The only prescription for healing my ignorance and spiritual disappointment is to return to a “Bible-centered faith” and interpret every moment of my life through the “gospel of Jesus Christ.”

The only prescription for healing my ignorance and spiritual disappointment is to return to a “Bible-centered faith” and interpret every moment of my life through the “gospel of Jesus Christ.”

 

 

 

“Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was about twenty-five ri from Jerusalem.  And they talked together about all these things which had happened.  So it was, while they conversed and discussed together, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them.  But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not recognize Him.  And He said to them, ‘What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk?’  Then the two stood still, looking sad.  And one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered and said to Him, ‘Are You the only visitor in Jerusalem who does not know the things which have happened there in these days?’  And He said to them, ‘What things?’  So they said to Him, ‘The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death and crucified Him.  But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel.  Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened.  Moreover, certain women of our company astonished us.  They were at the tomb early in the morning, and when they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive.  And 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.’  Then He said to them, ‘O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!  Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?’  And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them in detail the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.  Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He acted as though He would go farther.  But they urged Him strongly, saying, ‘Stay with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is already far spent.’  And He went in to stay with them.  Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him; and Jesus disappeared from their sight.  And they said to one another, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us while He spoke to us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?’  So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, ‘The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!’  And the two also told what had happened on the road, and how Jesus had become known to them in the breaking of bread” (Luke 24:13–35).

 

 

(1)  After reading today’s passage, Luke 24:13–35, in both the Korean Bible and the Greek Bible, the first thing I did was look up the lyrics of the gospel song “The Two Disciples on the Road to Emmaus”: (v. 1) When the two disciples going to the village of Emmaus were overwhelmed with despair and fear, the Lord Jesus appeared to us and showed us true hope. (v. 2)  The road we travel through this world is the road to Emmaus; although endless sorrow blocks the path before us, we believe that the Lord Jesus appears to us and gives us new hope.  After that, I wanted to think about who those two disciples traveling to the village of Emmaus were and what they were talking about.

 

1.  Who were the two disciples?

 

Cleopas: The name of the disciple Cleopas is clearly recorded in verse 18.  Based on the reference to “Mary the wife of Clopas” in John 19:25, it is conjectured that he may have been Jesus’ uncle by marriage or a member of the early group of disciples who faithfully followed Jesus apart from the Twelve Apostles.

 

The other unnamed disciple: The Bible does not mention the name of the second disciple. Among scholars, various theories exist: the disciple may have been Cleopas’s wife (making them a married couple), his son (one of the seventy disciples in Luke 10), or even Luke himself, the author of the Gospel of Luke.

 

2.  What were they talking about as they walked?

 

Before and after Jesus came alongside them, their conversation changed dramatically from despair to understanding.

 

Before Jesus Came to Them (A Conversation of Sorrow and Disappointment)

 

Talking about what had happened: They were deeply saddened as they talked back and forth about the shocking event that had taken place in Jerusalem—“the crucifixion of Jesus” (Lk. 24:14–15).

 

Their shattered expectations: They had firmly believed and hoped that Jesus was “the One who would redeem Israel” (a political and spiritual deliverer), but when He was seemingly brought to a futile end through execution, they lost all hope (v. 21).

 

Confusion over the empty tomb: Some women had reported that the tomb was empty and that angels had said, “Jesus is alive,” but the disciples could not fully believe this and were experiencing great confusion between faith and doubt (vv. 22–24).

 

After Jesus Began Walking with Them (Understanding the Scriptures)

 

Although the risen Jesus came alongside them and walked with them, the disciples’ eyes were restrained, so they did not recognize Him.

 

Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets (the Old Testament Scriptures), Jesus explained to them one by one the prophecies concerning the Christ, who had to suffer and then enter into His glory (vv. 26–27).

 

Later, the two disciples looked back on this moment and confessed, “Did not our hearts burn within us while He spoke to us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” (v. 32).  Like the lyrics of the Korean gospel song “The Two Disciples on the Road to Emmaus,” this confession clearly shows how their hearts, which had been filled with despair, were transformed into hearts filled with “true hope and burning conviction” (Internet).

 

(2)  Second, I wanted to understand, from the perspective of these two disciples, the meaning of the words in Luke 24:21 that, in their conversation about “the crucifixion of Jesus” that had taken place in Jerusalem before Jesus came to them, they had hoped [ἠλπίζομεν (ēlpizomen), “we were hoping”] that Jesus was “the One who would redeem Israel” [ὁ μέλλων λυτροῦσθαι τὸν Ἰσραήλ (ho mellōn lytrousthai ton Israēl)].  This is because only then can we understand why they were having a conversation filled with sorrow and disappointment.

 

(a)  The confession of the two disciples, “We were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel” (v. 21), contains both the expectations concerning the Messiah that the Jews of that time held and the depth of the despair they experienced when those expectations were brutally shattered.  By examining what this confession meant from their perspective through the Greek expressions and the historical background of their time, we can clearly understand why they fell into such profound sorrow and disappointment (Internet):

 

1.  The Hearts of the Two Disciples as Seen Through the Greek

 

ἠλπίζομεν (ēlpizomen — “we were hoping”):

 

In terms of Greek tense, this verb is in the imperfect tense.  That is, it conveys the meaning, “Up until a certain point in the past, we had continually and very earnestly hoped and kept on hoping.”

 

But now, because of the event of the cross, that earnest hope had been completely interrupted and had become something belonging to the past.  Their words are therefore a bitter lament confessing that what they had so fervently hoped for was now over.

 

ὁ μέλλων λυτροῦσθαι (ho mellōn lytrousthai — “the One who was going to redeem”)

 

Here, “to redeem” [λυτρόω (lytroō)] means to pay a ransom in order to “set free” or “deliver” a slave or captive.  In the Old Testament, this word is used primarily in connection with the Exodus event, in which God delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt.

 

2.  “The Redemption of Israel” the Disciples Expected (A Political View of the Messiah)

 

For the Jews living under the oppression of the Roman Empire at that time, “redemption (salvation)” was an extremely practical and national concern.  The image of the Messiah that the group including these two disciples expected from Jesus was as follows:

 

Liberation from Rome: A ruler who, like King David, would exercise powerful military and political strength, drive out the Roman army, and bring independence to Israel.

 

A glorious King: A hero who would boldly take His seat upon the throne and establish Israel at the center of the world, just as the crowds had cried out “Hosanna” when Jesus entered Jerusalem.

 

3.  Why Did They Fall into Such Profound Sorrow and Disappointment?

 

Contrary to the disciples’ expectations, Jesus’ final moments appeared utterly powerless.

 

The most accursed death: The One whom they had believed to be the King who would save Israel was nailed to a cross—the cruelest and most shameful punishment of Rome—and seemingly put to death in vain.  According to the words of Deuteronomy (Deut. 21:23), anyone who hangs on a tree is “cursed by God.” Thus, the One whom they had believed to be the Messiah had died under what appeared to be a curse.

 

The collapse of all their hopes: Jesus’ death meant more than simply losing their Teacher.  It meant “the collapse of their entire future—the liberation of Israel”—the dream for which they had staked their lives.  That is why they could do nothing but leave Jerusalem and trudge toward Emmaus, lamenting in effect, “We had hoped so deeply… but now everything is over.”

 

Ultimately, their sorrow was a form of spiritual disappointment that came because they did not understand “God’s way of salvation—the suffering Messiah,” but instead tried to fit Jesus into “their own human standard of salvation—a political Messiah” (Internet).

 

(i)     Here, I find myself thinking that we modern Christians, like the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, may also experience our own kind of spiritual disappointment because we do not understand God’s way of salvation—or, more fundamentally, God’s salvation itself—and instead try to fit Jesus into our own human standards of salvation (or our own expectations of the salvation we want Jesus to provide).

 

·        Modern Christians also often experience spiritual disappointment as they walk their own “road to Emmaus” in their life of faith. Artificial intelligence has summarized the specific forms of spiritual disappointment that arise from the gap between what we expect from Jesus and God’s actual way of salvation (Internet):

 

               a.   The “human expectations of salvation” that modern people place upon Jesus

 

Just as the two disciples hoped for political liberation from the Roman Empire, we today also expect immediate deliverance from the deficiencies and sufferings that oppress our individual lives.

 

A Messiah of prosperity and success: The expectation that if I believe in Jesus, my business will prosper, my children will get into good universities, and my financial difficulties will be resolved all at once (a prosperity-oriented view of salvation).

 

A problem-solver and healer: The expectation that the crises of life, physical illnesses, and conflicts in human relationships should be immediately resolved at the time I want and in the way I want.

 

An emotional comforter: The expectation that faith should always provide me only with peace, comfort, and positive emotions.

 

b.  The reasons we experience spiritual disappointment

 

However, God’s way of salvation is often different from what we expect.  When suffering continues despite our earnest prayers, or when circumstances become worse, we fall into deep sorrow and doubt like the two disciples, saying, “We had hoped that this was the One who would solve my problems.”

 

Misunderstanding “God’s silence”: We fall into spiritual depression because we think that God is not listening to our prayers or that He has abandoned us.

 

Avoidance of the cross (suffering): In order to deliver us from sin and death, Jesus chose the way of “the suffering of the cross,” and He also calls us to take up our own crosses and follow Him.  Yet because we desire glory without suffering and resurrection without the cross, we become disappointed when confronted with suffering in real life.

 

c.   The way to overcome spiritual disappointment

 

The two disciples on the road to Emmaus were able to turn away from the road of despair when Jesus opened the Scriptures to them and broadened their spiritual vision.

 

A transformation of expectations: Our eyes are opened when our perspective shifts from the “micro-level salvation” of having my personal problems solved to the “macro-level salvation” of God’s eternal rule over my life and His refining work in me.

 

Micro-level salvation is salvation on the personal level in which the practical problems of “now, here, and me” are resolved, such as healing from disease or overcoming a financial crisis.  By contrast, macro-level salvation is salvation on the greater scale, in which God transforms me into one of His people through the sufferings and refining processes of life and causes me to dwell under His eternal reign.

 

Like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, the reason we experience spiritual disappointment is usually that we are trapped within “micro-level expectations” that seek to change my immediate circumstances.  But when the Lord opens the Scriptures and broadens our perspective toward “macro-level salvation,” we come to realize that every refining experience in our lives is a carefully prepared channel of God’s blessing through which He is bringing us toward completion.

 

The burning of the heart: When we embrace the way of Jesus, who prayed, “Not as I will, but as You will,” the very place of despair instead becomes the place where we encounter the risen Lord more deeply (Internet).

 

(ii)     Here, as I meditated on the words “the One who would redeem Israel,” I thought of the words “redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:14; Eph. 1:7) and “the redemption of our body” (Rom. 8:23).  And I believe that we Christians should not hold to the concept of “redemption” that the two disciples on the road to Emmaus had, but rather, by faith in the “redemption, the forgiveness of sins” that we have already received (which we have already received through faith in Jesus Christ), we should hope for “the redemption of our body” (which we will receive in the future when Jesus returns).

 

a.  The redemption we have already received (Already): “The forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:14; Eph. 1:7)

Spiritual meaning: Through the precious blood of Jesus Christ shed on the cross, we have been liberated (redeemed), once and for all and eternally, from slavery to sin and death.

 

Our attitude: Because this is a historical reality that we have “already received,” not through our works but solely by grace, we should daily be assured of and enjoy by faith the joy of this salvation.

 

b.  The redemption we will receive in the future (Not-yet): “The redemption of our body” (Rom. 8:23)

 

Spiritual meaning: Although our souls have received the forgiveness of sins, we still live on this earth clothed in broken bodies that are subject to disease, weakness, death, and the temptations of sin.  “The redemption of our body” refers to the final completion of salvation when, at the Lord’s return, our perishable bodies will be completely transformed to become like the Lord’s glorious resurrection body.

 

Our attitude: Even if our life on this earth is, like the road to Emmaus, a continuous journey of sorrow and refining, we must patiently hope and wait as we look forward to the completion that will be given to us in the future.

 

c.   The two disciples’ “redemption” and our “hope” today

 

The two disciples on the road to Emmaus became disappointed because they hoped only for an earthly redemption in which the immediate Roman oppression—their external circumstances—would be removed.

 

However, the true attitude of faith that modern Christians should possess is this: “Firmly believing (Faith) in the grace of the forgiveness of sins that was completed in the past, earnestly hoping (Hope) for the redemption of the body that will be completed in the future, and overcoming the refining trials of the present.”  When this direction is firmly established, we can rise again without collapsing into spiritual disappointment before any deficiency or suffering in our present circumstances (Internet).

 

(3)  Third, after separately meditating on the words spoken concerning the two disciples on the road to Emmaus who were engaged in a conversation of sorrow and disappointment—“Jesus Himself drew near and went with them” [αὐτὸς ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐγγίσας συνεπορεύετο αὐτοῖς (autos ho Iēsous engisas syneporeueto autois)] (Lk. 24:15), and “They drew near to the village where they were going, and He acted as though He would go farther” [ἤγγισαν εἰς τὴν κώμην οὗ ἐπορεύοντο, καὶ αὐτὸς προσεποιεῖτο πορρώτερον πορεύεσθαι (ēngisan eis tēn kōmēn hou eporeuonto, kai autos prosepoieito porrōteron poreuesthai)] (v. 28)—I want to meditate on what kind of Lord our Lord is and on His heart by considering the relationship between these two statements.

 

(a) The Lord who “draws near and walks with them” in verse 15 and the Lord who “acts as though He would go farther” in verse 28 may appear contradictory on the surface.  However, when we connect these two verses through the nuances of the original Greek, we can discover the deep heart of the Lord, who desires the disciples’ personal decision and intimacy with Him—a love that is somewhat like a divine game of hide-and-seek (Internet):

 

1.  Verse 15: The Lord who first comes to us and remains by our side

 

The depth of the original language: συνεπορεύετο (syneporeueto) is the imperfect form of a verb meaning “to travel together,” conveying the sense that “He continued walking alongside them, side by side.”

 

The heart of the Lord: Even while the disciples failed to recognize the Lord and poured out words of despair, the Lord did not become angry or leave them.  Instead, He quietly remained beside them, adjusting His pace to theirs.  He is the Lord of unconditional love who first comes to us and walks with us at our pace when we are discouraged and overwhelmed by spiritual disappointment.

 

2. Verse 28: The Lord who waits for a personal invitation

 

The depth of the original language: προσεποιεῖτο (prosepoieito) is an imperfect form meaning “to pretend, to act as though.” In other words, Jesus did not truly intend to abandon the disciples and leave them; rather, “He acted as though He were going farther.”

 

The heart of the Lord: The Lord does not force His presence upon us.  When the disciples’ hearts had begun to burn as they listened to the Word, He waited for them, by their own free will and personal decision, to hold on to Him and invite Him to stay. If the disciples had not urged the Lord to remain with them at that point, He would have continued on His way.  The Lord desires our personal confession and voluntary love.

 

3.  The relationship between the two statements: “The Lord who brings a personal relationship to completion”

 

When these two verses are connected, the heart of the Lord unfolds into one beautiful story of love.

 

The initiative in salvation belongs to the Lord (v. 15), but the completion of intimacy takes place through our invitation (v. 28).

 

The Lord who first approached us (v. 15) does not forcefully break down the door of our hearts and enter. Instead, He acts as though He would go farther (v. 28), waiting for us to open the door and say, “Lord, the day is nearly over; stay with us.”

 

Ultimately, Jesus’ action in verse 28 of “acting as though He would go farther” was the Lord’s holy way of drawing out the passion hidden in the disciples’ hearts and their longing for Him (Internet).

 

(i)     Here, as I meditated on the meaning of the word συνεπορεύετο (syneporeueto), “went with them” (v. 15)—that is, “He continued walking alongside them, side by side”—I thought of the Holy Spirit, the “Helper” [Παράκλητος (Paraklētos)].  What relationship is there between these two concepts for us, the modern-day disciples of Jesus?

 

·        The συνεπορεύετο (syneporeueto, “to walk alongside together”) of verse 15 and the Παράκλητος (Paraklētos, “Helper”) found in the Gospel of John form a pair that corresponds powerfully on a conceptual and spatial level.  The relationship between these two words gives modern Christians—the disciples of Jesus living today—profound spiritual comfort and a powerful sense of identity (Internet):

 

a.  The linguistic and spatial relationship between the two words: “The companion beside me”

 

Both words share the central spatial idea of being “with/beside” (para / syn).

 

συνεπορεύετο (syneporeueto): This word is formed from σύν (syn, “with”) + πορεύομαι (poreuomai, “to go, travel”). It dynamically conveys the idea of “walking alongside someone, matching one’s steps with theirs.”

 

Παράκλητος (Paraklētos): This word is associated with παρά (para, “beside”) + καλέω (kaleō, “to call”). It carries the sense of “one called alongside” to help a person in difficulty and can refer to an advocate, comforter, or helper.

 

The heart of the connection: The physical presence of the risen Jesus, who walked side by side with the disciples on the road to Emmaus (syneporeueto), continues for us today as the spiritual presence of the Holy Spirit, who remains with us forever as the Paraklētos.

 

b. Three spiritual meanings for modern disciples

 

① A “real companionship” even when He cannot be seen

 

The Emmaus disciples’ eyes were restrained so that they could not recognize that Jesus was beside them, yet Jesus was unquestionably walking alongside them.

 

Today, we too often become lonely in the midst of suffering and spiritual depression, saying, “It feels as though God is not here.”  Yet regardless of our feelings, the Holy Spirit, the Paraklētos, is even now quietly walking beside us, matching His steps to the pace of our lives.

 

② The ministry of the Paraklētos who “opens the Scriptures and causes our hearts to burn”

 

When Jesus opened the Old Testament Scriptures to the disciples on the road, their hearts burned within them. In John 14:26, Jesus said that when the Holy Spirit, the Paraklētos, comes, He “will bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”

 

When we read the Word, listen to a sermon, or suddenly remember a word of promise in the midst of suffering and our hearts begin to burn, this is evidence that the Holy Spirit, the Paraklētos beside us, is opening the Scriptures to us just as Jesus did on the road to Emmaus.

 

③ The advocacy that transforms “micro-level despair” into “macro-level hope”

 

The Paraklētos is the One who advocates for, encourages, and raises up those who are discouraged.  Just as Jesus turned around the disciples who were heading home in micro-level despair, saying, “We had hoped that He was the One who would redeem Israel,” the Holy Spirit today knows our circumstances better than anyone else, intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words (Rom. 8:26), and continually directs our eyes toward “the redemption of our body that is to come”—macro-level salvation.

 

In summary,

If Jesus on the road to Emmaus walked alongside His disciples in the flesh as a “Paraklētos within time and space,” today the Holy Spirit transcends time and space and eternally walks alongside each and every modern disciple as the “indwelling Paraklētos.

 

(4)  Fourth, I want to receive the rebuke and instruction given to us as I meditate on the words Jesus spoke to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, whose eyes were restrained so that they could not recognize that Jesus was beside them, walking side by side with them: “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!  Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into His glory?” [ὦ ἀνόητοι καὶ βραδεῖς τῇ καρδίᾳ τοῦ πιστεύειν ἐπὶ πᾶσιν οἷς ἐλάλησαν οἱ προφῆται· οὐχὶ ταῦτα ἔδει παθεῖν τὸν χριστὸν καὶ εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ (ō anoētoi kai bradeis tē kardia tou pisteuein epi pasin hois elalēsan hoi prophētai; ouchi tauta edei pathein ton Christon kai eiselthein eis tēn doxan autou?)] (Lk. 24:25–26), and, “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them in detail the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures” [ἀρξάμενος ἀπὸ Μωϋσέως καὶ ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν προφητῶν διερμήνευσεν αὐτοῖς ἐν πάσαις ταῖς γραφαῖς τὰ περὶ ἑαυτοῦ (arxamenos apo Mōyseōs kai apo pantōn tōn prophētōn diermēneusen autois en pasais tais graphais ta peri heautou)] (v. 27).

 

1.   The Lord’s rebuke: “Dullness of understanding and sluggishness of heart”

 

Jesus rebuked the disciples primarily for two things:

 

“O foolish ones” (ἀνόητοι — anoētoi)

 

This word does not simply mean having a low IQ.  Rather, it refers to the condition of being “unwilling to use one’s understanding, lacking spiritual discernment.”  The disciples had seen with their own eyes the events that had taken place in Jerusalem and had also heard the women’s testimony concerning the resurrection (vv. 22–24), yet they had completely failed to use the “spiritual intelligence” necessary to connect and interpret these events spiritually.  For this, the Lord rebuked them.

 

“Slow of heart to believe” (βραδεῖς τῇ καρδίᾳ τοῦ πιστεύειν — bradeis tē kardia...)

 

βραδεῖς (bradeis) means “slow, sluggish, dull.” In other words, the rebuke was that their hearts were “far too sluggish and dull when it came to believing.”  They may have known intellectually the prophecies of the prophets—the Old Testament Scriptures—but their hearts were far too slow and sluggish to respond by receiving those words as truth for their own lives and trusting them.

 

The rebuke for us today: We, too, may possess a great deal of biblical knowledge, but when we actually encounter crises and despair in life—our own Emmaus road—we must examine ourselves to see whether we are spiritually ignorant and sluggish when it comes to applying that Word to our own circumstances and believing it.

 

2.   The necessary principle of salvation: “To suffer and enter into glory”

 

“Was it not necessary?” (οὐχὶ ταῦτα ἔδει παθεῖν... — ouchi tauta edei pathein...)

The key word in verse 26 is ἔδει (edei). It expresses Divine Necessity—“it had to be so,” or “it was necessary.”

 

The Messiah’s suffering on the cross was not a “failure” that He helplessly endured because He was overpowered by the Roman Empire.  Rather, it was God’s thorough and necessary plan of salvation, established in Scripture from before the foundation of the world for the salvation of humanity.

 

The order of suffering and glory: The Lord declares that only by passing through suffering (παθεῖν) could He enter into His glory (δόξαν).  There is no glory without suffering.

 

The lesson for us today: The disciples were disappointed at the cross because they sought only “political glory without suffering.”  The Lord also asks us, “Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into His glory?” and teaches us that the refining trials and sufferings that come into our lives are also a necessary process through which we move toward the glory of God.

 

3.  The Lord’s instruction—the solution: “Interpreting the Lord solely through Scripture”

 

“He explained in detail” (διερμήνευσεν — diermēneusen)

 

This word means “to translate, interpret, explain deeply.” (It is related to the term used today, “hermeneutics.”) Jesus did not simply offer emotional comfort or perform a visible miracle.  Instead, taking Moses and the Prophets—the entire Old Testament Scriptures—as His text, He perfectly interpreted their meaning through the lens of “Jesus Christ.”

 

The destination of Scripture: τὰ περὶ ἑαυτοῦ (ta peri heautou), that is, He explained that all the writings of Scripture ultimately concerned “Himself.”  He interpreted for them the fact that the destination toward which all the sacrifices, the tabernacle, and the prophecies of the prophets from Genesis through Malachi pointed was the suffering and resurrection of Jesus.

 

The lesson for us today: The only prescription for healing our ignorance and spiritual disappointment is to return to a “Bible-centered faith.”  When we stop interpreting our circumstances according to our emotions or the standards of the world and instead interpret our lives through “the gospel of Jesus Christ,” which runs throughout the entire Old and New Testaments, only then do our veiled eyes begin to be opened (Internet).

 

(5)  Fifth, I want to reflect upon and apply to ourselves the words concerning Jesus while He was staying with the two disciples: “Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them.  Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him” [ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ κατακλιθῆναι αὐτὸν μετ’ αὐτῶν, λαβὼν τὸν ἄρτον εὐλόγησεν καὶ κλάσας ἐπεδίδου αὐτοῖς· αὐτῶν δὲ διηνοίχθησαν οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ καὶ ἐπέγνωσαν αὐτόν (egeneto en tō kataklithēnai auton met’ autōn, labōn ton arton eulogēsen kai klasas epedidou autois; autōn de diēnoichthēsan hoi ophthalmoi kai epegnōsan auton)] (Lk. 24:30–31).

 

1.   The reversal of host and guest: Surrendering the sovereignty of my life

 

The nuance of the original language: When the meal was prepared because of the disciples’ earnest invitation, Jesus, who had originally entered as the guest, instead assumed the role of the host—the Lord—by “taking” [λαβὼν (labōn)], “blessing” [εὐλόγησεν (eulogēsen)], and “breaking” [κλάσας (klasas)] the bread and giving it to them.  This sequence of actions immediately recalls both the Lord’s Supper instituted by Jesus (Mt. 26:26) and the miracle of the five loaves and two fish (Lk. 9:16).

 

Our reflection and application: We often invite Jesus as “a guest who will meet the needs of my life.”  But the moment when our spiritual eyes are opened is when Jesus takes the place of the Master at the table of our lives, personally takes the bread of our lives into His hands, blesses it, and breaks it.  Only when we completely surrender the sovereignty and steering wheel of our lives to the Lord do we begin to experience the reality that the Lord is alive.

 

2.   The opening of veiled eyes: Sacramental presence and the restoration of worship

 

The nuance of the original language: διηνοίχθησαν (diēnoichthēsan), “were opened,” is a passive form of the verb meaning “to open.”  In other words, the disciples did not see through their own human effort or physical eyesight; rather, their spiritual eyes “were opened by God.”  It is a divine passive. As a result, they moved beyond merely knowing about the Lord and reached the level of ἐπέγνωσαν (epegnōsan), “to recognize fully/deeply.”

 

Our reflection and application: If the disciples’ hearts burned through the “Word (Bible study)” of verse 27, their eyes were completely opened through the “breaking of bread (the Lord’s Supper/worship)” in verses 30–31.  For us today, this points to the place of worship and Communion.  When the Holy Spirit opens our spiritual eyes through the Word proclaimed week after week and through the fellowship of breaking bread—Communion and the fellowship of the saints—we come fully to encounter [ἐπέγνωσαν (epegnōsan), “to recognize fully/deeply”] not an abstract Jesus existing merely in our ideas, but “the real Jesus who has risen and is now present with me.”

 

3.  The spiritual meaning of the “bread that is broken and given”: Discovering the marks of the cross

 

The nuance of the original language: Jesus took the bread and, κλάσας (klasas), “broke” it and gave it to the disciples.  At the very moment the bread was torn apart, the disciples may finally have recognized the agonizing love of Jesus, who only days earlier had given His own body to be torn on the cross in Jerusalem as the Bread of Life, along with the marks of the nails from the cross.

 

Our reflection and application: There are moments when, because of refining trials and suffering, the places and plans of our lives are “torn and broken” [κλάσας (klasas)].  When we are trapped within micro-level salvation, we despair when our lives are broken.  But when our eyes are opened to macro-level salvation, we realize that the very moment our lives are torn can instead become a channel of grace through which, united with the Lord’s suffering on the cross, we encounter the risen Lord most clearly.

 

Comprehensive summary of today’s meditation:

The secret of the Emmaus disciples’ spiritual eyes being opened was that they welcomed the Lord as the “Master” of their lives and received and ate the “Bread of Life—the gospel of the cross” that He gave them.  Likewise, when we entrust the sovereignty of our lives to the Lord in our daily lives and worship, our veiled eyes will be opened, and we will experience the miracle of recognizing the Lord who is beside us (Internet).

 

(6) Sixth, I want to receive the lesson given to us as I meditate on what the two disciples on the road to Emmaus said to one another: “Did not our hearts burn within us while He spoke to us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” [Οὐχὶ ἡ καρδία ἡμῶν καιομένη ἦν ἐν ἡμῖν ὡς ἐλάλει ἡμῖν ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ, ὡς διήνοιγεν ἡμῖν τὰς γραφάς (ouchi hē kardia hēmōn kaiomenē ēn en hēmin hōs elalei hēmin en tē hodō, hōs diēnoigen hēmin tas graphas?)] (Lk. 24:32).

 

1.  Inner revival produced by the Holy Spirit and the Word: “A heart that continues to burn”

 

The depth of the original language: καιομένη ἦν (kaiomenē ēn) combines the present participle καιομένη, meaning “burning,” with the imperfect verb ἦν.  Thus, it does not describe an emotion that suddenly flared up for a moment and then disappeared.  Rather, it means “a state in which the flame continued to burn intensely and unceasingly within their hearts throughout the entire time they were hearing the Word.”

 

Lesson and reflection: Genuine restoration—or revival—of faith does not come from external stimulation or an emotional atmosphere.  It occurs only when the text of the gospel strikes the heart.  Modern disciples should not become obsessed with emotional comfort or temporary spiritual excitement; rather, we should seek the work of the Holy Spirit through which the flame of the Word continues to burn within us without being extinguished.

 

2.  The gospel that breaks open our veiled and closed framework: “Opening the Scriptures wide”

 

The depth of the original language: διήνοιγεν (diēnoigen) is an imperfect verb meaning “to open, to open up.”  It comes from the same root as the word used in verse 31 when the disciples’ closed eyes were opened (διηνοίχθησαν). Jesus threw open the doors of the disciples’ confined thinking and the closed doors of the Scriptures.

 

Lesson and reflection: The disciples despaired because they had kept Scripture closed within their own interpretive standard—political salvation.  Only when the Lord opened the Scriptures and interpreted them according to the macro-level salvation that runs through the suffering and glory of Christ did their hearts begin to burn.  Likewise, rather than interpreting our lives according to our own way, we must receive the grace by which the Holy Spirit opens our understanding and the Scriptures so that we may see life from the perspective of God’s vast work of salvation.

 

3.  The presence experienced in the journey of everyday life: “The work He performs on the road”

 

The depth of the original language: The disciples remembered the time when the Lord had spoken to them “on the road” [ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ (en tē hodō)].  It was not in a holy temple or at a special religious gathering.  Rather, the utterly ordinary and secular road along which they were trudging home in despair became the very place of revival where their hearts burned within them.

 

Lesson and reflection: For modern disciples today, the “road” (ὁδός) is the ordinary setting of daily life—the workplace, the home, and the places where we carry out our daily responsibilities.  The risen Lord comes beside us not only when we are in religious spaces, but also in the everyday journey of life, when we are discouraged and talking in the midst of ordinary circumstances, and He still transforms our hearts so that they burn within us (Internet).

 

(a) Here, Jeremiah 23:29 came to mind: “Is not My word like fire,” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” I also thought of hymn No. 184 in the New Korean Hymnal, “Holy Spirit, Like a Flame.” I will share only the first verse and the refrain: (Verse 1) Holy Spirit, like a flame, come now upon us who pray; descend upon us now and show us Your glory.  (Refrain) Holy Spirit, come upon us and satisfy the longing of our spirits. As we wait for You, fill us with fire, with fire. Amen.

 

a.  The hammer that breaks the rock: The Word that breaks the hardened frameworks of the human heart

 

Connection with the Word: In Jeremiah 23:29, God’s Word is described as “a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces.”  For the disciples on the road to Emmaus, this hammer was the Lord’s rebuke and His exposition of Scripture, which shattered the hard rock of the “political and micro-level view of the Messiah” to which they had stubbornly clung.

 

Our reflection: Within us, too, there are hard rocks consisting of our own interests, worldly success, and human standards of salvation.  When the fire of the Holy Spirit comes upon us, the first thing that happens is “the work of repentance and confession,” in which our self-centered stubbornness and prejudices are shattered into pieces.  Only when the rock is broken can the seed of the true gospel finally be planted.

 

b.   The Holy Spirit like fire: The fire that consumes and purifies the heart

 

Connection with the Word: Jeremiah’s declaration, “Is not My word like fire?” and the hymn’s words, “Holy Spirit, like a flame,” point to the same spiritual quality.  Fire burns away everything impure and leaves only pure gold.  The “burning” that the disciples experienced on the road was not merely emotional excitement; it was the purifying work of the Holy Spirit consuming the residue of despair, fear, and doubt that had filled their hearts.

 

Our reflection: The fullness of the Holy Spirit that modern disciples should seek is not power with which to display ourselves, but fire that burns away the impurities within us—anxiety, lust, and spiritual laziness.  When the fire of the Holy Spirit takes hold of our souls, the fears given by the world disappear, and a pure hope that looks only toward the glory of the Lord begins to burn within us.

 

c.  The Holy Spirit who satisfies the longing of our spirits (the hymn refrain)

 

Connection with the Word: The refrain of the hymn sings, “Satisfy the longing of our spirits.”  At first, the Emmaus disciples despaired because their “fleshly desire—liberation from Rome” had been frustrated.  But when the Lord opened the Scriptures to them and the fire of the Holy Spirit came upon them, their “spiritual longing—God’s eternal reign and the redemption of the body” was awakened, and they received incomparable spiritual satisfaction.

 

Our reflection: The satisfaction of the world is temporary and leaves us thirsty again.  But when we wait and pray, “Fill us with fire, with fire,” the Holy Spirit awakens within us the “longing of the spirit” that reaches beyond our fleshly desires and longs for the kingdom of God, and within that longing He gives us the most complete peace and satisfaction (Internet).

 

(7) Seventh and last, I want to receive the lesson given to us as I meditate on the words: “So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, ‘The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!’  And the two also told what had happened on the road, and how Jesus had become known to them in the breaking of bread” (Lk. 24:33–35).

 

(a) These words are the great conclusion of the Emmaus story: the disciples who had left Jerusalem in despair encountered the risen Lord and afterward recovered both their mission and their community. The central meanings and lessons of these words are as follows (Internet):

 

1.  Immediate turning back and restoration of mission (“They rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem”)

 

Meaning: Once the disciples’ eyes were opened and their hearts began to burn, even though evening had fallen and the night had grown dark, they did not hesitate.  They “immediately” [ἀναστάντες αὐτῇ τῇ ὥρᾳ (anastantes autē tē hōra), “rising up that very hour”] got up and returned to Jerusalem.  Only a few hours earlier, Jerusalem had been the place of despair and fear where Jesus had been executed—the very place from which they themselves had fled.

 

Lesson: When we personally encounter the risen Lord, our fear of circumstances disappears.  The Lord calls us to make a decision of faith: to turn around from the direction in which we were descending in discouragement and immediately return to “my Jerusalem,” the place of mission and the place where we are called to be witnesses.

 

2.   The joy of the resurrection confirmed within the community (“They were gathered together... saying that He had appeared to Simon”)

 

Meaning: When the two disciples returned to Jerusalem, they met the eleven apostles and their companions who had gathered together, and there they heard the community’s confession: “The Lord has indeed risen and has appeared to Peter (Simon)!”

 

Lesson: Resurrection faith is not something we keep to ourselves.  It becomes even more firmly established when it is shared and confirmed together within the community of faith—the church. When the fire of the Holy Spirit that has come upon me meets the evidence of the resurrection that has come to another person, the entire community experiences great assurance and spiritual revival.

 

3.  Testifying to the Lord whom we encountered in everyday life (“They told what had happened on the road and... how He was known to them”)

 

Meaning: The two disciples also poured out before the community their vivid testimony: the overwhelming experience of having the Scriptures explained to them “on the road,” and how they recognized the Lord at the table “when He broke the bread.”

 

Lesson: A true disciple is a person who is not ashamed to testify about the Jesus whom he or she has encountered.  We must become “witnesses of the gospel” who tell our neighbors and brothers and sisters, in the actual settings of life, about the grace of the Holy Spirit, the Paraklētos, who walked alongside us on the road of our lives, and about the miracle of our eyes being opened when we surrendered the sovereignty of our lives to the Lord (Internet).