Do You Know My Jesus?
The mood must have been tense that Sunday afternoon. Very few people had fully grappled with what had happened just days before, and it didn’t help that more rumors about more strange events that morning were starting to spread. Everyone was emotionally exhausted, everyone was physically exhausted, and nobody knew if there would be more innocents targeted by the mob’s fury, or who would be next if there were. It’s no wonder Cleopas and his friend decided to get out of dodge.
After all, things hadn’t always been this bad. Just a week ago there was rejoicing in the streets over this great Prophet of the people. For years, His words and deeds had inspired His disciples to believe in something greater than themselves, in the power of God to keep His promises. By Cleopas’s own admission, he was one of many who had hoped that this would be the one who would redeem Israel, to save them from themselves and from their external oppressors. That hope, that inspiration, that joy were all now crushed, and even as word of His body being stolen was making the rounds, Cleopas and company were reeling from the fact that it had all been taken in an instant.
So much for following Jesus.
And now, as if all this inner turmoil wasn’t enough, here’s a guy who doesn’t even know what happened! Whether you loved Him or hated Him, Jesus’s death was the talk of the town that weekend. You simply didn’t travel into or out of Jerusalem without knowing what had happened and being told some version of why. When met with someone leaving Jerusalem alongside them who knew nothing of recent events, Cleopas and his friend express immediate shock. This stranger is insistent – he really seems to know nothing about what had happened. Finally, perhaps begrudgingly, the two explain everything: Jesus’s importance to them, the power with which He preached, His condemnation, His death, and even the rumors that His tomb was found to be empty that morning. They lay out everything they know, leaving no room for questions. They don’t get questions… but they do get a rebuttal:
“And He said to them, ‘O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into His glory?’ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.” (Luke 24:25-27)
As the stranger talks, Cleopas and his friend listen, and as they listen, they become more and more convinced that what they are being told is true. Maybe Jesus’s death did have more of a purpose than they had thought. Maybe there was still hope that the redemption of Israel was coming. Maybe – just maybe – there was something to this rumor about an empty tomb.
Upon reaching their destination, they still have questions, but what they know for sure is that they want to keep this guy around. If there’s truth to what He’s saying, they want to know about it. After some convincing, He agrees to stay and eat with them. They even ask Him to be the one to bless the food before the meal, and when He does, their eyes are opened. There was a reason this stranger had caused their hearts to burn with hope again on the road to Emmaus: He was no stranger at all.
Are you having a hard time seeing the path forward? Are you scared of the direction the world is going? Are you discouraged with how things are going in your spiritual life or at your congregation? Are you struggling to hold onto the hope that you once had for redemption? If so, consider the two challenging and comforting things that Cleopas and his friend learned on the road to Emmaus that day. The first is that there is a difference between knowing things about Jesus and knowing Jesus. The second is that the rumors of an empty tomb were – and are – more than just rumors.
“And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, ‘The Lord has risen indeed!’” ~ Luke 24:33-34a
AUTHOR: Luke Tatum
