ESCAPING TO EMMAUS

If the truth were told, there have been, and perhaps still are, times in the life of each one of us when we just want to run away from it all – “all” being job, family, responsibilities. We’ve had it up to here with life as it is and need a break. We want to escape and, perhaps, leave no forwarding address. Dream on.

Yet the further truth is is that there are times when we really do need to get away from it all, escape the present, if only to get a breather, even for a short period of time. For it is only in being able to get away that we can make some sense out of the present because at present the present makes little or no sense. It is overwhelming.

Such was the situation with those two disciples of Jesus after he was crucified. They had staked their lives on his being the Messiah, a political one, of course. But even if his messiahship was of a different kind than they had hoped, it now did not matter. He was dead. Yes, there were reports that some women had been to his tomb and reported back to their colleagues that they saw angels who told them that he had been raised from the dead. But you know how emotional women can be!

What these two men needed at this moment in their lives was to get away from it all. And that is what they did. They decided to escape to Emmaus, a place where there were several hot springs. A few dips in these springs just might help clear their heads and help them decide what was next for their lives. They could not do that in Jerusalem. It was too chaotic. So off they went to Emmaus.

As the story goes, they never made it to Emmaus. They only got a little way down the road until they met up with Jesus whom they did not recognize but who tried to explain to them exactly what happened back there in Jerusalem. My suspicion is that they still did not get it. But they got enough of what he was trying to tell them that a trip to Emmaus now seemed like a waste of time. They needed to get back to Jerusalem. And they did.

Would that you and I, when we find ourselves in a situation where we are overwhelmed with life, Jesus would run into us as he did for those two disciples and help us make some sense out of everything. Yet, even if that would happen, we would still need to get to our own Emmaus, sit for a while in the warm waters and try to get a handle on what we have just heard.

It is so easy for us to allow daily events to control our lives. No, we cannot escape our responsibilities, overwhelming that they sometimes are. But unless we make and take the time to escape to a quiet place to relax, to think, to pray, our life will only become even more burdensome. Jesus always made the time to escape from the crowds because he knew he could not fulfill his ministry if he was exhausted by daily life. Neither can we. We need to find our own Emmaus to which we can escape.