Their Eyes Were Opened — T. Austin-Sparks

The Emmaus Road and the Opening of Spiritual Eyes

I turn you to one of the most familiar parts of the New Testament, the 24th chapter, the Gospel by Luke, Gospel by Luke chapter 24, at verse 13, I think we must read it again. Behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was three score furlongs from Jerusalem.

They communed with each other of all these things which had happened. It came to pass while they communed and questioned together that Jesus himself drew near and went with them. It came to pass that they should not know him.

He said unto them, What communications are these that ye have one with another, as ye walk good still, looking sad? And one of them, named Cleopas, answering, said unto him, Dost thou alone sojourn in Jerusalem, and not know the things which are come to pass there in these days?

And he said unto them, What things? They said unto him, The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how that the chief priests and our rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death and crucified him.

We hoped that it was he which should redeem Israel. Yea, and beside all this, it is now the third day since these things came. Moreover, certain women of our company amazed us, having been early at the tomb.

When they found not his body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive. And certain of them that were with us went to the tomb, and found it even so as the women had said, but him they saw not.

And he said unto them, O foolish men, who have heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken, behold it not the Christ to suffer these things, and to enter into his glory, beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

They drew nigh unto the village whither they were going. And he made as though he would go farther. They constrained him, saying, Abide with us, for it is tawd evening, and day is now far spent. He went in to abide with them.

And it came to pass, when he had sat down with them to meet, he took the loaf, blessed it, prayed, and gave to them. Their eyes were opened, and they knew him, and he vanished out of their sight. They said one to another, Was not our heart burning within us, while he spoke to us in the way, while he opened to us the scriptures?

He rose up that very hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with him. This chapter to see is a transfigured journey. There are many things, but the supreme thing is that of that embraces and covers everything.

But I am not to speak about that, particularly this morning. I have it on my heart to speak about this transfigured journey. Jerusalem to Emmaus, six and a half miles, was undoubtedly taken by these two in a spirit of complete bewilderment with their situation.

Disillusionment and the Journey Away from Jerusalem

It proved to be a great turning point in their lives. When they set out upon this journey, no doubt they had come to feel that they had come to an end of everything. All that had happened spoke of an end.

Much in the past had held elements of a great hope and expectation. They had made a genuine, sincere committal of themselves to that hope, to that expectation. Though there had been enough to take them completely out of their depths, and to be very perplexing perhaps, to allow for questions at times, and some fears, it was all so much, so big.

But, by and large, it had stimulated a great, that had all ended in a great disappointment, and things were apparently in ruins. All seemed to have ended in disappointment. The only course seemed to be to get right away from the sphere of it all.

Seek solitude in this country, village, well away from the city. These two decided to take that course. Let's get away, right away from everything. You'll get a better perspective if we do. Let's get away.

And we can imagine the dialogue on the journey, perhaps the longest six and a half miles that ever two men. He said, well, Lopez, what do you think about it all? He made a great mistake, deceived. Something like that has happened to us.

The other would say, well, brother, it does seem like that. It's true. We can't forget, can we? Can't forget everything. We can't just write everything off like that. If you remember, then he would call to mind some of those wonderful times with the Master.

His words and his words tried to get to the bottom of this mystery, to explain this great problem. As they went on, we know the rest of the story. Suddenly, conscious of another joining them, a stranger, whose presence they had not been aware until he drew up alongside and interrogated them as to the subject of their conversation, which was evidently one causing them a good deal of distress.

They stood still, looked at him, only a visitor in these parts, just one being and going. Don't you know what's been happening? And he still drew them out. You know, it's one of the master strokes of our great Master to draw us out sometimes.

It's a great thing to be drawn out and to have to explain one's own trouble and problem. Take that as a lesson. And so he drew them out until they had no more to say. And then he started. And as he took up the scriptures with which they were so familiar to them, the scriptures, there was a new movement inside.

The dying embers began to glow. A new ray of hope broke up in them. Some light was breaking. Their hearts were warming. Perhaps some sense of shame was creeping up inside of their foolishness. Let us be quite sure about this, that our authorized translation is not correct.

Foolishness, Understanding, and the Living Word

Fear, O fools, glow of heart. Jesus did not say that. That is a word that is used on another occasion by Jesus. If anyone called his brother a fool, he was in danger of hellfire. That was not the word that Jesus used.

It's the same word as Paul used to the Galatians, O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? And our revised is correct. O foolish, it was not heart, an understanding. That's the point we want to get at.

Foolish men, glow of heart. Well, the arrival, as he may have said, eventually. They fast-penned and these men couldn't let him go like that. He died with us. They fast-penned, it's dangerous to go on tonight and we want more of you.

So he went in and sat down to meet with them. And as they sat down to meet, he took the loaf and gave to them. Their eyes were opened. Now, whether it was his sovereign act in opening their eyes, or suddenly remembrance of what had happened before.

Now let us read into this what it will not bear. These were not of the twelve apostles. They had not been at the Lord's Supper and seen him break the loaf and give. But undoubtedly they had been with him at some supper.

Perhaps mere feeding of the thousands when he took the loaf and gave thanks. And probably on other occasions they had fed together something about this act that was reminiscent, reminded them, or I say it may have been his act of withdrawing the veil.

However, the point is they knew him. He vanished out of there. The return journey, what a transfigured road that was. Everything was changed from the natural to the spiritual. They had gone in broad daylight, but it was dark.

They returned at night and it was light. Yes, the whole situation was changed. This is the sum of it, from the natural to the spiritual. The natural day and night was just a parable. Now, what transfigured that road?

From Natural Perception to Spiritual Reality

What was it that made that return journey so different from the outward? Let us note that it was an outward journey. If you like, I've going out quite a lot in that. Let's get away, let's get out, let us go.

Not planned by the Lord. All outward journeys not in the Lord are bound to be very gloomy things at least. What was it that made the difference in the two journeys? Well, what will transform any such gloomy pathway that we may tread?

What made them retrace their steps? I am perfectly certain that those men never thought at the end of that day they would be back where they were at its beginning. They would be going back again. Quite sure of that.

That was never intended. Leaving this great reality that they had discovered that Jesus after all was alive. We've dwelt upon that always when we have read, meditated upon this chapter. There are some other things here I think lying right at the heart of this story which may be helpful to us.

First of all, they discovered that Jesus knew all about them and their trouble. And although they were very largely responsible for their situation, he had not given them up. That's a simple beginning of a transformed journey.

Our perplexity, our bewilderment, yes of our failure when our hearts are moving in the wrong direction. We realize that the Lord Jesus never abandons anyone who is sincerely, honestly and truly perplexed with him and his ways.

He knows all about it. This may be a word for somebody. He knows all about it. I'm quite sure that these men were not doing this in a spirit of willful abandonment of the Lord. It was simply that they could not understand.

And they were reaching out for understanding. And they discovered that he understood. Let's take that humble. At the very beginning he did not let them go because they were having a difficult and dark and perplexing time.

He never does. Then again they discovered that there was another side altogether to the whole situation which they had never seen. And there always is. If we saw all we would be saved a lot. Many of our deflections are simply because we have only seen one side of the matter.

And if anything at all is true what happened on this road to make the difference it is this. That the Lord Jesus showed them there was another side to this whole matter. To which they were blind. Dear friends, we must always believe that about situations.

However difficult and perplexing they may be. And whatever amount of evidence there may seem to be for our present cause. We must always remember that the Lord sees another side. And there is another side.

And we must seek to find that other side. What does the Lord know about this? What does the Lord mean in this? There is something more in this than we can see. If we are the Lord's children we do in our human limitations see only one side of things.

And if only we could see the other we should be saved. That changed everything for them. They discovered that there was another side to this whole matter. And the other side was the much more wonderful side.

The side which wrote all of their side off as very defective indeed. They therefore discovered a buried, deepest part of the way we have been contemplating and doing. O foolish men, there is a hidden meaning in sufferings and trials and difficulties.

A divine meaning. If only we could get our hand on that. If only the Lord would show us that. It would make foolishness of this thing which we thought to be so overwhelmingly true or right where we were concerned.

Living Truth and the Necessity of the Cross

They discovered that although they had an immense amount of Bible knowledge and truth and teaching. Both in the Bible, the Old Testament which they possessed and in the teaching that the Lord Jesus had given them during these past months and years.

They possessed a lot of truth. There was lacking in their apprehension of truth something which was vital to their very survival in the day of the ordeal. They had something to learn. A great test came not just to them but to all that they had received in the past.

And the test of the cross at that time was whether they had got truth in the mind, in the head or whether that was their very life. These men discovered that they had very much but there was something which needed the touch of the living hand.

The hand of the risen Lord. The touch of the spirit of life upon it in order that all that they had bring into life and save them. What we need dear friends is that the truth that we possess is living truth.

Not just truth as such but that it is our very life. This is thereafter history. They all become alive. It only came alive through a very deep ordeal. This whole story circles round that mighty word of his.

Ought not the Christ to have suffered? Ought not the Christ to suffer? In that he gathers up all his discourse from the Old Testament showing that the Christ must suffer. He must. The cross is essential to everything.

It was not until they themselves came right into a deep and terrible experience of the cross that the way was opened. For all that they held in their minds to become their salvation. It worked like this.

Here they are. Everything is in devastation. Terribly deep. Through the very experience of the cross in their own hearts and lives they were able to say now I see. What I had never seen before and all that I knew I had never seen.

Ought not the Christ to have suffered? The cross is essential to our seeing. But the cross is not objective. The cross is not just history. The cross has to come right into our experience and smash everything that is not.

See there was a mixture about their position. No doubt about that. Mixture about it. We had trusted that it had been him. He who should redeem Israel. Save Israel. But we know what was bound up with that hope.

Yes we know from the gospels themselves a place in that kingdom. Something to minister to them. To their importance. Ah there was mixture and the cross had to rid them of all the position. And it did it.

By first of all taking everything away. The right and the wrong. The cross came in and they had to start all over again. But this time they are starting on clean ground. Pure ground. The meaning of the cross.

So it was. That's the story of the cross in our lives to get us on to true ground. Safe ground. To explain to us our own problems and our own difficulties. Ah but a right understanding of that is a really transforming and transfiguring thing.

It just does that. See it all comes back to this whole story. They had got an entirely wrong or inadequate apprehension of the meaning of the cross. And when they saw it arrived as he opened to them this whole situation was changed.

Everything was transfigured when they saw it arrived. When they themselves had gone out of the picture entirely with all their interests. They can go and preach the cross after this and say in the cross I glory.

Whereas the cross spelt anything but glory. What a change. Now I don't know why the Lord has put it on my heart to say this but it may be some have decided on leaving the situation. Maybe you are going down this dismal road of bewilderment and perplexity and disappointment and you think disillusionment.

The Lord’s Sympathy for the Perplexed

It may be that you will be tempted at some time to do that. Read again this story. Look into its heart. Well if it is an honest and sincere difficulty that you are in the Lord Jesus has every sympathy with that.

He will only stay away if you are rebellious and willfully. If it is in the deepest of perplexities inability to understand he is in full sympathy and he will not give you up. He will follow you through.

He will draw you out. He will require of you that you tell him exactly what the trouble is and perhaps as you do that you will begin to see that it is not quite so solid as you thought it was and then he will come back and with a touch of his own hand will begin to show you that there is something more in it than you have seen.

There is a deeper secret than you knew and in the disclosing of that secret you will be saved. But you know this that your experience was after all what you have talked about so often the cross, the cross, the cross.

See we can talk about the cross as a doctrine. We know all about identification with Christ as a teaching but the Lord brings us into an absolutely devastating experience. That is what it is to discover reality that which will stand us in good stead in the day of the ordeal.