Context No. 3762 of 4322 · Luke

Luke 24:25-29: in context

25He said to them, “Foolish people, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26Didn’t the Christ have to suffer these things and to enter into his glory?” 27Beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, he explained to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. 28They came near to the village where they were going, and he acted like he would go further. 29They urged him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is almost evening, and the day is almost over.” He went in to stay with them.

On the road to Emmaus, the risen Jesus, still unrecognized, gently rebukes the two downcast disciples: O foolish ones, slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Their despair came from not understanding that the Messiah's suffering was necessary, not a defeat. Was it not necessary, he asks, that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?

And then, beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he opens the whole of Scripture to them, showing how it all pointed to himself. Two things stand out. The cross was not the failure it seemed to the grieving disciples but the necessary path to glory, foretold throughout the Scriptures; their sadness came from reading their circumstances without the Scriptures. And the risen Christ meets them by teaching them the Word, opening the Scriptures to reveal himself. When we are downcast and confused by events, the answer is often the one Jesus gave: to have the Scriptures opened, and to see Christ, and the necessity of the cross, running through them all. And their instinct was right: stay with us.

When I am downcast and confused, do I bring my heart to the Scriptures that reveal Christ, and do I ask the risen Lord, as they did, to stay with me?

Sources

Luke 24:25-26: "Foolish people, and slow of heart to believe... Didn't the Christ have to suffer these things and to enter into his glory?"
Luke 24:27: "Beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, he explained to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself."
Luke 24:29: "They urged him, saying, Stay with us, for it is almost evening, and the day is almost over."