Luke 24:33 Commentary and Bible Study

(Synoptics: Luke 24:33-35)They had travelled about seven miles and they were home and it was ‘towards evening’, but how could they keep this wonderful news to themselves? They knew how downcast the eleven disciples were, and they knew the transformation that had taken place in their own hearts on seeing the Lord Jesus alive. Love for the Lord’s people made them determined not to wait till the morning, but to go immediately back to Jerusalem. What is going on the hearts of our fellow believers is of great concern to us. They had probably left the city just because they believed all their hopes had come to nothing, but if they had known that Christ was risen they would have stayed with the others at the heart of these events. There the apostles were situated, and as far as the two men knew, the eleven were still in a state of unbelief, for the women’s testimony had failed to convince them. If Cleopas and his companion were to go back themselves, they would surely be able to persuade them. They found the eleven and the other men and women in the same miserable state. ‘The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon.’ This way of expressing it clearly refers back to the testimony of the women which had failed to convince them. ‘He really is risen and though we too doubted it before, now we are sure of it.’ The appearance to Simon is not mentioned in the record of the conversation between Christ and the two travellers, but it can only have been communicated them by the Lord. Paul confirms this appearance to Simon in 1 Corinthians 15:5. That they should need to say this, implies that at the time they delivered their message, Simon Peter was not with them or else he would have told them himself. But if so, he must have come to them later, for we know that there were ten apostles present when the Lord appeared, because John confirms that only Thomas was missing (John 20:24).The others naturally want to know the details, and so Cleopas and his friend recount all that took place, hiding nothing including their failure to recognise the Lord at first, and then the glorious moment when he was revealed to them and they knew with absolute certainty that he was risen. This was why they had come back to Jerusalem, after leaving earlier in the day so disconsolately.