Latest / Scripture Central / Why Did Christ Appear to Two Disciples on the Road to Emmaus? #677

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Why Did Christ Appear to Two Disciples on the Road to Emmaus? #677 · Scripture Central

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  And behold, 2 of them went that same day to a village called
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  Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem.
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  About 3 score furlongs. And it came to pass that while
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  they commune together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew
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  near and went with them. Hey listeners, this is Nick from
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  Scripture Central and today's podcast addresses the question,
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  Why did Christ appear to two disciples on the road to Emmaus
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  shortly after Jesus's resurrection?
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  Still, relatively few had seen the risen Lord or heard the news
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  that he was indeed risen from the grave.
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  The first witnesses to the resurrection were women who went
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  to the tomb early in the morning, and they, when they
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  returned from the Sepulchre, they told all these things unto
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  the 11 and to all the rest. Among these disciples who were
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  with the remaining 11 apostles, two of them went that same day
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  to a village called Emmaus. As they traveled, they talked
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  together of all these things which had happened, and communed
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  together, and reasoned about what they had both seen in the
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  past few days, and what they had heard from the women earlier
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  that day. As Kent Brown observes, the
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  point of discussion between the two disciples, of course has to
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  do with the empty tomb, the fact of which they and the others
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  cannot fathom. Furthermore, the verb translated
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  as reasoned carries a dual meaning of to disgust and to
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  dispute or debate. As such, while the two disciples
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  were traveling to Emmaus, it is possible that the discussion
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  entailed lively debates regarding how to make sense of
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  the persistent report from the women and Jesus's unforeseen
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  death. It was during this time that
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  Jesus himself drew near and went with them.
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  Beginning with this statement, Luke begins to emphasize the
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  reality of Jesus's resurrection through the deliberate use of
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  witnesses to Jesus's physical presence.
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  Using an emphatic pronoun translated as himself, Luke uses
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  a verb that underscores the approaching experience as both a
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  designed disclosure to the two disciples and a planned part of
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  his resurrection appearances. Like the other Gospel accounts,
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  Luke is adamant to point out how many people from varying
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  backgrounds testified of the Savior's resurrection to
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  demonstrate the authenticity of this miracle of miracles.
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  However, the disciples did not recognize him at first.
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  Luke records that their eyes were Holden that they should not
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  know him, implying A continual restraining of sight by someone
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  else, namely God. Significantly, the Joseph Smith
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  translation of this verse adds that the disciples eyes were
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  Holden or covered. As such, it appears that these
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  two disciples were not yet ready to behold the resurrected Lord
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  in his full glory, rather viewing him as though through a
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  veil instead. When asked why these disciples
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  were sad, they told Jesus that they had actually been pondering
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  on him and His ministry. In their response, one can sense
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  the frustrations that they were experiencing as they tried to
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  grapple with everything that had just happened.
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  Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet, mighty indeed, and word
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  before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and
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  our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death and have
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  crucified Him. But we trusted that it had been
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  He which should have redeemed Israel.
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  And beside all this, today is the third day since these things
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  were done. Yay.
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  And certain women also of our company made us astonished,
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  which were early at the Sepulchre.
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  And when they found not his body, they came saying that they
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  had also seen a vision of angels which said that he was alive,
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  And certain of them, which were with us, went to the sepulchre
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  and found it Even so, as the women had said, But him they saw
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  not. Implicit in their words, Brown
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  observed, lies an incorrect widespread notion that the
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  Messiah is to carry out an expected deliverance from Roman
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  captivity. In fact, the verb translated as
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  should have redeemed employed by these two disciples has to do
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  with Jesus rescuing Israel as a people by military might, rather
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  than him paying a ransom for sins or paying a price to bring
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  about salvation. As in other passages, relying on
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  these mistaken notions of who the Christ would be undoubtedly
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  was a leading cause in simply identifying him now as a
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  prophet, mighty in Word and deed, yet are unable to
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  recognize their misplaced ideas with recent events.
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  Jesus, however, responds by an appeal to the scriptures, Oh
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  fools and slow of heart, to believe all that the prophets
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  have spoken. Ought not Christ to have
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  suffered these things, and to enter into His glory, and begin
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  at Moses and all the prophets and expound unto them in all the
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  scriptures the things concerning himself.
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  Significantly, it is here that the two disciples understanding
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  of the scriptures takes on new meaning.
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  Finally able to grasp the true meaning of many scriptures,
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  Jesus thereby corrected these false misunderstandings and
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  taught them how to properly recognize him in the scriptures.
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  Finally, once the three enter Emmaus, the two disciples were
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  so moved that they invited Jesus to spend the night with them.
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  Having entered the home of one of the two disciples, Jesus took
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  bread and blessed it and break and gave to them in an evening
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  meal. This scene evokes imagery of the
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  Last Supper and the institution of the sacrament, which was to
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  be performed in remembrance of Jesus, Brown observes.
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  Although the Savior does not speak words that turn the meal
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  into the sacrament, the meal becomes sacramental or holy in
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  character because of who he is. Having just heard Jesus preach
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  from the Scriptures and now receiving a symbol of His
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  crucified and resurrected body, their eyes were opened and they
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  knew Him. They were now able to discern
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  the full glory and presence of the Lord, becoming two important
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  witnesses to the reality of His glorious resurrection.
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  Having now learned the true nature of the Messiah and seen
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  Him with their eyes, they could effectively go out and spread
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  His gospel. One of the greatest challenges
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  many early Christians experienced during this time was
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  grappling with their own previous expectations of who the
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  Messiah would be with what they had personally experienced.
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  Like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, many initially
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  believed that Jesus would come first and foremost as a
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  conqueror who would claim the Davidtic throne and redeem
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  Israel from Roman rule. As such, they were
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  understandably left confused when Jesus willingly allowed
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  himself to be crucified by wicked men, even though Jesus
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  had frequently prophesied about his death and resurrection.
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  Rather than fulfill the militaristic expectations of
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  many of the Jewish population, Jesus first came as the
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  Conqueror, not of Rome, but of death and sin.
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  Not to be confused with prophecies of Christ's
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  millennial reign, Jesus makes it clear that all of the prophets
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  that have ever live testified of him.
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  In short, all of the scriptures are focused on Jesus Christ and
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  his atoning sacrifice. Such a hope is expressed clearly
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  in the Book of Mormon and we talk of Christ.
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  Nephi recorded. We rejoice in Christ, we preach
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  of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according
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  to our prophecies that our children may know to what source
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  they may look for a remission of their sins.
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  Just as Nephi's entire view of the scriptures had dramatically
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  shifted as he saw a vision of the Savior, so too did the
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  ancient disciples in the old World begin to understand the
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  fullness of the Scriptures as they talked with and saw the
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  resurrected Jesus. Modern readers of the scriptures
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  will occasionally have to follow the example of these two
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  disciples. As we each come to the Lord with
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  our own viewpoints and ideas, we can look to their example for
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  the humility to put aside our own ideas in favor for the truth
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  of the gospel. As we study the scriptures, we
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  can come to know Jesus Christ and His will more fully.
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  And like the disciples at Emmaus, we too will be able to
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  ask, did not our heart burn within us as we approach the
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  Lord in all sincerity of heart? Thank you for listening to this
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  presentation from Scripture Central.
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  For more information, please visit scripturecentral.org.