Two men, or perhaps a man and his wife, were walking the seven miles from Jerusalem to a small town called Emmaus. These two individuals were disappointed and depressed. They had trusted that Jesus was the Messiah, the one who would redeem Israel. Just a few days before this, when Jesus entered Jerusalem, it seemed as if the people were ready to install Jesus as their king. But then everything fell apart. The Jewish authorities arrested Jesus and convinced the Roman rulers to crucify him. Jesus’ shameful death on a cross seemed to invalidate everything that Jesus claimed for himself. How could he be the true Messiah if he died on the cross?

Added to that, there had been reports of a resurrection. Some of Jesus’ followers had claimed that they had visited the tomb and found it empty. These two weary travelers didn’t know what to make of these events.

As they were discussing these things, a stranger approached and joined their conversation. But this was not really a stranger; it was Jesus himself, appearing to two of his followers without them recognizing him. His intent is not only to appear to them, but also to teach them—and us—some very important truths.

The Gospels record at least 10 post-resurrection appearances of Christ to his disciples. Luke records three of these, and today we’ll look at one of them—Jesus appearance to two of his followers as they were walking home from Jerusalem.

The intent of this passage is that we should believe that Jesus rose from the dead and that the Scriptures foretold that the Messiah would suffer before entering his glory. What happened to Jesus was all part of the divine plan. It all makes sense when you understand the Scriptures. There’s an emphasis here on the need to read and understand the Bible. There is no excuse for failure to know and believe what the Bible teaches.

Let’s consider several truths that we find revealed in this passage. This is a rather long passage, so I’ve divided it up into two messages.