Your Road to Emmaus

The followers of Jesus Christ experienced a trauma that shook them to their core. It was hard to watch their precious Lord, crucified so horrifically. They were consumed by what their senses experienced, and the devastation distracted them from the Words that Jesus had previously spoken as He prepared them for this moment. They were trying to make sense of everything, leaning on their understanding. But just as Jesus’ death rocked their world, He also restored them to a place of peace, opening their understanding to truths that He had taught. This was their journey, and it is often ours…. We all have a road to Emmaus. (Luke 24:13-35)

Like the two disciples who walked the road to Emmaus, our minds can cause our gaze to be focused away from the Lord. Our thoughts and perceptions may be distorted by circumstances that have captured our attention; circumstances that we don’t fully understand, but we experience with great emotion. Magnifying the circumstance can shift our attention away from God’s truths. This will negatively impact our emotions. All the while, Jesus is the Son of God, the Light of the world. Our understanding must be awakened to truth! We must remember Who Jesus is and Who we belong to. We must remember His truth!

Though this world may present darkness, and our minds may be clouded, Jesus brings light; He is Light (Isaiah 9:2; Isaiah 42:6-9; John 1:4,5). He gives us clarity. But like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, we must have ears to hear Jesus speak. We must give Him our full attention. We must invite Jesus into our lives, into every situation. We must allow Him to capture our gaze. And when we do, everything changes. The circumstance may be the same for that moment, but we change as He stirs our heart to look at Him. These men who encountered Jesus on the road to Emmaus could have allowed their lives to go in the opposite direction from Him. But something inside of them was stirred, and they decided to respond to the Lord. They urged Jesus to remain with them despite being unaware of His true identity.

Jesus spoke to the disciples while they walked, revealing what Scripture said about the Savior’s need to suffer to enter into glory (Luke 24:25-27). It seems that He was preparing their hearts to receive the revelation of what happened and Who He was, the risen Lord. Jesus was activating their memory of Him through His Word. And it was in the breaking of bread while He shared a meal with them, that they remembered. Jesus had said in Luke 22:19, “This is My body which is given for you, do this in remembrance of Me.”

Jesus is in our presence, just like He was with the disciples on the road. Just like them, we can also be unaware of Him. They let circumstances cloud their judgment. Lack of understanding hid His glory, hid the reality of Who He was, and distracted them from Jesus’ spoken truth. We may do the same.

Even though Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, reveals truth to us, worldly things may cause us to believe or think that He is hidden from us. This is a lie of enemy! As children of God, we have been given His Spirit that we may know the things that are from the Lord (1 Corinthians 2:12). Jesus was sent to be the Light in the darkness, to reveal the Father, to reveal Love Himself! We have been delivered out of the kingdom of darkness and transferred into the Kingdom of Light, the Kingdom of Love (Colossians 1:13). Each of us died and our lives are hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). We are instructed therefore, to set our minds on those things that are of the Light, not earthly things. The truth is not hidden from us but revealed through Jesus Christ! When we seek God, He will be found (Jeremiah 29:13; Matthew 7:7)!

Let us not miss the moments when Jesus is stirring our hearts. May each of us be sensitive to His presence, even when we lack understanding or we are struggling with difficulty. May our desire be more of Him, more Word, more revelation, more clarity so that our walk on this earthly journey is a rich experience of His glory, love and favor. May our prayer be, “prepare my heart Lord for more of You”!