On the same day that Jesus rose from His death, there were two men walking along a road that led to a town called Emmaus, which was about seven miles from the capital city of Jerusalem. As the two men walked, they were busy in conversation about the things that had happened in the last few days – when suddenly, Jesus appeared and walked with them, but neither of the men realized that it was Jesus.

Jesus asked them, “What are you two talking about as you walk down this road?”

The men stopped walking, and stood their with their faces looking down and very sad, when one of the men, named Cleopas, said to Jesus, “ Are you the only person in the whole of Jerusalem who doesn’t know what has been going on the last few days?”

“What things?” asked Jesus.

“The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet, and powerful in all he said and did, before God and before all the people. Our leaders gave Him over to be crucified. We hoped that He would be the one to save Israel. What is even more amazing is that it is now the third day since His death, and some women have told us that His body has disappeared. The women ran back and told us that angels had spoken to them and told them that Jesus was risen and alive, so Some of our group went to the tomb and found that what the women said was true: the tomb was empty, and Jesus wasn’t there.”

Jesus then said to the men, “How stupid you are because you are so slow to believe what the prophets said! Doesn’t The Messiah have to suffer before He gets His glory?” By saying this, Jesus was telling them that they should have realized that the reason the tomb was empty was because Jesus had got up and left. The prophets had said that He would rise from His death, which is why Jesus told the men off for not believing this. From there, Jesus explained to the men what the Bible said about Him, starting from Moses and the prophets.

As the three of them came near the village of Emmaus, Jesus continued to walk as though He was not going to stop, but the men urged Him very strongly to stay in the town saying, “Stay here with us because the day is almost over.” Jesus accepted their invitation.

When they sat at the dinner table, Jesus took the bread, prayed to God to give God thanks for the meal, then broke the bread and gave it to the others to eat. Bread is used symbolically throughout the Bible as it represents nourishment and necessity. In the Old Testament God gave a type of bread to the Jews who were lost in the desert, which makes it symbolic of how God always provides for, and never abandons us.

At this moment the men’s eyes opened up and they immediately recognized that it was Jesus who was amongst them, but as soon as they recognized Him, He disappeared. The two men then said, “Our hearts burned when He talked to us on the road and explained the Bible to us.”

Just think: The men had listened to Jesus Christ, the Son of God explain the Bible to them!

From there the men immediately went back to Jerusalem and told the eleven disciples what had happed to them that day. The men said, “It is the truth. Jesus is risen from His death and appeared to Simon.” From there, the two continued to tell the group what had happened on the road, when they had recognized Jesus and how He had suddenly disappeared.