Daily Devotions

Peter was not the only one who had to discover afresh what it meant to be a disciple of Jesus following the trauma of Jesus death as we see in conversation between Jesus and the Emmaus two as they travelled the highway of heartbreak. In Luke 24 we read, “While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognising him. And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad.

Did you ever meet someone while on a journey- in a place, train or bus, hitchhiking, looking for asylum, a Sunday walk, a queue in a hospital, or the dentist, and you have a personal chat? People in the doctor's waiting room tell all sorts of personal details about themselves and their children. It was the same for the disciples on this Sunday walk. The disciples on the road at a bad time in their lives met a stranger who made some sense of some of their troubles. Jesus made sense of their distress by his presence and his word. A good chat can heal a bad day. A good prayer can do the same.

This story of shattered hopes and loss of dreams is familiar to us. Jesus’ gentle accompaniment and listening presence enables two downcast disciples to express their story. Only then does he offer them a more life-giving interpretation of recent events. As recognition dawns, their hearts are ablaze.

One poet put it this way,

I set out a pilgrim sad at heart

To walk a lonely road;

Doubt had marr’d my simple trusting,

Doubt a future ill forbode;

And as I pondered o’er my grief,

My shattered hopes and unbelief,

A Stranger to my soul’s relief, 

Drew near and walked with me.

Jesus himself drew near,

When alone on the road,

Oppress’d by my load,

Jesus himself drew near and walked with me.

Arch Wiggins  

Jesus, in times of disillusionment and faded dreams you stand at the door of my life waiting for me to invite you in. May the experience of your risen presence bring about a transformation in my daily engagement with others. Teach me how to listen well, both to my own story and theirs. Amen