How Did the Disciples On the Emmaus Road Not Recognize Jesus?

I remember a number of years ago, as a Bible college student, when my classmate, Barry, delivered his message entitled, “What Things?”

He was speaking on Jesus’ discussion with the two dejected disciples making their way from Jerusalem on the Emmaus Road. His title was one that stuck in my mind, and the passage he chose holds a good deal of intrigue for all of us.

First, the King James Bible says that the disciple’s eyes were “holden,” that they did not know Him. “Holden” means that their eyes were held fast, grasped, or held back from understanding who He was. Was that veiling something of their own making, or was it a divine act? It appears the ball was primarily in their court because Jesus referred to them as being “slow of heart to believe,” and even after having the Scriptures opened, as their hearts burned within them, they still did not know Him. It was only after He broke bread with them that they knew who He was.

I believe this was a case of their lack of expectancy, limiting God. Their projection of the future did not include Jesus passing through death to enter His glory, and therefore His promise of rising on the third day, nor the writings of the prophets found a place of belief in their hearts. What about us? What if we don’t realize the kingdom is here today? A limited outlook and negative confession put a restraint on God who is always waiting for people to exercise faith in His promises, to manifest the kingdom.

There was a critical juncture on this journey where the plot could have gone either way. This was when the party of travelers came near to the place where they were going to stay overnight. Here, Luke records that Jesus “made as though He would have gone further.” Say what? You mean He would have moved on, had He not received an invitation to come in? I would have thought He was bursting with things to tell them. Especially after the victory of the resurrection; but no, Jesus was prepared to pass them by had they not invited Him in to commune with them.

What do we learn from Jesus awaiting an invitation before being revealed over the breaking of bread? Is it not that way post-ascension as well? He awaits an invitation to join us, that we also might enter into an experiential knowledge of Him as we taste and see His provision.

Jesus Is Revealed in the Breaking of Bread

Then, having successfully navigated that test, and it appeared His presence was secure inside, as they broke bread together, the duo recognized Him, and just like that, He was gone. I should point out the Bible doesn’t actually say, they “recognized” Him, it says, “their eyes were opened, and they knew Him” at which point He vanished out of their sight.

Do you think it was the way He broke the bread, or what was conveyed in the breaking of it that opened their understanding? You see, I don’t believe it was just a case of Him waiting for the penny to drop before leaving. What I’m asking is, was it a trigger or a marker? In documenting the event, Luke says Jesus took bread, blessed, broke, and gave it to the disciples. Why was it that He disappeared after this step-by-step process? If it was the process or His technique in breaking bread that pegged it for them, then His actions were a trigger. However, in leading them to the table before leaving, Jesus forever linked His revealing with the breaking of bread, and the event has to be a marker. Though His manner may have triggered their enlightenment, His disappearance at their discovery at the breaking of bread most certainly means they had come to the crux of the lesson. That is, Jesus is revealed in the breaking of bread.

This post-resurrection encounter warrants our attention because just as the disciples were blind to His presence and victory, we are similarly veiled to His kingdom and its provision. The good news is that there is a spiritual parallel in Jesus opening the Scriptures and His revealing in the breaking of bread that opens His kingdom to us today.

Communion

Jesus called us to partake of communion in “remembrance” of Him:

And he took bread, and gave thanks, and broke it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me (Luke 22:19).

Though this particular verse is written in Greek, its counterpart in Hebrew is zakar or remember, to which Jesus is making reference, has a three-fold meaning. It means: 1) a memorial or sign; 2) to think on, to recall, or call to mind; and finally, 3) to invoke, mention or make known. Taking communion is not meant to be a repetitive and empty ritual. There is no denying, it is first a sign or memorial of the cost. However, that is only half the story. We, like the two disciples traveling to Emmaus, are prone to miss that Jesus passed through death to enter His glory, “Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?” (Luke 24:26). And the Bible says Jesus endured the cross for the joy set before Him (Hebrews 12:2). It also says He became poor, that we through His poverty might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9).

Thus, it should come as no surprise that the Hebrew word pictures that make up the word “remember” reinforces this aspect of the breaking of bread as a unilateral, one-sided covenant meal. The Hebrew word zakar is made of three letters: (זָכַר) zayin, kaph, reysh:

Zayin: זָ Weapon, cut

Kaph: כַ Cupped hand

Reysh: ר Head, person

With this insight, the three letters in context spell out: cut the hand of a person. This is a picture of covenant cutting between two parties (Isaiah 49:15-16). Our covenant with God is similar to what existed between David and Jonathan, where, as the king’s son, Jonathan was the provider, and David was the receiver of the benefits of that covenant.

Therefore, from this foundation, the breaking of bread is meant to bring focus to the multifaceted provision that we have the privilege to declare into being. That’s right, the bread of which we partake, symbolizing His broken body, is not just the morbid one-dimensional tearing of His flesh. It is also the opening up of the multidimensional bread of heaven, with all of its provision.

Where is that provision? Well, Jesus deliberately used the encounter on the Emmaus Road to link the disciples’ burning hearts of revelation, as He opened the Scriptures about Himself with the breaking of bread. What this means is, uncovering Jesus in the Old Testament is not merely a type or shadow of things to come. No, the discovery of Christ in the Law and the Prophets opens facets of His victory at the cross that are otherwise hidden from the natural human.

The Gospel accounts of Jesus’ passion capture the cost of our redemption, but the hidden Old Testament accounts of the cross outline its bountiful provision. Stop and think about that for a moment. We all generically ascribe the verse “by His stripes we are healed” to our time around communion, but it is only one aspect of a plethora of more definitive promises awaiting discovery, beyond our potentially rote handling of this sacrament. Jesus encourages us to continually partake of the table so that we would access more of its provision.

Application

Have you experienced your heart burning within you as you discovered Christ in the Old Testament?

Why do you think Jesus linked the disciples’ burning hearts with the taking of communion?

Could it be that we are settling for less than God planned by making communion a ritual?