Easter Devotional: “A Renewed Hope”

Two of Jesus’s disciples were walking down a road after His death and resurrection. They were feeling what most feel today—exhausted, empty, and trapped.

Furthermore, they were walking on a road leading away from Jerusalem and toward the town of Emmaus. These disciples were leaving Jerusalem, the city of God, the capital of the Jewish people, and the city associated with God’s promise, purpose, and presence. They were traveling to a small, insignificant town called Emmaus, a name that means “obscure” and “despised.”

Get a sense of this picture. Two disciples were walking away from the purposes and promises of God toward obscurity, and in the end, they were despised, unless they turned around.

But once they met the risen Jesus, their lives were completely changed. Not only did they find joy, but also a new hope—a hope that removes exhaustion, emptiness, and enslavement.

As disciples, they followed Jesus, but they thought that things would turn out better, not only for them, but for the nation, because they expected Jesus to overthrow Roman rule of Israel, the land of promise.

But Jesus’s death on the cross and the empty tomb signified that something different and unexpected had happened, and they had no idea what it was. With this overall attitude, we see these two disciples walking away from Jerusalem toward Emmaus, feeling heartbroken, downhearted, and with all their hopes and dreams shattered.

Human hope is fragile, and hopelessness is a disease of the human spirit that is difficult to cure. So, here are the Emmaus two, who had built such a wall of hopelessness.

But Jesus came and changed them from obscurity and despair (Emmaus) back to the purposes, promises, and presence of God (Jerusalem). He took the time to explain everything God said about the coming of the Messiah, and their hope was restored.