Click below to download the Cornerstone Connections leader’s guide and student lesson. This week’s resources also include two lesson plans and a discussion starter video which offer different ways of looking at the topic. Each lesson plan includes opening activities, scripture passages, discussion questions, and real-life applications.
Viewing the two travelers on the road to Emmaus as they walked in disillusionment and dismay, we may wonder to ourselves, Couldn’t they see truth right in front of their eyes? But it may be that humanity is blinder today than they were on that ancient road.
Scripture Passages
OVERVIEW
Have you ever been in a grocery store, the mall, national park, or someplace you wouldn’t think anyone who knew you would be, but there they are? What emotions did you go through? For many, it’s the unexpectedness of the situation that’s disturbing or exciting depending on the relationship you have with the person or people. Our story today describes just such a situation except that the parties involved are best friends who don’t recognize each other.
OPENING ACTIVITY:
VIRTUAL GIFT EXCHANGE
QUESTIONS
TRANSITION
How well do you know your best friend? You probably know their favorite musician, clothing brand, ice cream flavor, which teachers they like or don’t like at school, possibly the brand of toothpaste they use, etc. Imagine spending the day with them, but not recognizing them until after they leave for home. How would you feel? It’s hard to imagine a situation like this, but that’s just what happened to a couple of Jesus’ disciples on the road to Emmaus.
BIBLE STUDY GUIDE
Read Luke 24:13-16.
13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him.
QUESTIONS
Read Luke 24:17-27.
17 He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”
They stood still, their faces downcast. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”
19 “What things?” he asked.
“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”
25 He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
QUESTIONS
Read Luke 24:30-35.
30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
33 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34 and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” 35 Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.
QUESTIONS
Read Genesis 32:22-30.
22 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”
But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
27 The man asked him, “What is your name?”
“Jacob,” he answered.
28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”
29 Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”
But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.
30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”
QUESTIONS
APPLICATION
FOLLOW UP
Each of us have an invitation to spend time with Jesus. What will you do with that invitation? This week take some time review your relationship with Him. After your review, share your experience with someone else. It could be as simple as sharing your story over a hot beverage, sharing a link to an uplifting social media story, inviting them to church . . . the options are endless.
SCRIPTURE PASSAGE
LEADER’S NOTE
For a Relational Bible Study (RBS) you’ll want to get into the Scripture passage and encourage the youth to imagine participating in the story while it’s happening. Then you will be able to better apply it to your own situation today.
You will need to ask God for the Holy Spirit to be present as your small group discusses the questions (no more than 3-6 people in a group is recommended). Start with the opening question. It is a personal question and the answer is unique for each individual. There is no right answer and nobody is an expert here, so don’t be surprised when you hear different responses. You are depending on the Holy Spirit to be present and to speak through your group. Say what God prompts you to say, and listen to what others share.
Take turns reading the chapter out loud. Follow that with giving the students some time to individually mark their responses to the questions (a PDF version of the handout is available as a download). This gives each person a starting point for responding when you start to share as a group. Next, begin the discussion by asking the students to share what they marked and why on each question as you work your way through. Feel free to take more time on some questions than others as discussion warrants.
Encourage each person in the group to apply what is discussed to their personal lives and to share with the group what they believe God wants them to do. Then ask them to pray that God will help each of them to follow through in doing so. Remind them to expect that God will show them ways to live out the message of this passage in the coming week, and that they are free to ask others in the group to help hold them accountable.
OVERVIEW
Last week we studied Christ’s appearance to Mary following His resurrection. It took Mary a while before she figured out it really was Jesus. Christ predicted He would be killed and then be resurrected three days later. See Matthew 16:21-23; 17:22-23; 20:17-19 for three explicit times Jesus said He would be killed and then rise from the dead three days later. But when Jesus died on the cross, it devastated His followers, and they had no recollection of His promise. No wonder they felt surprise when they finally recognized Jesus.
This week we have the story, found only in Luke 24, about the two on the road to Emmaus. You would probably never hear about “Emmaus” if it weren’t for this story. Archaeologists are still looking for this city about 7 miles (11 kilometers) west of Jerusalem. Of these two people, we have the name of only one—Cleopas. And this is the only time his name appears in the Bible. This raises some questions, such as: 1) Why would Jesus spend all Sunday afternoon with two people we’ve never heard about, going to someplace we’ve never heard about? 2) Was the second person, unnamed, the wife of Cleopas, since patriarchal cultures often mention the name of the husband but not the wife?
This story includes humor and warm feelings. The humor comes from Cleopas who said to Jesus, “You must be the only person who doesn’t know what just happened to Jesus.” How could Jesus not “split a gut” and just crack up? Jesus was the only one who did know what had happened to Jesus—Himself!
The warm feelings come from the end of the story when God opened their eyes and they finally recognized what had been hidden (compare verses 16 and 31). In spite of it being night, they rushed back the 7 miles to Jerusalem in the dark to tell the disciples they had seen Jesus—make that, they had spent all afternoon with Jesus. In their words, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as He talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32 NLT).
Surprise
Describe a time you didn’t at first recognize a person you actually knew.
Read Luke 24:13-34.
13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him.
17 He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”
They stood still, their faces downcast. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”
19 “What things?” he asked.
“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”
25 He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
28 As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. 29 But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.
30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
33 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34 and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.”
1. What might the two have talked about before Jesus joined them?
2. Why did God keep these two from recognizing Jesus?
3. Right now it seems Jesus doesn’t know what’s happening with:
4. What reports about Jesus make you wonder if they are true?
5. What part of the Bible would you like Jesus to explain to you?
6. What do you like BEST about this story?
7. When might you have interacted with Jesus and you didn’t recognize Him at that time?
8. When has your heart “burned within you” because you felt so close to God?
SUMMARY
Would you call this a “happily ever after” ending to the story? Hardly. It turned out to be more like an awakening to the reality that Jesus really had risen from the dead, so spread the news to others. And there’s reason to replay those memorized sections and stories from the Bible, viewing them from the perspective of Jesus. Yes, this personal story at the end of Luke turned out to be full of surprises, which we can/should expect when Jesus comes into our lives.
APPLICATION
You can reflect on this story of Jesus walking with Cleopas and, well, we never got the name of the second person. But take it a step farther. From this story of surprises, apply the Bible to your life. Check out these three ideas or let them spark another surprise as you apply this story this week.
Where did you see Jesus this past week? Like the two on the road to Emmaus, you might not have realized it at first. Jesus doesn’t always come in ways we expect.
It’s the Christmas season. While the pandemic continues to affect our holiday and family traditions, use this irregularity to go back to the first Christmas—you know, the one when Jesus came to earth and found Himself in a stable, with visits from shepherds, and later from wise men with gifts.
