A Road Often Traveled
On that first Easter afternoon two despairing and disillusioned guys slogged along toward home, weighted down with a heart full of emptiness. And brokenness. It was the worst time of their lives. The place where they were going is geographically obscure to us today. A road to obscurity.
Only God truly knows where Emmaus was. Whether you have been to Jerusalem or not, you probably have been on the road to Emmaus. Perhaps you have traveled it more than once. A road of hurt and helplessness. Questions and fear. The Emmaus road is a place of walking, wandering, waiting, and wondering. And it is difficult to walk when your dreams are shattered.
The naive and unbelievably uninformed stranger who drew near them must have been from another world. How could he know so little about Jesus and the dramatic events that had recently smashed their hopes and their lives? Perhaps the stranger even irritated Cleopas & his unnamed friend at first. Surely they simply wanted to share their grief together, but not with a stranger. How could an uninformed and uninvolved stranger understand their suffering?
The stranger proceeded to open the word of God to the two in despair. The Emmaus explanation of scripture must have been one marvelous masterpiece. For the stranger was the Master Himself, their loving Lord, the Shepherd who had drawn near to the wandering, lost sheep.
Jesus had put a fire into the two disciples hearts, now the guest becomes the host, serves them bread, and opens their eyes. Suddenly the One they failed to recognize in their storm has become more distinct and recognizable than they had ever known.
Was it the scars the two saw when Jesus broke the bread that caused the wonderful revelation? Maybe that had something to do with it, but it was not the main catalyst. Fact is, Jesus had deliberately obscured Himself and now He deliberately opens their eyes and reveals Himself. When Thomas heard the voice of Jesus, he no longer had to see and touch the scars, but cried, "My lord and my God!" The two weary ones on the Emmaus road believed because of the words of Jesus and the touch of the Spirit of God.
May your road to Emmaus turn from obscurity and broken dreams into hope and wonderment. May your road to nowhere turn into a road to somewhere. And Someone. wreg
Great post! You know your brother spoke to us Sunday morning of the two headed to Emmaus... You're not twins are you??? You know, that instinctively know what each other is thinking and doing? :) Anyway...
ReplyDeleteI particularly liked the paragraph where you said, "Now the guest becomes the host." Isn't this typical of when Christ encounters us? We are on our own journeys to wherever, we are the captains of our own ship; but when Christ confounds our lives he moves from obscure stranger to the Host of our life. Brilliant. I never have thought of this in the context of this story. Thank you.
Weird that Jesus is often the stranger....
ReplyDeleteThis is good writing and makes sense. Thanks.