While the lessons from the Emmaus Road encounter with Jesus are many, there is one that is often overlooked. Having appeared first to Mary Magdalene and other women, then probably to Peter, the next people to see the resurrected Lord were two disciples we know nothing of, apart from this encounter. Luke 24:13-21
Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him. And He said to them, “What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?” Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, “Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?” And He said to them, “What things?” So they said to Him, “The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened. The oft overlooked lesson in this encounter is that these men had lost hope. Even after all the time they had listened to Jesus’ teaching, the reason they had lost their hope was misguided. “We were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel”, meaning they thought that Jesus’ mission was to get the Jews out from under Roman dominance. Yet, despite their confusion, Jesus still chose to engage these two sad and hopeless disciples. He did not go first to the eleven disciples. He did not appear to the Council who had condemned Him. He did not appear to Pilate who tried to wash his hands of any guilt in the matter of Jesus’ death. Instead, He appeared to two men who were in despair because they had lost hope. As the trio walked along, the two men explained to Jesus that some women had claimed to have had an angelic encounter after finding the tomb empty and no sign of the body. Jesus then said to the men: Luke 24:25-27
“O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. As the group continued their walk Jesus acted as though He would keep going and the two “constrained Him” to stay with them, as it was growing late. Jesus acquiesced, and sat down with them for a meal. It was then that their eyes were opened to Who their traveling companion was: Luke 24:30-35
Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight. And they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?” So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread. While the men’s hearts may have burned within them as Jesus expounded the Scriptures, it was the intimate act of breaking bread that opened their eyes to who He was. This event happened at the darkest moment in world history, at a time when God’s chosen people were being oppressed and the Holy One of Israel had been wrongfully charged and executed. It was a time of remarkable prophetic fulfillment that many, who should have known better, were blind to. We live in just such a time today. Lawlessness is abounding, good is called evil and evil is called good, and the prophetic scriptures are largely ignored and often misconstrued. This is a time when many are walking through life thinking things were going to be different, and are now struggling to maintain hope and combat the sadness associated with such a time as this. In these last of the last days, we need to remember that the Lord is walking through all this with us. We are not alone. He said He would never leave us nor forsake us. Yet, many today, like the two dejected disciples, are thinking; “I thought the Lord was going to redeem us by now.” The Lord would say to us all, “Did not the Scriptures tell us things would be like this when He is about to return?” The two disciples, when they realized who their traveling companion was, reversed their direction and went back to Jerusalem excited to tell others of their encounter with the risen Lord. If this season of history has you down, you can do the same. Remember that things aren’t falling apart; things are falling into place! You may not have physically seen the resurrected Lord like the two on the road to Emmaus, but the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in you because of your personal encounter with Him. Get back to telling people about your risen Lord, and, remember, Jesus is coming for us soon! It will do wonders for restoring and maintaining hope at such a time as this.
Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus. | 
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