It is not uncommon for someone to talk about walking with Jesus, an expression to show a person having Jesus in their life. It means different things to different people; to the Christian, it means daily living a life of service and obedience to the Lord.
I’m sure we cannot imagine the way the disciples and those who closely followed Jesus felt when He died. Their grief was real, but their confusion would have also been real. They had thought that Jesus would call together an army and bring relief to Israel from the rule of the Romans. When that did not happen, they must have been disappointed, confused, and maybe even a little angry.
Luke relates a conversation between Cleopas and one other man regarding the events of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. This story helps us learn some valuable lessons about walking with Jesus.
The first day of the week came; and Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary, the mother of James, and some other women visited the tomb where Jesus had been placed for His burial. There was no body, only angels to announce that the Savior was risen. When they told the disciples, they thought the women were telling tales; and they did not believe them. Peter ran to the tomb to see for himself; and sure enough, no body was there. Jesus was gone.
There were other men with them, and two of those men started their journey back to the city of Emmaus, about 7 ½ miles from Jerusalem. They talked about what had transpired over the weekend, and they were sad because of what had happened. As they were walking along, another man joined them. It was common for travelers to make their journey with others, even strangers. This stranger wanted to know of whom they spoke and why they were sad. Cleopas asked the stranger how he could not know what had happened over the last few days. He quickly related to the stranger that Jesus of Nazareth, a prophet who had done many mighty things, had been taken by the rulers of the Jews and delivered to be crucified. Then he relayed his disappointment that they had all thought this Jesus would be the deliverer of Israel. He related the story of the women visiting the tomb and finding it empty.
I have no idea what they thought this stranger would say, but they had quite a surprise when he began by rebuking them for their unbelief and quoting from the prophets of the Old Testament about the Savior the Jews longed to have come.
When they arrived at home, the men invited the stranger to stay with them, and he did. They prepared food, as any good host would do; and they sat down to eat together. The stranger took bread and blessed it, then gave it to the men. Immediately their eyes were opened, and they knew that this was the risen Jesus. Jesus then vanished from their presence, and they made the trip back to Jerusalem to inform the disciples and other followers of Jesus that they had seen the resurrected Lord.
How excited they must have been to realize that they had walked with Jesus. He had shared the words of Scripture with them. He had been the recipient of their hospitality. He had prayed with them. Just think how special that was for two travelers who went to Jerusalem for worship.
There are many lessons in this story for us. Even for the Christian, it takes a lot of faith to believe that all the promises in Scripture will come true. Though the prophets of the Old Testament had promised the coming of the Savior, and though the disciples walked with Jesus every day, Jesus’ followers doubted that He had truly risen from the dead. Faith truly is “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). This band of followers struggled with their faith, and so will we.
In our journey through this life, we will walk with a lot of strangers. There is no way to know what impact they may have on our lives or the impact we might have on them. That is why we are told to love our enemies as well as our friends (Matthew 5:43-44). Cleopas and his friend would have never guessed the influence of a stranger traveling a few miles with them. We may not know until the judgment what influence we have on those we encounter on our walk.
Along our journey, we need to keep listening to the message. The words of the prophets, the lessons from the Gospels, the writings to the churches, and the writings to individual Christians all serve to remind us of our place in this world and in the church (Second Timothy 2:15). Cleopas and his friend needed to be reminded of the promises of God. That is why Bible study is so important for us today.
Hospitality is part of the walk with Jesus. When we share our homes, food, and fellowship we share with Jesus. Jesus says that when we show hospitality to others, we are showing hospitality to Him (Matthew 25:33-46).
When we fall, and we certainly will, we need to seek those who will make us stronger and support us when we need them most. The coming together of the believers served to support, encourage, and strengthen those assembled together waiting for the promised power the disciples were to receive. Our coming together to worship supports, encourages, and strengthens us to wait on the coming of our Savior.
Our greatest lesson is that we don’t have to walk alone. The Lord is always with us. He said, “…I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5).
Sandra Oliver