Encounters with Christ: On The Road to Emmaus

Text: Luke 24:13-35

Christ’s walk with the disciples on the road to Emmaus is legendary. For years, I’ve watched people’s eyes glaze over as they sigh, “If only we could have heard that conversation! What I would give to hear Jesus explain the whole of Scripture!” It does feel like the golden ticket: the interpretation of Christ’s place in Scripture, beginning with Moses and the prophets, given by Christ Himself.

But even if the conversation were recorded and we had one more chapter there in Luke, detailing the truth in red letters, shining brightly in every Bible—would it make a difference? Would it make the Bible a better, more complete account? Would it finally give us the missing piece to complete our greater understanding of Scripture and godliness?

Absolutely not. Scripture is complete (Revelation 22:18-19). It’s also filled with interpretations, prophecies, and explanations of Christ’s place in God’s plan of redemption, from Genesis to Revelation. But this encounter with Christ on the road to Emmaus does feel special somehow.

It’s as if we can hear the disciples imploring, “Stay with us!” We can see Christ allowing them to savor those extraordinary moments with Him, their hearts “ablaze” from the truth and love shared in that rare, sweet conversation (John 24:29, 32).

Scripture is not a secret code. It is a revelation, shining light on everything under the sun. Yes, there is a rich mystery and paradox in a Creator who would send His own Son to die for His creation. But the gospel itself is not a secret. The gospel is simple:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
-John 3:16

There’s really only one story: the knight slays the dragon and rescues the princess (Isaiah 25:8). The gospel is in all of our stories.

But we don’t have to see it if we don’t want to. We can delude ourselves into believing that the gospel is too complicated to understand. Nevertheless, Christ brings light and truth (John 8:12). On the road to Emmaus, “He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,” and He has sent His Holy Spirit to do the same for us now (Luke 24:45; John 14:26).

Amazingly, the longing we feel when reading about the Emmaus encounter is fulfilled in the Holy Spirit. Like those disciples, our hearts implore, “Stay with us!” and Christ answers, “Lo, I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20). He is indeed with us, and He continues to set our hearts ablaze by His abiding Spirit.

We, too, are called to be people of the Word and to walk by the Spirit. We can go forth in His freedom and light! We can know our Bibles and see that God’s redemptive hand has been at work for our good from the Old Testament through the New Testament, and even still today. We are rescued by His love and transformed by His redemption. The truth of the gospel is laid plain for us in Scripture, and Christ is with us! Thanks be to God.

“Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. . . No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.”
-Deuteronomy 30:11,14