LUKE 24 – The Interview on the way to Emmaus

“And their eyes were opened, and they knew him: and he vanished out of their sight.” Luke 24:31​

I woke up this morning and I wrote down these words as I sat in my backyard watching the puffy white-grayish clouds roll in. It’s not too often that beautiful clouds hang out in California, but when they do, I love to gaze upon them (reminds me of TN). I told my wife the other day, “I love clouds, watching them gently slide across the open sky headed in the direction of the prevailing wind.” They can bring a sweet rain to a dry land and more often than not they are large clouds filled with luminous moisture glistening above our heads. The beauty about the clouds is they are a reflection of what is to come. The Scriptures remind us that ‘One Day’ the mighty angel of the Lord will blast his trumpet and will bring about eternity. At that time, Jesus will come on the clouds with all his saints in glory. “Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). What a Day of rejoicing that will be.

As we think about the future, none of us can forecast what tomorrow holds; however, we can surely say, “Lord, if you so will, then allow me to do this or to do that (James 4:13-17).” I have great peace when I know the Master’s hand is written all over time, for when He returns time will be no more and eternity as we’ve read in the Scriptures will come to be (Revelation 21:1-6). I don’t have to fear what tomorrow brings one way or the other. I’m not speaking about spiritual passivity where I don’t plan or I don’t look to the future; quite the contrary, it’s the future that excites me and it’s the present moments that I relish in with loved ones and friends.

So, what I’ve come to learn in my years of life is that I need to protect myself from the blinding, that is, of losing sight of who I am and where I’m headed. It’s the danger of closing my eyes of faith and not being able to sense the amazing presence of the Lord while I walk along the journey’s way.

There is a biblical account in the gospel of Luke (Luke 24) that speaks to this conundrum. It’s about an interaction that occurs while two men are walking on the road to a nearby village about seven miles away. In this event, note as you read the passage (verses 13-53) that eyes are closed (verse 16)…eyes are then opened (30-31); minds are closed (verse 37)…minds are then opened (verse 45).

While two men are walking down the country road, a stranger appears and begins his journey with them. At this moment, their eyes are closed to who this new fellow is walking and talking with them. The conversation being discussed is about the prophet, even Jesus, who had been condemned to death and crucified. These sad men then speak their heart as they express that this very one whom they “had hoped” in to redeem Israel was dead.

Imagine, these men walking by Jesus’ side declaring their lost faith to the very one they had “hope in” just a few weeks earlier! They didn’t say, “We still trust,” instead their sadness told about how they “had hoped.”

My friends, the truly sad part of this conversation is their hope in Jesus ended the moment the one they had hoped in died. They missed the part of his resurrection. Note that they speak in the past tense, no longer looking forward to what is to come.

Life can do this to us sometimes, right? Can we really malign the faith and lost hope of these two men when we too fall short in our own faith? “Where is their hope,” we might ask? And this stranger who walks beside them now is declaring the Scriptures to them beginning from Moses to the prophets about the truths concerning himself, yet their eyes were still closed (verses 25-27). Jesus calls them, “Foolish men, slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken” (verse 25). But, then an amazing turn of event occurs. Upon arriving at their destination, Jesus is invited into their house for shelter and a meal. At the breaking of bread and giving the blessing, “… their eyes were opened, and they knew him… (verses 30-32).” How was it that their eyes and minds were opened? Was it the manner in which Jesus broke the bread and gave it to them? Did they see the marks of the nails in his hands? Or, was it his prayer that refreshed their memory of who this was before them? Most definitely, and regardless, it was by divine intervention!

Oh, to be in the very presence of Jesus and to not even be cognizant of this reality until after the fact is indeed a humbling experience when your eyes are opened and you feel your heart burning because of who He is! What’s more astounding is that the instant this occurred, Jesus “vanished out of their sight!” (Greek, aphantos egeneto — A.V., marg., “He ceased to be seen of them”). lit., ‘He became invisible from them.’ (Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, 1981), Just think, when we get to heaven there will be no interruption of Jesus’ presence.

Are we not in the same danger of having these words said to us, “Oh Foolish men and slow of heart to believe!” We can afford to lose everything and anything as long as we do not lose our faith in the God of truth and love. Let’s never put our faith, as these disciples did, in the past tense, “We had hoped,” or “We trusted.” Rather, let us ever say, “I am trusting…for He is risen and coming again on the clouds in glory and might; even when everything is against our hope and our trust looks as if it is useless…we do not give up. We believe we shall see Him again. We are blessed because we know the outcome of our future and in Him we believe. Amidst the absurd theories of Jesus’ resurrection, there is only one solution, He is risen and the Gospel accounts are true (click here to read a previous blog post titled: “Who is this Jesus“) Amen!

We must rest assured knowing that Jesus can open our eyes to see and then open our mind to believe through faith in Him. The ‘mark of knowing’ this Jesus is that we will have joy unspeakable and we will find ourselves continually blessing God just as, “these men worshipped him…with great joy…praising God” (verses 44-52).

Catch you on the rebound. Time to get back to cloud watching!