After Easter Encouragement: The Emmaus Road

We’ve all recently celebrated the glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ. He is in fact the savior who is alive, and present in our lives. As we reflected on the empty tomb, let us now reflect on some very mysterious moments that occurred afterward.

The disciples went into hiding during the crucifixion. All but John, who stayed with Jesus during the entire crucifixion. But now amid rumors that Christ was alive and had even appeared to Peter, two of the disciples were out walking on the Emmaus road, seven miles from Jerusalem.

They’re talking about everything that happened in amazement. And a 3rd person, a mysterious figure appeared and joined them on the road.

For the two disciples, Cleopas and his friend, this is a dark road. This is a rocky, miserable road, the word says their faces were downcast, they were sorrowful.

And they were reflecting on everything that had happened. It had been the craziest three years of their lives. They had walked day and night with Jesus, God in human form. What would it have been like? To even spend a few minutes with Jesus would be a dream beyond anything I could imagine. But they spent three years with him.

Have you ever had a time in your life where you felt like you were swept up into something bigger than yourself, something special? That is an incredible feeling, to know you were and are part of something special, important, bigger than yourself. And yet, at the same time, for the disciples it had been a hard time, it had been a time of constant controversy, as some accepted and some rejected the teachings of Jesus.

I think many of us can relate to this situation on the Emmaus road. We’ve been through the COVID-19 pandemic, and so much more in the past few years. And we were not passive participants, no, we were engaged in the battle, day and night, serving as part of God’s army, the Salvation Army.

In the wake of all that, we’ve been left with wounds and battle scars, we’ve been left with unresolved traumatic stress, and I bet some of you can relate to how I’ve felt at times; just a bit downcast, a bit melancholy, a bit reflective, sitting back, wondering at everything that happened.

Can you relate to this mindset? Do you now find yourself in ponderous self reflection? After everything, we often drift off in quiet moments and think about what it all meant.

So one might say, we are all together, walking on this road, the Emmaus road, through the cool air, the trees and branches, the rocks, and shoals, wondering to ourselves, what just happened?

Very often we are left wondering as Christians. When a question pops into our heads, Jesus doesn’t suddenly pop up and answer the question does he? No, we’re often left wondering. What was all this about? What did it mean? Why did it happen like this?

The disciples are walking along, and a third person joins them. They don’t know who it is. But this person speaks to them about Jesus. And points to all these different scriptures from the Torah, from the prophets, which reminds the disciples of what it’s really all about.

Sometimes we forget. Sometimes we don’t understand. Sometimes we get a bit fuzzy, and we lose touch with what really matters.

This man tells the two disciples: “Remember, this is what was supposed to happen.” God planned it out this way. It had to happen this way. If Jesus hadn’t died, there would be no forgiveness for sin. And death wasn’t the end.

“This isn’t the end guys,” is what this mysterious figure seems to say, as they walked that dry craggy road.

It says their hearts were burning within them. Their hearts began to blaze with the truth. This 3rd figure is igniting something inside them. From the cold ashes of a once blazing fire, fresh logs fall, leaves and dust cover, and sparks turn to open flame.

No matter how close we are to God, no matter how effective our prayer life, how deep our study of scripture, we often forget, and drift, and lose heart. We end up a little depressed, a little cynical, walking that long road, thinking to ourselves: Well, I guess it’s just too late. Well, it didn’t go my way. Well, the Lord is missing, where is He?

Jesus might say to us today: “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?”

So they listen to him, on the road, and at the end of the road, they invite this stranger to eat dinner with them. The man breaks bread for them and they eat, their eyes are opened and they realize, it’s Jesus.