Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus … And they talked together of all these things which had happened. So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him. And He said to them, “What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?” Luke 24:13–17 NKJV
The two individuals in today’s text loved the Lord Jesus, having spent much time with Him and setting their hope in and on Him. But after His crucifixion they were disappointed and discouraged as they were walking on the road to Emmaus. They had not comprehended what the Lord Jesus clearly told them about His death.
The word for “restrained” in today’s verse means, “to place under one’s grasp, to seize hold of, or to put under control.” The Lord had “restrained” their physical sight in response to their lack of faith, and to teach them a lesson from the Word. What had hindered their understanding? It was their lack of faith. A lack of faith will cause us to see things from a wrong perspective, which hinders us to trust the Lord and move forward. But even though their faith was not what it should have been, nevertheless the Lord Jesus was faithful to them and drew near them! “If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself” (2 Tim. 2:13).
The two disciples had “conversed and reasoned” while they walked. We read in Malachi of those whose future might have seemed bleak too, yet they feared the Lord and as a result they also “spoke to one another” (Mal. 3:16). Unlike the two on the road to Emmaus, they had enough faith to trust the Lord for who He is. Their faith caused them to fear the Lord.
As we face an uncertain future, the question for us is, “Will we trust the One who knows the future and holds it in His hands!”