Pastor Al Stone opened Luke 24 and asked a simple question that many readers of Scripture have quietly asked themselves: why did God include the name Cleopas? The man appears only once in this form in the New Testament, yet the Holy Spirit saw fit to record him. The sermon, titled “The Cause for Cleopas,” follows two disciples on the road to Emmaus after the resurrection and finds in that obscure follower a picture of many believers today.
The setting is the day of the resurrection. The women have found the empty tomb and reported it. Peter and John have run to see for themselves. Two others, having heard the reports but not yet seen the risen Lord, leave Jerusalem for Emmaus, a journey of about seven and a half miles. Luke 24:13-16 records:
“And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.”
One of them is named. Verse 18 says, “And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas…” Consensus among scholars is that this is the same man mentioned as Cleophas in John 19:25. God chose to put that name in the Bible. Pastor Stone asked why.
An Active Attendant
Cleopas was not one of the inner circle of twelve, yet he was a genuine follower of Jesus and close enough to the apostles to walk with one of them that day. He had heard the women’s report and the confirmation of the empty tomb, but he had not seen the Lord. He still went. He still talked of the things that had happened. He was present among the saints even when he did not understand everything that was taking place.
Many in a local church are like that. They come, they give, they pray, they worship, and they slip in and out without drawing attention. They are not on the platform and they may never teach a class, yet they belong to the body and they have a part. Cleopas shows that simple attendance and quiet faithfulness are not unnoticed by God.
A Disillusioned Disciple
As they walked, Jesus drew near and asked why they were sad. Cleopas answered with surprise that anyone in Jerusalem could be unaware of recent events. He described Jesus as “a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people.” Then came the heart of his disappointment: “But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel” (Luke 24:21). Three days had passed. The expected kingdom had not arrived. The One they trusted had been crucified.
Pastor Stone noted that disillusionment is common among disciples. Expectations are not met. Leaders fail. Circumstances do not match what was hoped. The countenance falls and the speech turns heavy. Cleopas was still a follower, but he was not where he should have been after the resurrection. He was sad when he ought to have been glad.
A Broken Believer
Jesus answered with a rebuke: “O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?” (Luke 24:25-26). Beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded the Scriptures concerning Himself. Even then they did not recognize Him until He sat at meat, took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them. Their eyes were opened, they knew Him, and He vanished.
The brokenness is evident. They had heard the teaching and still missed the point until the Lord Himself opened the Word and then opened their eyes. Pastor Stone suggested that the familiar act of breaking bread may have recalled the upper room. Whatever the means, the veil dropped. A believer who had been slow of heart was brought face to face with the risen Christ.
A Challenged and Confident Christian
After Jesus vanished, the two said one to another, “Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?” (Luke 24:32). They rose the same hour and returned the seven and a half miles to Jerusalem, late as it was, to tell the eleven and those with them. Verse 34 records the shared confession: “The Lord is risen indeed.”
The Word that had burned in their hearts produced immediate action. Distance, darkness, and danger no longer mattered. They had to tell what they had seen and heard. An active but disillusioned and broken disciple became a confident witness. Pastor Stone observed that when Jesus speaks both to the heart and through the Scripture, people are moved even before they fully recognize who is speaking.
Why Cleopas?
God did not put Cleopas in the Bible because he was Peter or Paul or John. He put him there as a representation of ordinary believers. Many are quiet and unassuming. Many suffer a sharp challenge to their faith. Many become disillusioned when what they expected does not happen. Many need a pointed word from the Saviour that reminds them of truth they already knew. Many, after hearing the Word again, receive renewed confidence and are moved to speak of what Christ has done.
Cleopas also shows that a simple testimony can embolden others. After these two returned, the apostles began to preach with new boldness that this Jesus whom they crucified is risen. A hallway word of thanks after a message, a quiet report of answered prayer, or a personal account of the Lord’s work can strengthen the preacher and the congregation.
Pastor Stone closed by asking whether Cleopas is present in the congregation. The answer, he said, is that most of us are. God knows the name. God sees the quiet faithfulness, the struggle, the rekindled joy, and the willingness to tell others. The record may not appear in a printed book, but it is known in heaven. The invitation is the same as the example of Cleopas: go and tell someone what Christ has done.
The cause for Cleopas is the cause of every believer who is not famous yet is still called, still needed, and still able to bear witness that the Lord is risen indeed.
