The Road to Emmaus

Even a perfunctory reading of this account recorded in the Gospel of Luke gives me goose bumps. It started as a journey of two people to a place called Emmaus about 7 miles from Jerusalem, which soon turned into a journey of three. Here the risen Lord is labeled as a "Stranger". There are several meanings for the word "stranger" but here I would like to define it as a person who you are not familiar with or a person unknown to you.

As a kid I was taught to avoid strangers like every other kid. I still avoid strangers like every other grown up. We almost always keep a distance from strangers. We almost never walk side by side to a stranger. In the account by Luke, we read that "Jesus himself drew near and went with them." This stranger was not like any other stranger but unique. For the two, the Road to Emmaus was infact a Road to Uncertainty which soon turned into Road to Redemption with the presence of the "Stranger". The stranger they encountered during this road-trip became their Savior.

Again, Luke records in the Acts of the Apostles about another road trip, where Saul journeys to Damascus. During his road-trip he encounters the Lord who once was a stranger to him. His Road to Perdition turned into Road to Redemption. In Acts 9:5, we see Saul asking this crucial question, "Who are you, Lord?". This was the start of the relationship where Saul inquires about the stranger he met. Saul fell flat to the ground only to rise up as Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ who was a defender and follower of his Savior until the end.

"Emmaus experience" happens in our lives as well. It is when we encounter the Savior and the path of redemption. It's when we are not afraid to say that He was once a stranger and now my Savior.