This all happened, we’re told, “... on that same day.” On that same day — quite a day it was, that first Easter. The very first Resurrection experience — the one at the tomb early that morning, the one we all think of when we think of Easter, when we think of resurrection — has just taken place. And that early-morning group that gathered there at history’s first Sunrise Service is still mulling the story over.

            And here we find yet another resurrection appearance. Two disciples are walking the road to a now long-disappeared village called Emmaus. They are close enough to Jesus’ intimate circle to have heard about the goings-on reported early that morning, three days after their leader was crucified. They walk the road slowly, sadly, talking it over. Suddenly, a stranger comes upon them. We’re told something that Cleopas and his companion don’t yet know: It’s Jesus.

            When we think of disciples, we tend to think only of the Twelve, though they, strictly speaking, were apostles. The terms “apostle” and “disciple” are often used interchangeably, to be sure, but what we are seeing in this event on the way to Emmaus is that it was not only the Twelve who followed Jesus virtually every step of his ministry.

            We see two of these other disciples on that road to Emmaus — perhaps a husband and wife. They had received Jesus’teaching. Like Mary, they had sat at his feet. Perhaps there had been times when they spoke to him face to face. And yet ... here he is, walking with them now. And, strange to say, they don’t recognize him. We can’t help but ask why.

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