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"We were hoping that he was the one who was
come to set Israel free." Luke 24:21.
In a few telling words spoken sorrowfully, with the shoulders
shrug of and the sigh of despair, we hear of a great expectation
that had turned to grief and gloom. The two men felt defeated,
dejected and dismayed for their dreams had become illusions,
hopes no better than fantasies. It is a picture of men broken
in spirit, bereft of expectations.
They will never forget their times with Jesus. The experiences
they had with Him; their amazement at his extraordingary gifts
of thought, speech, action; His healings, incredible, miraculous
and beneficial to people suffering from loss of sight, sense
and movement; His goodness, gentleness, sensitivity and sympathy
were unforgettable. No man ever spoke or acted like this man.
Because they had felt something of the spirit of Jesus, been
captivated by His vision of God, and of people motivated by
their faith in Him, they would never be as they were before
Jesus came into their lives. The sight of Jesus and those
thrilling days with Him would be recalled easily and frequently.
They were going home very likely to a hostile reception.
Their friends and neighbours would taunt them for doing what
they refused to do, follow a loser. As they walked Jesus talked
with them - it was after His resurrection - and he brought
light to their darkness, joy for their sorrow. At first they
failed to recognise Him. Why this was so has been answered
in several ways. One suggestion was that as they walked towards
the sunset their eyes were dazzled by the setting sun so that
they failed to see Jesus properly. Naive as the suggestion
appears it is the reminder that the Christian is not walking
towards the sunset but towards the sunrise; not into a night
which falls but into a day which dawns; not towards despair
but into hope.
In the Emmaus incident Jesus showed that the complex was
made simple when He explained it. They said, "We were
hoping that He was the one who was come to set Israel free."
He told them that Israel's freedom and that humanity is assured
by the supreme act of God in the redemption of the world,
and He was the redeemer. What had happened at Calvary meant
that "God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself."
The incident has an illustration of the courteous Jesus.
He was about to go on when they reached a stopping place but
willingly He accepted their invitation to eat with them. Jesus
never forces Himself on anyone. It was when He broke the bread
that the two recognised Him. It was in an ordinary house,
at an ordinary meal with ordinary people.
These men were not present in the Upper Room when Jesus broke
the bread and poured the wine to institute the sacrament of
the Holy Communion, very likely they had been there when He
broke the bread and served the 5,000. The ordinances of the
incident is the reminder that Jesus meets with people as they
go about their ordinary lives and not just on the occasional
moments of spiritual ecstacy some experience. The sense of
the presence of Jesus is often with people as they go about
their everyday business. Because very much of our lives is
"run-of-the-mill" we meet Jesus, if we are to meet
Him, in our exciting lives.
When the two realised that Jesus had been raised from the
dead they rushed to tell the other disciples of their meeting
with Him. They, too, had been visited by Him. The Christian
faith is always for export. It is to be shared. There is no
such thing as a solitary Christian.
It was the realisation that "Jesus is Alive" that
turned frightened disciples into fearless witnesses for Him.
It was the beginning fo the church of the resurrection, of
the living Christ, God is real to us through Him and by Him
our relationship with God is safe and secure.
A prayer:
"Risen Lord, you who walked with your two disciples
on the Emmaus Road, and stayed with theim in their home,
be our companion as we journey through life and stay with
us in our homes to the end of our days; for your love's
sake. Amen."
Rev. Canon Dr. S.E. Long
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