What is the story of the road to Emmaus?

On Easter evening two disciples walked to Emmaus with the risen Jesus without recognizing him. He explained the Scriptures to them, and when he broke bread at their table 'their eyes were opened, and they knew him' (Luke 24:31), after which he vanished and they rushed back to tell the others.

Why didn't they recognize Jesus?

Luke says 'their eyes were holden' (Luke 24:16). Their grief and the surprise of the resurrection kept them from seeing him, until the familiar act of breaking bread opened their eyes. It shows the risen Christ is often known in fellowship and shared meals rather than in spectacle.

A meal of Jesus

Known in the Breaking of Bread

Supper at Emmaus · Luke 24:28-35

On Easter evening, two grieving disciples walked and talked with the risen Jesus for miles without recognizing him. Only when he sat at their table and broke bread were 'their eyes opened, and they knew him' (Luke 24:31). He was made known in the breaking of bread.

The scene

“And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him.”Luke 24:30-31

What the table means

It is one of the tenderest scenes in all of Scripture. Two followers of Jesus are trudging away from Jerusalem on the evening of the resurrection, heartbroken, certain it is all over, saying to a stranger who joins them, 'we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel.' The stranger is Jesus himself, risen, walking beside them, but 'their eyes were holden that they should not know him.' He walks the whole road with them in their grief, opening the Scriptures, and still they do not see who he is.

And then they reach the village, and they beg the stranger to stay, and they sit down to supper. And in a gesture they must have seen before, he takes the bread, blesses it, breaks it, and gives it to them, and in that instant 'their eyes were opened, and they knew him,' and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, 'Did not our heart burn within us,' and they ran the seven miles back to Jerusalem in the dark. It was not the miles of teaching but the breaking of bread at their own table that finally opened their eyes. The risen Christ made himself known where he so often does: at a shared meal, in the ordinary breaking of bread.

They walked miles with the risen Christ and did not know him. Then he broke bread, and their eyes were opened.

There is a place set for youSometimes Christ walks a long road beside us while our grief and disappointment keep us from recognizing him, until some quiet, ordinary moment, and suddenly we know he was there all along. If your heart is heavy and you cannot see him, keep walking, keep listening, and come to the table. He has a way of making himself known not in spectacle but in the breaking of bread, and the burning of a heart that realizes it was never actually alone.

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The table is still set

Jesus is still the friend of sinners, still the host who welcomes the ones everyone else would seat at the back. You do not have to become presentable first; the whole point of every one of these meals is that he sat down with people before they had cleaned themselves up. The Living Bread is a quiet place to pull up a chair, read the Gospels, and pray, and discover that a place was set for you all along.

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Jesus Christ is Lord.

Frequently asked questions

What is the story of the road to Emmaus?: On Easter evening two disciples walked to Emmaus with the risen Jesus without recognizing him. He explained the Scriptures to them, and when he broke bread at their table 'their eyes were opened, and they knew him' (Luke 24:31), after which he vanished and they rushed back to tell the others.
Why didn't they recognize Jesus?: Luke says 'their eyes were holden' (Luke 24:16). Their grief and the surprise of the resurrection kept them from seeing him, until the familiar act of breaking bread opened their eyes. It shows the risen Christ is often known in fellowship and shared meals rather than in spectacle.

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