LUKE 24:17-24 ASTONISHED!

ASTONISHED!

LUKE 24:17-24

Luke 24:17 And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad?

Susan: Jesus asks the two travelers what they are talking about and why has it made their faces so downcast. Jesus is totally aware of what their answer will be, but He wants them to articulate their feelings about the events of the past few days.

Luke 24:18 And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?

Susie: Many scholars believe this Cleopas may be the same man whose name is rendered “Cleophas” in the King James Version and “Clopas” in other translations. If so, his wife was named Mary and she stood with Jesus’s mother, Mary, at the foot of His cross.

John 19:25 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.

Susan: This leads us to the conclusion that Cleopas’s unnamed traveling companion on the road to Emmaus may have been his wife, Mary. There are several things that support this idea. If this is the same Cleopas, he would not have left his wife behind in Jerusalem or allowed her to travel alone. Cleopas served as spokesman for the two which would be the natural role for the husband while the wife remained silent during this period of history. Later, we will see that in some translations, it appears the two share one heart which is spiritually true of a married couple who have been made “one flesh.”

Susie: Cleopas asks Jesus if He is new to Jerusalem, a stranger in town.

Susan: These days he might ask, “What rock have you been hiding under?” He wondered how Jesus could be totally unaware of the things which had transpired in Jerusalem because people were all abuzz with the news of the heart wrenching event.

Susie: Even those who did not follow Jesus as Messiah were probably shocked that the popular preacher and prophet who healed people and cast out demons had been crucified like a common criminal.

Luke 24:19-20 And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him.

Susie: Jesus asked them to clarify exactly what things they were talking about. Again, Jesus was not truly clueless but wanted Cleopas and his companion to explain the news as they had seen and heard it.

Susan: They probably talked over each other (like the people in our Sunday School discussions) and finished each other’s sentences (like Susie and I do) at this point, anxious to help this stranger understand. They laid out the outline of the past few days. They delineated Jesus’s character as a powerful prophet and teacher to Jesus Himself (LOL). Then they explained that the Jewish religious leadership had handed Him over to the Romans to be executed on the cross.

Luke 24:21 But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done.

Susie: They proclaimed that they had trusted that Jesus was the Messiah, the promised Deliverer; but this seems to be expressed with some doubt because of His death.

Susan: If Jesus had truly been a stranger unaware of these happenings, their next statement would have made no sense to Him. They pointed out that it was the third day since Jesus’s death on the cross. Perhaps they were aware of Jesus’s prophecy that He would rise on the third day, or the women’s testimony had sparked their memories.

Luke 24:22-23 Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre; And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive.

Susie: Even though Jesus had foretold His resurrection from the dead on the third day, His followers were “astonished” when confronted with an empty tomb. The women had originally presumed the body was moved or stolen until the angel assured them Jesus was risen as He had said He would be.

Susan: Mary Magdalene and some of the other women had seen the risen Lord, but perhaps Cleopas and companion (probably his wife, Mary) had not heard that part of their testimony, doubted it, or just failed to mention it.

Susie: Maybe they thought the idea of Jesus being raised from the dead would be too fantastic for the Stranger to believe.

Luke 24:24 And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not.

Susan: Not being able to comprehend the women’s testimony, impetuous Peter and the disciple whom Jesus loved, John, went to see for themselves. (See previous lesson.) Lo and behold, the tomb was empty just as the women had declared!

Susie: However, Jesus Himself had not appeared to Peter and John which may be why the two on the road to Emmaus are still sad, not convinced that the Lord is truly alive.

Ponder this and Apply it: Why did Jesus not immediately reveal Himself to the couple on the road? I’m not sure, but I do know that I am sometimes frustrated that God doesn’t just spell out His plan for dealing with a minor crisis in my life. Instead, it seems I must search the scripture and wait for Him to show me. Perhaps He wanted them to search their own minds before revealing Himself. The travelers shared that they had been “astonished” by the news shared by the women that the tomb was empty. They had apparently heard Jesus speak and knew the prophesy that He would rise but were still surprised! We know the promises of God that He will care for us and never leave us forsaken, so why are we astonished when He provides for us in the most unconventional ways?