A Journey of Discovery

By Dr. Jim Sibley  
CMJ USA  

Following the Resurrection , on the afternoon of that same day, two disciples of Jesus left Jerusalem, walking to the town of Emmaus about seven miles away. These disciples were at the end of their hope , for their hop es died with Jesus on the cross . T he y knew their Master was a p rophet “mighty in deed and word” (Luke 24:19) , yet as far as they knew, he was dead and buried .   

  As they walked together, they were talking about the humiliation and c rucifixion of Jesus when a s tranger joined them and intruded into their conversation. He asked what they were talking about, and they answered his question with a question. Could he be the only one in Jerusalem who did not know what had happened? As he continued to question them, their despair could be heard as they answered: “But we were hoping that it was he who was going to redeem Israel” (v. 21).   

The stranger , of course, was Jesus who became their teacher ( once again) as he began with Moses. Perhaps he began with the promise in the Garden of Eden that the seed of a woman would crush the head of the serpent. Surely, he opened their understanding of the prophecy of the Prophet like Moses, of his suffering, death, and r esurrection in Psalm s 16, 22, and 118 . Even as Moses had suffered opposition from the leaders of the people, so must he . ¹ Just three days earlier, at the Passover seder, they had all sung Psalm 118 as one of the Hallel psalms , which sp oke of the rejection of Messiah by the leaders. As Moses had been willing to offer his life for the people of Israel, so must Messiah. ² He also must have shown them Scriptures which taught that this same Prophet would come as the Suffering Servant . ³ The main point of his instruction was that all that had happened—all that had caused them such despair and confusion—had already been predicted in Scripture. It was all a vital part of God’s plan.  

They had learned the significance of the Prophet like Moses! And with that, they also learned t hat Messiah had to suffer, die, and rise again in order to offer redemption to Israel and to all who placed their trust in him. The earthly ministry of Jesus could not be understood apart from his identity and function as the Prophet like Moses. Once they understood, i s it any wonder that they “arose that very hour and returned to Jerusalem,” and exclaimed, “The Lord has really risen”! ⁶  

^{Jim Sibley is on the CMJ USA board and has been involved in Jewish ministry for many years. He is the North America Coordinator for the Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism and Research Professor for Israel College of the Bible. He and his wife, Kathy, have two married daughters and six grandchildren.}