Shortly after I arrived at my present parish, several of the members worked on cleaning the church up. They found an older painting and showed it to me and asked if they should get rid of it. The moment I saw it, I told them to keep it. Not only that, I insisted that, if they didn’t want to leave it in a public area, they should hang it in my office. That’s where it is to this day:
I know it’s a little dark, but it’s a picture of Jesus walking with His two disciples on the road to Emmaus. When I was growing up, my home congregation had the exact same painting hanging in one of its rooms. And really, this is one of my favorite post-resurrection Jesus stories.
Just think about it: two of Jesus’ disciples are walking on the road when the man Himself shows up and joins them. But He doesn’t just walk. He talks. He does something amazing:
Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
Think about it! Jesus opened up the Old Testament and unpacked the promises that pointed to Him.
I wish I could have been on that road! Just imagine, walking with Christ Himself, listening as He gives this divine insight into His mission and the promises related to Him. It would be amazing.
And the incredible thing is, the two disciples don’t realize who their traveling companion is. That’s understandable, in some regards. When a person dies a violent death, you don’t expect to see him up and about three days later. But just think about how it must have been for them when they realized that they had been walking with Christ the whole time.
We’re often in the same predicament. Jesus comes alongside us and walks with us through our lives too. The sad thing is, we often don’t recognize His presence until afterwards.
May our eyes be open to seeing His presence, not just today, but wherever the road ahead may lead!