Christians will be more heedful of God if they stay connected to him through prayer, reading the Bible and attending church.
That’s according to the Revs. Bill Hutto and Joshua Rieff, who say that is the main lesson in the story of the Road to Emmaus in Luke 24:13-35 and Mark 16:12-13 where the disciple Cleopas and an unidentified disciple are joined by the just-resurrected Jesus as they walk.
“These disciples didn’t recognize Jesus till he got to a certain point when their eyes were opened,” said the Rev. Hutto, pastor of Sunset Heights Baptist Church. “They didn’t recognize him because of their loss and grief and because things hadn’t gone the way they expected.
“Not knowing God’s plan caught them by surprise. This story shows it’s important for believers to stay connected to the Lord so that we recognize him when he is speaking to us.
“After he disappeared, they remembered that he had told them he would rise from the dead. They got the message and hurried right back to Jerusalem. It’s an example for us to share that same excitement.”
Hutto said he had recently been inspired by a 2010 movie titled “Road to Emmaus” and starring Bruce Marchiano.
The Rev. Rieff, pastor of Southside Baptist Church in Monahans, said the story has inspired annual Walk to Emmaus gatherings in March for men and in October for women at the Circle Six Baptist Camp and Conference Center north of Stanton and around the state.
“Our biggest theme is that Jesus was unrecognizable in that form because he was not what they expected and that God in our modern context is so different from what we expect that we might not recognize him,” Rieff said. “Cleopas and his companion were part of the larger group of the disciples, not of the 12.”
When Jesus and the disciples reached Emmaus seven miles west of Jerusalem and were having dinner in the late evening, Jesus disappeared when he broke bread and the disciples recognized him.
“So it is that the breaking of the communal bread symbolizes not only the broken body of Jesus but also the fellowship of believers,” Rieff said. “The loaf represents the unity of the people.
“The second big moment is in Luke 24:32 when the disciples, looking back, ask, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us when he spoke?’ There must be an element in our faith of hearing God’s word and having an internal Holy Spirit sense that what we’re hearing is true.”
Rieff said the reality of God is opposite of the misconception that he will always conform to the images in the Bible like his appearance to Moses in a burning bush or to the disciples on the Road to Emmaus.
“God is a living, dynamic being who acts in different ways at different times,” he said. “He is just not that predictable.”
