CommunionFire Special: the Chronicles Of Cleophas Chapter Five

"Remember, though, dearly beloved, how the Lord Jesus desired to be recognized in the breaking of bread, by those whose eyes had been kept till then from recognizing him. The faithful know what I'm talking about. They know Christ in the breaking of bread. It isn't every loaf of bread, you see, but the one that receives Christ's blessing and becomes the body of Christ. That's where they recognized him. They were overjoyed and went straight to the others. They found whom they already knew. By telling what they had seen, they added to the gospel. It was all said, all done, all written down. And it has reached us." 


St. Augustine, early 5th c. Sermon 234:2

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Chapter Five: Eden Replaced By Emmaus As The Garden of the Heart 

In the Book of Genesis, God created man to have fellowship with Him. He walked with Adam and Eve in a glorious, fruitful garden as He intended called Eden. They were living in total peace and bliss. They were given only one restriction. Do not eat from “The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil”. Satan managed to come in and persuade them to rationalize disobedience to God and they ate anyway. At that moment all of us were plunged into the dominion and darkness of sin and unable to recover on our own. God demonstrated His patience, love and mercy through every means necessary for the next 4000 years to provide understanding for overcoming the effects of The Fall from God's presence and exile from His Garden. 

On Resurrection Day, Emmaus became the birth place of the new Genesis. This was the new beginning for all who believe. Jesus replaces the heart of stone to give us a new heart. This new heart is from Jesus. When we believe, our spirit is made alive and we who carried a death sentence because of sin, are born again, our sentence paid in full. By the power of the Gospel we become people born of the spirit. Then He provides a Table where He feeds us each day so we can live, grow and walk in the newness of the spirit. 

How is all this related to The Emmaus Road? 

Early in the morning, the same day Emmaus took place, Mary Magdalene encountered Jesus mistaking Him for the gardener! When she saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Him, Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?" Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, "Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away." Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, "Rabboni!" John 20:14-16

4000 years earlier Adam and Eve lived in Eden where the Eden Spring fed 4 rivers. Now another couple, Cleophas and Mary, are walking on a country road about a thousand miles east of the original Eden. As they are walking from Jerusalem on the Road to their home in Emmaus (which means 'hot healing springs' and today is called the town of Matza from 'Matzo' bread used for Passover), 

Jesus manifested Himself making Himself known (out of nowhere) as they were walking and He came along side of them. St. Mark tells us He "appeared" in “another form” (in the Greek: “hetoros morphe" or “another essence of the same person") The word 'appeared' is the same word used to describe Jesus when He returns to rapture His Bride when He 'appears' in the clouds. Jesus still had the same body but now it was "glorified". So unless you are an angel you might not see Him for who He is or recognize Him.

Cleophas and Mary walked with Jesus just as Adam and Eve walked with God in Eden.

Consider that thought they were family they didn't recognize Him! He also gave His Aunt Mary and Uncle Cleophas a Son of God "7-mile Bible Study" explaining who He was. They looked right at Him but their eyes were closed to see who He was because of their fallen nature. Though He spoke and they listened, they couldn’t “hear” what He was saying.  

They didn’t know this was a holy visitation from the resurrected Jesus or recognize the voice of the Son of God. 

They couldn’t recognize Him because they were blind to the things of the Spirit. They could only look at Jesus through the eyes of their “Adamic Nature” or their natural eyesight. The missing ingredient was ‘believing’. Jesus said to them on the road, “Oh slow of heart to believe”.

In The Emmaus Story we begin to understand why Jesus spent so much time with Cleophas and Mary:

1)       Why were Luke and Mark predisposed to mention Cleophas and purposely not identify the second person? Because the ‘other person’ means there is room for you and I in this story. We are on the Emmaus Road with Cleophas and Jesus for the same reason Cleophas and Mary were on the road with Him. In our natural intelligence and blindness of our fallen nature, our preoccupation with this world and ego of our own intellect we must be the other person. He alone can open our eyes through the blessing of the elements of Communion. What Jesus does for Cleophas and Mary He will do for each one of us.He is no respector of persons. He is the  same yesterday today and forever. 

2)       The reason we believe Cleophas' wife is probably "the other person". His wife is Mary#2. Camille and I were having powerful experiences as a husband and wife each day in our home when we found ourselves in the story of Emmaus. In the book of Acts they met from house to house and broke bread from house to house. The center of household life is the husband and wife. Perhaps Communion was best shared within the home and in small groups to meet and deepen their relationship with Jesus. All early church gathering places were Communion-Centric. We gather with each other in our homes each day and with others during the week to come to the Lord’s Table. He feeds us and then we share with each other what He shares with us to build up each other in the holy faith. It was also Passover along with the monumental events surrounding Jesus. It is fairly logical that Mr. and Mrs. Cleopas were coming home and in Jewish custom the woman was rarely mentioned. Also there is no specific word about a 'second guest' of Cleophas. There are no Gospel references to family, followers, disciples or the 12 as well.

3)       Why did Jesus spent hours with Cleopas and Mary the very first day of the Resurrection. 
He could have 'rented out Jerusalem Stadium' if there was one and preached, "Here I am world! I conquered sin, hell and the grave!"  Like the Pope or Billy Graham He could have publicly promoted His Resurrection with press conferences and good PR. But instead, after a few brief moments on Resurrection morning with Mary Magdalene, Mary Salomas, Joanna and other women, He went on to spend hours with Cleophas and Mary Cleophas. This was not a normal day. This was among the most important days in all of history. Why? What did Jesus have in mind? The Resurrection had to do with a new capability for man to have personal revelation in their relationship with God. Jesus would demonstrate to Cleopas and 'the stranger' how this was tied to Communion.

4)       The destiny on the Emmaus road is: The Table. 
The destiny of the Good Shepherd in Psalms 23 is the Table. He prepares His Table for us in the presence of our enemies. He reminds them when we sit down with Him they are powerless. The destination of Jesus during His public ministry was the Table in the Upper Room. The destiny on the Road to Emmaus is the Table in their home. This goes back to the days of the altar of sacrifice as the means for the High Priest to come into God’s presence to pour out the blood on the Mercy Seat before the Lord, present in His glory between the wings of the seraphim on the Ark of the Covenant. The altars were tables. When Abraham offered Isaac it was a table stone of 'The Place of Sacrifice' on Moriah. In Song of Songs, our beloved brings us to the Banqueting Table and his banner over us is love. Jesus speaks endlessly of coming to His feast, his banqueting Table and his first miracle is at the wedding feast. The Kingdom of God is not meat and drink as in steak and potatoes, but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. That is the meal we find in His presence at His Table. 

Getting to the Table is the main thing. Once there we can dine with Him and Him with us.

5)       A 7-mile walk with the Resurrected Jesus and then the miracle that would change the rules forever!.
This was a very important episode. The physical road to Emmaus would prepare them to find the road to Pentecost. Just as the Garden of Eden was a geographic reality, so to, the “Emmaus Garden of the Heart” would be their eternal reality.  A new creation was born that day and made its way into the hearts of any who open their door to Jesus. What started out as an outdoor garden In Genesis became an interior garden of the heart in the book of Acts. When Cleopas and Mary let Jesus into their house as a stranger He took and blessed their bread, broke it and gave it to them. He was preparing to feed them with the new reality of His resurrection! He replaced their stony, hard heart with His fertile love filled heart through the miracle of the revelation. They saw who He really was and recognized His voice in the breaking of the bread. This is what happens when He opens our eyes to see in a new eternal way. It is seeing with spiritual eyes. We hear in a new way. We hear His voice with spiritual ears. Not as family, through Bible study, prayer, praise or worship but through the blessings, breaking and receiving 'our daily bread'. The more times we dine with Him, the more He is able to show us things we couldn't see before and hear Him in a way that makes his message real to us. When we see and hear Him, it is our Good Shepherd who is loving, kind, youthful and happy! John Wesley notes: "Every believer should have communion at least 4 times a week but daily if possible." 

At that moment in Mary and Cleophas' house, He confirmed the meaning for all of us that what He had introduced in the Table in the upper room with the 11 just 3 days earlier was now a reality. He demonstrated the power of Communion to open our eyes to see Him and recognize Him in His resurrected, glorified body.  This would be the new norm for all believers until He returns.

The moment ‘their eyes were opened and they recognized Him, He disappeared! Why did He disappear? Mission accomplished! They understood that their eyes were opened to recognize Jesus in the blessing and breaking of the bread! The garden was only possible by receiving a new heart by seeing a new reality in the face of Jesus.

When Jesus disappeared they suddenly understood why their hearts were burning within them while He spoke to them on the road! It takes seeing and hearing Jesus through Communion.

Their new eyes were open to see the King  and His Kingdom. Eating from the Tree of Life means feeding on Eternal Life! It meant that the Kingdom of God began to invade their world and anyone who will come to His Table. The eternal world of Jesus began to replace the only world they knew. The same thing happens every time you and I come to His Table to enjoy Communion with Him.

Jesus walked with them knocking on the door of their hearts for 7 miles. They opened their door to them. He came in and dined with them and their eyes were opened to see Him and recognize Him.

Revelation 3:20 “Behold I stand at the door (of your heart) and knock (and call your name) and if you hear my voice and opens the door I will come into your life and sup with you and you with Me.” 

Will you listen and let Him in? Will you offer him bread and wine so that He can bless it and give it back to you filled with His life? When you do, He will open your eyes and you will recognize Him for who He really is and what He has prepared for you.