Luke 24:30-31

Luke 24:30-31

[30] And  it came to pass,  as  he  sat at meat  with  them,  he took  bread,  and blessed  it, and  brake,  and gave  to them.  [31] And  their  eyes  were opened,  and  they knew  him;  and  he  vanished  out of  their sight. 

What does Luke 24:30-31 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Jesus" praying over the bread and breaking it opened the spiritual eyes of Cleopas and his companion. They had not been in the upper room when Jesus instituted the Lord"s Supper, so remembering that occasion is not what proved to be catalytic (cf. Luke 24:21). Perhaps they had been present when Jesus fed the5 ,000 ( Luke 9:10-17) or the4 ,000 or on some other occasion when Jesus had eaten with people. Luke recorded several such instances (cf. Luke 5:29; Luke 7:36; Luke 9:16; Luke 10:38-40; Luke 14:1; Luke 14:7; Luke 14:12; Luke 14:15-16). Perhaps they had only heard about those miracles.
"The description of the Emmaus meal is closer to the feeding of the multitude than to the Last Supper in some details." [1]
The fact that Jesus acted as the host shows that He was the most important person present, which these disciples evidently recognized even before they knew who He was. Jesus" role as host may have been a factor in their recognizing Him. The wounds in His hands may not have been since Luke did not mention them.
Their recognition of Jesus for who He was is the climax of the story. Now they knew that the man they hoped was the Messiah, who had to suffer and then experience glorification, had indeed risen from the dead. Luke said that their eyes were opened (passive voice, cf. Luke 24:16). Someone did it for them. Clearly God gave them understanding (cf. Genesis 3:7). [2] God is the One who reveals His Son to people by His Spirit. In both Luke and Acts the "breaking of bread" has connections with instruction concerning Jesus" person and mission. [3]
After His resurrection, Jesus could appear and disappear at will (cf. Luke 24:36). This is an attribute of His resurrection body. He disappeared then because these disciples had become believers in and witnesses of His resurrection. He left them to carry out their duty as His witnesses. Perhaps Luke also included Jesus" remarkable disappearance to impress on his Greek readers that Jesus is supernatural, not just a real man.