Alive - by Dave Smith

A bit like the Man City fans who couldn’t cope with the prospect of
defeat, these two disciples were heading away from the scene of the
action – no doubt thinking it was the place of defeat, when it was
actually the scene of a great victory!
So, who were these two followers of Jesus? We know that one
was called Cleopas (v18), and the other is unnamed. Since they were
going ‘home’ (vv28–29), it is possible that the other one was Cleopas’
wife, Mary, who is mentioned in all four Gospels as being present at
the crucifixion. 6 The fact that Jesus chose to appear to these two
Emmaus travellers seems significant. If this were a made-up incident,
the writer, Luke, would most likely have not bothered with this
encounter, but instead have gone straight to Jesus’ appearing to the
more well-known core group of Jesus’ disciples (which took place
later, as we shall see in the next chapter). Furthermore, the
‘ordinariness’ of this couple, like the women before them, highlights
that this story is a wonderful picture of how Jesus comes alongside
ordinary people throughout history, offering them (and us) a sure and
ultimate hope.
Initially, the two travellers failed to recognise Jesus as he joined
them on the journey (Luke 24:14–16). There are different possible
reasons why this may have happened. It may partly be, as with Mary
Magdalene, that it was because the risen Jesus somehow looked
different. Yet the phrase ‘kept from’ indicates some power at work. It
has been suggested by biblical commentators that it was Satan (the
devil/the evil one) who kept them spiritually blind, or even God
himself. 7 But as we shall see, it was also the attitude of the disciples
themselves that caused a partial blindness or blurring of their spiritual
vision. (We can be like these two disciples; our attitude can blind us,
too.)