What the Road to Emmaus Reveals About the Heart of Jesus
By Michaelle Moran
Read: Luke 24:13-35
“As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them.” — Luke 24:15 (NIV)
Growing up, I often wrestled with feelings of abandonment and loneliness. These feelings shaped my entire childhood and too much of my adulthood. They informed me of who I was and, sadly, of who I wasn’t.
Looking back, I can see those feelings were rooted in a reality that felt broken beyond repair. Home wasn't what I longed for it to be. Relationships didn't provide the security I craved—the security every child needs.
When our deepest hopes are broken, it's easy to feel abandoned and alone—even when we’re not.
Perhaps the two companions traveling on the road to Emmaus experienced feelings similar to mine after watching Jesus be crucified and then hearing reports that His tomb was empty. Their world no longer made sense. The One they had hoped would redeem Israel had died, and now even His body was gone.
They walked away from Jerusalem carrying grief, confusion, and what must have felt like shattered hope. As they left the city where they had been filled with such hope because of Jesus—and where they watched that hope die with Him on the cross—they talked together, trying to make sense of all that had happened.
Can you even imagine how devastating this was to them? They truly believed that when He died, so did their hope for Israel's promised Savior.
But you and I know His death actually transformed hope.
And here's how Jesus began transforming theirs:
“… Jesus himself came up and walked along with them.”
The first thing Jesus did was draw near to them in the midst of their grief and confusion. He didn't leave them alone in it. He didn't abandon them. He came and walked alongside them in the very midst of what they believed was hopelessness.
Friend, these two traveling companions didn't recognize Jesus, but He was still there with them. If your world feels shattered today, I want you to know—I want you to believe—that Jesus is walking alongside you, too. He is with you in your sorrow, your grief, your fear, your confusion, and even in your feelings of abandonment or loneliness.
This is the heart of our Savior.
And there is one more thing I want to leave you with today. Jesus did more than just walk alongside the traveling companions. He spoke to them and reminded them of “what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself.”
Why does this matter?
Because this is where their hope would eventually be transformed, not merely renewed.
Jesus opened the Scriptures to show them that His suffering and death were exactly what the prophets had foretold. What looked like the end of God's plan was actually the fulfillment of it. The cross had not defeated hope. It had secured it.
Maybe today your hope doesn't simply need to be renewed. Maybe it needs to be transformed. Mine did.
You see, Jesus opened the Scriptures to me too. And somewhere along my own journey, that little girl who always felt abandoned and never felt like she belonged came to know Jesus through His Word. My hope was transformed because of the Savior who comes to us, walks beside us, and never abandons us in our time of need—the Savior who took my sin upon Himself because He loved me that much.
The Savior who came to two discouraged travelers on the road to Emmaus is still coming to people whose world seems shattered.
Will you let Him open the Scriptures to you?
As you come to know Him through His Word, I pray your hope is transformed.
He came to them.
He came to me.
He will come to you.
This is the final devotion in my series exploring what Jesus' post-resurrection appearances reveal about His heart.