A Scandal Redeemed [10-4-26]

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October 4, 2026

Luke 24:13-35

“A Scandal Redeemed”

We’re with two disciples on their way back home. They are on the road to Emmaus. They are not part of the now eleven disciples, but they are disciple-adjacent. They saw Jesus. They heard Jesus teach. We know the name of one of the guys…Cleopas. They both are aware of the events surrounding the last week of Jesus’ life. Keep in mind – these are two very obscure people.

With that in mind, let’s turn to Luke 24:26-35:

“Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.

First thing we need to pay attention to is who God chooses to reveal the Risen Christ to. What’s been common in our culture for years? Celebrity endorsements. Influencers. An appeal to people in respected professions or positions. “Four-out-of-five dentists recommend Dentyne for their patients who chew gum.” Celebrities, experts, successful people carry an air of believability and trust in their testimony.

God chooses two rubes from some backwater town for a pivotal encounter with the Risen Christ. What does that tell us about the power of the gospel? What does that tell us about the power of the Bible? Exactly… when God’s Word goes out, it doesn’t come back empty. It is God who finds us. We don’t make up our minds to go in search of Jesus…find him… and then claim ourselves saved. It’s never, “Have you found Jesus?” It’s always Jesus finds us. In our lostness. In our fear. In our loneliness. In our confusion. In our sin. Jesus finds us. That’s the power of the Word of God. Jesus opens our eyes.

In today’s passage, the movement to seeing the Risen Christ begins with a question. Again, here’s the ESV translation:

“Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?”

Now here’s the literal translation:

“These things was it necessary for to suffer the Christ? And to enter into the glory of him?”

The purpose of the question is in how it is worded. It’s a leading question. It is phrased in a way that the answer is an obvious “Yes.” Hold on to that.

But that answer is farthest away from the disciples right now. Their hopes and dreams for the future were crushed when Jesus died. They expected Jesus to triumph over the enemies of Israel. They expected Jesus to establish his earthly rule from Jerusalem. They wanted victory as the world defines and describes it.

The one and only answer to the question of verse twenty-six is this:

ENTERING INTO GLORY MARKS GOD’S OVERTURNING HUMANKIND’S VERDICT ON JESUS AND HIS HUMILIATION AND THE OVERTHROW OF THE POWER OF DARKNESS.

The point is, these two despondent travelers aren’t interested in the outlier testimony of what happened to Jesus. They aren’t interested in believing it because their expectations are oriented in another direction. And so they need the truth of God’s Word to get their brains wrapped around the truth.

As a side note, I love how kind and honest Jesus is with them. He doesn’t patronize them. “O foolish ones, and slow of heart.” Jesus doesn’t pull any punches. What he’s saying is, they’re not intellectually slow. They’re emotionally and morally unable to think outside the box. They are unable to grasp the obvious. Like in our day, questions like, “When does life begin?” Or, “How do you define man and woman?” So he walks them through God’s Word.

Here’s what we see in how Jesus walks them through things.

Notice he doesn’t blind them with some spectacular revelation of who he is. There’s no sound and fury. Jesus doesn’t impose faith on them. He walks them through Scripture. They need God’s Word to clear up their confusion. They need to hear that the death of God’s Son is the only way to salvation. It was God’s plan from the beginning…from before the foundation of the world.

Here’s the underneathness to their encounter. Jesus is laying the foundation for how people come to saving faith. God opens hearts and minds to the saving truth of His Word. We need to hear the Word of God to clear up the confusion of what the world tells us. Remember, from the Emmaus Road forward, there’s not going to be an opportunity for I’ll believe it if I see it…or seeing is believing. The only needful thing is hearing the Word of God and believing. Coming to faith through hearing. That’s how God reaches us. That’s how God breaks through the clouds and noise of a fallen world. Through the transformational clarity of His Word.

What’s going on here was reinforced earlier by Jesus in the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. Here’s how Jesus captures it in Luke 16:29-31:

“But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”

The only way to know Jesus is through the Bible. The only way to understand the truth about Jesus is through the Bible. All of Scripture points to Jesus Christ, culminating in his crucifixion and resurrection. Without the Word of God, we would remain lost in our sin. Amen?

Before we close, a brief word needs to be said about the meal Jesus shares with the two travelers. It’s not surprising that some see in this another 

example of the Lord’s Supper. But that’s not the case. There’s no mention of the cup. Only breaking bread. There are no special words of institution. While this in no way, shape, or form harkens back to the Lord’s Supper, it is also no ordinary meal. Because no meals with Jesus were ordinary meals. Special things happen when people break bread together. They are special times. Company and conversation. And then, boom! Their eyes are opened and Jesus is gone. How beautiful is that?

How did these dull men become sharp? In their encounter with the Christ of Scripture. They didn’t believe because they recognized Jesus. Here’s something you might want to write down:

THEY BELIEVED BECAUSE JESUS OPENED THEIR HEARTS AND MINDS TO GOD’S WORD.

I love the words, “Blessed are those who believe though they have never seen.” That’s you and me. That’s us.

Finally, who opens their eyes to see Jesus? God does. God is the revealer of the Risen Christ. It’s nothing we initiate. It’s nothing we make happen. God opens our eyes to the Risen Christ. God, in His Word, shows us the 

crucified Christ who died to save us from our sin. Again, Amen? 

Which brings us to our last point. It’s something else you might want to write down:

KNOWLEDGE OF SCRIPTURE BRINGS JOY.

What did the two travelers do? Did they isolate themselves, keeping the gospel all to themselves? No…with great joy, they returned to Jerusalem to share the good news with the others. And then, when they got there, and found the eleven, did they get their news out first? No…they heard eleven voices as one, saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” Can you imagine the thrill…the joy in that room? Instead of hiding away in fear for what tomorrow holds after the brutal death of their leader, they are now ready to move out into a dangerous world with courage and hope. What an amazing turn. An amazing turn.

Let’s pray:

FATHER, HEARING THE WORDS OF SCRIPTURE TODAY, MAY WE BE FILLED WITH THE SAME JOY THAT CAPTURED THE DISCIPLES. THANK YOU FOR OPENING YOUR WORD TO US. LIKE THE TWO FOLLOWERS ON THE ROAD TO EMMAUS, MAY OUR HEARTS BE WARMED BY YOUR TRUTH. WHEREVER WE’RE AT ON OUR JOURNEY WITH CHRIST, MAY WE GROW IN OUR WALK WITH HIM. MAY WE KNOW THE FULLNESS OF JOY IN THIS LIFE AS WE WILL KNOW IT IN THE LIFE TO COME. WE PRAY THESE THINGS IN JESUS’ NAME. AMEN.