ROAD TO EMMAUS (The Fourth Cup & Lamb of God)
He appears to Mary Magdalene and to others, but there’s one really special appearance that is on that first Easter Sunday morning. That same morning when they can’t find Him, He appears to two disciples who were walking on the road going to Emmaus. Now Emmaus is a town about seven miles from Jerusalem. The two disciples were walking to Emmaus, and they’re talking, of course, about what all had gone on with Jesus, because this was worldly news. And this stranger walks up with them, and they don’t recognize who He is. It’s really Jesus, but their eyes were shielded so they couldn’t see who He was. And they’re talking with Him, and Jesus asks them what’s going on? And they said are you the only person that doesn’t know what has taken place? And they explain to Him that this prophet named Jesus -they thought He was a prophet- this prophet named Jesus came to Jerusalem, and He did all these miracles, and they killed Him. And after three days His body was taken, and they had hoped that He was the one who was to redeem Israel. And anyway they continued their walk and Jesus explained to them the Old Testament. Luke’s gospel states, “Beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the scriptures.” (Luke 24:27) He explained to them the prophecies about Himself beginning with Moses. He opens the scriptures to them, and they listen to Him all the way to Emmaus. They have a seven mile walk. They don’t know who He is because their eyes are shielded. Finally the disciples reach their destination. Jesus indicates that He’s going a little farther. And they say to Him, no, stay with us tonight. So He does. “And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them.” Wow, look at this! He took. He blessed. He broke. He gave. And with that special handling of the bread, “their eyes were opened and they recognized him, <snap> but he vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, "Were not our hearts burning (within us) while he spoke to us on the way and opened the scriptures to us?" (Luke 24:30-31) They recognized Him when He broke the bread. Then Jesus disappeared. Do you think He was playing tricks? No. He did it on purpose. He broke the bread only three nights earlier; they saw Him break bread the same way. He took. He blessed. He broke. He gave. Then Jesus allowed them to recognize Him, and He vanished from their sight. What did He leave them with? He left them with the Eucharist. He had told them that I will be with you until the end of time. And He is.
They went back all the way to Jerusalem and they were telling the other disciples “what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.” (Luke 24:35) Meaning Jesus revealed Himself, on that Easter morning to the disciples, in the breaking of the bread in the Eucharist.
I mentioned to you earlier that the Passover was fulfilled, and the new covenant of the Eucharist is instituted. And it’s new, and it’s everlasting. The feast goes on forever. This is ordered by God. It’s a perpetual ordinance.
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