Sometimes Jesus walks beside me, too. But I wonder if I even see him

By Dean Collins

One of my favorite Gospel passages is found in the middle of the last chapter of Luke. I have always been fascinated with the two disciples who were walking back from Jerusalem in the late afternoon the day Jesus was resurrected.

When I first read this passage years ago, what struck me was the longing of these two disciples to learn more from Jesus, even though they did not yet understand that it was in fact their resurrected Lord who had been walking with them. The only explanation I could ever imagine was that they were in shock having seen the evidence of the torture Jesus endured ahead of the horrible death by crucifixion. And if that wasn’t unsettling enough, to learn that his body was missing from the tomb and to hear the report that he was alive—it was all simply more than they could process.

Maybe their reaction was a combination of PTSD and grief. I have certainly had many conversations with someone who has suddenly lost a spouse, a child, or a friend. Each time there was a sense of confusion. Later the family members don’t always remember who they saw or spoke with in those traumatic days surrounding death.

Sunday evening

Today as I sat on the deck as the sun was setting, I started thinking about this event taking place on a Sunday evening. Some of you who are old enough and you were raised in the church have a nostalgic feeling about Sunday-night services. They were often less formal. The church folk were more relaxed and friendly. Occasionally, if the weather was good you might meet outside. And sometimes you would have a dessert or evening supper together. Sunday evenings bring warm memories. Maybe I am drawn to this story because it was on a day like that.

Until recently, if I read this text or heard it presented in a sermon or study group, the assumption was that the two disciples were men. But in recent years prominent and conservative scholars, including N.T. Wright and James Boice, have suggested that it might have been a man and a woman and even a husband (Cleopas who is named in the passage) and his wife (whose name was Mary) who walked with Jesus and invited him into their home for supper. I won’t take time to defend this position but I have read enough to think it viable, maybe even likely. It doesn’t change the outcome of the incident. Jesus had many male and female followers that were close to him.

Move on somehow

What struck me today was how this story is sometimes played out in our lives. Maybe we have experienced a loss, a difficult or confusing situation that impacts us deeply. In the hours just after, we talk it out with a friend, a coworker, or a family member. We work to put the pieces together so we can understand, accept, and hopefully move on somehow.

How many times has a neighbor, a friend, and possibly a stranger in a support group or elsewhere come alongside us simply to listen and process with us? The conversation continues for a while as we sort it out. And then we realize the support and insight of this person sitting or walking and talking with us has in fact eased our burden a little.

I’ve just seen Jesus?

Do we realize that it might have been Jesus who sent them our way? Doesn’t Jesus call us to be his hands and feet to those around us? To love as he loves? And sometimes just like Cleopas and Mary or whoever the second disciple was, we do not realize that we have in fact had an encounter with Jesus who is living inside of that person.

There is something kind and even playful in how Jesus interacted with the two disciples. Maybe he was modeling for us how we can be and do the same with those in need.

I’d like to think I would have recognized Jesus if I had been on that walk the day of his resurrection. But the fact that I have sometimes missed that it was Jesus when you showed up to help me on a tough day suggests that I probably wouldn't have noticed it either.

I think my takeaway today is to pay more attention to those who come in the name of Jesus. Meanwhile, I want to take more walks with others and help them discover Jesus in me.

Your time with God’s Word
‭‭Luke‬ ‭24:13-19, 21-27‬ ‭ESV

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez at unsplash.com

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