Luke 24:13-35 chronicles one of the many Jesus-sightings that took place after the Resurrection. It tells the story of two followers of Jesus who were walking from Jerusalem to a place called Emmaus, and while on they were on the road, they were processing everything that had just happened. They were processing Jesus’ death. It’s interesting to me that Luke adds the note about these two being on the road to Emmaus, on the road away from Jerusalem. Given all they had experienced, the trauma of the crucifixion, it makes sense that they just had to get away from Jerusalem. Too much had gone down in Jerusalem. The crucifixion had taken the life of Jesus, the One they had been following, the One they had placed all their hopes in.
These two disciples had seen enough from Jesus to have developed the mindset that nothing bad would ever happen to Jesus. He stilled storms. He healed the sick. He literally slayed demons. In their minds, He was indestructible. Even if He was crucified, they could have imagined that they would see a last-minute miracle that would turn it all around, but things ended, in their minds, with a cold, dark tomb.
I don’t know what they had abandoned to follow Jesus, what it had personally cost them to join the growing Jesus-movement, but following Jesus now wasn’t possible. They were literally in shock, in grief, in disbelief that their pursuit of Jesus could have led them to that moment, could have led them to a dead end.
Have you ever had an experience that caught you by such surprise, in a bad way, that you found yourself saying, “How can this be my life right now?” “How am I having to deal with this right now?” “How is this the way my story ends?” “How could God let this happen?” Such was the mindset of these two disciples.
Sometime, in those moments, getting away, walking away, distancing yourself from the physical place where some pain occurred, is all that is on your mind. I don’t know why the two in the story were walking to Emmaus, but I don’t think it is a stretch to believe they just couldn’t take being in the place of Jesus’ death. Getting away was the only thing they knew to do.
It is often our natural instinct to want to get away from that which has disappointed us, from situations and people who have crushed us, from circumstances that have disillusioned us, but we see in this story, that Jesus wasn’t going to let them simply “walk away.” He was going to join them on their walk. Oh, hallelujah! Praise the God who joins us in our pain, who seeks us when we have questions, who pursues us on the path when we are processing life’s hurts.
Allow me some quick takeaways:
- When Jesus walks with you, He will explain and confirm His Word.
How do you know when the Resurrected Lord is walking with you? He will bring Scripture to your mind. He will give you understanding about what He has already said. He will lead your mind into the truth. Until you have a word from the Word about your situation, you haven’t heard from Jesus on whatever the subject is. The Word of God is our authority. It will trump our feelings. It will surpass our understanding and outstrip our perspective and our intellect. In their conversation, Jesus took the two to the Word because it is ultimate. The Word of God is living and active, Hebrews 4:12. It is still relevant for today. As Jesus walks with us, He will take us to His Word. Get in the Word as often as possible, so that you are regularly availing yourself to His instruction. The role of the Holy Spirit in our lives is to guide our minds and hearts to God’s truth on every situation. That happens as we read the Word.
28 As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. 29 But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.
When you have welcomed instruction from the Word, you will want to hear more and more of what Jesus has to say.
- When Jesus walks with you, and you receive Him, you won’t want your time with Him to end.
There is a comfort and peace that comes when Jesus joins you on your way that you won’t want to let go of.
30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight.
In that moment, as Jesus broke bread and gave thanks, they were jolted into the reality of who the stranger was. It was the One they were grieving, the One they had set their hopes on, the One that in that moment, they realized they could follow forever.
- When Jesus walks with you, He will open your eyes to receive a full revelation of Himself.
Do you need a jolt of reality? Do you need to see Jesus in your midst? Do you need to recognize that He has been walking with you all along? Do you need to see what is really going on in your circumstance? When they recognized that it was Jesus in their midst, every wrong thought they had dwelled on, every false feeling they had been clinging to, was radically changed. Seeing Jesus made the difference in their doubt, their disappointment, and their defeated outlook.
One important detail of this story that I don’t want us to miss is that revelation came, help came, a reordering of their story came because they invited Jesus to spend time with them. Verse 29 tells us that they asked Jesus to stay with them.
Deeper revelation of who Jesus is will only come, the kind of revelation that brings liberation from our pain and heartache, when we invite Him to stay with us. I guess what I am trying to say is that Jesus wants to walk with you, but you have to want His company to benefit from His presence.
Well, the text tells us that Jesus disappeared from their sight, and after that, they had something new to process.
32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” 33 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem.
There was an immediate change in their lives. Because of time with Jesus, they were on the road back to Jerusalem. They had tried to distance themselves from reminders of life and time with Jesus. They had tried to get away from their pain, but meeting with Jesus pointed them again to the purpose for which they had been called to follow Him. They joined the others again. They reaffirmed their place in the Christ-community again.
There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34 and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” 35 Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.
Those two dejected disciples found themselves reconnecting with the people they had disconnected from. Time with Jesus led them back to His people. Time with Jesus led them back to being part of the group of Christ-followers who had also experienced the Resurrected Lord. Time with Jesus led them to testify to the Resurrection for themselves and reunited them with those who would go on to preach the Good News.
- When Jesus walks with you, you will rediscover your purpose and identity.
Are you trying to walk away from some painful event, some broken experience? Has it been difficult to see Jesus in the midst of your story? Have you been looking for Him? Have you believed in faith that God has a plan greater than what you can see? That He IS working even if it is tough to find evidence for His workings? Do you see the confidence that other people have in Christ, but struggle to believe in Him for yourself? What place does His Word have in your life? How many times this last week did you stop to read a Psalm or a Gospel story? Have you welcomed Him and invited Him to stay with you?
Those disciples on the Emmaus Road were grieving that something had ended. Life with Jesus the way they knew it HAD ended. He would be ascending to the Father, and He would send the Holy Spirit to live in the hearts of His followers, to equip and empower them from the inside out to live out His life here on earth. It was bigger and better than anything they could have imagined. Maybe one take away for us is this: There had to be an ending before there could be a new beginning.
Jesus’ earthly ministry and life had to end before sin could be atoned for, before death could be conquered, before Satan could be defeated, and before the Holy Spirit could be poured out and the Church could be born. Jesus, the Resurrected Lord, was inviting those two disciples to a new beginning with Him.
What new beginning might be on the other side of some pain for you? How is Jesus trying to insert Himself into your life right now? How does your purpose and identity need to be reclaimed or reshaped? In what ways do your eyes need to be opened to fully see Jesus? Jesus wants to walk with you today. Will you share your journey with Him?
