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You can download a PDF of this study: The Road to Emmaus! – PDF
You can also download and listen to an Audio of this study: The Road to Emmaus! – Spotify Podcast
A brief excerpt of the study: This study is largely based on the teaching of Pastor Joseph Prince, the main purpose of which is to illustrate the restoration of the Covenant of Marriage, by exploring the moment it was corrupted, to the moment it was restored in Christ. In that, Adam and his wife were intended to be the perfect expression of marriage, while every other subsequent expression of marriage illustrated through the many characters of the Bible, are in fact an expression of the fundamental error that existed in mankind, which is sin. The main idea of which is that, to understand sin, is to understand the breakdown of marriage.
We will begin with a prayer: We thank you, Lord, for this opportunity, our prayer is for your word to go out in the power of your Spirit so that it might bring repentance to the knowledge of the truth to those who hear, we pray this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
The main text of our study is from Luke 24 verses 13 to 16, which reads, “And behold, on the same day, two of them were going to a village whose name is Emmaus, sixty stadia distant from Jerusalem. And they were talking with one another about all these things having taken place. And it came to pass, in their talking and reasoning, that Jesus Himself, having drawn near, was walking along with them. But their eyes were held not to know Him.”
At times we have encountered some arguments that seek to justify an immoral relationship by pointing to the various polygamous expressions of marriage illustrated in the Old Testament, from Jacob to king David. The one thing the people who present such arguments do not realise is that marriage is the first institution instigated by God that was corrupted at the fall of Adam. In fact, the third expression of sin, that follows after the disobedience of Adam, to the murder of Abel by his brother Cain, is in regard to Lamech, a descendant of Cain that married two women, as Genesis states, “And Lamech took for himself two wives: The name of the one was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah.” Genesis 4 verse 19. And in the names of the wives of Lamech we can perceive the imbalance that was introduced through such union; Adah means “ornament,” while Zillah means “shadow.” In that, God is revealing to us, one is loved while the other is neglected. And this theme is illustrated in respect to every character that took more than one wife; Abraham, Jacob, Elkanah the husband of Hannah, even king David showed preference to Bathsheba, and in the Law of Moses specific percepts are given to protect the wife that falls out of favour with her husband. [Exodus 21 verse 10, & Deuteronomy 21 verses 15 to 17.] So the purpose is to reveal the growing depravity of the hearts of mankind, which is illustrated through the saying of Lamech that stated, “Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; wives of Lamech, give ear to my speech: For a man I have killed for my wound, and a young man for my bruise. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, then Lamech seventy and sevenfold!” Genesis 4 verses 23 to 24. Lamech, in the depravity of his mind, perceived the mercy of God shown to Cain in respect to killing his brother Abel, so he sought to use the mercy of God as a means of justification for the murder he himself committed. So, in the sixth generation of mankind, the marriage covenant that came into effect on the sixth day, to bind one man to one woman to become one flesh was broken.
And as a little leaven leavens the whole lamp, the full decline of mankind in the illustration of the depravity of his heart is described in the story of Noah, “And the LORD saw that the wickedness of mankind on the earth was great and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the day. And the LORD regretted that He had made mankind on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.” Genesis 6 verses 5 to 6. The idea being, the rationalization with which Lamech justified himself was now in full effect in all the earth, even the daughters of men were married to angelic beings to bear them children, the result of which was that, “And the earth was corrupt before the face of God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.” Genesis 6 verses 11 to 12. On the account of which God destroyed mankind from the face of the earth with a flood, but He spared Noah and his three sons through the Ark, each with his wife. [1 Peter 3 verse 20.] And God established a covenant with Noah, only this time, God did not stipulate the same mercy He had shown to Cain who killed his brother, but stated, “And surely your blood for your lives I will require; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of the man; from the hand of each man’s brother I will require for the life of the man. Whoever sheds the blood of the man, by the man his blood shall be shed; for in the image of God He has made the man.” Genesis 9 verses 5 to 6.
The main point is, Lamech marrying two women is declared in the midst of the most violent act mankind can commit against another, as an expression of the depravity of the hearts of mankind. And Lamech, the one who used the mercy of God to justify the evil intent of his heart, to him is attributed the first instance of the corruption of marriage. God said to Cain, “But if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, and you must rule over it.” Genesis 4 verse 7. The point we want to illustrate is that Lamech seeking to marry two women finds its root to the same condition of sin crouching at the door to corrupt the hearts of mankind. The point of note is the rationalization we come up with from a corrupted state of mind to justify our own actions to ourselves, meaning, the justification with which Lamech justified himself in murder, is not at all any different from the one he used to marry two women. In fact, the two main points that instigated the destruction of mankind from the face of the earth through the flood, was the corruption of the covenant of marriage, and the violence mankind committed against one another. So, the introduction of polygamy in the bible is not in a manner of an acceptable practice, but rather one whose counterpart is none other than murder itself. The main point is, mankind is in a continual state of degradation even to be given to unnatural desires, which is according to the course of the world, being directed by the spirit of the power of the air that works in the flesh of fallen mankind. [Ephesians 2 verses 1 to 3.]
So marriage in its true original intent was not expressed on the account of the fallen state of mankind. Neither Jacob nor David, expressed the true purpose of marriage, but God dealt patiently with mankind according to His grace, awaiting the day of redemption. As the Lord addressing the divorce which mankind practiced with indifference said, “In view of your hardness of heart, Moses allowed you to divorce your wives; but it was not this way from the beginning. And I say to you that whoever shall divorce his wife except for sexual immorality, and shall marry another, commits adultery.” Matthew 19 verses 8 to 9. The main point of which is that the Law of Moses which addressed sin, is unable to change the hearts of mankind, so divorce was given as a viable alternative for the hearts of mankind that has been hardened by sin. So, the Lord by saying “it was not this way from the beginning,” the Lord was pointing to the original purpose of marriage before sin entered the world, as Adam declared when God brought him his wife, “This at last is bone from my bones and flesh from my flesh; for this shall be called ‘Woman,’ because out of Man this was taken.” Upon thus a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall cleave to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” Genesis 2 verses 23 to 24. Meaning, every other expression of marriage with which mankind was engaged in throughout the history of the world, even divorce was not according to God’s true intent.
And this is where we find the teaching of Pastor Joseph Prince, in respect to the two that were walking to the village called Emmaus, when the Lord drew near to walk with them on the day He was raised from the dead. The point Pastor Joseph Prince was making was that the story of the two walking with the Lord is meant to be perceived as the restoration of the communion with God, which Adam and his wife lost on the day of their disobedience. As Genesis states, “And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking about in the garden in the breeze of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the face of the LORD God in the midst of the trees of the garden.” Genesis 3 verse 8. Now, in order to establish this, we need to know who these two people are, of whom the bible identifies the one named Cleopas only. And before going any further we need to establish the fact that this account of events was recorded by Luke only. And this is a point of significance to our study, because Luke, as a Gentile writer of the Gospel, traces the genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ, not to Abraham and king David as Matthew does, but Adam the son of God. The purpose of which is to illustrate a universal application to all of mankind.
Now, the name Cleopas, is a Greek name which is short for “Kleo-patros,” meaning, “Glory of the Father.” And it is the meaning of the name Cleopas, which gives us an idea of the relationship between the two that walked on the Road to Emmaus. Which is according to the teaching of Paul that states, “For truly a man ought not to cover the head, being the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man.” 1 Corinthians 11 verse 7. So, by saying the name of the man is “the glory of the Father,” the Holy Spirit in this story is revealing to us the relationship of the two that walked with Christ, is that of a husband and a wife. And the fact that this Jewish man is called by a Greek name is also an important point of note. Because the theme this story is intended to reveal is one of unity, so by calling a Jewish man by a Greek name, the idea is to illustrate there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile. [Ephesians 2 verses 14 to 18.]
And throughout the whole narration of the story, the Holy Spirit at no point reveals the name of the wife of Cleopas. Even when Mark is recounting this event said, “And after these things, He appeared in another form to two of them as they are walking, going into the country. And they having gone, told it to the rest; neither did they believe them.” Mark 16 verses 12 to 13. And this is an important point, because God is seeking to take us back to the very beginning when the ideals of marriage are meant to be the expression of perfect, inseparable unity, as it was in the Garden of Eden with Adam and his wife. In that, the day Adam called his wife by the name Eve, was on the day they transgressed the commandment of God, and the curse of God was pronounced against them. [Genesis 3 verse 20.] That is to say, the giving of the name was an expression of the breakdown of unity between husband and wife on the account of sin. This is evident in the fact that the moment Adam and his wife disobeyed the commandment of God to eat from the tree of good and evil, the first thing they did was to cover themselves from one another in shame, which is the very beginning of their estrangement. [Genesis 3 verse 7.]
So, throughout the narration of this story, Cleopas and his wife are identified by one name as an expression of the restoration of perfect unity, and walking with the Lord. As the Lord said, “From the beginning of creation, ‘He made them male and female.’ ‘On account of this, a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will be for one flesh.’ Therefore they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.” Mark 10 verses 6 to 9. One of the main purposes of the story of the Road to Emmaus is to portray to us in the eyes of the Lord Jesus Christ both husband and wife are perceived to be one flesh. As Paul says, ”But I want you to know that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of the woman, and the head of Christ is God.” 1 Corinthians 11 verse 3. It is important to note that this expression is completely confined within the Covenant of Marriage. For example when Mark speaks of the testimony of the resurrection of the Lord, he purposely identifies Mary Magdalene, but he does not do so of the two. While Luke identifies Cleopas by name, and this is not in any way to disregard his wife, but to illustrate to us, in the sight of God where man and his wife are joined to be one flesh, they are indistinguishable unity. So we can see in the ministry of the Lord given for the same purpose, Mary stood by herself, while the husband and wife stood as one flesh.
Now, the name of the village Emmaus in Hebrew means “Hot Springs,” or “Hot Baths.” And when Cleopas and his wife shared their distress to the Lord with their own shorsighted view in respect to the restoration of Israel, the Lord in turn takes them back to the very beginning of the book of Moses and expounds from the Scriptures all things concerning Himself. Which in effect meant, He revealed to them the grand plan of God that is intended for the entire world. As Isaiah says, “It is a light thing that You should be My Servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; and I will give You as a light to the Gentiles, that You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.” Isaiah 49 verse 6. And Pastor Joseph Prince asserts, just as the name of the village suggests, this in effect meant they were literally being washed through the knowledge of the Lord, as Paul says, “Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water by the word.” Ephesians 5 verses 25 to 26. And as the eyes of Adam and his wife were opened to the knowledge of evil when they ate from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, likewise the eyes of Cleopas and his wife were also now opened to the knowledge of good, that is of God’s own righteousness, when the Lord having taken the bread, He blessed it; and having broken it, He gave it to them. In regard to which Paul said, “Whenever one shall have turned to the Lord, the veil is taken away.” 2 Corinthians 3 verse 16. This in effect means, we begin to understand the depth of the mercy and the riches of God’s Grace, when we first recognise the Lord in His suffering, as Paul says, “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him having been crucified.” 1 Corinthians 2 verse 2. So, the Cross of Christ is in effect the gateway to the righteousness of God, and the power of His might to work in our lives. Meaning, as their understanding was being unveiled to look upon the glory of the Lord, they were being transformed into the same image, from glory to glory, by the Spirit of God. [2 Corinthians 3 verse 18.]
Please note, when Cleopas and his wife received the bread from His hand, Luke says, “And their eyes were opened, and they knew Him.” In contrast, when Adam and his wife ate the forbidden fruit, they knew their own body in which the nature of sin was now at work and were ashamed, thereby they lost the unity they once possessed with one another. So, Cleopas and his wife knew God through the breaking of the bread, which is the entire purpose of the salvation of God. As Paul said, “That I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness which is of the Law, but that which is through faith from Christ, the righteousness of God on the basis of faith, to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from out of dead.” Philippians 3 verses 8 to 11. So, when we eat of the bread of the broken body of the Lord, which was given to deliver us from sin, the nature of God that is of righteousness is now at work in us by the Holy Spirit for the purpose of eternal life. As Paul says, “Just as sin reigned in death, so also Grace might reign through Righteousness, unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 5 verse 21.
So, in the story of the Road to Emmaus, the Gospel of God is proclaimed to us through the Covenant of Marriage. The main point is that the covenant of marriage began to break down between Adam and his wife the moment they ate the fruit of the tree, having been deceived by the serpent. As a result the first thing that broke down when sin came into the world through their disobedience was their unity. And it is this diverging interest that is primarily illustrated when Adam named his wife, as an expression of estrangement that came between Adam the head and Eve the body, on the account of sin. And Paul in Romans 7 verses 21 to 24, sought to explain to us the effect of this estrangement in respect to the head and body of mankind. In that, Eve as a representation of the body being deceived by the desires of the serpent, and Adam as a representation of the head, to act accordingly to the deceived desire of the body against the explicit word of God, became an expression for sin.
The mistake we make is, we seem to perceive sin to be some lifeless phenomena, when it is the self corrupted nature of Satan finding expression in our lives. The main point of which is the pursuit of the satisfaction of one’s own desires at the cost of the breakdown of unity. And through Cleopas and his wife in relation to their eyes being open to know the Lord in the breaking of the bread, it is this unity that is being restored, both head and body firmly fixed on the knowledge of the Lord. That is to say, since sin is removed, our desire is now being shaped by the Spirit of God, whereby each part is strengthened to fulfill its share; husbands to love, nourish and cherish their wives, and wives to respect their husbands. So, it is the fact they knew Him rather than their own body, that makes their unity as husband and wife perfect. For which reason, the Covenant of Marriage is the foremost means that is used to express the Salvation of God given to mankind through the Lord Jesus Christ, He being the Head, and we His body, the Church. [Ephesians 5 verses 22 to 33, Revelation 19 verses 6 to 9.]
This in effect means, how we perceive the Covenant of Marriage is directly related to our understanding of the Salvation of God. So, when a church defaces this holy covenant that was established from the beginning of creation, it stands to reason that church has also not grasped the Salvation of God. This might seem extreme, but John said, “For the one not loving his brother, whom he has seen, is not able to love God, whom he has not seen.” 1 John 4 verse 20. And we can apply the same principle, meaning, how we perceive the Covenant of Marriage and the manner we treat our spouse is a reflection of our relationship with God. Which is the point Paul makes, when saying, “wives, [submitting] to their own husbands as to the Lord;” meaning, the husband is a beneficiary of the wife’s relationship with the Lord. And when saying, “Husbands, love the wives just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her,” the wife is the beneficiary of her husband’s obedience to the Lord. We need to bear in mind, it is the son or daughter of the Lord that is committed into our hands, through the Covenant of Marriage. That is why divorce should be the most unlikely event in a Christian marriage, because the treatment of one another is entirely based on our relationship with the Lord. As Paul said, “Now to those having married I give this charge (not I, but the Lord): A wife is not to be separated from a husband. But if indeed she is separated, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to the husband; and a husband is not to send away a wife.” 1 Corinthians 7 verses 10 to 11. We have to remember, divorce was a product of the hardness of our heart on the account of sin. However, in Christ Jesus, we have a new heart and a new Spirit, which is the basis by which we treat one another. That is to say, the Love with which we love one another is through the love of God, since “The love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.” Romans 5 verse 5.
And it is because of the fact that we have a new heart and a new Spirit in Christ, that God takes sexual immorality very seriously, as Paul says, “This therefore I say and testify in the Lord: You are no longer to walk as also the Gentiles are walking, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in the understanding, being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance being in them on account of the hardness of their heart, who, having cast off all feeling, have given themselves up to sensuality for the working of all impurity, with greediness for more. But you have not learned Christ this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him just as the truth is in Jesus.” Ephesians 4 verses 17 to 21. Please note, Gentiles live the way they do because their understanding is darkened, and they are cut off from the life of God, that is to say from His Spirit. However, the conduct of life we are expected to live is in the renewal of our mind through the knowledge of God by the Holy Spirit, meaning, we have broken from the mindset of the world that has devalued marriage, and has made the gratification of casual encounters outside of the covenant of marriage seemingly an indispensable fact of life. For which reason Paul says, “Let marriage be honorable in all, and the marriage bed undefiled; for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.” Hebrews 13 verse 4. We need to bear in mind, God expects more from us simply because of the help He Himself has provided to us.
So, the main point we want to leave you with is that, the story of the Road to Emmaus is about the restoration of the Covenant of Marriage as it was with Adam and his wife in the Garden of Eden, only this time, this bond is held by the Spirit of God given to us, having been delivered from sin that separated us. Meaning, the conduct of our marriage life, or the manner we hold our body in honour is not a product of self-striving, but through the power of God that is at work towards us, having been delivered from the power of the enemy. God does not leave us as orphans, but has given us His Holy Spirit to help us in all our temptations and trials.
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