There is a Scripture story which tells how two of Jesus’ Disciples were travelling along the road to a town called Emmaus three days after Easter. They were that intent on discussing the recent events which involved the suffering and death of Jesus, they didn’t recognise another traveller who had joined them on their journey and who got involved in their discussions.
We know one of the Disciples was called Cleophas but the other Disciple is unknown. As the story unfolds it becomes obvious the unrecognised traveller is Jesus himself, a fact the Disciples didn’t realise until they had a meal together and ‘at the breaking of the bread’ their eyes were opened.
I wonder if this story is one deliberately set up for us by Jesus who is continuing to give us the message that we need to love one another. If we were to consider the story as happening to us today, we could be the unknown Disciple and Cleophas our faith or spiritual beliefs.
Do we travel along our road of life that concerned about the events happening to us that we sometimes even question our faith and fail to recognise that Jesus is walking beside us as He said he would?
As we encounter unknown people on our journey are we kind to them or are we that engrossed in our own concerns that we fail to recognise that they were created by the same God who created us? Do we look for Jesus in others?
When we get to have our ‘last supper’ before our final journey from this life, will our eyes be opened as we recognise the Jesus we met at the supermarket checkout or the homeless person we helped or maybe even the politician we criticised?
So maybe in following the rule to ‘love one another’ we might try and be kind to those strangers whom we meet on our journey. Who knows, we might well get to meet them again under entirely different circumstances.
I’m Peter Mack and that’s faith.