Faith Over Sight: The Emmaus Road Moment That Opened Their Eyes

We are reflecting on Jesus’ resurrection and the Lord sharing a meal with two disciples traveling to Emmaus. The two begged Jesus to join them for dinner, and He accepted. As the Lord blessed the food, the disciples' eyes suddenly opened to the truth that the person sitting with them, whom they thought was a stranger, was indeed the Lord Jesus.

³⁰When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. ³¹Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. ³²They asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?" (Luke 24:30-32; emphasis added).

Why would Jesus disappear when they recognize Him? One answer is that now the disciples must learn to walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). His disciples had relied on His visible presence, some of them for three years, but now it was time to learn to depend on His invisible presence. The disciple Thomas was an example of someone not yet ready to walk by faith. He trusted in what he could see and experience through his senses. Thomas wanted to see and feel before he would believe that Christ had indeed risen. When the Lord invited Thomas to touch the nail marks in His hands, Thomas no longer needed to feel the nail prints or the spear hole; falling to his knees, he said, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28).

To Thomas's credit, once he saw Jesus, he did not hold back but worshiped Him immediately. Unlike Thomas, most believers will not have evidence given to their senses. Some will hesitate to take a step of faith because they are waiting for a supernatural sign or a prophetic word to convince them. The Lord sometimes confirms His Word in unusual ways, but we should step out in faith based on the objective Word of God and the inner confirmation and peace of the Holy Spirit. We must live by faith and not by sight. Jesus said to Thomas, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed" (John 20:29). If you are a believer, Jesus was speaking about you!

The author C.S. Lewis wrote the fictional book The Screwtape Letters to guide believers in spiritual warfare. He describes a training session between a seasoned senior demon and a young demon. The young demon needs advice on his first assignment: undermining and destroying the faith of a new Christian. C.S. Lewis offers a fascinating look into the life of a Christian learning to walk by faith, not by sight. The seasoned demon speaks:

“He [God] wants them to learn to walk and must, therefore, remove His hand. If only the will to walk is truly there, He is pleased even with the stumbles. Do not be deceived, Wormwood.” Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do our enemy's will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished and asks why he has been forsaken and still obeys.”^[1]

Those who don't perceive through the five senses but still believe demonstrate the kind of faith God wants to see in us. What about you? Will you believe that you are special to God and that the Messiah, Jesus, will come alongside you today and lift your heart to recognize Him?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I invite You to walk beside me through what I am experiencing. Help me see that You are with me. Reveal Yourself to me and make me aware of Your master plan for my life. Amen. Keith Thomas

Taken from the series on the Gospel of Luke: Click on study 65. Jesus on the Emmaus Road

YouTube Video: Who is Jesus Christ? at the following link: https://youtu.be/r6h37G6QRt0

^[1]C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters (New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Co., 1959), page 47.