A Surprise Visitor
March 26, 2024
This was no ordinary visitor, but the two friends didn’t know that.
This is how the story began. It was Sunday and two men were walking to a town called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. A seven-mile walk gave them a lot of time to discuss things and they had some very troubling things to discuss. As they walked and talked, a man--whom they did not recognize--came up beside them and began talking to them.
“What are you discussing with each other as you walk along?”
They paused for a moment and with sad faces asked him: “What? Are you a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know what has happened there in recent days?”
“What things?”
They described what had happened to Jesus of Nazareth, that they had considered him a prophet, powerful as a speaker and powerful in the works that he did. But the chief priests and other religious leaders had handed him over to be sentenced to die and they crucified him.
“We had hoped that he was going to be the one to rescue Israel.” They said this had happened three days ago.
What’s more, they said, some women had gone to the tomb and there was no body. They had seen angels who told them Jesus was alive!
Their surprise visitor responded by saying: “How foolish you are!” He told them they should have believed what was written in the Scriptures. He then explained to them verses from the Old Testament that spoke of Christ’s coming and the necessity of His suffering in order to “enter into His glory.”
By this time, the two men had reached their destination, and they invited their visitor to stay the night with them. He acted as though he was going to continue his journey, but they insisted and so he went in with them.
They prepared a meal and then their guest assumed the role of host and took the bread, thanked God for it, broke it and began to give it to them. That’s when their eyes were opened and they recognized who their visitor was—Jesus himself! And that’s when Jesus disappeared from them.
They asked each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?’”
Guess what they did? They had to tell the other disciples! So they took that seven-mile trek back to Jerusalem, probably in the dark. When they found the disciples, they were greeted with even more news—Jesus had appeared to Peter! And it gets better! As the two told of their experience, Jesus himself stood among them. “Peace be with you.” Though they were still frightened (think of the events of the previous days and you can understand their fear), Jesus encouraged them that it was He, ate some broiled fish, and opened up the Scriptures so they could understand what had happened.
All this happened in just one day!
Here are some points to consider:
The disciples didn’t have the faith to believe that Jesus was alive. Things didn’t happen as they had hoped and so they lost hope. Sometimes the timing of things doesn’t work for us either and we can easily lose hope.
Jesus had compassion on them and came to walk along with them. Jesus has compassion on us as we walk with life’s disappointments and distresses.
He uses unique ways to communicate. We must keep our minds open to the possibility that He is the one giving us the message we are hearing.
He gave them a lesson from verses from the Old Testament that spoke of Christ’s coming. Wouldn’t it be great to have heard that lesson—from the very one whom it was about! Jesus told us He would send the Holy Spirit whom He called “the Spirit of truth.” The Holy Spirit’s role would be just that--to open the Scriptures to us. We must expect it!
The friends invited Him in to stay the night. He sat down to eat with them. This story reminds me of a story. As an 8-year-old, I can still remember Mother’s excitement when she found this framed prayer and brought it home for our dining room on 711 Adams Street, Macon, Georgia.
“Christ is the head of this home,
the unseen guest at every meal,
the silent listener to every conversation.”
When we experience Jesus’ presence, it is no ordinary experience! May we experience His life in some unique and new way this Easter. All of this happened in just one day!
You can read the story in Luke 24:13-49.