When you think of Jesus’ time on earth, who do
you always think of as being with him? The twelve disciples, right?
Peter, James, John, Andrew, Thomas, all the rest of them. These
were Jesus’ closest associates while he was on earth. These are the ones
who were with Jesus the most.
But the twelve are not the only disciples Jesus had.
There were lots of people who would’ve called themselves disciples of
Jesus. A disciple, after all, is simply a follower. There were lots
more people than just the twelve who were followers of Jesus.
We meet two of them in our story today. Now, this was
obviously after Jesus was crucified. It’s after the tomb was found to be
empty. Two people are leaving Jerusalem, walking toward a town called
Emmaus. The only thing we know about Emmaus is that it was about seven
miles from Jerusalem. It apparently was a small town--in fact, it’s referred
to as a “village”. It’s apparently not a very important place--this is
the only time in the Bible that it’s even mentioned. We don’t know why
these two people were going there--maybe they lived there, maybe they had
business there, maybe this was just a stopping place on the way to somewhere
else.
And of course, you just heard the story. They’re
walking along, discussing all the things that have happened--Jesus being
arrested and killed, the empty tomb, the rumor that Jesus was still alive.
Jesus joins them, but they don’t realize that it’s Jesus. They
start telling Jesus what’s happened, and Jesus explains things to them.
And that must have taken some time--we’re told that “beginning with Moses
and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures
concerning himself”.
They invite Jesus to stay with them. Jesus takes
bread, gives thanks, breaks it, and gives it to them. At that moment,
they recognize Jesus. And immediately, he vanishes.
We’ve said before that, when we read things like this, we
need to ask the question: Why is this in the Bible? I mean, yes,
it’s another appearance of the resurrected Jesus, and that in and of itself
would make it noteworthy. But is that it? Is that the only thing
we’re supposed to learn? Or is there more to this event than that?
Well, obviously, I would not have raised the question if I
did not think there was. So let’s look at this event a little closer.
There are two people walking down a road to a village
called Emmaus. One of them is named Cleopas. So who was Cleopas?
Basically, he was nobody. This is the only time in
the Bible Cleopas is ever mentioned. Over the years, all sorts of things
came to be said about him, trying to make him out to be an important person.
One story said he was the brother of Joseph, Mary’s husband.
Another story says that he was also known as Alphaeus and that he was the
father of one of the disciples. But the fact is that the only things the
Bible tells us about him are that he was a follower of Jesus, that he and
another person were walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus on the day the empty tomb
was found, that Jesus appeared to them, and that they apparently were known to
the twelve disciples, because they knew where to find them and were welcomed in
when they went back to Jerusalem after Jesus vanished.
So that’s Cleopas. Who was the person with him?
He’s even more of a nobody than Cleopas. We have no idea who he
was. We don’t even get his name. In fact, we don’t even know if he
was a he! Again, the only things the Bible tell us are that this person
was a follower of Jesus, was walking with Cleopas from Jerusalem to Emmaus, the
Jesus appeared to them, and that, again, they were apparently known to the
twelve disciples. That’s it.
Cleopas was nobody. His companion was even less.
Except for one thing. Both of them were followers of Jesus.
And that was enough. That was enough for Jesus to come back and
appear specifically to them. It was enough for Jesus to spend what must
have been quite a bit of time with them. In fact, it was enough for Jesus
to explain all the things said in Scripture about himself, going back all the
way to Moses and the prophets.
What an awesome thing that must have been. They say,
later, that their hearts were burning inside them when Jesus was talking to
them. That must have been the most incredible thing that ever happened to
these two people in their lives. To have the resurrected Jesus explaining
the Scriptures to you.
I mean, I know they did not
know it was Jesus, but they had to know it was somebody pretty special.
Imagine Jesus, with all the knowledge he would have, knowing things that
no human being would know, explaining the Scriptures. Explaining them in
a way that no human being possibly could. And imagine him doing that
specifically for you. Not as part of a lecture, not with you standing in
the crowd, but explaining them personally to you. That must have been
incredible. That must have been life-changing. And Jesus did that,
not for a king, not for the Jewish elders, not for the Pharisees or the ruling
council or anybody like that. Jesus did that for two nobodies.
Cleopas and someone who’s so much of a nobody we don’t even learn their
name.
Do you ever feel like you’re a
nobody? It’s pretty easy to do. We don’t live in a place that most
people would consider important. Very few people outside of South Dakota
have even heard of it. In fact, even in South Dakota, I run into a lot of
people who don’t know where it is. It’s just a small town. A
village, really. Sort of like Emmaus.
And most people would not
consider any of us to be very important, either. None of us here is
special. None of us here is famous. Outside of our families and a
few friends, most people would not know our names or know anything about us.
We’re just a bunch of nobodies here. Sort of like Cleopas and his
companion.
It’s easy for us to think of
ourselves as nobodies from nowhere. And when we do, we wonder if God
could really care about us. I mean, we say it all the time. We talk
about how God is love and how Jesus was sent to earth for the forgiveness of
our sins. And a lot of us believe it, at least in general terms.
But did Jesus truly die to save me? An unimportant person like me?
A nobody from nowhere like me? Could God really love me that much?
Society considers all of us a
bunch of nobodies from nowhere. Just as it sounds like society considered
Cleopas and his companion a couple of nobodies from nowhere. But to
Jesus, Cleopas and his companion were not nobodies from nowhere at all.
They were God’s precious children. They were Jesus’ important
followers. And Jesus was willing to spend all kinds of time with them.
He was willing to explain all the Scriptures that talked about him.
He was willing to stay with them until they came to understand and
believe.
That’s how Jesus looks at you
and me, too. We are not nobodies from nowhere. Nobody is a nobody
to Jesus. There is no such thing as a nobody to Jesus. To Jesus,
each one of us is important. To Jesus, each one of us is special.
To Jesus, each one of us is one of God’s precious children. Each
one of us is Jesus’ important follower. Each one of us is the most
important person in the world to Jesus. And Jesus wants each one of us to
understand and believe, just as he wanted Cleopas and his companion to
understand and believe.
Jesus came specifically for all
of us nobodies. Jesus came specifically so that all of us nobodies from
nowhere could be saved. Now don’t get me wrong. Jesus loves
everybody. Jesus wants the rich and the powerful and the famous to be
saved, too. But that’s the point. In Jesus’ eyes--in God’s
eyes--we’re all the same. Wealth, status, power--none of that means
anything to God. To God, each and every one of us is a sinner in need of
love and forgiveness and salvation. And that’s why Jesus came to
earth--to offer each and every one of us sinners love and forgiveness and
salvation. God loves each one of us that much. God loves you that
much. And God loves me that much.
So if you ever think of
yourself as a nobody, know that you are not. Not to God. To God,
you are the most important person in the world. To God, you are so
important that the divine Son of God came to earth to die so that your sins
could be forgiven. To God, you are so important that God offers you the
chance for eternal life. And all you need to do is accept it. All
you need to do is accept Jesus Christ as your Savior.
Society said Cleopas and his
companion were nobodies. Sometimes it seems like society says you and I
are nobodies, too. But Cleopas and his companion were incredibly
important to Jesus. And so are you.
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