Luke 24:13-21a
Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.”
“But we had hoped….” These words, spoken by Cleopas on the road to Emmaus, may be among the saddest in Scripture.
Or, for that matter, in life. Because we’ve said something just like this at difficult moments in our lives as well. We had hoped this relationship would work. We had hoped our child would graduate. We had hoped the treatment would work. We had hoped for a happy marriage, a good job, a bright future…
We had hoped…. Just three little words, but they express a wealth of disappointment that can rarely be measured in words alone.
I love that about the Bible. That it doesn’t shy away from naming some of the huge disappointments of life but takes them head on. In this case, two disciples are making their way home to Emmaus after enduring the tragedy and confusion of the last few days. They can talk about nothing else. Confused by grief, or perhaps unable to see because they do not yet understand or believe Jesus’ promise, they do not recognize their Lord when he joins them on the road. So when asked, they share with this “stranger” their own recent and crushing disappointment that the one they believed would redeem Israel was instead put to death. Which meant that all of their hopes, all of their dreams, all of their plans for the future were also nailed to the cross with Jesus.
We had hoped…. These words are so sad because they express the disciples’ – and our – painful experience of limitation and finitude. They also express the disciples’ acceptance that life will not turn out as they had expected, that their hopes proved pointless, that their dreams were illusions. These words are sad, painful, and difficult because they are so final.
Or are they? As these two will soon find out, you can never count out the wonder and grace of our God.
Prayer: Dear God, at those moments when we feel the disappointments and hurts of this world close in around us so that we cannot imagine a better future, remind us of your steadfast promise to redeem all things, that our hopes may be renewed and our faith rekindled. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Post image: He Qi, “Road to Emmaus”.
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