We have basically finished sharing the Gospel of Luke and some related scriptures in the Jesus series. Although we have briefly shared the genealogy of Jesus and what happened before Jesus’ birth and childhood events. In the series, we started to share the events of the temptation. Today we come to the last verse of the Gospel of Luke. We will share other things in the three Gospels later when related topics arise.
Here, we first look at the two disciples who went to Emmaus in the Gospel of Luke. They did not know that the Bible said that Jesus would be resurrected. Because Jesus had died, they left Jerusalem and went to Emmaus. They met Jesus on the road, and talked about everything that happened. We see that Jesus’ spiritual body after His resurrection was very different. Although Jesus explained to them the scriptures about Him, they still did not recognize Him. After that, it explains how Jesus appeared to them. They urged Jesus to stay. We see that this kind of urgent request is sometimes very important. Jesus in this case was willing to open their eyes and appear to them. I also see that after the resurrection, Jesus’ spiritual body was not restricted by the flesh and would suddenly disappear! And it also explains how Jesus confirmed His resurrection. Third, we saw that in His appearance in Jerusalem, He had to open the minds of His disciples so that they could understand the Scriptures. Today we need the Holy Spirit to lead us with revelation in reading the Bible so that we can not forcefully interpret the Bible. Jesus wanted them to wait in Jerusalem to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Finally we talked about His ascension in the clouds and the promise of His return, which will come in the clouds with great glory.
1. The two disciples going to Emmaus
“And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. And they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them. But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him. And He said to them, “What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?” And they stood still, looking sad. One of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to Him, “Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days?” And He said to them, “What things?” And they said to Him, “The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to the sentence of death, and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened. But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning, and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said; but Him they did not see.” And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.”(Luke 24:13-27)
They obviously did not understand that Jesus would be resurrected. Instead, they thought that Jesus was a prophet and knew that it was Him who had been hoping to redeem the Israelites. Therefore, they told Jesus what had happened with a sad face and said that He had been dead for three days. When they were told that Jesus was resurrected, they were surprised to hear it. From their conversation, we know that these two disciples had indeed read the Old Testament before, but they just didn’t understand it. Now Jesus himself explained it to them clearly!
We see that after the resurrection, Jesus’ spiritual body was different from before. Just like Mary Magdalene which we mentioned last time, she did not recognize Jesus at first until He was willing to open her eyes by Hebrew and appear to her. Here, the two disciples going to Emmaus experienced the same thing as Mary Magdalene. They did not recognize Jesus at first until Jesus opened their eyes. In the next paragraph, we will see from the scriptures how their eyes were opened. Later we can see that Jesus’ original intention was for the disciples to stay in Jerusalem, so He finally used His appearance to prevent the two disciples who were going to Emmaus from leaving Jerusalem, and returned to it.
2. Jesus appeared in Emmaus after his resurrection
“And they approached the village where they were going, and He acted as though He were going farther. But they urged (G3849) Him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is getting toward evening, and the day is now nearly over.” So He went in to stay with them. When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight. They said to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?” And they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found gathered together the eleven and those who were with them, saying, “The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon.” They began to relate their experiences on the road and how He was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread.”(Luke 24:28-35)
We have seen that this time their eyes were opened through the breaking of bread, which was different from the situation with Mary Magdalene. The same is true for the work of the Holy Spirit today, and the work is always dynamic depending upon the situation. Didn’t they return to Jerusalem? And immediately! The same should be true today. Once we know that the Holy Spirit wants us to do something, we must act immediately. If they are not “immediately”, they will not “meet” the person they should meet! When you see the word ‘immediately’ or similar, you should pay special attention to the corresponding event.
Here we also see that if they had not urged Jesus to stay, Jesus would have left and would not have appeared to them! So sometimes it is very important to stay. In fact, the word urged (G3849) only appears twice in the New Testament. The other time is in this passage, in a place of prayer outside the city gate of Philippi, “A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.” And she prevailed (G3849) upon us.”
In the case of Lydia, who worshiped God, we see that the Lord will personally work when necessary. We also saw that if Lydia had not urged Paul to stay, there would have been no aftermath, because later Paul and Silas were imprisoned because of an incident where a slave girl was possessed by a demon. The event refers to they prayed and sang about midnight, and the jailer and those who belonged to him were baptized immediately (see Acts 16:16-39). The scripture says, “They went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia, and when they saw the brethren, they encouraged them and departed.”(Acts 16:40) We also see that Paul believed that she was a true believer in the Lord, so Paul would live there. When Paul was imprisoned, although the Bible does not clearly say what Lydia and the others would do when they were imprisoned, judging from the consistency of the Bible, they should pray for them, because it is clearly stated in another place, “So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.”(Acts 12:5) Isn’t it the same today? When Christians encounter problems, they will pray together.
We also see here that they only recognized Jesus when he was willing to appear to them, and that after the resurrection, Jesus was no longer limited by the physical body and could disappear suddenly. Unless it is like the incident between Philip and the eunuch (see 8:26-38), after the eunuch was baptized, “When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing.”(Acts 8:39) The Lord is truly a powerful God!
The scripture says, “And they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found gathered together the eleven and those who were with them, saying, “The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon.””(Luke 24:33-34) We did see that Jesus prevented them from leaving Jerusalem with His appearance. It is no wonder that, except for a few special women, Paul saw that the order of the Lord’s appearances after his resurrection was as the scripture says, “and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.”(1 Corinthians 15:5-8)
Although there were only eleven apostles at first after Judas betrayed Him, by that time Matthias had been chosen by lot to join them, so there were twelve apostles at that time. This was the last time things were decided by casting lots, and after the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, there were no more casting of lots. Although “…they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two You have chosen to occupy this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.””(Acts 1:24-25) But the Bible never says that this prayer was answered. We also know that prayer is often people’s self-hope. Paul was personally chosen by the Lord when He appeared in the great light. Paul himself said, “and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.”(1 Corinthians 15:8) It should refer to the event of great light. When we talk about the twelve apostles chosen by Jesus Himself, it should be the original eleven plus Paul, because Matthias was decided by lots.
We have seen that when choosing Matthias, the condition was that “beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”(Acts 1:22) You see, the Bible says about the two disciples who went to Emmaus, “And they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found gathered together the eleven and those who were with them, …While they were telling these things, He Himself stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be to you.”” (Luke 24:33-36) Matthias must have been among those people, because Paul was talking about the twelve apostles. How consistent the Bible is!
Then Luke went on to say that Jesus confirmed His resurrection and had a spiritual body that could eat food but was not restricted by matter. In the following verses, we can see that Jesus was originally not there, but “While they were telling these things, He Himself stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be to you.” But they were startled and frightened and thought that they were seeing a spirit. And He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. While they still could not believe it because of their joy and amazement, He said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave Him a piece of a broiled fish; and He took it and ate it before them.”(Luke 24:36-43)
3. Jesus appeared in Jerusalem after His resurrection
“Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then He opened their minds (G3563, nous) to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.””(Luke 24:44-49)
This word mind (G5363) appears a total of 24 times in the Strong’s Concordance, so we have seen its meaning many times and do not need to use its dictionary. Its dictionary is based on the root, and other dictionaries often have different meanings. If the same word appears enough times in the scriptures, we can usually understand the meaning of the word quite clearly from the scriptures. Here, two of the verses read: “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind (G3563), so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”(Romans 12:2) and “To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind (G3563) and their conscience are defiled.”(Titus 1:15)
We have also seen that they had read the Bible before, but did not understand it. They had to have Jesus Himself open their minds so that they could understand the Bible. Peter was also enlightened by Jesus and could understand the Bible, so he was qualified to say that we should not forcefully interpret the Bible (see 2 Peter 3:15-16). We often forcefully interpret the Bible because we often read into our thoughts, of course there will be different views, rather than reading out what God wants to tell us through the Bible. Someone gave such an example. In the past, when we saw a painting in a museum, we would ask what the painter wanted to tell us by the painting. But today we often say, I think what the painting is saying, without looking at what the painter wants to say. The former is to ‘read out,’ which is the correct way to read the Bible, while the latter is to read into it, which is the wrong attitude when reading the Bible.
It’s so easy to read into the Bible naturally, and you’ll know it but it is hard for you to learn it. Being able to ‘read out’ it is basically a lifelong lesson! You may not be able to read out even if you want to. Sometimes the Bible is written in black and white, but we just can’t see it or understand it. The Holy Spirit must lead us with revelation in reading the Bible.
For the two disciples who went to Emmaus, the Bible does not say that Jesus opened their minds at that time. It only says that He explained it clearly to them. Only then did Jesus open their minds so that they could fully understand the Bible. The only one who can do this one today is the Holy Spirit. We need the Holy Spirit to lead us in reading the Bible with revelation so that we cannot forcefully interpret the Bible. We also see that Jesus asked them to wait in Jerusalem and explained why, which is consistent with what is said in the book of Acts, “Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.””(Acts 1:4-5) Indeed, at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended. In the past when Jesus was arrested, it turned out that “…all the disciples left Him and fled.”(Matthew 26:56) Now it is time to receive the power to bear witness for the Lord.
For example, James was the first apostle to be martyred for the Lord. “Now about that time Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church in order to mistreat them. And he had James the brother of John put to death with a sword.”(Acts 12:1-2) After Jesus was resurrected, He said to Peter, “Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go.”(John 21:18) Peter knew this would happen, but he still willingly gave his life for the Lord. The Bible also clearly says, “Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. …”(John 21:19) Let’s look at the book of John again, “So Peter seeing him said to Jesus, “Lord, and what about this man?” Jesus said to him, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!” Therefore this saying went out among the brethren that that disciple would not die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but only, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?””(John 21:22 – 23) John is indeed the longest-living apostle, and from a human perspective, it is the most difficult because he had to walk with God for the longest time. He should be, in the eyes of God, an example of being conformed into the image of Jesus, like what is said in the book of Romans (see Romans 8:29). It is no wonder that the revelation of Jesus Christ was revealed to His servant John. (See Revelation 1:1)
The Holy Spirit leads us slowly, just like when the Israelites entered the land of Canaan, “The LORD your God will clear away these nations before you little by little; you will not be able to put an end to them quickly, for the wild beasts would grow too numerous for you.”(Deuteronomy 7:22) It’s not that God can’t reveal everything to us at once, but we can’t bear to know all our transgressions at once. “He saved us, …by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.”(Titus 3:5) For our benefit, the Holy Spirit will continue to renew us gradually.
4. The Ascension and Second Coming of Jesus
Let’s look at the last verses of Luke’s Gospel, “And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. While He was blessing them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they, after worshiping Him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising God.”(Luke 24:50-53)
What the early church did was to always praise God in the temple. Indeed, it is very important to praise God from the heart, because we are sinners from birth, and we are born with the image of God stained by sin. “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, …” (Titus 3:5) The scripture makes it clear that when we believe, “For He (God) rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”(Colossians 1:13-14) Therefore, we must be in the sinless Jesus Christ.
Regarding the ascension of Jesus, the book of Acts is more detailed, “So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.””(Acts 1:6-11)
At that time, they might still be thinking about the earthly kingdom, but Jesus was talking about the spiritual kingdom. Yes, He has promised His return, as the scripture says, “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”(John 14:2-3) We have shared before that we will be there, which means that we will eventually be resurrected and ascended to heaven after death, just like Jesus. It is also said here that He will not only come back, but He will also come back in the clouds, which is what this scripture also says, “Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.”(Mark 13:26, Luke 21:27) That’s what the book of Revelation says, “Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.” (Revelation 1:7)
(Verses refer to those in NASB unless otherwise specified.)
(You can get all articles in “https://a-christian-voice.com/” under “On spiritual understanding about life.”)
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