One On One: 100 Days With Jesus--PASSIONНамуна

  Emmaus: The One who changed everything      

It’s Sunday afternoon. A lot had happened in the last 72 hours: Passover. Jesus’ trials, His crucifixion, and burial. Sabbath. The death of their dreams. 

Two disillusioned disciples leave Jerusalem behind them, along with their hope that Jesus was their Messiah. They would pave the road with questions for the next seven-miles home, the same way you process something hard as you walk around your neighborhood with a friend. So distracted, they didn’t notice the guy who joined them on the sidewalk. 

For His own reasons, Jesus kept them from recognizing Him. “What are you all talking about?” He asked, perhaps with a playful spirit. One of the disciples, Cleopas, said, “Are you the only one in Jerusalem who doesn’t know about this?” 

Funny. Jesus could have showed up at Pilate’s door that afternoon. He could have walked into the Temple and shook the arrogance out of the chief priests who orchestrated His death. A sky full of angels could have announced Jesus’ reentry.

Instead, Jesus takes a Sunday walk with two depressed disciples. They believed He was the Christ. That morning, they may have even heard the women returning from Jesus’ tomb say, “It’s empty!” Could it be? Did Jesus rise from the dead like He said He would? If they had believed that, then why are they walking home? 

Cleopas and friend walked along, processing their doubts with this stranger. But instead of scolding them, Jesus taught them. The miles flew by as He opened their eyes to why the Savior had to die. He pointed them to beautiful pictures of the Messiah throughout the Old Testament. 

In Genesis, the Messiah is Father Abraham’s ram caught in the bushes. In Exodus, He is the fire by night. In Ruth, He is the Kinsman Redeemer. On through history and through the Law and the prophets, the song of Messiah came to life. As the sun sunk into the horizon, Jesus strung all the notes together for them like a symphony and the disciples recognized the faintest familiar melody in their head. 

Of course, they didn’t want the music to end. When they arrived home, Cleopas invited Jesus to stay the night. It wasn’t until they sat at the dinner table and Jesus broke the bread and gave thanks that the whole reality unveiled itself in front of them. The Messiah had been with them all along. Perhaps they saw the scars on His wrists, perhaps it was the way He prayed for the bread, perhaps Jesus just dropped the curtain from their eyes for a moment as He disappeared—who knows except that seeing Jesus changed everything. 

Their dinner untouched, the disciples jumped from the table and ran back to Jerusalem. The mini marathon felt like nothing to them—they were fueled with a message: Jesus is alive, people!

Do you know what this means? Jesus walks with us. He talks with us. He’s not left us as orphans. Like with the men on the sidewalk home, Jesus gives us enough hope to keep us from giving in to our sadness. Enough of Himself after heartache to help us go on living, go on believing. He has not left us. This changes everything!

Tomorrow: One on one with Jesus by the lake