IBhayibheli

 

Luke 24:13-35 : The Road to Emmaus

Funda

13 And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs.

14 And they talked together of all these things which had happened.

15 And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them.

16 But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.

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

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 therein these days?

19 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:

20 And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him.

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.

22 Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre;

23 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.

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.

25 Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:

26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?

27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

28 And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further.

29 But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them.

30 And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them.

31 And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight.

32 And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?

33 And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them,

34 Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon.

35 And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.

Amazwana

 

On the Road to Emmaus

Ngu Joe David

Lelio Orsi's painting, Camino de Emaús, is in the National Gallery in London, England.

Each of the four gospels contains a story about Jesus appearing to His disciples after the Sunday morning when they had found the sepulcher empty. For example, see Matthew 28:16-20; Mark 16:14-19; Luke 24:13-33; John 20:19-31, and John 21.

In Luke, there’s a story of two disciples walking from Jerusalem to the village of Emmaus, a walk of about seven miles. Shortly after they leave the city they are approached by another traveler who has noticed their troubled faces and serious talk and asks them what is troubling them. Walking along together, they ask the stranger, “Haven’t you heard of the troubles in Jerusalem, how the prophet from Galilee, who we hoped would be the one to save Israel, was given up to be crucified? And strange to say, when some of the women went on the third day to anoint His body, they saw angels who told them that he was not there but was risen from the dead.”

On hearing this, the traveler chides them for not believing, and says “Don’t you see that Christ had to suffer these things and to enter into his glory?” The stranger then tells the two disciples many things concerning Jesus, from the books of Moses, and the prophets, in the Old Testament. The two disciples listen with awe, but do not recognize the stranger. At length they arrive at Emmaus. The stranger appears to want to go on when the two stop, but they beg him to stop also, because it’s getting late in the day, and they want to hear more. So they all sit down to share the evening meal, and when the stranger takes up the loaf of bread and breaks it and gives them pieces, their eyes are opened and they recognize Him, and He vanishes.

One can imagine the stunned awe that came over them both as they realized that this was Jesus. They knew He was crucified, and yet He had walked and talked to them for several hours. The women were right! The angels were right! He was alive!

The New Church believes that there are internal meanings to all the stories in the Word of the Lord, the sacred scriptures, and that this internal meaning, within the literal stories about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Joshua, Samuel, David, and the rest, and all the sayings of the prophets from Isaiah to Malachi, and the four gospels… this meaning is what makes the Word holy.

So what can we see here in this story? Well, that internal meaning in “Moses and the prophets” is the story of Jesus’ life in the world, from His birth in Bethlehem through all His growing years until His “death” and then His rising. Because Jesus knew that, and had certainly read the Scriptures and understood them internally, He knew for a long time how His earthly life was going to close, and that it was necessary for it to close as had been “written”, in order to save the human race. So He told the two disciples that story as they walked toward Emmaus.

More about that walk... In the Word, any mention of walking is really referring to how we live our lives from day to day. In many stories of the Word, it is said that someone walked with God. It is said that we should walk in His ways and that we should walk the straight and narrow path.

Also in this story we are told that this was a journey of sixty stadia (in the original Greek). Sixty (or other multiples of "six") represents the lifelong work of rejecting the temptations that come from our inborn selfishness. Apocalypse Explained 648. So, this journey to Emmaus means our life’s journey - as a person that is trying to follow the Lord’s teachings and become an angel.

The destination was Emmaus. In the Word any city represents a doctrine, an organized set of truths that we have put in order so that we can live according to them -- our rules of life. See Arcana Coelestia 402. They are not necessarily good, as with Jerusalem or Bethlehem, but can also be evil doctrines, e.g. Sodom or Babylon. My dictionary tells me that the name Emmaus means “hot springs”. Another universal meaning in the Word is that water means truth in its beneficial uses, but can also mean truth twisted into falsity by those in hell, in an opposite sense. See, for example, Arcana Coelestia 790. Think of the wells that Abraham dug, or the waters that Jesus promised to the woman of Samaria as they talked by Jacob’s well, or the pure river of water flowing out from under the throne in the New Jerusalem in the book of Revelation. In its converse sense, where water is destructive, think of the flood that destroyed all but Noah and his family, or the Red Sea that had to be parted so that the children of Israel could cross. The springs represented by Emmaus were holy truths bubbling up from the Word for us to use. And these are hot springs, and heat means love. So that's our destination, where truth and love together are flowing out for us to use, in a continual stream from the Lord.

This plain little anecdote about the disciples meeting the Lord on the road to Emmaus isn't just a story about Jesus's resurrection with a spiritual body. It is also a story of how we should be living our lives. We can be traveling toward heaven, listening to the Lord, walking in the way with him, and at the end He will break bread and have supper with us.

Okususelwe Emisebenzini kaSwedenborg

 

True Christian Religion #262

Funda lesi Sigaba

  
Yiya esigabeni / 853  
  

262. It is plain that the Lord fulfilled everything in the Word from a consideration of the passages where it is said that the Law and the Scripture were fulfilled by Him, and that everything was brought to completion, as in these where Jesus said:

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law and the Prophets. I have come not to abolish, but to fulfil, Matthew 5:17-18.

Jesus entered the synagogue, and got up to read. Then there was handed to Him the book of the prophet Isaiah; and He unrolled the book and found the passage where it is written: The spirit of Jehovah is upon me, because He has anointed me; He has sent me to bring good news to the poor, to heal the broken in heart, to bring good news of release to those who are in bonds, and sight to the blind, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. Afterwards He rolled up the book and said, To-day this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing, Luke 4:16-21. That the Scripture should be fulfilled, He who eats bread with me has lifted up his heel upon me, John 13:18.

None of them has perished, but the son of perdition, that the Scripture should be fulfilled, John 17:12.

That the word should be fulfilled which said, Of those you gave me, I have not lost one, John 18:9. Jesus said to Peter, Put your sword away in its place. How then could the Scripture be fulfilled, which says that it must be thus. This was done so that the Scripture might be fulfilled, Matthew 26:52, 54, 56.

The Son of Man goes away, as it is written of Him, so that the Scriptures should be fulfilled, Mark 14:21, 49.

Thus the Scripture was fulfilled which said, He was counted with the irreligious, Mark 15:28; Luke 22:37.

That the Scripture might be fulfilled, they divided my 1 garments among them, and cast lots for my tunic, John 19:24.

After this Jesus knowing that all things were now completed, that the Scripture should be fulfilled, John 19:28.

When Jesus had received the vinegar, He said, it is completed (that is, fulfilled). John 19:30.

These things were done so that the Scripture might be fulfilled, A bone you shall not break in him; and again another Scripture says, They shall see him whom they pierced, John 19:36-37.

He also taught His disciples, before He went away, that the whole Word was written about Him, and that He had come into the world to fulfil it, in these words:

He said to them, Foolish people and slow at heart to believe all that the Prophets have said! Surely this is what Christ ought to suffer, and enter into glory? Then beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them the references to Himself in all the Scriptures, Luke 24:25-27.

Further, Jesus said that all things ought to be fulfilled which are written in the law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms about me (Luke 24:44-45).

It is plain from the Lord's words that, while He was in the world, He fulfilled everything in the Word down to the last details:

Amen I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one jot or stroke shall pass away from the Law, until all things are done, Matthew 5:18.

This will now make it possible to see clearly that by the Lord fulfilling everything in the Law is not meant fulfilling all the Ten Commandments, but everything in the Word. These further passages will establish that the Law means everything in the Word:

Jesus said, Is it not written in your law, I said, You are gods, John 10:34.

This is written in Psalm 82:6.

The crowd replied, We have heard from the law that the Christ shall remain for ever, John 12:34.

This is written in Psalm 89:30, 37; Psalm 110:4; Daniel 7:14.

That the word should be fulfilled which is written in their Law, They hated me without cause, John 15:25.

This is written in Psalm 35:19.

It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than for one dot of the Law to be lost, Luke 16:17.

The Law here, as in many other passages, means the whole of Sacred Scripture.

Imibhalo yaphansi:

1. A correction of the author's copy for 'his.'

  
Yiya esigabeni / 853  
  

Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.