All those dashed hopes and disappointments piling up, overwhelming you - the plans you had made, whether it’s a mission trip, or a holiday, or your wedding, and the date comes and it’s not happening as you had hoped. You expected to be in one place, on top of the world, but instead you’re in the doldrums. And it’s confusing, and it’s hurtful.
As you walk along the road to Emmaus, you’re in good company. You see, we imagine how great it would have been to be among the first of Jesus’ disciples. Imagine being there as he performed those miracles; and to hear his teaching; and to be there on that first Easter day. And yet here we find two of the disciples, who had been there in Jerusalem on that first Easter day, and they’re heading home, away from the action.
They were in Jerusalem, they had heard the tomb was empty, they had heard that Jesus was alive, they had heard the good news, but you wouldn’t think it. They trudge home; hopes crushed; dreams fading; they’re confused, hurt, and lost. They talk it out, but they fail to understand.
But as they walk, they’re joined by a stranger - or at least, they think he’s a stranger. They were kept from recognising him. They don’t know who he is. But he wants to know what they’re talking about.
They stop, downcast, and can’t get over the fact that someone who had been in Jerusalem wouldn’t have heard about what had happened. Has he been living under a rock? Well, not quite - he’s been behind the rock, in the tomb, which is now empty, but he just asks, ‘What things?’
Here’s what: They know the full facts - Jesus of Nazareth, a powerful prophet, who was crucified. And it’s there that their hope died with Jesus: ‘We had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.’
They expected Jesus to redeem Israel by being a kick out the Romans kind of conquering king Christ. Instead, he had been killed by the Romans and it seemed that the Jesus story was finished. Their hope certainly was.
And now, they’re more confused. You see, they know about the empty tomb; they have heard the message of the angels; they’ve heard that the tomb is definitely empty, but that their friends haven’t seen Jesus. (And they say this to Jesus!)
Have you been walking the Emmaus road? Dealing with disappointments? Any disappointment is hard to come to terms with, but it’s surely even more disappointing when it comes to God. You trust him, and then something happens you didn’t expect, and you wonder what’s going on. And so you set out for Emmaus, you decide to give up and go home.
Now, if you were Jesus, what would you do at this point? If it was me, I would have said, look, it’s fine, it’s me, I’m here, it’s all ok. But God’s ways are not our ways. And Jesus meets them in their confusion and disappointment, and helps them to see him in two ways:
First of all, they see Jesus in the Scriptures. Jesus says that they are foolish, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. He asks the question that we heard earlier: ‘Did not the Christ have to suffer all these things and then enter his glory?’
Suffering and then glory. The path was laid out in advance. And so Jesus helps them to grasp it: ‘And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.’
Can you imagine that? A Bible study led by Jesus?! As he talks about the promise of the serpent-crusher in Genesis 3, and the Passover Lamb in Exodus 12, and the Scapegoat in Leviticus 16, and the bronze serpent lifted up in the wilderness in Numbers 21, and the prophet like Moses in Deuteronomy 18, and the suffering servant of Isaiah 53, and the sign of Jonah, and the promise of resurrection in Psalm 16, and so much more!
God had promised beforehand that it would be like this - so the wheels hadn’t come off the bus. They just had to see Jesus in the scriptures, all pointing to him and his mission to truly redeem Israel - not by military might, but as the crucified Christ.
And as he did so, their hearts burned within them. It wasn’t that they were having heartburn, that they needed Gaviscon, because of something they ate. No, their hearts were burning within them, as they grasped God’s word and God’s purpose - as they heard God speaking to them through the Scriptures, and they saw Jesus in the scriptures.
But then, they see Jesus with them. It’s getting late, and they’re coming into Emmaus, and home beckons. And they insist the stranger stops with them.
And as they sit down to eat, suddenly the guest acts like he’s the host. ‘He took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them.’ And suddenly, the stranger’s actions are very familiar. It’s what he had done at the feeding of the five thousand; and it’s what he had done at the Last Supper - took, gave thanks, broke, gave. And in that moment, they recognise him; they seem him; and he disappears from their sight.
And suddenly, those downcast, disappointed, confused disciples are transformed! They quickly set out, back along the same road, but the road from Emmaus is one of joy, as they rush to share the good news that Jesus is alive!
Are you walking on the Emmaus road today? In these days, when things don’t go the way we planned, when we fail to understand what God is doing, when we think all is a disaster, we need to see Jesus. To see Jesus in the scriptures - to see what God has promised (and what he hasn’t promised!); and to know that Jesus is with us, even if we can’t see him right now.
As you walk the Emmaus road, look for Jesus - in his word, and in his presence with you.
Lord Jesus,
may we know your presence with us,
today, and always. Amen.
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