Let’s take a few moments to imagine ourselves living in Jesus’ time: knowing him, following him, loving him. There was something unimaginably wonderful about being in his presence, listening to his teaching and learning from him.

No one was excluded from his company and conversation. Everyone was welcome, even those who had previously been shunned or excluded or abandoned by the community, such as the tax collectors, the sick or disabled, or the no-hopers. It was so very good to be with him.

Jesus somehow opened up a new way of seeing the world, of relating to others and, most surprisingly of all, of relating to God. Through him, his followers came to understand that God was not to be feared but to be loved. God was not one who kept a record of all our sins and failings, ready to punish us and exact retribution. Rather, God loves us with steadfast love and boundless mercy, never forsaking us, and inviting us to enter into an ever deeper relationship with him.

But it all came to a devastating end when this innocent and profoundly good man, Jesus, was arrested, sentenced to death for no good reason, tortured and crucified. Crucifixion was such a horrible way to die, slow and painful, a horrid and humiliating spectacle.

Imagine then how those two disciples felt as they headed away from Jerusalem, where that ghastly death had been inflicted. They were frightened. After all, might they, as his followers, now be arrested and executed? And they were sad and confused. How could it all have come to such a terrible end? His death felt like the death of the light, the life and the love – the death of everything – that he had opened up for them.

It is to two disciples in that very state of sadness, fear and confusion that Jesus appears, though they don’t recognise him. He walks with them, and they talk about it all as they walk. It is when they stop for the night and have a meal together that, in the breaking of the bread, they recognise him at last. It is the Lord! Imagine that! Imagine their joy and how their hearts burned to be in his presence again. Wouldn’t they want him to stay and never to leave them again?

That’s the story of the two disciples on the way from Jerusalem to Emmaus after the crucifixion. It’s one of several stories of the appearances of Jesus to various disciples after his resurrection. It is their testimony, passed on through the centuries, which inspires and instructs us about Jesus and his teachings about God and the meaning of life that he opened up and revealed for the whole world.

While we didn’t live then and know Jesus as those first disciples did, we are also invited to enter into as deep and loving relationship with him. Let our hearts burn too.

Anne Hunt

© Majellan Media 2026

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