On The Road Again
Willie Nelson sings it. I’m sure some of you’ve sung it, too, but not
like Willie. I want you to know that I don’t live in the world of country
music or the world of opera; however, I can recognize that the story line in
both is often the same. It’s the story
of love and loss, pain and suffering, shattered dreams and courageous
perseverance--life in the raw, life as we experience it. On the road again is not a happy experience
for most of us. Being on the road is
often symbolic of being lost, loneliness, frustration, no-direction, little or
no hope.
I don’t know a better image to describe the
experience of Cleopas and his companion, in the Gospel story of Luke, than Willie’s
refrain, “On the Road Again.”
The Gospel story in Luke is one of the great
stores in all of literature. It tells of
two men walking along the Emmaus Road. The waves of heat simmered above the
dusty road as they put Jerusalem farther and farther behind them. As they walked along, they spoke of the
events which had taken place in the Holy City. So much had happened in just a
few days. In fact, everything happened
so quickly that it all seemed like a terrible dream.
There had been Christ’s triumphant entry into
the Holy City. Then, the joy of that
moment gave way to fear as a net of intrigue was woven around the
Nazarene. The agony of the crucifixion
at Calvary still haunted them. They had
seen the dead, limp body of Jesus removed from the cross and laid in the borrowed
tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. And yet,
there were now whisperings and rumors spreading throughout Jerusalem that Jesus
was alive. These were the things that
Cleopas and his companion talked about on the road to Emmaus.
The more they talked, the more engrossed they
became. Suddenly, there he was walking
with them. The stranger asks, “What are
you talking about to each other?” Amazed,
Cleopas and his companion answer by saying, “You must be the only visitor in
Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there recently.” And the stranger asks, “What things?” And they began to relate the sad events of
Jesus. Then he began to discuss Moses and all the prophets and explained to
these two men on the Emmaus Road all the scripture that referred to Jesus.
The conversation made the 7.5 mile walk pass
quickly. When they reached the city of Emmaus, the sun was sinking fast in the
western sky, darkness was approaching and they invited the stranger to spend
the night. When they sat down to eat the
evening meal, Cleopas asks the stranger to give the blessing of the meal. There
was something in the way he gave thanks. There was something in the way he took the
bread and broke it. There was something
about his gestures that were recognizable.
Perhaps, the folds of his robe fell back and they saw the livid red marks
of the nails in his hands. Whatever it was, in that instant, they knew
him. In that moment they recognized
him. In that fraction of a second they
knew that their encounter with a stranger had been an encounter with the risen
Christ. And he was gone! It wasn’t
possible. It couldn’t be, but they had
seen him with their own eyes and heard him with their own ears. They got up and ran the 7.5 miles back to
Jerusalem to tell the other disciples the incredible news of their encounter
with a stranger.
What can we learn from this story? Until my next blog….
Go With God,
Pastor Qualley
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