffering and death was necessary (vv. 25-26, 30): The very blindness and unbelief that Jesus rebukes in His disciples reveal why His suffering and death were necessary. His death was a necessity because all people are sinners who are spiritually blind, dead and hostile toward God. No one deserves the right to be given their sight because they are justly under the wrath of the kingdom of darkness. Jesus' suffering and atoning death was necessary for those in the kingdom of darkness to receive the light of the revelation concerning Christ. Our greatest problem wasn't simply that we couldn't see. Our greatest problem was that our sin separated us from God. Before God could justly open our blind eyes, our guilt had to be removed. Jesus bore that guilt on the cross, reconciled us to the Father, and then, as the risen King, poured out the Holy Spirit so that blind sinners might finally see Him and believe.

Jesus' resurrection was necessary (vv. 26, 32): But not only was his condemnation to death by the religious and political leaders necessary, his resurrection was too. The resurrection was the Father's vindication that Jesus is the righteous Messiah whose sacrificial death truly accomplished the redemption of his people who once walked in darkness. As the risen and exalted Son of Man, at His resurrection, He received the promised kingdom authority to pour out the Holy Spirit upon His Church so they could see and believe Christ (Acts 2:33). And through the Spirit, Jesus opens blind eyes and grants faith to his people.

Jesus as our everything: Yet, we must be careful not to simply see Jesus as a bridge to get to God because of the gulf caused by our sin. Jesus is the atoning sacrifice for our sin, but He is more than that: Jesus is the messenger from God, the message of God, the meaning of the message, the One who enables us to understand the message, and the means by which all of God's redemptive purposes are accomplished. In Him we not only come to know God...we come to see Him, believe Him...

But that isn't all...

By the Spirit our hearts see and our mouths proclaim Christ

Imagine that the can of beans isn't just a side to go along with a meal, you and the rest of the world are starving and it is the only food that will save you from starvation and keep you alive. And when you see that can, behind it are an infinite number of cans, enough to save everyone from starvation. If you found this infinite supply, wouldn't you joyfully tell everyone you could of where to find it, in hopes that they might see it too?

Those whose eyes are opened become witnesses (vv. 22–24, 33–35): Before recognizing Jesus, the disciples were discouraged, confused, and slow to believe. All their hopes and dreams for the kingdom of God becoming realized were dashed. But now, after Jesus opened the Scriptures and their eyes, they immediately returned to Jerusalem to proclaim that the Christ had truly risen. Likewise, the women and Peter testified to the resurrection after encountering the risen Lord. Notice how they left Jerusalem the place of Jesus’ death saddened, and after seeing Jesus they immediately return to Jerusalem with joyfully enflamed hearts.

The risen Christ not only reveals Himself to His people but also sends them as joyful witnesses to proclaim that He is the fulfillment of the Scriptures and God's plan of redemption. In fact, he sends us to proclaim that He is the fulfillment of every promise of God and the deepest longing of the human heart. In Him is life, and the life is the light of men. He came into the darkness and overcame it so that all who receive Him and believe in His name have the right to become children of God and sit down at table with Him and eat of His never-ending supply of food.

But you might say to me, that's great and all, but what can I do with this vision of Christ in the day-to-day?

When you are having a hard time understanding a passage of Scripture that you know has value, instead of giving up and thinking you can never understand it, the Spirit reminds you of Luke 11 that God loves to give His Spirit to His children who ask Him. And so you boldly ask your Father for the Holy Spirit to show you Christ in this passage. To bring you hope, encouragement and strength for the day. You do this because, through all that Jesus has done, you have been made a child of God with bold access to your Father.

Or when you are struggling to believe God's promises of peace and comfort because of all the suffering in your life, like physical issues, relational issues, or mental struggles, instead of remaining in that doubt and slowness of heart, Jesus, by His Spirit, opens your spiritual eyes and quickens your heart to see that He is the fulfillment of all God's promises. And so you dig into God's Word to discover what He is saying to you during this season of your life.

Jesus shouldn't simply be likened to the One who gives you a pair of lenses so you can see where the can of beans is that will save you from starvation, He, Himself, is the very Bread of Life and the Living Water that you need to live in joy both now and forever.

If you ask God to give you the Holy Spirit to enable you to see and believe in Christ, He will graciously reveal Christ to you through His Word and nourish your faith through the ordinary means of grace...in prayer, in the fellowship of His people, in baptism, and in the Lord's Supper...so that you may spiritually feed upon Christ, drink deeply of Him, and live with true sight. For in Him we live and move and have our being.

If you are lacking in understanding or slow of heart to believe that Jesus alone enables you to see and believe in Him, He calls out to you to ask Him for the Holy Spirit so that you can see, believe, and find the joy in not just the idea of salvation but in Jesus Himself as He reveals Himself in His Word and through the Church.

Jesus lived and died so he could take away our broken glasses and give us not simply new lenses through which we can finally see Him, but give us Himself so that as we see Him, believe in Him, live in His joy, and tell others about Him, he can be praised in the Spirit to the glory of the Father.