A Memorable Journey

Many of us can think back to a special vacation that involves moving through some spectacular scenery, perhaps accompanied by some good friends. These experiences are planted in our minds for years to come, and we continue to go back and cherish these memories. In the passage for today, we find a couple travelling on the road to their home in the tiny village of Emmaus, an unknown traveller comes and walks along with them. It must have been a journey they never forgot.

Their mood is one of intense sadness and disappointment because their hopes had been shattered (v 21). They are talking about Jesus and the events leading to his crucifixion. “We had hoped that he was the one…”, they told their travelling companion, but now it was all over. Christ had done less for them than they had expected.

We identify with these sentiments when our own journey includes hopes that never materialize. It may be the hope to have our own children, the expectations of a promising career, or the goal of retiring by age 55. We prayed and placed these desires in God’s hands, but he has done less for us than what we expected.

The traveller opens the Scriptures for them (v 27) and then opens their eyes to his identity as the risen Christ (v 31). The solution to our disappointment so often lies in the Scripture, properly interpreted. When they reach their home and invite this traveller in, they realize it is the risen Christ who has been with them each step of the journey.

In our spiritual pilgrimage, God often feels absent and Christ seems distant, but he is with us each day of our earthly journey, including today. When we realize this, we can find him in the Scriptures since he is the key and integrating factor to the story (v 27). We then experience our hearts being strangely warmed by an inner fire (v 32). It is the heart dried out by trouble that burns the best.

Respond in Prayer

I come to you, Holy Father and risen Christ and thank you that you will never leave me or forsake me. Open my heart to the Scriptures today so that I can meet you there. Give me strength for the journey and reveal yourself to me in new and unusual ways.

Roy Matheson