Have you walked the road to Emmaus? Probably you have. Probably we all have at one time or another. It’s the road of grief. The reference here is to the two friends travelling to a village, Emmaus, not far from Jerusalem. It’s after Jesus has been crucified; he’s dead and his body lies in a tomb.
The account is found in Luke 24:13-35. But first a little review is helpful. On the evening Jesus ate his last meal with his disciples was the same evening they walked to the Garden of Gethsemane at the foot of the Mount of Olives. Jesus prayed while there. Still there and in the early hours of the next day Jesus is arrested, brought before the high priest and then to Pilate by the early morning hours. He is nailed to the cross that same morning and is dead by 3 p.m. that afternoon. Accounts of the details are in Matthew 26-27, Mark 14-15, Luke 22-23, and John 13, 18-19.
Events took on a life of their own. Friends, family, and disciples had to have been shocked. Their beliefs had to have been shaken to the very core of their being. It’s no wonder these two on their way to Emmaus were trying to make sense of the whole thing. A stranger joins them and asks what they are talking about.
Cleopas, one of the two, is surprised that he (the stranger) doesn’t know what has happened. The two then bring him up to date on all that has taken place. While the discussion is going on, he is invited to go with them to Emmaus which he does. They wind up their explanations telling him that now the body is gone, some are saying that they have seen angels and Jesus is alive.
The stranger says, “O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? (Verse 25,26)” This is when Pastor Josh says, “Slow of heart, the heart has reason that reason doesn’t know. It’s faith. The world lives by sight but the just live by faith. Society, as a whole, is blind to the reality of Jesus.”
It wasn’t until they were eating, and the stranger blessed the bread that they realized this was Jesus, the risen Christ. They drop everything, hurry back to Jerusalem to tell the eleven what has happened (Verses 31-35). O happy day! We serve a risen Christ! Our road to Emmaus is brief and oh, so transitory. And we have a risen savior who takes the journey with us. Thank you, God.
The account is found in Luke 24:13-35. But first a little review is helpful. On the evening Jesus ate his last meal with his disciples was the same evening they walked to the Garden of Gethsemane at the foot of the Mount of Olives. Jesus prayed while there. Still there and in the early hours of the next day Jesus is arrested, brought before the high priest and then to Pilate by the early morning hours. He is nailed to the cross that same morning and is dead by 3 p.m. that afternoon. Accounts of the details are in Matthew 26-27, Mark 14-15, Luke 22-23, and John 13, 18-19.
Events took on a life of their own. Friends, family, and disciples had to have been shocked. Their beliefs had to have been shaken to the very core of their being. It’s no wonder these two on their way to Emmaus were trying to make sense of the whole thing. A stranger joins them and asks what they are talking about.
Cleopas, one of the two, is surprised that he (the stranger) doesn’t know what has happened. The two then bring him up to date on all that has taken place. While the discussion is going on, he is invited to go with them to Emmaus which he does. They wind up their explanations telling him that now the body is gone, some are saying that they have seen angels and Jesus is alive.
The stranger says, “O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? (Verse 25,26)” This is when Pastor Josh says, “Slow of heart, the heart has reason that reason doesn’t know. It’s faith. The world lives by sight but the just live by faith. Society, as a whole, is blind to the reality of Jesus.”
It wasn’t until they were eating, and the stranger blessed the bread that they realized this was Jesus, the risen Christ. They drop everything, hurry back to Jerusalem to tell the eleven what has happened (Verses 31-35). O happy day! We serve a risen Christ! Our road to Emmaus is brief and oh, so transitory. And we have a risen savior who takes the journey with us. Thank you, God.
