Emmaus and the Christian Journey

By William Kassler

The Biblical account of the walk to Emmaus is a story of two men who leave the disciples in Jerusalem to walk seven miles to Emmaus. On the way, they meet a stranger they eventually come to recognize as Jesus. Why was Jesus' appearance unknown to them Why did Jesus suddenly disappear at the moment they recognized Him Good questions. William Kassler opens up the scriptures and examines why this day was different from all other days in history. Emmaus and the Christian Journey reveals the pathway of every believer as they move into a full revelation of Jesus Christ. Revised in 2022.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Oct 14, 2022
• ISBN: 9781387546831

Book preview

An age-old journey

Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus… (Luke 24:13)

Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called "Today,'' lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. (Hebrews 3:12-13)

Every time I think about the road to Emmaus, I get a burning in my heart to share with you the significance of this trip.  Emmaus is for some a story of two disciples who leave the fold of the apostles to go to Emmaus, about seven miles from their starting point in Jerusalem.  The story goes that on the way, they meet a stranger whom they eventually come to recognize as Jesus.  Why did Jesus walk with them?  Why was Jesus unrecognizable to them?  Why did Jesus disappear from their sight when the disciples finally recognized Him?  Good questions.  What did Jesus intend in this chance meeting?

The Emmaus story is about the revelation of Jesus. 

The Crusades and the Holocaust are evidence of times when there was a collision of thoughts and the Jews became the target of hate. Jesus commanded His followers to "love one another.  Followers of Jesus are asked to prove themselves by following His commandments.  These horrific events are evidence that man did not comply.  On the road to Emmaus, we find those who were closest to Jesus on a collision course to doom.  Jesus had a desire to avoid the ensuing calamity demonstrating His love for people headed for destruction. 

The revelation of Jesus is as if I had randomly scattered tires & rims, engines, windows, a hood, fenders, seats, and a steering wheel on my driveway. You would instinctively know that each of these is part of a car.  (Yet, some would not know.)  You might even assemble the car if you had the skill with all the parts available.  Once the pieces are assembled, you no longer see just the tires & rims, the engine, the windows, the hood, fenders, seats, or the steering wheel.  You see the car.  You see in fact a red car.  You see a car model from a particular manufacturer.  You see the year of release for the car.  The greater thing is the sum of the parts, and it has inherent values beyond the parts themselves.  Perhaps in this assembled state, it will even function as a car giving you mobility.  That day on the road to Emmaus was a skillful day, the assembly of scattered parts.  That day for you is today. 

For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect.  (Hebrews 10:1)

But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.  (Hebrews 10: 12-14)

In the beginning, God created all things.  The times were lawless, yet without knowledge of the law, no one could be sentenced or convicted.  Yet, in His heart, God had a plan for salvation through Jesus.  Promises were made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob regarding a people whom God would defend, and through whom He would send His salvation.  From God through Moses came the law. 

When God created all things, He called them good, yet satan got in the way and robbed the goodness.  Even when Cain killed his good brother Able, God restored the bloodline to Jesus through Seth as a replacement for Able.  Cain, the evil brother, was a marked man forever.  When Abraham was given the promise of descendants as numerous as the stars and a foreign land to live in, he traveled to that area with his nephew Lot.  He gave Lot the first choice of a portion of the land.  Lot chose what seemed good to his eyes.  That land of Sodom and Gomorrah would be punished - demonstrating the endpoint of lust and sin is death.  Only because of God’s mercy Lot escaped with his daughters as angels walked beside him.

Moses was born in the final years of a four-hundred-year promise that God would deliver Abraham’s descendants from bondage (Genesis 15:13).  The Jews, called Hebrews, were