What does Luke 24:21 mean?
Two men, one named Cleopas, are walking to Emmaus and talking with a man they think is a stranger. Cleopas tells this unknown person how he and the other disciples felt when Jesus died. But Cleopas doesn't know he's talking to the resurrected Christ.Jesus was identified as the Messiah before He was born. The angel told Joseph that Mary "will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). Zechariah, John the Baptist's father, called on God's promise that He would deliver Israel from their enemies and give salvation to his people (Luke 1:73–74). Considering the cycle the Jews went through in the Old Testament—sin, judgment through military defeat or exile, repentance, deliverance, and restoration of independence—it's easy to see how forgiveness from sins could be interpreted as the expulsion of the Romans.
Yet the disciples don't understand that Jesus' work on the cross and His resurrection are how God could forgive and redeem the Jews in those past years. Their forgiveness was bought with Jesus' death. In addition, the political situation around Jesus differs from that of the Old Testament Jews: the leaders aren't repenting. They aren't listening to the prophet they've been given, turning from their ways, and following God; like leaders before them, they kill the prophet (Luke 24:20). According to the covenant between Israel and God, outlined in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28, they have broken faith and God has the right to destroy Jerusalem and exile the Jews in AD 70.
In every synagogue Paul visits—except for Berea (Acts 17:11–12)—the leadership as a group rejects his message, so he leaves and goes to the Gentiles (Acts 13:45–46; 18:6; 19:9). That pattern began when the Jewish leaders reject Jesus' message and He sends His faithful few to the Gentiles (Acts 1:8).
Jesus' sacrifice was necessary for every time God forgave and restored the Jews in the past. In the church age, it is primarily for the forgiveness of sins of individuals and restoration with God wherever Christians bear witness. In the end, though, the Jews will be redeemed. God will claim His people again. And Jesus will be their king (Romans 11).
Jesus prophesied that three days after He died, He would rise again (Luke 9:22; 13:32; 18:33). Cleopas doesn't mention this. It's unclear if he notes the three days because of Jesus' prophesy or if he's just putting the day of Jesus' death into perspective. He does go on to say that Jesus' tomb was empty, and angels told women disciples that Jesus had risen from the dead, but Cleopas doesn't seem to believe it (Luke 24:22–24).
