These two men give me great heart. Like them I find myself sometimes full of ‘had hopes’ Jesus explains in this journey that God’s plan wasn’t the same as the disciples, that in fact their ‘had hopes’ were unreal. God’s plan went way beyond mere political freedom which his disciples had wanted.
They know of Jesus’ death, they have heard about the empty tomb and the declaration that, ‘he is alive’. But intellectual information is not the basis of faith. Jesus comes to these two men, unrecognised. They could not see God in the recent events. Jesus opened their eyes to the possibility that God could be present even in suffering and death. They shift from intellectual information, to an inner conversion of heart. This change of heart is the basis of faith, and in this new faith perception, their eyes were opened to see that the stranger was Jesus.
It is not easy to let go ‘had hopes’ and to surrender what I want for what God wants, and yet this is the transformation or conversion that is needed if we are to walk within God’s path. What heartens me in this story is that while disciples may walk out on Jesus, but he doesn’t give up on them(us). Jesus joins these two deserters and gradually in mulling things over in his presence they are able to let go their plans and turn around towards Jerusalem to re-join the salvation story.