And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him.
On the road to Emmaus two sorrowing disciples told a Stranger they did not recognize how their own chief priests and rulers had handed Jesus of Nazareth over to be sentenced to death and put Him to death on the cross. They spoke in weeping disappointment because His condemnation had buried their hope that He would free Israel, and they were leaving Jerusalem in despair even while troubled reports said it was the third day and He was alive again. What happened to Him was no accident, for the law and the prophets had foretold that the Messiah would suffer these things at the hands of those He came to save before entering His glory. His suffering and death opened the way to forgiveness and salvation through faith, and the Crucified One proved Himself the risen Redeemer who conquered death and the tomb. He kept Himself hidden until He had opened the Scriptures from Moses and the prophets concerning Himself, so that their faith would rest on unquestionable evidence and their burning hearts would carry the living Saviour's witness to others.
Words and Emmaus Setting
The verse preserves the report the Emmaus disciples gave of how the chief priests and rulers handed Jesus over to be sentenced to death and crucified Him. It was Jerusalem's chief priests and rulers who delivered Him to condemnation, and that handing over led directly to the cross.
Those words were spoken on the road to Emmaus to the risen Jesus Himself, whom the two, Cleopas and his companion, did not recognize. They saw in Him only an ordinary toiling traveler like themselves, a stranger ignorant of what had happened at Jerusalem. He kept His true identity hidden while He walked with them.
In telling it they called Jesus of Nazareth a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people. He had been taken by wicked hands and crucified by the chief priests and rulers.
They spoke in sadness and gloom and weeping, with hearts sore with disappointment and quivering lips. Their minds were absorbed in perplexing ideas about whether One who suffered Himself to be so humiliated and cruelly treated could be the Christ. Lonely and disappointed, they reasoned over lessons they could not comprehend as they told of their disappointment in their Master.
Their grief was bound up with shattered hope, for the condemnation and crucifixion buried their hope that He would redeem Israel. Their faith died with Him, their hopes disappointed by the death of the beloved Master. In despair they were leaving Jerusalem, meaning to give up their work and take up their old employment again and conceal their disappointment as best they could.
They added that it was now the third day, with strange reports that He had risen and been seen. Mary and certain disciples and the women had brought word that He was alive, and Peter had given ardent and assured evidence of an interview with the risen Lord. They had heard these reports with grief and excitement but could not yet believe, some too hopeless to believe, with hope and faith only struggling for ascendency.
Prophecy Fulfilled in Suffering
The handing over by the chief priests and rulers to be condemned to death and crucified fulfilled what the prophets had foretold about the suffering of the Messiah and the treatment Christ would receive from those He came to save. That betrayal, condemnation, and crucifixion belonged to the chain of prophecy foreshadowing what would happen to the Saviour, for the events concerning Jesus had been foreshadowed beforehand. Together the Scriptures and the facts of His life, death, and resurrection stand as evidence for faith.
Everything that transpired on the way to the cross was written in the Scriptures. The Old Testament law and the prophets agree with the facts of His life, death, and resurrection. From Moses and through all the prophets it is shown concerning Him that Christ ought to have suffered these things — His life, suffering, death, and resurrection — and then to enter into His glory.
The two on the road did not understand this because their faith was small and their minds had hardly grasped the idea of a suffering Saviour. They had not searched the Scriptures to see if these things were so, but talked of their troubles instead, and their ignorance of the Scriptures in reference to Christ blinded them with unbelief. Had they been familiar with the Scriptures their faith would have been sustained and their hopes unshaken instead of giving way to sadness.
Death Resurrection and Salvation
The handing over to be sentenced to death and crucified made salvation possible, with forgiveness and sanctification through faith. Christ and Him crucified is the story of redeeming love that believers are to proclaim.
The One so condemned and crucified is the risen Redeemer, who passed through suffering and conflict before gaining victory over death and the tomb. That crucifixion was the suffering endured before rising from the dead and walking with the disciples to teach and comfort them. At His death there was an awful earthquake, mighty angels came from heaven and rolled back the stone from the door of the sepulchre, and Christ came forth raised from the dead, proclaiming over the rent sepulchre of Joseph that He is the resurrection and the life. Then He walked in the way and met two of His disciples and made Himself known to them before leaving them, proving there is a risen Saviour to thank God for.
Together with the appearances in the upper chamber, this walk to Emmaus gives abundant evidence that the Saviour was living and not dead, evidence that could not be controverted. Early in the morning of the first day of the week the disciples went to the sepulchre and found it empty, seeing the shroud that had been wrapped about His body and the napkin that was about His head but not finding Him. His body had not seen corruption, and they saw Him and talked with Him after He had risen. By this Christianity was established and the falsehood of the priests made of none effect.
After the resurrection He had the same stature as before His crucifixion, with no distinctive physical mark immediately revealing that He was the Son of God. So the two did not recognize Him at first, recounting His death with grief and unable to believe the report that He had risen, until He opened the Scriptures to show that what had happened had been prophesied. They recognized Him only when He told them who He was and the marks of His crucifixion revealed to them that He was the risen Christ.
That depressed feeling on the outward journey was turned into joy exceeding former despair when He talked with them by the way and opened the Scriptures, making their hearts burn within them, and revealed Himself risen from the dead. They forgot hunger and fatigue, left their meal, and hurried back to Jerusalem late at night over a rough, dark, moonless road, stumbling yet pressing on to impart their joy to the other disciples and rejoice together in a living Saviour. The fact of Christ's resurrection was to be the great truth around which all the faith and hope of the church would center.
Christ Teaching the Scriptures
He veiled who He was until He had opened the Scriptures, so that conviction would rest not on His personal witness but on unquestionable proof from the typical law and the prophets agreeing with the facts of His life and death, and would grow into intelligent faith in His life, character, mission to earth, death and resurrection. When that foundation was laid He disclosed Himself so their joy would be complete, then disappeared from their view. The condemnation and crucifixion by the chief priests and rulers belonged to the mission thus foretold, and grasping those Scriptures was to give lasting faith and knowledge to impart to others.
Beginning with Moses and through all the prophets He traced His own history as the Christ of God, laying open all that was written concerning Himself. He uncovered meanings in the Old Testament teachings they had not perceived, opening their understanding so they might comprehend the Scriptures and know what is truth, until their hearts burned within them. Even as they reported Him as a mighty prophet taken by wicked hands and crucified, and wondered at His seeming sadness and strangeness, He was unfolding that everything that had transpired was written.
As educator He reproved them as slow, even foolish, in believing all the prophets had spoken, showing from Moses and the prophets that Christ ought to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory. He opened the Scriptures concerning Himself, His life, suffering, death and resurrection, and bound their hearts with a holy, new and sacred hope and joy. As they listened and pondered His words their hearts burned within them.
That burning led to recognition at the evening meal at Emmaus, where His words, manner and wounded hands made Him known and revived faith so joy was full. Then He vanished from their sight, leaving them calm and joyful in belief. The same educating work He did for those gathered in the upper chamber, revealing Himself to the eleven as one risen from the dead.
Comfort and Witness Today
The verse belongs to an encounter in which the risen Jesus, though fully understanding the prophecies, walked as a companion with suffering and perplexed people and shared their hardships. He joined the two on the way after His death as an apparently ordinary traveler, teaching and comforting them while they took Him for a stranger. He remains the same compassionate Son of man after His resurrection and ascension, identifying Himself with those who suffer and feel perplexed. He walked beside the sorrowing disciples in their grief and brought comfort, and He walks beside those who grieve still. He is near people in despondency, ready to give peace and life if they accept Him.
Reflecting on Scripture about Christ can fill the heart with holy joy, for He opened the Scriptures concerning Himself until their hearts burned as they contemplated His words. Christ may be present with His followers even when unseen, walking with them as He walked with the disciples.
His death and resurrection were truths supported by the Old Testament law and prophets, and understanding those Scriptures was meant to give lasting faith and knowledge to share with others. The risen Jesus met with His followers, opened the truths of Scripture to them, and strengthened their faith. That depressed feeling on the outward journey was turned into joy exceeding former despair when He talked with them by the way and opened the Scriptures and revealed Himself risen from the dead. They forgot hunger and fatigue, left their meal, and hurried back to Jerusalem late at night over a rough, dark, moonless road, stumbling yet pressing on to impart their joy to the other disciples and rejoice together in a living Saviour.
The chapter containing the verse shows the work given to followers: after receiving the Holy Spirit they were to bear witness first in Jerusalem and then to all nations. The condemnation and crucifixion by the chief priests and rulers belong to the story of redeeming love, Christ and Him crucified, that believers are to proclaim.
On the road to Emmaus two sorrowing disciples told a Stranger they did not recognize how their own chief priests and rulers had handed Jesus of Nazareth over to be sentenced to death and put Him to death on the cross. They spoke in weeping disappointment because His condemnation had buried their hope that He would free Israel, and they were leaving Jerusalem in despair even while troubled reports said it was the third day and He was alive again. What happened to Him was no accident, for the law and the prophets had foretold that the Messiah would suffer these things at the hands of those He came to save before entering His glory. His suffering and death opened the way to forgiveness and salvation through faith, and the Crucified One proved Himself the risen Redeemer who conquered death and the tomb. He kept Himself hidden until He had opened the Scriptures from Moses and the prophets concerning Himself, so that their faith would rest on unquestionable evidence and their burning hearts would carry the living Saviour's witness to others.
Words and Emmaus Setting
The verse preserves the report the Emmaus disciples gave of how the chief priests and rulers handed Jesus over to be sentenced to death and crucified Him. It was Jerusalem's chief priests and rulers who delivered Him to condemnation, and that handing over led directly to the cross.
Those words were spoken on the road to Emmaus to the risen Jesus Himself, whom the two, Cleopas and his companion, did not recognize. They saw in Him only an ordinary toiling traveler like themselves, a stranger ignorant of what had happened at Jerusalem. He kept His true identity hidden while He walked with them.
In telling it they called Jesus of Nazareth a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people. He had been taken by wicked hands and crucified by the chief priests and rulers.
They spoke in sadness and gloom and weeping, with hearts sore with disappointment and quivering lips. Their minds were absorbed in perplexing ideas about whether One who suffered Himself to be so humiliated and cruelly treated could be the Christ. Lonely and disappointed, they reasoned over lessons they could not comprehend as they told of their disappointment in their Master.
Their grief was bound up with shattered hope, for the condemnation and crucifixion buried their hope that He would redeem Israel. Their faith died with Him, their hopes disappointed by the death of the beloved Master. In despair they were leaving Jerusalem, meaning to give up their work and take up their old employment again and conceal their disappointment as best they could.
They added that it was now the third day, with strange reports that He had risen and been seen. Mary and certain disciples and the women had brought word that He was alive, and Peter had given ardent and assured evidence of an interview with the risen Lord. They had heard these reports with grief and excitement but could not yet believe, some too hopeless to believe, with hope and faith only struggling for ascendency.
Prophecy Fulfilled in Suffering
The handing over by the chief priests and rulers to be condemned to death and crucified fulfilled what the prophets had foretold about the suffering of the Messiah and the treatment Christ would receive from those He came to save. That betrayal, condemnation, and crucifixion belonged to the chain of prophecy foreshadowing what would happen to the Saviour, for the events concerning Jesus had been foreshadowed beforehand. Together the Scriptures and the facts of His life, death, and resurrection stand as evidence for faith.
Everything that transpired on the way to the cross was written in the Scriptures. The Old Testament law and the prophets agree with the facts of His life, death, and resurrection. From Moses and through all the prophets it is shown concerning Him that Christ ought to have suffered these things — His life, suffering, death, and resurrection — and then to enter into His glory.
The two on the road did not understand this because their faith was small and their minds had hardly grasped the idea of a suffering Saviour. They had not searched the Scriptures to see if these things were so, but talked of their troubles instead, and their ignorance of the Scriptures in reference to Christ blinded them with unbelief. Had they been familiar with the Scriptures their faith would have been sustained and their hopes unshaken instead of giving way to sadness.
Death Resurrection and Salvation
The handing over to be sentenced to death and crucified made salvation possible, with forgiveness and sanctification through faith. Christ and Him crucified is the story of redeeming love that believers are to proclaim.
The One so condemned and crucified is the risen Redeemer, who passed through suffering and conflict before gaining victory over death and the tomb. That crucifixion was the suffering endured before rising from the dead and walking with the disciples to teach and comfort them. At His death there was an awful earthquake, mighty angels came from heaven and rolled back the stone from the door of the sepulchre, and Christ came forth raised from the dead, proclaiming over the rent sepulchre of Joseph that He is the resurrection and the life. Then He walked in the way and met two of His disciples and made Himself known to them before leaving them, proving there is a risen Saviour to thank God for.
Together with the appearances in the upper chamber, this walk to Emmaus gives abundant evidence that the Saviour was living and not dead, evidence that could not be controverted. Early in the morning of the first day of the week the disciples went to the sepulchre and found it empty, seeing the shroud that had been wrapped about His body and the napkin that was about His head but not finding Him. His body had not seen corruption, and they saw Him and talked with Him after He had risen. By this Christianity was established and the falsehood of the priests made of none effect.
After the resurrection He had the same stature as before His crucifixion, with no distinctive physical mark immediately revealing that He was the Son of God. So the two did not recognize Him at first, recounting His death with grief and unable to believe the report that He had risen, until He opened the Scriptures to show that what had happened had been prophesied. They recognized Him only when He told them who He was and the marks of His crucifixion revealed to them that He was the risen Christ.
That depressed feeling on the outward journey was turned into joy exceeding former despair when He talked with them by the way and opened the Scriptures, making their hearts burn within them, and revealed Himself risen from the dead. They forgot hunger and fatigue, left their meal, and hurried back to Jerusalem late at night over a rough, dark, moonless road, stumbling yet pressing on to impart their joy to the other disciples and rejoice together in a living Saviour. The fact of Christ's resurrection was to be the great truth around which all the faith and hope of the church would center.
Christ Teaching the Scriptures
He veiled who He was until He had opened the Scriptures, so that conviction would rest not on His personal witness but on unquestionable proof from the typical law and the prophets agreeing with the facts of His life and death, and would grow into intelligent faith in His life, character, mission to earth, death and resurrection. When that foundation was laid He disclosed Himself so their joy would be complete, then disappeared from their view. The condemnation and crucifixion by the chief priests and rulers belonged to the mission thus foretold, and grasping those Scriptures was to give lasting faith and knowledge to impart to others.
Beginning with Moses and through all the prophets He traced His own history as the Christ of God, laying open all that was written concerning Himself. He uncovered meanings in the Old Testament teachings they had not perceived, opening their understanding so they might comprehend the Scriptures and know what is truth, until their hearts burned within them. Even as they reported Him as a mighty prophet taken by wicked hands and crucified, and wondered at His seeming sadness and strangeness, He was unfolding that everything that had transpired was written.
As educator He reproved them as slow, even foolish, in believing all the prophets had spoken, showing from Moses and the prophets that Christ ought to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory. He opened the Scriptures concerning Himself, His life, suffering, death and resurrection, and bound their hearts with a holy, new and sacred hope and joy. As they listened and pondered His words their hearts burned within them.
That burning led to recognition at the evening meal at Emmaus, where His words, manner and wounded hands made Him known and revived faith so joy was full. Then He vanished from their sight, leaving them calm and joyful in belief. The same educating work He did for those gathered in the upper chamber, revealing Himself to the eleven as one risen from the dead.
Comfort and Witness Today
The verse belongs to an encounter in which the risen Jesus, though fully understanding the prophecies, walked as a companion with suffering and perplexed people and shared their hardships. He joined the two on the way after His death as an apparently ordinary traveler, teaching and comforting them while they took Him for a stranger. He remains the same compassionate Son of man after His resurrection and ascension, identifying Himself with those who suffer and feel perplexed. He walked beside the sorrowing disciples in their grief and brought comfort, and He walks beside those who grieve still. He is near people in despondency, ready to give peace and life if they accept Him.
Reflecting on Scripture about Christ can fill the heart with holy joy, for He opened the Scriptures concerning Himself until their hearts burned as they contemplated His words. Christ may be present with His followers even when unseen, walking with them as He walked with the disciples.
His death and resurrection were truths supported by the Old Testament law and prophets, and understanding those Scriptures was meant to give lasting faith and knowledge to share with others. The risen Jesus met with His followers, opened the truths of Scripture to them, and strengthened their faith. That depressed feeling on the outward journey was turned into joy exceeding former despair when He talked with them by the way and opened the Scriptures and revealed Himself risen from the dead. They forgot hunger and fatigue, left their meal, and hurried back to Jerusalem late at night over a rough, dark, moonless road, stumbling yet pressing on to impart their joy to the other disciples and rejoice together in a living Saviour.
The chapter containing the verse shows the work given to followers: after receiving the Holy Spirit they were to bear witness first in Jerusalem and then to all nations. The condemnation and crucifixion by the chief priests and rulers belong to the story of redeeming love, Christ and Him crucified, that believers are to proclaim.