Yesterday I looked at a familiar and beloved story that occurred in Luke shortly after the resurrection of Jesus. Join me in the next few days as we consider this text and reflect on it. Here is our text, our story:
The Journey To Emmaeus
“13 Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14 and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15 While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, 16 but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17 And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. 18 Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” 19 He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. 22 Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, 23 and when they did not find his body there they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see him.” 25 Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! 26 Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” 27 Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.
28 As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. 29 But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he vanished from their sight. 32 They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” 33 That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem, and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. 34 They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” 35 Then they told what had happened on the road and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread” Luke 24: 13-35.
Emmaus is just a short distance to the west of Jerusalem, and it is Easter Sunday morning. Remember that the disciples are walking out of Jerusalem and heading back home to Emmaeus, suggesting at the very least that they are on a journey. Remember that the “journey” is an important motif of life in the Bible. God is always meeting us “on the road” of life. By contrasting the movement of the disciples, first away from Jerusalem and then back to their center, Jerusalem, Luke wants us to consider all disciples who wander, most especially ourselves. This story, then, gives us pause to reflect on our own journey. Our path is filled with choices and decisions. Many times our choices move us away from God, and many of our decisions lead us back to God. This Emmaeus story, then, invites us to ask, to wonder, why we “wander” away from the Lord in life. Why do we often make decisions that consciously and deliberately put us on a path away from the Lord? Why do we give up on God? These disciples understandably saw in the death of Jesus on the Cross the end of years of following Him and listening to Him and witnessing remarkable moments and miracles. It seems that they saw Jesus’ hope and promises and life come to an end by the hands of criminals who assassinated Him on the cross.
So they left and returned home to resume their old way of life.
Consider why we wander away from the Lord. Why do you and I do what Paul says he does: “For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate” Romans 7:15. This “wandering away from the lord,” this heading away from God towards our own Emmaeus, this giving up on God, this doing the very thing we hate, is a part of all of our lives, some more than others. Why is it that we once hoped in Jesus but now lost that hope? “21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel” Luke 24:21. Notice the verb, “They had hoped Jesus was the Messiah!” Now they no longer have that hope! In the face of the scandal of the crucifixion they have given up hope, like the apostles who didn’t believe Mary and the other women to whom Jesus had appeared earlier that day. Jesus coming into their midst unrecognized shows us the mercy and grace of God seeking the lost. Christ, the Good Shepherd goes after these two lost sheep. He wants to bring them back to the Church in Jerusalem, where they will indeed go later that night.
This story of “wandering’ is our story. We all try to live without hope in Jesus Christ. We come back only through the mercy and grace of Jesus Christ.
So today pray that you do not wander, even slightly, and pray that God will have mercy on you and, through His grace, bring you back home, back to His heart!
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on me a sinner.
From the Bible:
“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up” Galatians 6:9.
“For nothing will be impossible with God” Luke 1:37.
“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” Isaiah 41:10.
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” Joshua 1:9.
“Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible’” Matthew 19:26.
“Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life’” John 8:12.
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