And He Walks with Us and He Talks with Us, and He Tells Us We are His Own...
I really enjoy onomatology, which is a word I just made up that happens
to already exist. It refers to the study of the meaning of names. In the
Bible, especially the Pentateuch, one can almost always know what role
the person in a story plays by the meaning of their name. The same can
often be said of cities.
In the case of the "Walk to Emmaus" in Luke 24, however, it appears to be either a coincidence or an oxymoron. The name of the city has ties to the Hebrew word for
a "warm spring." While the root word literally meaning "heat of the day"
can have a figurative meaning of "perpetual life," saying that the disciples walking into Emmaus were walking into the city of perpetual life makes no sense. Most dictionaries simply show that it is a city about 5-7 miles from Jerusalem, and commentaries specify that it is important only in its proximity
to Jerusalem, implying both nearby yet a short distance away.
One thing that I have found in reading Luke's Gospel is the importance of his verbs of motion. His account is presented out of chronological order so that first Jesus is "descending" into areas in the first third of the Gospel, "walking around" in the second third, and "ascending" to Jerusalem in the final third. Of course prior to Jesus' ministry we read the Spirit descending, and after his regular life we read of Him ascending to Heaven. Luke's verbs of motion continue to play an important part in this passage even though most of them do not apply to Jesus.
The verb of motion at first seems largely insignificant here regarding the disciples going
into Emmaus. It simply means "going" or "traveling" and has no
"descending," "going around," or "ascending" connotation that we have
seen in play regarding Jesus' verbs of motion within Luke. The
preposition used likewise has little significance but shows they had
intent to reach the city that same day. Thus the movement and physical
locations gain their significance solely in their relationship to
Jerusalem. Emmaus is near to Jerusalem, but the disciples here are separating themselves from Jerusalem.
When Jesus enters the scene the verb of motion gains more significance. Although they are hindered from recognizing him, a term
connoting intimate knowledge, he begins traveling with them. Both the
primary verb of motion (travel with) and the helping verb (draw near)
have connotations of Jesus joining the disciples on a more intimate
level than simply two groups of people walking the same direction.
Although the intimate connotation is not as strong as other verbs, there is still an intentional
connotation of fellowship.
Jesus asks what they are discussing and specifies "while (they) are
walking." He makes the first move to enter the conversation about His
own passion, that is, the events surrounding His death. His words include the "walk in/abide in" connotation that is quite a bit more intimate. Whatever they are talking about is sadly consuming their life. They respond by standing still. Given
Luke's particular use of verbs of motion, this verb of lack of motion should be interpreted with extreme, figurative significance. Their disposition regarding their sad state of life remained unchanged.
They ask Jesus if He is ignorant of the surrounding events. He feigns it. They refer to Him (still not knowing it is Him) as a
Prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and the people. They
acknowledge that He spoke on behalf of God to the people and also acted
upon those words. He was a hearer, speaker, and doer of the word of
God. (Recall, Him being the word is a later concept in the book of John.)
They recount His passion succinctly, blaming the Chief Priests and their Roman rulers, but not blaming the
Pharisees, nor the nation of Israel. These later groups we come to find out are moving more in line with Jesus' "in the world but not of the world" thought per Luke's perspective late in Luke and in Acts.
The disciples then recounted their seemingly misplaced
hope in Jesus' redeeming Israel. Redemption is in the middle voice, meaning the action also applies to Jesus, connoting that they also had seemingly misplaced hope of His redeeming
Himself. They justified their ongoing state of sadness and mundane
activity by recounting the seemingly unreliable story by women about
angels saying He had risen but admitting they saw no evidence for it.
Despite the empty tomb, Jesus had not appeared, and no angels had told
them what the women had seemingly so unreliably stated.
Jesus then explains the Torah and the Prophets and how the Writings
require the Passion before the glorification. They get to town. He
pretends He has further business that does not include them but responds to their request accordingly by staying with them, presumably for them to hear more of His uncanny
interpretation regarding Israel's Redeemer.
Jesus then sits at the table with them and breaks the bread and blesses
it for them. Sharing meals is an intimate act, and when He broke the bread and blessed it they instantly recognized him. More specifically, they shared intimate knowledge with Him regarding who He was. As soon as they did this, He vanished. Then they got up that very hour
and turned back into Jerusalem, the City of God and the City of the King. They had been
going away from the City of God in sadness, but when they recognized the
burning in their hearts had come from Jesus Himself, they literally repented of
their sadness and went back to the City of
God to tell their story.
The disciples thus were not going to a city of perpetual life when they journeyed to Emmaus. Rather, they were going away
from one. Their encounter with Jesus began with Jesus meeting them where
they were and even traveling away from His throne to explain to them
the Gospel. The final revelation came at the meal, the most intimate
occasion, where the Passover was in a small way reenacted. The response was
joy and a full act of repentance-spurred evangelism. He had risen, and
their hopes for Israel's redemption were just a small part of the joyous
picture yet to come.
... And the Joy We Share as We Tarry There, None Other Has E'er Known
LORD God,
Thank You for walking with us and talking with us, even when we are walking the opposite direction of where You want us to be. Give us the ears to hear Your voice amidst signals that are unfamiliar. Give us eyes to intimately perceive who You are and where You are working. Give us wisdom to turn from our disheartened ways of life to pursue the realization of Your Kingdom.
In the Matchless Name of our LORD, Savior, and Redeemer,
Let it be so.
~ The Deeper Magician's Apprentice ~
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