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17 He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?” They stood still, their faces downcast. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” 19 “What things?” he asked. “About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.” ~ Luke 24:17-24
As we come back to Luke 24, we are reminded that the Lord Jesus had been crucified, buried and resurrected. It is at this point that we reenter the conversation the Lord Jesus was having with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus.
In v.17 of today's text we read, "He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?” They stood still, their faces downcast."
The Lord Jesus asked a question to which He already knew the answer. He did this in order to engage these two followers in a meaningful conversation. He was eliciting the confession of their ignorance. The best of all learning devices is to create in the learner the need to know.
Most believe life is about the exclamation mark, but it really is about the question mark. The exclamation mark stops the pursuit, while the question mark continues the pursuit. The key is the engagement of the heart which is so important in the discovery of truth.
In the movie, The Pursuit of Happyness, Chris Gardner, played by Will Smith, asked the question, "How did Thomas Jefferson know to put the pursuit in there?"
In an interview with Oprah Winfrey in December 2006, Chris Gardner said "I chose to embrace the spirit of my mom who despite the fact that she had too many of her own dreams denied, deferred and destroyed still instilled in me that I could have dreams."
After the Lord Jesus asked the two on the road to Emmaus His question, "What are you discussing together as you walk along?," "They stood still, their faces downcast."
These of such young faith had been discussing things concerning the Lord Jesus. The question of the Lord Jesus stopped them in their tracks. They looked sad, and they were heartbroken. Their posture was so necessary for them to grow in their faith in the God of the Bible. Without the darkness we would not appreciate the light.
In v.18-20 we read, "18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” 19 “What things?” he asked. “About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him."
From the triumphal entry on Monday to the cleansing of the temple to the daily teaching in the temple to the trials of the Lord Jesus to His cross; everybody knew of these events. And they knew that according to Deuteronomy 18:18-22 Messiah was to be a prophet. Yet, the Lord Jesus as they would learn, was much more than a prophet.
That phrase “and all the people” at the end of v.19, reveals that the populace view of the Lord Jesus was that of admiration. They saw Him as a good man and a prophet. All of the people clearly saw His power on display. They also heard His teaching for three years. The accumulative effect caused the people to believe in Him as a prophet.
The two on the road to Emmaus could not comprehend how the people ended up hating and despising the Lord Jesus. So intense was their hatred that they cried out for the murder of the Lord Jesus.
In v.21 we read, "but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place."
The Lord Jesus did not come to be a political liberator. These two followers of the Lord Jesus did not expect His death. And so when He died, He was, in their minds, immediately disqualified as Messiah.
This is the only time the word “redeem” is used in the book of Luke. But it appears at least 150 times in the Old Testament. All of the Jews knew that to redeem something you had to pay a price to buy it back.
So they should have known that there was a price. And, they should have known something about what that price was, because they had just finished celebrating the Passover. And they all knew that on the day of Passover, an animal's life was given as the price for God's forgiveness. They should have understood the price of forgiveness. They should have known the Messiah would have to die, yet they didn't.
Then, in v.22-24 we read, "22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus."
Sometimes the Lord brings us to this point of hopelessness in order to prepare us to see Him and to receive His hope. I first turned to Him when I was totally without hope. My mother died when I was five years of age and it was in October of 1981 that my father died. I was left as an orphan on that most hopeless day of my life. It was then, when my world was in a tail spin, that I turned to the Lord Jesus to be my savior.
Biblical hope is not waiting to see what happens and hope that it turns out well. Hope is not a feeling or an emotion. Hope is framed up by the knowledge of facts. To have biblical hope is to have a sure anchor for our souls from the promises in the word of God. Biblical hope doesn’t ignore fear, anxiety, and doubt; it confronts them. This is the point of today's text.
G.K. Chesterton observed that hope only has any real meaning when things are hopeless. “As long as matters are really hopeful, hope is a mere flattery or platitude. It is only when everything is hopeless that hope begins to be a strength.”
