And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named
Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. And they were talking with each other about
all these things which had taken place.
While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and
began traveling with them. But their
eyes were prevented from recognizing Him.
Luke 24: 13-16
The time after Easter can in many ways be the calm after a
very pleasant storm of joy and worshipful emotions. Easter Sunday is often planned for months. The
choir practices for countless hours, beautiful decorations are placed in the
sanctuary, and sermons will often lead for weeks up to the glorious
resurrection Sunday. The Church is
usually a lot more full than normal, because, let’s face it, Easter and
Christmas are the two times a year in which many people think they pay their
religious dues by showing up for the morning service. So, sometimes, the Sunday after Easter may
seem a little commonplace, a little “back to normal,” maybe even a little
disappointing to some people. There is a
story in scripture about two men, disciples of Jesus, who traveled to see the
events of Easter weekend and were on their way home, to Emmaus. This story occurred when some people were not
feeling too religious. In fact, they had lost all hope of a bright tomorrow,
and the great expectations they had been happily carrying on their shoulders
for the past few years was now a disappointing, heartbreaking memory of what
might have been… so they thought. In
this story, Luke gives us a very vivid glimpse about what was going through the
minds of some of Jesus’ disciples as they traveled on this road home.
The Mystery of the Place
Called Emmaus - If you go to the Holy Land of Israel today, you will find that no one
knows exactly for sure where Emmaus was actually located. The Bible tells us that it was seven miles
from Jerusalem, and the word “Emmaus” actually means “hot baths.” But beyond
this we don’t know exactly where Emmaus was located centuries ago.
The Mystery of the
Travelers - Only one of them is named,
Cleopas, and we have no idea what the other disciple’s name was. It
is important to mention that these two disciples were not part of the original
12 Disciples, although these two certainly were very familiar with Jesus and
they had desired to follow Him. We join
the two travelers at their lowest point in life. Their expectations, their
hopes, their dreams, that which got them out of bed in the morning had been crushed
before their very eyes. They surely felt their lives were over and they would
never recover from the events they had witnessed just three days prior.
The Mystery of the
Companion - As they walked they talked of the events of the week Jesus came along
side of them. For whatever reasons their
eyes were restrained from recognizing this third person was Jesus, the Risen
Lord. Perhaps they were so preoccupied on their own disappointments and
problems. But Jesus recognized them as His own.
The darkness of despair can blind us to the blessed presence of Christ.
It is amazing how we can’t see past our pain when we are hurting. Only a week before, these men’s hopes had
risen to fever pitch when the excited crowds welcomed their Master waving palm
branches and shouting 'hosanna'. But now Jesus lay dead in a sealed tomb. Their
hopes were dashed; the dream was over! They had left the sad and confused band of
disciples who were afraid and bewildered over what had happened to Jesus on
Good Friday. The two men, as they travelled along, were also sad and
disillusioned. The biggest obstacle they
faced was DOUBT. That is the word we
need to deal with, for it was the source
of all the other feelings. The rest of
this week we will focus on how Jesus helped these two men deal with their doubt
and turn it into faith.
Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him For the help of His countenance. Psalms 42:5
