Who is this guy?

Luke 24:27
“27And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. “

After the Crucifixion of Jesus, His disciples were dismayed. The Messiah who had come to rescue Israel had been brutally murdered and hung on a cross of shame for the entire nation to see. Now here it was 3 days later and still He had not returned in Glory like they expected. Instead, some women said they saw Him, but all these men saw was an empty tomb. They didn’t see a resurrected King like they had hoped. So they went for a walk.

Along the way, a stranger encountered them. He asked what was troubling them. The men responded. They told this Stranger about all of the miracles that Jesus had performed while He was here on earth. They told Him how Jesus had healed the deaf, made the blind see, and made the lame walk. They told Him (I’m sure) how He turned water into wine. How He cleared out the temple with a whip and declared it a house of prayer! These men expounded on the physical things that Jesus did while He was here with them. Then they told Him how He died and they have not seen Him since.

This Stranger then began to tell them the Scriptures. He went on about the Prophets and how they spoke of the Messiah. He explained to them that EVERYTHING this Jesus did was foretold in Scripture and that it had to come to pass. This Man, this Stranger, used the Scriptures to show a picture of Jesus.

Why? Why didn’t Jesus (who is this Stranger on the road) just make Himself known to these men? Why did He disguise Himself so they wouldn’t recognize Him? He hid Himself from them to set the stage for the Church to come. You see, Jesus knew that He wasn’t coming right back after the crucifixion to rule as King (John 20:29). He knew that His bride, the church, had to be found through faith. He knew that seeing wouldn’t cause believing (the Pharisees proved that point) but that faithfully seeking would! He knew that He had to teach the church how to find Him after He was “gone”, so He did just that. Jesus walked to Emmaus in disguise to give us a lesson in how to know Him without physically seeing Him. He showed these two men that the Bible was Him, and if they looked in it they would see Him!

When He finished talking about the Scriptures and what the Prophets had said, Jesus sat and broke bread and poured out wine with these men. It was at that point that they saw Him for who He was.

The Bible is Jesus! EVERY story, every prophecy, every parable is a picture of Jesus. When we preach Jesus, when we reveal the Truth, we must follow the example of the King. Use the scriptures to bring Jesus to the people and break bread together so that their eyes may be opened.