A New Story for Slow Hearts--April 21, 2026
"Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, 'Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?' He asked them, 'What things?' They replied, 'The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see him.' Then he said to them, 'Oh, how foolish you are and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?' Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures." (Luke 24:18-27)
There is a tension in this part of the story that keeps poking and pulling at me in a way that I think I really need. At one and the same time, the risen Jesus meets these two despairing disciples precisely where they are, as they are, and also brings them to a new place and a new perspective. And of course, the same is true today: Christ encounters us with no preconditions, and yet he never leaves us with quite the same viewpoint as when he first found us.
As we continue through this story that many of us heard this past Sunday in worship, it strikes me as important that both things are true simultaneously. Jesus appears but remains unrecognized this far along the way, even though these two disciples are so deeply distraught they don't even realize that Jesus is not only alive, but with them. Jesus doesn't wait until they understand or believe properly first--it is his presence with them that will enable them to understand and to believe. That's important: Jesus' presence is never a reward for our steady faith or brilliant insight. He comes to us precisely when we don't get it, when we fail to trust, and when our hearts are so heavy we can't lift them up to God on our own.
These two disciples, Cleopas and his companion, they are stuck in that place of despair because of the story they have accepted--maybe without even knowing that they have accepted it. They already take it for granted that Jesus couldn't have been the Messiah--the "one to redeem Israel"--because he got crucified, dying a shameful death at the hands of the empire that they expected the Messiah to free them from. They've heard the reports of the resurrection and the empty tomb, including the fact that some of Jesus' inner circle of disciples corroborated the initial eyewitness story of the women at the tomb, but they still feel disillusioned about Jesus. The narrative they had had been ingrained with went something like this: "When the Messiah comes, he's going to zap our enemies, kill the Romans, give us power, and make himself king. Since Jesus didn't do those things, but rather in fact seemed to do the opposite of that list, he couldn't have been The One we were waiting for." Or, in other words, "We must have been wrong about Jesus, because Jesus didn't do what we expected the Messiah to do." They are heartbroken, not only because they are still pretty well convinced that Jesus is still dead, but because they feel like they bet on the wrong horse. They were expecting revenge, or at least glorious triumph, and so far, it sure looks like the oppressive powers of the day are still calling the shots.
It is at this point that the Stranger on the road (who is, of course, the risen Jesus) speaks up more directly. So far he's basically been just a good listener--asking them questions, letting them vent what they needed to vent, and walking beside them. But now it has become clear that Cleopas and his friend are ensnared in the wrong story. They are held captive by their perspective, and they can't see a way forward because they can't make sense of a Messiah who saves through suffering rather than showing off. To borrow the old line from the band U2, they are "stuck in a moment, and now they can't get out of it." The Unrecognized Jesus speaks up, then, to give them a new way of looking at things. He gives them a new story for their slow hearts.
"How foolish and slow of heart you are!" the Stranger says, insisting that the problem was never with Jesus, but rather with their expectations. The two walking disciples had assumed that the Messiah was going to be a conquering king or a military commander, destroying their enemies in the name of God. The Risen Jesus shows them that this was a misreading, both of their own Scriptures and of the character of God. From Jesus' perspective, God's way of saving has always been about self-giving and suffering love rather than vengeance and vanquishing enemies. They just couldn't see it, but Jesus helps them to see a different way of telling the story.
From this new perspective, the cross isn't the place of defeat, but rather the point at which God's saving love triumphs. Jesus' willingness to lay down his life, praying forgiveness even for his enemies and executioners, is not a sign that he was weak; it is the definitive sign of his enduring strength. Jesus shows Cleopas--and us as well--that we have been misreading the story. And with that, he opens up an entirely new way for all of us to understand the Scriptures. Once we see what Jesus has been showing us, we realize that it's been there all along, but we couldn't recognize it (much like Jesus himself on the road). If we didn't see it before, Jesus helps us now to recognize what was true all along. God has been the gracious giver, the merciful forgiver, the lover of enemies, the healer of the broken. If we expected God's Chosen One to become a violent bully or warlord, we have misunderstood who God is.
With that change of perspective, now Cleopas and his companion (and us, reading their story) can at last move forward. The new story gives us a new way of making sense of the world. The perspective of God's triumph through the cross, rather than in spite of the cross, changes everything. And now it becomes clear: the lack of an armed attack on Rome, led by General Jesus, is not a failure on Jesus' part, but rather makes total sense. God's way had always been about suffering love, so the Messiah's way of saving and setting things right shouldn't have looked like a sneak attack but surprising love. God's plan hadn't been derailed or defeated; they had just misunderstood what it was the whole time. A new story to make sense of the data in front of them opened up a way to take the next step on the journey.
Truth be told, if we are going to continue on our journeys with Jesus in this life, we should be prepared for something similar to happen. Jesus will absolutely meet us where we are, as we are, even for all the ways we've got it wrong and missed the point. But when he meets us, Jesus reserves the right to change our perspective, correct our misguided vision, and help us get to know God all over again. If we have been suckered into that tempting (but definitely wrong) thinking that God's plan is to raise up someone to zap enemies, conquer the world, and build an empire like the previous ones of history, Jesus has come to free us from that illusion. Instead, he shows us that God's way has always been cruciform love that reaches out to transform even enemies. If our hearts have been slow like Cleopas and his companion, Jesus reserves the right to give us a new story to bring us up to speed.
How might Jesus be at work already, changing our perspective and how we face the world?
What might it look like for us to let Jesus give us a new way of seeing the world--through his cross?
Lord Jesus, make our hearts to beat in time with yours, and our eyes to see the world from your perspective.
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