The Road to Emmaus

I was thinking about the story in Luke 24:13-35 about two disciples, who were not from the inner circle of the eleven, but maybe two of the seventy. We don’t know. But we are told they were disciples of Jesus. It was the afternoon of the third day after Jesus’ crucifixion, and they were on their way from Jerusalem to Emmaus, where they lived. This is a walking distance of about two to three hours.

These two disciples were talking with each other and discussing the things which just had happened in Jerusalem. They were quite distressed and sad. They had been robbed of their hopes for the future. And then, suddenly, another man approached and started to walk alongside them. It was Jesus Himself, but they didn’t recognise him. Does this sometimes happen to us as well? Jesus promised He would always be with us, but we are often not aware of this and need to be reminded of it.

When Jesus asked the two disciples what they were talking about, they shared about Jesus, His death, their sadness, and their lost hopes. They were convinced that Jesus was dead, even though they had heard of some women finding the tomb empty and angels telling them that Jesus was alive. Then Jesus started to explain to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.

As they approached Emmaus, and it started to get dark, the two disciples urged Jesus to stay with them, and He went into their house. This is what touched me most. Although they had invited, or rather urged, Jesus to stay with them, they still had not recognised Him. Perhaps they thought He was another disciple, a Rabbi, a teacher, or a prophet, because He knew the Scriptures so well and everything in them about Jesus.

And what did Jesus do? He didn’t say to Himself, “Oh these foolish disciples don’t recognise me. They don’t really know me. Therefore, I don’t want to stay with them.” No, despite all that, Jesus stayed. At the evening meal when Jesus took the bread, blessed it and broke it, the disciples suddenly realised it was Jesus. What a difference this made! Suddenly all sadness, grief, hopelessness, and despair vanished, as they realised God’s word and His promises are true. Jesus had risen from the dead and was alive.

Maybe there is darkness in you and you feel sadness and grief. Maybe you have lost your dreams and hopes. Maybe you are disappointed, distressed, and burdened. Or perhaps you don’t know Jesus very well. If you invite Him in, into all your mess, your hurting heart, your grief, your hopelessness, Jesus will come in and stay with you.

Jesus was meeting two disciples, not VIPs, not John or Simon Peter, but two ‘nobodies’. We don’t hear of them before, and they are not mentioned anywhere afterwards. Jesus meets these ordinary disciples in their doubts, hopelessness, and despair. At the point of their biggest loss, when their hopes were bitterly shattered, Jesus met with them.

Perhaps you are also on “a road to Emmaus”, asking yourself whether you have been deceived. Where is He? Where are His promises? But there is good news. On this road to Emmaus Jesus is alongside you. Maybe you can’t see Him yet because your eyes are veiled. It doesn’t matter what your emotions tell you. God is the same, yesterday, today, and forever.