They stood still, with sad faces. One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, "Are you the only visitor in Jerusalem who doesn't know the things that have been happening there these last few days?"
I am not an English major by a long shot or English as my first language, but have you ever noticed that some of the saddest words in our English language begin with the letter D? For example, disappointment, doubt, disillusionment, defeat, discouragement, despondency, depression, despair, and death. Movie producer Woody Allen once gave a speech at Yale University. He said the following: "Our civilization stands at the crossroads. Down one road is despondency and despair. Down the other road is total annihilation. I hope we'll take the right road."
Woody Allen was obviously trying to be funny, but his statement reflects the despair and pessimism of our times. Disappointment, doubt, disillusionment, defeat, discouragement, despair and death - all of these words sum up how Cleopas and his companion were feeling as they walked up the road toward Emmaus. They were downhearted, confused, afraid, and bewildered over what had happened to Jesus of Nazareth on Good Friday.
The Master they had loved and followed had been horribly put to death – a degrading death on a cross. Only a week before, their hopes were fairly high when the excited crowds welcomed Jesus waving palm branches and shouting ‘hosanna’. But now Jesus lay dead in a sealed tomb.
Their hopes were dashed; the dream was over! They invested three years of their time and resources, and here they are nothing to show forth. Even the report of the women that Christ’s tomb was empty didn’t raise their spirits; it only confused them even more.
The two despondent disciples walking the road to Emmaus summed up the situation very neatly when they said, "We had hoped that he would be the one who was going to set Israel free!"
(In August 1998 we have just moved to Montreal. I was on my way to Chateauguay to look for a house, when I witnessed a suicide of a young man on Mercier bridge. We sat in our vehicles and watched helplessly as police officers and his mother (assumed) negotiated with this young man. Before he jumped to his death. )
Human hope is a fragile thing, and when it withers, it’s difficult to revive. The number of people who take their own life, it is because despair and discouragement have sucked the last bit of hope out of their lives.
"We had hoped … ", Cleopas and his friend had said. They were saying, we had high hopes for the future, but now those hopes are gone and all we have left is disappointment." Can you identify with the feelings of these two disciples in any way?
For each of us the cause of feeling down might be different, but no one could claim that they were not affected by any of those D- words - disappointment, doubt, disillusionment, defeat, discouragement, depression, despondency or despair. I personally can identify with all the D-Word and even more. I had great expectations when we first moved to Montreal as pastor of Good Shepherd and St. Ansgar.
I came hoping to make a difference to duplicate my previous ministry, I love my work and I have given my 200% instead of seeing growth, we seem to be holding the line. Disappointed, Yes! But not ‘discourage, not at all.’ I hope you are not overwhelmed with the D-Word of our ministry.
As the two men walked along, a stranger joined them. This was going to be the most significant walk in their whole lives. The stranger asked them what they were discussing. And so they poured out their heats to someone who seemed willing to listen.
They tell the stranger all about their hopes and their disappointments. The last thing they needed was a brisk "cheer up" talk, or being told to "snap out of it". The stranger simply provides a listening ear. As the three men talk of their disappointment, the stranger walks with them. We know that the stranger was Jesus.
Isn’t that a great picture – Jesus walking along the road with his despondent and confused disciples sharing their troubles? Suddenly this 2,000-year-old story is brought into the present. When disappointment, doubt, disillusionment, defeat, discouragement, despondency, depression, and despair fill our lives, Jesus is the unseen "stranger" walking alongside us, listening to us, and if we are willing to hear his voice, revealing himself to us.
As Cleopas and his friend talked about the cross, their sorrow, Jesus reassured them and helped them. How did he do it? He pointed them to what God says in the Scriptures. Luke tells us, "Jesus explained to them what was said about himself in all the Scriptures, beginning with the books of Moses and the writings of all the prophets". He also referred to Isaiah’s description of the Suffering Servant of God who "was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities" (Isaiah 53).
It’s not that these men hadn’t read their Scripture, but that their understanding was clouded by the idea that the Messiah would come with glory and power and restore their kingdom. The two disciples could feel the despondency and sorrow they felt in their hearts change into understanding and hope as the "stranger" explained that Jesus’ death was a part of God's great plan of salvation.
When disillusionment, depression and defeat dominate our lives, Jesus walks with us just as he walked with the two men on the road to Emmaus. He points us to God's Word of promise in the Bible that tells us again and again that we are dearly loved by God and that he will stand by us through thick and thin. He turns our despair into hope.
Some years back I knew a woman who was dying of a brain tumor. She had struggled with the disease for a number of years. She went through surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and all the ills associated with the treatment. I asked her about how she felt about the whole ordeal. She said that it was very difficult at times; she knew she was dying, but even so she felt an astonishing amount of peace and joy. When I asked her if she was scared of what lay ahead in the future. There was a pause, then she said: "Why should I be afraid? I believe in Jesus, my Saviour. I know where I came from and where I am going."
Like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, she was comforted by her Saviour.
Even though there were times when she was depressed and sad, she knew she wasn’t walking alone. God gave her hope for the future; a hope that only the Resurrection Power could give. She was blessed and she felt it - and those who visited her knew it.
The two disciples asked the "stranger" to stop with them for the night and at the evening meal he "took the bread, and said the blessing; then he broke the bread and gave it to them". Suddenly it dawned on them who the stranger was. Jesus himself had ministered to them in their sadness.
Despondent hearts had been changed to hearts filled with hope and renewed faith. Jesus had revealed himself to them in his Word and through the breaking of bread. Their world once again had come together. They had experienced something of the grace of God.
Because of his love for his despondent disciples, Jesus came and met them on the road to Emmaus. Graciously he cleared away the fog of confusion; he showed to them the heart of God and his plan of salvation, and finally he revealed himself to them. At the moment the "stranger" reveals who he was, he vanishes from their sight. But he has not gone; he is still visible to those who have the eyes of faith.
I believe the eyes of faith sees hope even in the darkest of clouds. The road to Emmaus is a symbol of the Christian life. This story is about ordinary despair, and ordinary, Monday-morning drudgery. It is a story about meeting a stranger, hearing his words of comfort, sitting down at table and sharing a meal. This story is about the meaning of Easter for us. It enables us to see that the Lord gives hope and joy, when all we see is disappointment, discouragement, and despair. It enables us to see our world, not as a place of death, decay, and defeat, but as a place waiting, for God's final victory.
The change that took place has been described like this. "Their lives prior to this moment were like a smoldering fire that gives no light, just smoke to cloud things up. But once they came into the presence of the Risen Lord their hearts were ablaze!
This story about the walk to Emmaus is a story for every day life in the year 2005. If you are walking the Emmaus road right now or when you will walk it in the future with those sad D- words - disappointment, doubt, disillusionment, defeat, discouragement, despondency, depression, and despair – let us remember we are not walking alone.
When our Emmaus road is filled with discouragement and despair, the unseen "stranger", the risen Jesus is walking with us. Walking with Jesus, our road will become a great highway of companionship, conversation, prayer, belief and hope.
The eyes of faith sees hope even in the darkest of clouds!
And when life dishes out the D-word,
remember you are not alone.
Amen.
Rev. Samuel King-Kabu
April 17, 2005