“When the dots are joined together and we are given a greater vision of God’s overarching plan of redemption… it is a glorious experience.”

I can be a bit slow at times. Every now and then I see a meme online of husbands getting frustrated at always having to explain movies or TV dramas to their wives, who find it hard to follow the plot. In these memes, I find that I relate more to the wives. My own wife generally figures out what is going on a good few episodes before I know what day it is. Navigating all the details is tricky for me. Thankfully, I’m not the only one. The final chapter of Luke’s Gospel includes a well-known story of two disciples, who have a hard time putting the facts together.

Like me, they need help to make sense of it and, in Luke 24:13-35[i], we find a similar story. Two Jewish people, probably a few days after Passover, are walking the seven-mile journey between Jerusalem and the remote town of Emmaus. One, we know is a man named Cleopas. The name of the other is not provided. I am of the opinion it may well have been Cleopas’s wife, but I cannot be sure. Regardless, they have just had a weekend like no other. Much has happened, more than they could cope with.

Putting All the Pieces Together

Enter their Helper for the day. For whatever reason, they fail to recognise that the stranger who draws alongside them for the next few miles of their journey is a resurrected Jesus. Also, for whatever reason, Jesus doesn’t reveal his identity to them at first. Maybe they weren’t ready for that, at this stage. So, Jesus asks them what they are discussing. It has been an extremely eventful few days and, in verse 18, they ask: “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”

Jesus’s reply is priceless: “What things?” I wonder: does He smirk when He says that, pretending to be oblivious to the small matter of His own death and resurrection?  Regardless, they proceed to tell Jesus the Jesus story. They appear to have all the information. They likely know the Old Testament. They know about Moses and the Prophets. They know Israel’s history and Messianic promises. They also knew about Jesus, His miracles and teachings. They were aware of the possibility that He was perhaps the one their people had been waiting for.

A Bible Study with Jesus

They are also aware of the current state of play or, at least, the bare bones of it. Jesus, despite ticking many of the Messianic boxes, was crucified. Perhaps, more concerningly, was that the ones who handed Him over to death were their own Jewish leaders. How does one process this? Surely the leaders wouldn’t get something like this wrong? Now, probably a few days on, they’ve heard that Jesus’s tomb is empty and some are claiming to have seen Him alive. Put together, they have a good grasp of the facts, but they need Jesus to join the dots for them.

Verse 27 says: “Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning himself.” How long would that have taken? ‘Moses and the Prophets’ are shorthand for what we call the Old Testament, so Jesus had a lot to explain. Did He start with the fall in Genesis 3 and the one who would crush the serpent’s head? Surely Abraham, Moses and David would have gotten a mention? Did He discuss the meaning of the sacrificial system? You’d like to think Isaiah 53 played a particular role in Jesus’s presentation.

‘I See Things Differently Now’

At Hillbank Church in Dundee[ii], where I serve, we have just completed a 12-week series in the life of David entitled: ‘David and the Greater King’[iii]. As we’ve worked through the various aspects of David’s life, we’ve used every opportunity to see David, as a window or shadow, pointing us towards the ‘Greater King’ – Jesus Christ. There are few greater joys as a preacher than hearing people say things like: “I feel like I understand this differently now” or “I never saw the depth of these stories before and how they pointed to Jesus.”

Indeed, for many of us, we can relate to this experience. When the dots are joined together and we are given a greater vision of God’s overarching plan of redemption and we see the richness and comprehension of the Bible like never before, it is a glorious experience. It is no wonder then, that after Jesus is finally revealed to these two disciples we see them, in verse 32, saying to one another: “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the scriptures to us?”

The Bread Who Was Broken

Presumably they start to view the past weekend in a whole new light. Jesus Christ – the Prophet, Priest and King they had been waiting for. Finally, their eyes are opened, not just to Jesus true identity as Messiah but also the fact that He was literally standing among them now. It seems no small coincidence that, in verses 30 through to 35, it is when He breaks the bread, it is then that they realise it is really Him. Broken bread is, after all, Jesus’s way of telling us what Good Friday is all about – He is the bread who was broken.

His big point was simple – the scriptures concern Him and He wanted them to see that He was their ultimate fulfilment. He was what everything pointed towards but now they have to process one final twist – the crucified Messiah is alive. Their lives would never be the same after this and the same is true for us. Once we know the true identity of the man upon the cross, there is no turning back. The empty tomb is the ultimate game-changer. We will never be the same and the work He started, He is still doing and we are invited to join Him in its completion.  

Pastor Matthew Blakeman | 31/03/2026

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[i] All Scripture references are taken from the New International Version (NIV) 

[ii] Hillbank Church, 2026, https://hillbank.org.uk (Accessed: 31/03/2026)

[iii] Hillbank Church, 2026, ‘David and the Greater King’ series, YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-4mb_obM4fYIaeK1MNsKx2Gcp_NWDDEC (Accessed: 31/03/2026)