Wednesday, April 23, 2025 – Easter Journey: The Road Less Travelled
“That same day two
of Jesus’ followers were walking to the village of Emmaus, seven miles from
Jerusalem. As they walked along, they were talking about everything that had
happened. As they talked and discussed these things, Jesus himself suddenly
came and began walking with them. But God kept them from recognizing him.” (Luke 24: 13 – 16, New Living Translation)
So it was as the two disciples trekked
to Emmaus after the Crucifixion. As they talked about the what-ifs, maybes, failure
of the Jesus movement, all now seemed lost because of Jesus’ death on the
cross. It was time to go home, to go back to their ordinary lives, to shake off
the dust of Jerusalem and resume their lives. Heavy-hearted, disappointed, shocked, discouraged, confused, they took the frequently
travelled road to home, back in Emmaus. There was nothing left for them in
Jerusalem, anymore.
It would appear that the resurrected
reality of Jesus Christ was elusive. Mary Magdalene didn’t recognize him in the
Garden. These two had no inkling who it was now walking with them. It is hard
to say why God would want to keep such a marvellous thing so mysterious so as not
to be immediately recognized. But sometimes, we need to be prepared before we
can fully understand and appreciate the Resurrected Lord. Resurrection defies
the imagination, transforms our sense of reality and rationality, re-invents
history and the past. So we need to be taught, informed, brought to our new
senses slowly, helped to see a new path. “Then Jesus took them through the writings of
Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things
concerning himself.” (24: 27)
But sometimes, words and
scripture, alone, still leave us a step away from recognition. “As they sat
down to eat, he took the bread and blessed it. Then he broke it and gave it to
them. Suddenly, their eyes were opened, and they recognized him.” (24: 30
-31) It is in the familiar, physical interaction with Jesus that we recognize
him. It is in the relationship with a living Lord that we see him for who he
is. It is when he feeds us, nurtures us, cares for us, and interacts with us that
we comprehend that a New Story is beginning and we are in it. The road less travelled
is one of faith, joy, assurance and hope.
Because of their experience, the
two disciples change direction. This, too, is the power of the Resurrected
Lord. They head back to Jerusalem with their Good news.
The city they were running away from becomes their destination because the Lord
had appeared to them. The Resurrected
Jesus empowers us to face our fears, our worries, our failures, our discouragement,
our doubts and confusion. We can be emboldened to walk back to where once there
had been a cross, death and a tomb and now walk by a whole new light. “And
within the hour they were on their way back to Jerusalem. There they found the
eleven disciples and the others who had gathered with them, who said, ‘The Lord
has really risen! He appeared to Peter.’” (24:33)
One
of the great lines of scripture comes from Paul who was recounting the
appearances of the Resurrected Jesus in 1 Corinthians, first Peter, then the
other disciples, then a crowd of 500 people, them James and the apostles and
then Paul wrote: “Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to
me.” (1 Corinthians 15: 8, New Revised Standard Version) May Jesus appear
to each and every one of us, whatever road we are on, whatever detour we have
taken, whatever we are trying to run away from, whatever direction we are being
pulled. Jesus walks with us, whether we
know it or not. He is right there beside us, ready to reveal himself and show
us the way.
I walked today where Jesus walked,
In days of long ago.
I wandered down each path He knew,
Those little lanes, they have not changed,
A sweet peace fills the air.
I walked today where Jesus walked…
I walked today where Jesus walked,
And felt Him close to me.
Dale
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