Bible Study series: Luke 24:13-35. Jesus uses divine irony to hold this conversation with his (probable) uncle and an unnamed traveling companion (probably Clopas’s son). Great story-telling, yet a true story.
Friendly greetings and a warm welcome to this Bible study! I write to learn, so let’s learn together.
I also translate to learn. The translations are mine, unless otherwise noted. If you would like to see many others, please click here:
In the next link to the original chapter, I comment more and offer the Greek text. At the bottom you will find a “Summary and Conclusion” section geared toward discipleship. Check it out!
In this post, links are provided for further study.
Let’s begin.
Scripture: Luke 24:13-35
13 And now observe. On that same day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were dialoguing with one another about all the things that had happened.
15 And then it happened. While they were dialoguing and discussing, Jesus himself came up and went with them, 16 but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him. 17 He said to them, “What are these words you’re tossing back and forth to each other while you are walking?” They stood and were gloomy.
18 In reply, one, named Cleopas, said to him, “Are you the only one staying in Jerusalem and have not known the things that happened there these days?” 19 And he said to them, “What sort of things?” They told him, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a man—a prophet!—powerful in action and word before God and all the people, 20 how that our chief priests and rulers handed him over to the death sentence and crucified him. 21 We were hoping that he was the one who was about to redeem Israel; instead, even with all these things, it goes on to this third day from the time these things took place! 22 However, then some of our womenfolk astonished us. After they went to the tomb early, 23 and, when they did not find his body, they came telling even of seeing a vision of angels, who said that he was alive! 24 And some of our group departed for the tomb and found it, just like the women had said: they did not see him.
25 And he said to them, “Oh! You are unwise! And you are slow of heart to believe in everything that the prophets have spoken! 26 Wasn’t it destined that Christ suffer these things and come into his glory?” 27 And beginning from Moses and from all the prophets he explained to them in all the Scriptures the things about himself.
28 Then they were getting closer to the village where they were going, and he made as if he was going farther. 29 But they strongly prevailed upon him, saying, “Stay with us. It is towards evening, and the day has already settled down. Then he entered and stayed with them. 30 And then it happened. As he was reclining at table with them, he took the bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. He vanished from them. 32 They told one another, “Was not our heart burning in us as he spoke to us on the road and as he explained the Scriptures to us?” 33 So they got up that same hour and returned to Jerusalem and found the eleven and those with them gathered together, 34 saying that truly Jesus was raised and appeared to Simon. 35 And the two men explained the things along the road, and he was recognized by them in the breaking of bread. (Luke 24:13-35)
Comments:
13:
“Now observe” translates the older “behold!” It means to “pay attention.” Or something unexpected is about to happen. Don’t miss it.
Seven miles is about 11 kilometers.
14:
They were dialoguing—dialogue in this verse is where our word “homily” comes from, in Greek. They were rehashing what had happened. No doubt they were mostly gloomy (v. 17), but then the story which the women told must have given them the tiniest spark of hope. But can they believe the women?
15:
“And then it happened”: is my freer translation of “and it came to pass,” which seems archaic to me. My translation adds a little more drama to the whole scene. So while they were dialoguing and debating, Jesus appeared from out of nowhere a distance away out of their sight, and then he walked up to them. We are witnessing the resurrected body, but by the miraculous power of the Father. Recall that Philip was translated or whisked away (Acts 8:39-40), but this is not the same thing. Here Jesus’ resurrected body seems to have abilities that a physical body did not have.
See my post about Jesus’s resurrected body and some quotations below, in this post.
Do I Really Know Jesus? What was His Resurrected Body Like?
Also see the discussion under vv. 41-43, below.
So where is the divine irony? It means that you believe that you know something, but you really do not. You are deficient in your knowledge, and you don’t see your deficiency. Biblical example: the entire Book of Job. All the humans thought they understood why God allowed Job to suffer, but their ideas were shortsighted. God straightened them out in the last chapters. Even then, he did not reveal everything. Basic principle: You believe you know something but you really don’t. When God is involved in the story about humankind’s ignorance, which they don’t perceive as ignorance, it become divine irony. He toys with it.
Application to this scene in Luke: The two travelers understood what had just happened to the prophet (Jesus) in Jerusalem, but they could not perceive him to be right in front of them, in their presence. Their knowledge was deficient, until God opened their eyes and minds. They felt a warmth in their hearts, so their knowledge was not totally deficient. But just enough deficiency to keep the story interesting and even a little humorous.
16:
Their eyes were restrained or obstructed. Concealing plays a role in Luke (9:45 and 18:34). Who did that? God? Their own unbelief? If it was God, then he was working with material that was already in them—doubt and belief in the old statements: “It’s too good to be true, don’t believe it!” And “don’t get your hopes up!” This is a situation of God testing their hearts. If they had believed, they would have recognized him immediately, but they did not believe; therefore they did not recognize him. Or at least their faith was so small that they could not bring themselves to go for it—full scale belief. “Yes, I believe in the Old Testament, so I believe in the resurrection! Yes, I believe in his predictions about his death and rising again!” They were not there yet.
Again, God is simply working with the material already in their heart. God did not cause their unbelief. And anyway, they are about to believe, but the Word has to be delivered into their hearts, which burned within them. Never omit the preaching of the Word, even in an old-fashioned Bible study, which Jesus is about to deliver to them (v. 27).
17:
I like the verb because it reflects their back-and-forth discussion. It probably omitted Scripture and Jesus’s predictions, so they did not see the full picture. Irony again. At his question, they stopped walking and were gloomy or downcast. They were pessimistic. This gloom and pessimism replaced and kicked out their faith—the faith they should have had if they had believed in his predictions and the Scriptures (vv. 25-27).
“words”: it could be translated as “accounts” as in “stories.” “Hey, what are you recounting there?” Or, “What stories are you telling each other?”
18:
Cleopas: Sometimes his name is spelled Clopas, which is the Semitic form, while Cleopas is the Greek form. This is just a variation in spelling. Trust me. If anyone has researched names in America, these variations do exist, sometimes in the same document!
Who was Cleopas?
The discussion has been moved to this post:
Were Jesus, James and John First Cousins? Was Clopas Jesus’ Uncle?
The emotions were tense. Cleopas and his traveling companion had been in an emotional discussion. So Cleopas, an older man, used a little sarcasm or harshness in his reply. Here’s a free translation: “Are you the only guy in all of Jerusalem—as if you’re a stranger!—that has not heard of these things? Really?”
19-20:
I really like Jesus’s response. He plays along. “What things?” Or “what sort of things?” Jesus is drawing out from them their unbelief. He is exposing it. Jesus’s uncle should have known better. So we have him as a victim of divine irony. Recall that irony means basically a person thinks he knows when he does not. In this case, there’s a wrinkle. Uncle Cleopas should have known his nephew and believe his predictions and the Scriptures, but he didn’t. Never underestimate how God will tease out your ignorance, exposing it. If he ever asks, “What am I doing your life? Do you know?” or “What am I doing on the earth?” just reply, “Lord, you know best. You tell me.”
Then Cleopas recounts the recent events. It’s good to know that he recognized his nephew was a man—no, wait, a prophet!—who was mighty in works and words. Even now Cleopas has to correct himself and come closer to the truth. This refers to Stephen’s speech, where he spoke these words: “Moses … was powerful in word and action” (Acts 7:22). Did Cleopas connect his (unrecognized) nephew and Moses? Maybe. But surely not fully—not yet.
“chief priests”: Learn more about them, here:
Quick Reference to Jewish Groups in Gospels and Acts
21-22:
They were hoping that Jesus would release or liberate or buy back (I chose “redeem”) Israel from its captivity, just like Moses led the fledgling nation out of slavery in Egypt. Cleopas’s words express frustration and disappointment. In vv. 21-22 he uses two strong contrasts by one same word (alla and pronounced ahl-lah): “Instead … however.” He is having a “tennis match” in his mind, between disappointment and hope. Here’s a possible free paraphrase that catches the inner turmoil: “Stranger, it’s been three days already, and nothing has happened as we expected it. Where’s the liberation of Israel? What a disappointment! However, even (or also) some of our women astonished us! They went to the tomb early and did not find the body! They claim they saw angels who told them he was alive!”
Uncle Cleopas did not grasp that his nephew Jesus was about to liberate Israel through internal salvation, not an external military rescue operation (“salvation” and “rescue” are synonyms in the one word in Greek for salvation). He had come to reveal the kingdom of God, but the kingdom was a mystery that was unfolding, and still is.
“third day”:
See my comments on v. 1 for more information.
In any case, Jesus had just been risen.
23:
But then there’s hope. An odd thing happened. It astonished and astounded us. Some of our women—it could be translated as wives (it is a good idea to listen to wives!)—went to the tomb early and did not find the body in it. They even claim they had seen a vision of angels. It was not really a vision; the angels appeared right in front of them without the women being in a trance or an altered mental state of some kind.
24:
Then others went to the tomb; it seems these are men in contrast to the women, but some among the visitors to the tomb could have been more women who went later. Here Luke is expanding his account in vv. 1-13, because he had omitted the things in the earlier verses, for reasons that escape my notice. Peter may have been standing in for the others in v. 12.
And now Cleopas tells his nephew that the others confirmed the women’s story. They and the others did not see him (Jesus) (in the tomb). It was empty. Amazing.
25-26:
“Oh!” This is an expression of great emotion. Jesus delivers a strong rebuke to the two men, one of whom, recall, was his uncle.
“unwise”: it literally means “unmindful” or “unthinking.”
“slow of heart”: indicates that these men, one of whom was older, should have been quick to believe. They should have been leading the Christian community towards hope; instead, they were walking away from Jerusalem, debating and discussing the recent events. They were distracted by the liberation of Israel.
It makes me wonder whether large numbers of American Christians are distracted by Israel today, when God’s main program and organism to change the world is the Church and its preaching the gospel. I don’t mean to put down that little nation, and I hope it prospers, so missionaries can convert and disciple as many Israelis as possible for their true Messiah, but it is not the centerpiece of God global outreach of salvation. Jesus said, “I will build my church” (Matt. 16:18). It is the one and only institution and organism which can fulfill the Great Commission (v. 47).
“believe in everything the prophets have spoken”: The preposition “upon” is in the Greek; it could even mean believe on the Scripture in the sense of standing strong on it. Jesus is saying that they (and we) should put their trust and faith in Scripture—in everything it says. This is a very high view of the Bible.
Authority and Inerrancy of the Bible
27:
Jesus gives a Bible lesson, beginning with the Torah. What did he say, as he offered a sweeping review of the Old Testament? Let’s speculate. In Genesis, he may have brought up the so-called protoevangelium (earliest gospel or proto-gospel) in Gen. 3:15, which indicates the offspring of the snake and the offspring of womankind shall be in a state of enmity. It is true that many (not all) women are afraid of snakes. In this case, the offspring of the snake are those who follow Satan, if we expand the meaning of the verse. Further, Jesus may have talked about Abraham’s faith and God counting it as righteousness. That is the path to salvation. Next, he may have reminded them that God is the God of the living, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. He is not the God of the dead. Therefore, if people were to read the Torah more carefully, they would see an indirect revelation of the resurrection in it. The resurrection speaks of him.
In the legal sections of the Torah, Jesus may have talked about his fulfillment of the ceremonial rituals, much as the risen Jesus inspired the authors of the epistle to the Hebrews to write about this rich topic. In Deuteronomy 18 he talked about the prophet who was to come after Moses.
In the Psalms he mentioned all sorts of passages that looked past their immediate context and forward to a ruler whose kingdom would not end. Jesus, the son of David, was actually the Lord of David. He said the Lord would not allow his Holy One to undergo decay. David’s tomb was nearby, and his body was still in it, suffering decay. Jesus did not go through decomposition or remain in the tomb.
In the prophets, the Messianic prophecies are numerous. No doubt he spent a long time in Isaiah 53—a really long time. He also discussed Daniel, which mentions the son of Man and the Anointed One being cut off. If you want more, go to the apostolic preaching of the cross in the book of Acts. Luke is telling us here that Jesus himself gave these ideas to the apostles. He boiled things down for them, and their preaching was confined to the cross and resurrection.
It must have been quite a Bible study! In the past I have heard enthusiastic Christians say, “Yeah, he wrote the Old Testament!” I too may have said that long ago, as kind of joke. We meant well, but Jesus had to learn the Scriptures just like everyone else. At twelve years young he was in the temple dialoguing with the experts, and they were impressed (Luke 2:46-47). He had a genius ability in him. May I urge everyone to study the Scriptures, as he did?
Here is a table of Messianic Prophecies
I don’t believe he went verse by verse and taught that he is in each one—except for the messianic ones at the above link. But prophecies are also about patterns and themes of Scripture, like salvation and redemption. He told them how he fulfills the gist of God’s dealings with humanity, their need and his offer to help—and other such things.
Jesus was and is Israel’s hope, but not in a conquering, militaristic way. That happens at the Second Coming, when one word of his mouth will flatten every enemy. For now, his kingdom goes global one soul at a time.
For an even clearer idea of what Jesus taught them, let’s look at part of Peter’s sermon in Acts 2 and 3 (my tentative translations):
Here is part of Peter’s sermon in Acts 2:
First, Peter rehearses that Jesus’s death did not catch God by surprise, but he knew he would send him into the world to redeem humanity:
22 “My fellow Israelites, men and women, hear these words! God appointed Jesus of Nazareth for you, with mighty deeds, wonders and signs, which God did through him, right in front of you, as you yourselves know. 23 In the predestined counsel and foreknowledge of God, this man was handed over to the hands of lawless men and fastened to the cross, and you put him to death.
Now Peter proclaims the resurrection; the Holy One would not suffer decay:
24 But God lifted him out of the agony of death, because it was impossible for him to be ruled by it. 25 David said about him:
‘I saw the Lord before me always,
That he was at my right in order so I shall not be shaken.
26 Therefore my heart was cheered up
And my tongue rejoiced
for yet my flesh also shall rest in hope
27 because you did not leave my soul in hades,
Neither shall you give your Holy One over to see decay.
28 You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence.’ (Ps. 16:8-11)
Next, Peter applies David’s prophecy that David was speaking about the resurrection of Jesus, because David experience see decay.
29 “Brothers and sisters! I can boldly say to you about our forefather David that he died and was buried, and his tomb is nearby, right in front of you to this very day. 30 Therefore, being a prophet and knowing that God swore to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants on his throne— 31 foreseeing this, he spoke about the resurrection of the Christ: ‘he would not be left in hades, and neither would his flesh see corruption.’ 32 This Jesus God raised up, of which fact we are all witnesses. 33 Therefore he was exalted to the right hand of God; receiving the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, he poured out even what you see and hear. 34 For it was not David who went up into heaven, but he himself says:
‘the Lord said to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand
35 until I put your enemies
Under your feet for a footstool” (Ps. 110:1)
36 Therefore let all Israel know with certainty that God made him Lord and Christ, whom you crucified.”
Here’s part of Peter’s sermon in Acts 3. Note how he preaches repentance to wipe away sins:
17 “And so now, brothers and sisters, I know that you acted in ignorance, as your rulers did also. 18 But that which God earlier had announced through the mouth of his prophets—that the Messiah would suffer—was fulfilled. 19 Repent therefore and turn back to wipe away your sins, 20 so that times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord would come and that he would send you the one he appointed, the Messiah Jesus. 21 Heaven must welcome him until the times of reestablishing everything that God had spoken through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old.
22 “Moses said: ‘the Lord God shall raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your brothers. You shall listen to everything that he tells you. 23 and every person who does not listen to that Prophet shall be cut off from the people.’ [Deut. 18:15, 18, 19] 24 And all the prophets from Samuel to one after the other who spoke of him announced this day. 25 You are the sons of the prophets and the covenant that God established with your fathers, saying to Abraham: ‘Even all the families of the earth shall be blessed by your descendants.’ [Gen. 22:18; 26:4] 26 And for you first God raised up his servant and sent him to bless you by turning each one away from your wickedness.”
Peter boiled the message down to the resurrection and repentance and fulfilled prophecy. We can be sure that Jesus taught the huddled members of the Jesus Movement interpretations like those above. His interpretation of Scripture appeared in Peter’s proclamation or, to use the fancy words, kerygma.
28-29:
These verses are transitional to set up the scene in the two men’s house. He was pretending to go farther. What? The Son of God was pretending? What’s up with that? He was “fibbing”? No. If they had not invited him to their house, he would have kept walking, and they would have failed the full test. They would have missed the fullest revelation of finding out who they were talking to. They would have missed Cleopas’s nephew and the resurrected Son of God. And secondarily, they would have failed the hospitality test, which was part of the social fabric of Israel. Then why pretend as if he was about to go farther? Acts 14:9 says that Paul saw faith in a crippled man such that the man was healed. I believe Jesus saw a little faith—but yet full of faith—in Cleopas and his traveling companion. Their hearts were burning within them, after all (v. 32). He perceived this. Would they pass the test and invite him in, so they could get a fuller revelation? It’s a blessing to themselves that they constrained or prevailed upon him to stay with them.
Bottom line: Jesus was testing them.
30-32:
Jesus partly reenacts the Last Supper, but not in an official way. The New Covenant had already been initiated back in Luke 22:20. Cleopas was not there for Passover dinner on Friday, and probably neither was the other guy. But there must have been something special about Jesus breaking bread because at that moment their eyes were open. They had finally connected all the dots. Their faith surged, because of the Bible lesson, and the simple act of his giving thanks and breaking bread. Everything fell into place.
Verse 30 reminds me of Luke 10:21-22:
At that very time, he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden this from the wise and intelligent and revealed it to children. Yes, Father, because this way is your good will for you. Everything has been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is, except the Son and to whomever the Son wills to reveal him” (Luke 10:21-22)
Then he vanished or disappeared or literally “he became invisible or unmanifest from them.” It’s best, however, not to torture the sentence structure (syntax) and just translate it has I and other translations do. Now they had to act on their revelation. What do they do when they see Jesus? The next section tells us.
But first they recounted the feeling in their hearts. They were burning inside. Renewalists love this verse, because many of them too have experienced the burning in the heart. John Wesley said his heart was warmed within. Jonathan Edwards speaks of the heart being warmed during the Great Awakening, along with other physical manifestations.
However, we must be warned. Sects with offbeat doctrines like the Latter-Day Saints talk of the warming heart. In contrast, though, the hearts of the two traveling companions were warmed while Jesus himself gave a Bible study to them: “As he explained to us the Scriptures.” Our feelings must be built on and judged by the word.
33:
I really like their response when their eyes were opened. They got up that very hour and retraced their steps back to Jerusalem. There were no paved roads or bicycle paths. They were full of ruts and uneven ground from erosion. It seems, however, that these older guys (at least Cleopas was) didn’t twist their ankles!
When your eyes are open to Jesus, you get up and tell people about it. They now took their leadership role in hand and seriously; they wanted to go back and tell the huddled members of the Jesus Movement that Jesus was alive and appeared to them. They must have walked quickly, and they arrived in Jerusalem at dark. So, whom did they meet? They saw the eleven gathered together, with the others. This group seemed dazed and confused.
34:
The group was saying that Jesus appeared to Simon. In other words, the two men walked into a discussion. Jesus is making himself known one at a time, but that’s about to change. There is a lot of discussions going on, but not enough believing and childlike faith, as he is about to say in the next pericope (pronounced peh-RIH-koh-pea) or section.
35:
The two men give their report of what happened. Did they give an account of the Bible study Jesus himself offered? Maybe. In any case, a smoother translation can read: “And the two men explained the things that happened along the road, and they recognized him when he broke bread.”
GrowApp for Luke 24:13-35
1. Cleopas and the other traveling companion needed time to recognize who Jesus was. They needed a Bible study. They needed his voice. They needed him to break bread. How long did it take you to put everything together about him? What helped you? Tell your story.
RELATED
11. Eyewitness Testimony in Luke’s Gospel
3. Church Fathers and Luke’s Gospel
14. Similarities among John’s Gospel and the Synoptic Gospels
1. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Introduction to Series
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND MORE
To see the bibliography, please click on this link and scroll down to the bottom. You will also find a “Summary and Conclusion” for discipleship.
