Jesus begins walking along the road with two disciples who have left the other disciples in Jerusalem and the upper room, and have decided it is time to go home. One of the disciples is Cleopas and the other is an unnamed person. After the long walk, the two invite Jesus to eat dinner with them. This sounds like something a married couple might do. Maybe it was Cleopas’ brother, but then why not mention his name? Not mentioning a woman’s name would go right along with the Jewish culture of the day, which had a very low view of women. Maybe they were a married couple, or maybe a brother and sister! Regardless, the two disciples leave the others and start walking to their home in Emmaus, a town about 7 miles west of Jerusalem.

They are convinced Jesus is dead and did not believe the women’s testimony or their instructions to go to Galilee. They reveal what they had concluded, when they said, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet, mighty in deed and word before God and all the people. He was crucified and He is dead, but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel” (Luke 24:19-20). It didn’t work out like we were hoping. Our expectations that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah have been crushed. It’s time to cut our losses, move on and begin rebuilding our lives. As they walk and talk to one another, Jesus begins to walk alongside them, but they do not recognize Him. They make a reference to the women’s testimony saying, “Some of the women in our group saw a vision of angels, who said Jesus was alive. But some of the others went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but Jesus they did not see.” It is over, Jesus is dead and it is time to move forward. They had heard eyewitness testimonies of friends who had seen the empirical evidence of an empty tomb, burial linens, a face cloth neatly folded, but these were not proof enough for these two doubting disciples.

After listening to them, Jesus gently opens the Scriptures, “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself.” Choosing Scripture from the first five books in the Old Testament, written by Moses, and verses from the Prophets in the Old Testament, Jesus explains to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself. I wish I could have been there to hear Jesus’ teaching. What an education they received that day and yet they did not yet recognize who Jesus was until He sat down with them, took bread, gave thanks, and broke it. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him. And He was gone as mysteriously as He had appeared to them.