#108 Biblical Map and Application: Luke 24:13-35
This paper is about the principles found in Luke 24:13-35 and how they apply to people today. Luke 24:13-35 tells the story of two disciples Cleopos and another unnamed disciple encountering Jesus on the road to Emmaus after His Crucification. The disciples are first unaware that it is Jesus that they have encountered and later find out they have conversed with Jesus. This story contains two timeless principles which are just as true today as they were then. The major principles of this passage are that faith is developed through understanding and that you can believe in Christ without proof. These principles go together to be informative of the unbelievers journey to faith. These principles will be examined, compared, and applied to a contemporary setting.
The first principle that faith comes through understanding the Bible, can be derived from Luke 24:27. In this verse Jesus shares the gospel message with the two disciples “beginning with Moses and with all the prophets” in Luke 24:27. Even though both disciples had previously known Jesus personally they did not understand who He was before the cross or what His death and resurrection meant. By coming to know the whole truth of the Bible their faith was increased. Faith here may be understood as trusting in God or as it says in Hebrews 11:1 where it says “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Again in Romans 10:17 Paul writes, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” The conclusion of this principle is that faith is a product of hearing and learning the Word of Christ. When we are taught and when we learn about Christ our faith should grow. Carroll writes of the passages in Luke 24:27 that Jesus “must interpret (diermēneuein, v. 27) them in such a way that the connections can be discerned and hidden meanings opened up (dianoigein, vv. 32, 45) so as to be seen and understood (v. 45).” From all this we can derive the principle that faith comes through understanding the Bible.
The second principle is that you may come to believe in Christ without first having proof of Him. The two disciples did not see the resurrected Christ until after they had become convicted of Christ’s resurrection. After Christ had broken the bread at the table the disciples realized who they had seen and that is when they said “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?” Luke 24:32. The “burning within” is an inner conviction of the truth that they had come to believe about Christ. The form is set to be learning, then faith, followed by personal belief, and then action. When the disciples are reminded of the nature of Christ they begin to recognize their companion as Christ when he performs a “series of actions - took bread, blessed and broke it.” This series of actions is repeated throughout the gospels. This is the final straw that caused the disciples to recognize the truth. This is similar to the suggestion of Origen when he says “They set them afire, kindling the hearts of the hearers for love of God.” This all amounts to the principle that belief in Christ can happen before having proof. But further that having belief generally leads to proof.
These two principles flow naturally in the Bible. They are repeated throughout the Bible and are reflected in other verses. The first principle that faith comes through understanding is reflected in verses like Hebrews 11:1 and Romans 10:17 as mentioned before. The idea that faith comes from understanding is a common theme throughout the Bible. Our purpose“as faithful readers our job is not to invent new meaning but to apply the meaning that has been inscribed in the biblical text.” We read Romans 10:17 which says ,“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” In this verse faith appears to be the result of hearing. In a commentary on Romans Newell writes that faith “does come from a report; and there must be a message and a messenger, sent of God.” So then faith appears to be formed by teaching or a message of some sort that is directed by God. Faith is the result of understanding what God has spoken to us in the Scriptures. Furthermore, Moo writes that “the second step in the series of salvation requirements: faith comes as a result of ‘hearing.’”
The second principle is that belief can come without proof of God. This is substantiated in Luke 24:32. The disciples came to believe what was being taught to them before they had any proof that what was being taught was correct other than that found in the Scriptures. Through the process of coming to understand what the Old Testament says about Jesus the disciples' faith grew to the point that they believed what they heard. Crump suggests that “Christian faith should not be a mental sedative that puts reason to sleep; instead, it should cause reason to be resurrected. As we have seen, Kierkegaard rightly emphasizes that Christian faith crucifies the understanding.” Which is to say that faith may be formed by understanding and then as Crump suggests the understanding becomes less relevant and at the same time our reasoning faculties are resurrected with the new truth that we come to believe. Anselm in a way adds to this idea when he writes “For I do not seek to understand that I may believe, but I believe in order to understand.” As it says in 1 Corinthians 2:14 understanding the things of the Bible is a result of belief as disbelief is a denial of reality.
The application of these principles is twofold. First is for the unbeliever who is seeking to become a Christian, and second the believer in becoming a better Christian. The idea that faith comes through understanding leads us to the application that to become a more faithful Christian we must learn our Bibles. When we study the Bible we come to have more faith in God’s word. Secondly when we observe the two disciples coming to believe what is being taught without first seeing the truth this teaches us that unbelievers can come to know God without first experiencing some sort of miracle.
In conclusion, there are two principles drawn from Luke 24:13-35 which can be applied to people today. The principle that faith comes through understanding is broadly supported in the biblical narrative and by commentaries. This applies to the lives of believers today showing that by learning more about God faith in Him increases. The second principle is that belief does not require proof. This teaches that people may come to Christ without first having experienced a miracle. Luke 24:13-35 can be read as a story of two lost souls who encounter a teacher and learn the truth; that is the same then as it is today.
References
Carroll, John T. Luke: A Commentary. Edited by C. Clifton Black and M. Eugene Boring. First Edition. The New Testament Library. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2012.
Crump, David. Encountering Jesus, Encountering Scripture: Reading the Bible Critically in Faith. Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2013.
Duvall, J. Scott, and J. Daniel Hays. Grasping God’s Word: A Hands-On Approach to Reading, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible. 4th ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic, 2020.
Green, Joel B. The Gospel of Luke. The New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1997.
Moo, Douglas J. The Epistle to the Romans. The New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1996.
Newell, William R. Romans Verse-by-Verse. Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Classics Ethereal Library, n.d.
Origen. Homilies on Luke and Fragments on Luke. Edited by Thomas P. Halton. Translated by Joseph T. Lienhard. Vol. 94. The Fathers of the Church. Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2009.
St. Anselm. Proslogium; Monologium; In Behalf of the Fool by Gaunilon and Reply by Anselm. Translated by Sidney Norton Deane. The Catholic Primer's Reference Series, 5.
