MIF 13:2 (Mar-Feb 1981)
On The Emmaus Road
“They talked together of all these things which had happened … and while they reasoned, Jesus Himself drew near, and went with them” (Luke 24:14-15) .
Of the several appearances the Lord Jesus made to His followers during the forty days after His resurrection, Luke records one of the most interesting and dramatic. Imagine walking along a country road so engrossed in a conversation about the Lord that you didn’t recognize Him when He joined you and started talking with you! In spite of the disappointment that followed the Lord’s death, the two disciples still believed Him to be a prophet; but their hopes of His being the Messiah were shattered. They were also mystified by the reports of His resurrection.
Their Companion first rebuked them gently for their lack of understanding and slowness to believe the Scriptures which told that the events of that first Easter day were a necessary phase of His Messianic character.
Our own failure to understand, combined with our preoccupation with matters of business, our way of living, and personal matters, puts us in the same position as the two on the Emmaus road. And what He taught them He would also have us know, that if we will only open our hearts and minds to the revelation which we have in the Scriptures, we will find Him ready to comfort, lead, and teach us through the Holy Spirit.
The old fire in the hearts of the two disciples was rekindled as He talked to them. Perhaps if we listened more, we too would have our hearts warmed as He walks and talks with us, for He has promised us who know Him as Lord and Saviour, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Heb. 13:5).
— Arthur F. Wilder