The day the Lord Jesus arose from the tomb, two people started from Jerusalem to walk to a village several miles away. As they walked along, they talked of the death of Jesus and were very sad.
Suddenly another person was walking with them, whom they thought to be a stranger. He asked them why they were sad, and they said, “Art Thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?”
He asked them, “What things?”
They said, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet, mighty in deed and word ... and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and have crucified Him.”
They said they had expected He was the One to save the nation of Israel. They told of the women going to the tomb that morning who had astonished them with their story of the angels who said Jesus lived; they said that some of the men had gone to the tomb and found it empty. They had wondered, but had not believed.
The person whom they thought was a stranger, then told them that they were slow to believe the words written in the Scriptures of the Holy One to come. He said, “Ought not Christ [the anointed One, or Messiah]to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory?”
Then He explained to them what the prophets had written of that One.
By that time they reached the village and the house to which they were going, and He started to walk on, but they urged Him to come in and stay with them, because it was near night, and He went in.
Recognition
When food was served, He took bread and blessed it, and broke and gave to them. At that instant they realized who their Guest was — the Lord Jesus!
No one else could give thanks or would give to them as He had, and it made them know Him, but He then vanished from them. They wondered that they had not known Him before, and said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us, while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the Scriptures?”
This meant they felt love and reverence for His holy presence, though they had not realized who He was. They were so happy that Jesus was alive, that they did not wait to rest, but started at once on the long walk back to the city to tell the others who loved Him.
The village was a distance of threescore (60) furlongs, about seven miles, no doubt over hills.
When the two reached the room in Jerusalem where the disciples and others were, they found they also knew He was alive, for they said to them at once, “The Lord is risen indeed!”
Further Meditation
1. When did the two discover who their companion was?
2. Sorrow drains us where hope, love and joy fill us to overflowing. How were the disciples affected by their discovery of the risen Lord? What other examples are we given in the Scriptures of hope, love and joy leading to energetic service?
3. The blessed hope of the Lord’s return for us, the first time we will see Him risen, has a huge practical effect on the believer. A stimulating leaflet on the subject is The Rapture: Its Daily and Practical Effect on the Christian Life by D. Spurbeck.