Lk.24:13-17,21 – And behold, on that very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, which was sixty stadia from Jerusalem. And they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing Him. And He said to them, “What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking? …..But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened.

Have you ever been in a place where you felt all hope was gone? That’s how it was for the disciples that day. All the hopes they had for the coming kingdom, the restoration of Israel, their Messianic kingdom established; all of that was gone. All of their hope disappeared when Christ died three days ago and was laid in a tomb. These unnamed disciples in Luke’s gospel were moving with haste on a road out of town, the road to Emmaus. That’s when Jesus appeared on the road with them. For some reason He was unrecognizable, maybe that’s how He is in your world today. He is right in the middle of your stuff and you can’t even see it. That’s when we lose hope, when we can’t see Jesus. Here is how Augustine describes this passage.

“We,” they said, “had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.” O my dear disciples, you had hoped! So now you no longer hope? Look, Christ is alive! Is hope dead in you? Certainly, certainly, Christ is alive! Christ, being alive, found the hearts of his disciples dead, as he appeared and did not appear to their eyes. He was at one and the same time seen and concealed. I mean, if he wasn’t seen, how could they have heard him questioning them and answered his questions? He was walking with them along the road like a companion and was himself the leader. Of course he was seen, but he wasn’t recognized. For their eyes were restrained, as we heard, so that they wouldn’t recognize him. They weren’t restrained so that they wouldn’t see him, but they were held so that they wouldn’t recognize him. Ah yes, brothers and sisters, but where did the Lord wish to be recognized? In the breaking of bread. We’re all right, nothing to worry about—we break bread, and we recognize the Lord.”

Augustine made an interesting observation, we see Him in the breaking of bread, that’s where we meet Jesus and our hope is restored. What is this breaking of bread? It is in gathering with the body of Christ, this is the place of fellowship and communion. This is where we see Jesus and recognize He is with us. He is our hope that has entered behind the veil.