The Road Most Travelled

November 17, 2022 | 2 minute read
Keith.taylor

Two women walking through a tunnel on a cobblestone road

Where do you turn when life gets too difficult? Do you try to find a means of escape? Do you go somewhere to avoid the frustration and disappointment while you try to make sense of it all?  

I wonder if that was the case on the road to Emmaus. Luke explains that two of Jesus’ disciples are on the move (Luke 24). Stuck in their grief over Jesus’ death, perplexed by all that had happened, words fly back and forth as they process their thoughts and feelings. Have you ever been there? Life surprised you; now what?

They were on their way to Emmaus to get away from an unbearable situation. Jesus had been crucified. Not only that, but they’d heard the women’s account of an empty tomb, an angel’s appearance, and resurrection. It was too much to comprehend. 

Fredrick Buechner suggests that there is not one of us who has not gone to Emmaus with them. Emmaus is whatever we do, or wherever we go, to get away from our confusion, disappointment, or sense of being lost. Emmaus is where we go when we are feeling adrift, and we need somewhere else to be. Maybe we buy something new, binge television, commiserate with a friend, immerse ourselves in endless online chatter, or stay on the move. It’s the places we go, the things we do, where we hide, and where we escape to when life lets us down—maybe even when we feel God lets us down.

But something happens on the road to Emmaus. We hear footsteps behind us, and a stranger says, “Tell me your stories.” Tell me what has been going on in your life, in your world. Tell me what life looks like to you, what it feels like. Let me see inside your soul. Tell me your story.

As for Cleopas and the other disciple whose name we do not know, this is the beginning of their journey to resurrection, their journey to hope. They tell their story—one of confusion and lostness—and they listen to this stranger’s story. They break bread, eat, and drink, and on their road to Emmaus, Jesus comes to them. Hope is reborn. Jesus meets us on our road to Emmaus and listens to our story.

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