There is an old Roman road leading out of Jerusalem, downward toward some small towns. Some of the stones that originally paved the road still my be seen. It was along that road, two thousand years ago, that two disappointed, perhaps disillusioned, men walked. As they walked home they discussed the events of the day. They reasoned together. They wanted to know the truth. They discussed Yeshua, who’d died before the Passover supper. Was He really the Messiah? Others had asked that question a few years before. What should be done? Was there another that would save Isreal from Roman domination, establish Israel as a nation again. They sought the truth.
They were confused. Yeshua had died. Yet earlier in the day they’d found out that the tomb in which He lay was now empty. Furthermore, angels had declared Him to be alive. Yet they hadn’t seen Him.
I think about these two followers of Yeshua. They’d been with Yeshua for some time. They’d known Him. Yet they were doubting. But even in their confusion, they sought the truth. It gives us great hope, does it not? That even when we have trouble focusing, trouble in holding on to our small faith, that if we truly seek the truth. . .
“Yeshua himself drew near and went with them.”
Surely you’ve read the story found in Luke 24:13-34, The Road to Emmaus. There’s a lot in these few sentences. There are a number of things that have always seemed to stick out to me. One is that Yeshua walked along next to them and they didn’t recognize Him. And he questioned them on what they knew, what they thought, about the day’s events, about the Messiah. Then Yeshua explained things to them.
“And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” (v27)
Another point that sticks with me is how they invited this stranger into their home. They made supper. And it wasn’t until Yeshua did something that would be very familiar to them that they realised Who sat there, Who’d walked with them. Who’d talked with them.
“[Yeshua] took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them.” (v30)
I’m encouraged by this short story th.}at Luke tells. I hope it is so to y’all.
(I’ve relied upon commentary by Albert Barnes, Barnes’s Notes, for the mindset of the followers as they talked together.)
JonahzSong 