[This reflection by Michael Goble was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 27/Apr/2025]
There are two accounts of the resurrection of Jesus that I find most moving. The first is when Mary thinks she sees a gardener at the tomb of Jesus. When Jesus says to her, “Mary”, she realises that He really was the risen Jesus who was speaking to her. Her sorrow was turned to joy (John 20:15-16). The other moving occasion is when two followers of Jesus, after His death, were walking from Jerusalem to their home in a village called Emmaus, and at that time Jesus came up and walked along with them, but they were kept from recognising Him (Luke 24:13-35).
There were a number of occasions when the resurrected Jesus was not immediately recognised, as in His perfect risen body He would have appeared to be different, but also there were those times that He must have intended not to be recognised. His appearance on the road to Emmaus to two of His followers was one of those times when He did not wish to be immediately recognised.
At the time of Jesus living here on earth, Jewish believers were looking expectantly for the Messiah to come and restore God’s kingdom to Israel. The disciples and followers of Jesus believed that this time had come and that Jesus was the promised Messiah. When He was arrested, crucified, died and was buried this shattered their beliefs and dreams about Him.
This would have been how the two followers who lived at Emmaus would have felt as they trudged to their home, even though Jesus had warned the disciples all about His death before it happened, and He always said that on the third day He would be raised again. Somehow the disciples and followers of Jesus did not understand this. This could not possibly happen to the Messiah.
Some years ago Barbara and I travelled along the Road to Emmaus, but we were in a coach on a modern highway, not at all like the dusty road where the risen Jesus met His two dejected followers. They didn’t recognise Him because He wanted to show them the truth about His death and resurrection. If they had known who it was that was talking to them, they would have been far too excited to understand all that He was going to tell them about the reason for all that had happened a few days before in Jerusalem.
When they got to Emmaus it was late and they invited Jesus into their home. It was only when Jesus broke the bread for their meal that they recognised Him. He then disappeared and they realised that this was truly Jesus who had died and risen. Their joy and excitement that Jesus was alive must have been the same as Mary at the tomb when she saw the risen Jesus, and they rushed back to Jerusalem to share the good news.
They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He talked with us on the road and opened the scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32). As He explained the real meaning behind the Jewish scriptures (the Old Testament in our Bible) that they had known all their lives, it suddenly all made sense to them. The Messiah, prophesied in the Old Testament, would die for their sins and be resurrected as a promise for their forgiveness and new life forever, just as He died too to give resurrection life to those of us who are not Jewish, i.e. you and me. He would later come as the victorious king who would redeem the Jewish people and then reign over the whole world.
Have you realised that Jesus is walking along the road of life with you, because He wants you to know the joy of His resurrection and a new life with Him? That is what Easter is all about.
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Last Sunday’s reflection: Father Forgive Them … by David Makanjuola
Contributed by Michael Goble; © Michael Goble