Walking the Emmaus Road: Evidence for the Risen Jesus

"I’m standing on the most important road of the New Testament, just outside of Jerusalem. This is the Emmaus Road. So how do we know that this is the Emmaus Road of Luke, chapter 24? Jerusalem-based scholar David Beaven argues that there are certain clues along the way that point to the fact that this is really the historical Emmaus, and I want to just give you a couple of them. First of all, the Gospel of Luke says that the distance from Jerusalem to Emmaus was about 60 stadia; that translates to about seven miles. Now, the first-century Jewish historian Josephus says that there was a place—not a city, but a place—called Emmaus. He’s writing after the fall of Jerusalem, and he says that this place was about 3.5 miles away from Jerusalem. A one-way trip from Jerusalem to Emmaus, 3.5 miles; a round trip would have been seven miles, the distance that Luke says that the disciples traveled, because we know that they came from Jerusalem, and when the risen Savior revealed himself to them, they went back." 

"Now, one thing that is fascinating is that this Jerusalem-based scholar, David Beaven, he actually put this to the test. He did the trek himself in the 1980s; he walked from the Kotel, from the Western Wall, all the way down the valley to this area, following the ravine, following the passageway, and it took him about 80 minutes at a leisure walk. So, you can imagine the excitement of the disciples going back to Jerusalem on the same day to tell the eleven that they had seen the risen Jesus. It’s totally possible that they really went from this place, Emmaus, all the way back to Jerusalem. Furthermore, underneath me, there’s actual evidence—archaeological evidence—that the Israel Antiquities Authority has found that the Roman road that was here actually paved the way, the topography of this land, all the way up to Jerusalem. And this Roman road, unfortunately, has been lost; you can see all around me there’s modern infrastructure—there’s a pipeline, cemetery near me, residential houses—and if you were standing here, you would never know that this is the road to Emmaus, the most important road to Christians all over the world." 

"I find it interesting that there’s a parallel. There’s a connection here between the fact that no tour guide would probably bring you here to see this road, because it doesn’t look like what you think. But that’s exactly what the disciples experienced, Cleopas and the other disciples; as they were walking, they were talking to Jesus and they had no idea. They had no idea that they were talking to him because their eyes were veiled; they hadn’t recognized Jesus. And so, I want to give you some practical tools for your walk with the Lord that we learned from this road, from these surroundings: when you don’t realize that you’re staring at the face of Jesus, that you’re staring at God wanting to reveal himself to you." 

"The first thing that Jesus did with the disciples as he walked with them is he says, he opened up the scriptures to them, and he revealed himself about what the scriptures testify about the Messiah. He went through the prophets and the law of Moses and the Psalms, and he explained concerning himself how he fulfilled that, and we know that the disciples, their hearts were burning within them. And then when he gets to the place, finally reaching the end, like good Middle Eastern hospitality, they say, ‘Hey, don’t go, please stay with us,’ and Jesus accepts the invitation. He sits with them; he breaks the bread; and when he breaks the bread, their eyes are open. What does that mean, in the breaking of the bread? We have relationship. That’s prayer. When you have relationship with God, when you talk to him, when you are communing with God, and there’s a breaking of the bread, there’s friendship; that’s where God reveals the scriptures to you." 

"And then, furthermore, the disciples go back to Jerusalem because they’re astonished that Jesus revealed himself to them, and they’re gathered with the other eleven, and they’re telling the story: ‘We were just walking with him just a couple of minutes ago, and he revealed himself to us.’ And as they’re saying that, Luke says that Jesus appears before them and he says, ‘Shalom, peace to you,’ and Luke says this: He opened their minds to understand the scriptures. So, we need to read the scriptures; we need to have fellowship with the Lord in prayer and communion with him; and we need to ask the Holy Spirit to open our understanding so that we can understand the revelation of the Son of God in the scriptures." 

"This road is history. This road testifies to the fact that today, the risen Savior wants your heart to be a place within you. The risen Savior wants to reveal himself to you, but you got to open up the scriptures. You got to commune with the living God; you got to pray. He wants to hear from you; he wants to break bread with you, and when he does that, your eyes will be open and your understanding will be open so that you understand that this road 2,000 years ago is not just history, but it’s reality for your walk with Jesus today."