Luke 24:13-27 –Resolving confusion

Although Christ's body was no longer in the tomb, none of His followers connected it to His resurrection. Even after the angels had announced that He had risen, apparently none of them believed. Peter, from the Lord's inner circle, dashed to the tomb, peered in and only came away marveling. The atmosphere was one of confusion. There were bit and pieces of news of the empty tomb floating around. Most of His followers were in despair. And Luke tells us that two of them were walking to Emmaus that Easter afternoon. One of them was named Cleopas.

Who is this Cleopas? He could be the same Cleopas that the Gospel of John mentioned (John 19:25). If he was, then he is the Lord's earthly uncle, for he was the husband of the sister of the Lord's mother. He and his wife were present at the scene of the crucifixion. Now uncle Cleopas and a companion were traveling towards their lodging in Emmaus, a town a short distance away from Jerusalem. And they were walking towards the town discussing the recent happenings in Jerusalem.

They obviously had accepted Jesus, whom they had believed, was the long awaited Messiah. Everyone's hope was that this Jesus would deliver them from their oppression. But now the Romans had Him crucified. And it was now the third day, and they heard what to them were bad news: His body was missing from the grave. They needed an answer to their confusion. So engrossed were they in their confusion and despair that they didn't notice the Resurrected Lord Himself had approached them. We are told that they were prevented from recognizing Him. And as He traveled with them, the Lord asked them about the topic that they were discussing. They then stood still and looked downcast.

Then Cleopas' response to Jesus initial question was, “Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days?” It was an accusation. Imagine someone accusing the Resurrected Lord of not knowing what was happening. What irony! Isn't this so like us? Sometimes thick into our confusion and depression, haven't we wondered if the Lord really cares. Does He know? Of course He does! He knows when we sit down and when we rise up; He understands our thought from afar. He scrutinizes our path and our lying down, and He is intimately acquainted with all our ways (Psalms 139:2-3).

The Lord was not put off by Cleopas' accusation. Wanting them to express their confusion, He asked, "What thing?" So from verses 19b to 24, they let out all that had happened. From what they had said, we can detect that they were confused, depressed, disillusioned and angry. The question, "What thing," was the Lord's invitation to them to be open with Him. Although He already knew the facts, He wanted them to tell Him anyway. So they did. 

After they had expressed their heart, Luke in verse 25 tells us that He gently rebuked them. They were slow to believe everything the prophets had said. They could accept that the Messiah would come to deliver them but they failed to recognize that He would also have to suffer for them prior to returning to His glory. Graciously, the Lord explained to them the things concerning Himself. He took them through Moses' writings to all the prophetical books, and revealed all they needed to know concerning His Messianic role. 

From this account we learn much about what can happen when people are depressed and confused. They somehow would not be comforted by anything said to them. Like He did to them, the Lord is also inviting us to honestly tell Him the "What thing" that had happened to our lives. And He wants us to be open with Him. Be it our confusion, our doubt, our disillusion and even our anger. He wants us to be honest with Him. It will definitely be the start of having them resolved. Let’s pour our heart out to Him. For He our best Comforter.