The lord be with you. Reading of the holy gospel according to Luke. Now this is a very significant passage. This is the story of the disciples meeting Jesus to Emmaus. And every detail here, I think, has great meaning, especially the attitude of the apostles.
Two of the disciples of Jesus on that same day, first day of the week, were making their way to a village named Emmaus, seven miles distant from Jerusalem, half hour's walk, discussing as they went along all that had happened that previous week. In the course of their lively exchange, lively exchange, they were keyed up about it. Jesus approached them and began to walk along with them. However, they were restrained, very curious. They were restrained from recognizing.
So he said to them, what are you talking about as you walk along? They halted in distress. Notice they were so taken back by somebody saying, what are you talking about that they stopped. And one of them, Cleopas by name, asked Jesus, are you the only resident of Jerusalem who doesn't know the things that went on there in the last few days? Actually astonished that there could be anyone ignorant of it.
But Jesus said to them, what things? And they replied, all those that had to do with Jesus of Nazareth, a prophet powerful in word and indeed in the eyes of God and all the people. How our chief priests and leaders delivered him up to be condemned to death and crucified him. We were we were hoping, notice we were hoping that he was the one who would set Israel free, kick out the Romans. Besides all this, today, the third day since these things happened, some women of our group have just brought us most astonishing news.
They were at the tomb before dawn and failed to find his body, but returned with the tail, notice they don't believe it, but returned with the tail that they had seen a vision of angels who declared that Jesus was alive. Some of our number went out to the tomb and found the tomb to be just as the women had said, but him, Jesus, they did not see. And then Jesus said to them, what little sense you have, how slow you are to believe all that the prophets have announced. Notice Jesus is going back to the Old Testament now and saying, look, you don't even know your Old Testament. Did not the Messiah over 200 references to him, at least that in the Old Testament.
Did not the Messiah have to undergo all this to enter into his glory? And then, beginning with Moses and all the prophets, Jesus interpreted for them every passage of scripture which referred to the Messiah. Well, by this time they were near Hemahaz, That was the village to which they were going. And Jesus acted as if he was going to continue on farther. But they pressed him, stay with us.
It is nearly evening, the day is practically over. So Jesus went in to stay with them. When he had seated himself with them to eat, ghosts don't eat. Jesus took bread, pronounced the blessing, then broke the bread and began to distribute it to the disciples. And with that, their eyes were opened and they recognized Jesus.
Where upon he vanished from their sight. As soon as they recognized him, he disappears. Then they said to one another, were not our hearts burning inside of us as we talked, as he talked to us on the road and explained the scriptures to us, the old testament. They got up immediately and returned to Jerusalem even though it was night where they found the 11 and the rest of the company assembled. They were greeted by the assembly.
The Lord has been raised, it is true, he has appeared to Simon. And then they recounted everything that had happened to them on the road to Emmaus and how they had come to know Jesus in the breaking of the bread. And this is the good news of the Lord.