Three days after the death and burial of Jesus, two of his disciples were walking on the road to Emmaus. They were talking and discussing the recent events in Jerusalem when a third person joined them. Unknown to both of them, it was Jesus. But for some reason, they didn’t recognize Him.
When I first read this story, I remember feeling sad about the imagery it painted in my head. Two lonely men, walking on a lonely road. Their Master had just died and they were confused and disappointed. It was the end of their hopes and dreams of the liberation of Israel. Somehow, I feel their pain.
While reading my devotional today, I realized a few things. One is the feeling of gloom that was slowly replaced by hope and faith as Jesus walked along with them. There are times in our lives when we feel so alone and there’s no one to turn to. In those times, Jesus comes along and walks with us, whether we realize it or not. It is such a comfort that God is never too busy to be on our side when we need Him. He even stays close even if it takes us a while to recognize Him.
The second thing I noticed is how despair and disappointment blind us. These people have been with Jesus for quite some time already. They’ve heard Him preach for probably a hundred times. How can they not recognize His voice? How can they not know? Why did it take them almost a day to finally realize it was Jesus they were talking to?
Part of the answer is that they were not expecting Him to come back alive. They heard Him say He was coming back but they didn’t realize He meant in three days’ time! The reason why we don’t see God move in our times of troubles is because we don’t expect Him to. We pretend to pray and give everything to God but the truth is we simply mouth the words while we allow ourselves to be sucked up in all our needless worrying.
The third thing I realized from the story is that the disicples were actually going on a wrong direction. In times of trials, we are not supposed to turn our back on our brothers who are suffering as we do. At the same time, we are not supposed to walk away from the fellowship of believers when we are in trouble.
A hundred and twenty were gathered in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, at a time when the death of Jesus (and proof of His resurrection) confounded them. These people didn’t walk away. They stayed and strengthened one another. They continued to hold on when they were at their weakest.