Responding to the Cross: Flinch

Albert Bogle April 06, 2026 3 2

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Luke 24: 13-17 (NIV-UK)

13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognising him.

17 He asked them, ‘What are you discussing together as you walk along?’

They stood still, their faces downcast.

So let’s start out on the road with these two disciples, they are literally walking away from the scene of the crucifixion. Could it be they’d had enough - Golgotha was empty now, all was silent on that front. The entertainment of the executions are over.

Overwhelmed by grief, they flinch from the cross. Roman steel has the power to steal dreams in an instant. Nothing has changed — today bombs and drones blow communities apart, and the disappointed walk the same road. The story of the ‘Road to Emmaus’ can be seen as metaphor to help us explore the human response to broken dreams. The presence of Christ is often hidden from us as we try to make sense of our own spiritual condition and also the experiences of our lives that are shaping our joys and sorrows.

Indeed can we really grasp what it means to live our lives in the light of the cross if we don’t face the sadness of betrayal and selfish ambition? Some though, flinch and never look back, afraid to see themselves vulnerable. But Jesus encourages us to take the next step, and so, like he did for these two disciples, he comes alongside us. It is as we journey we discover a new and often transforming perspective. God has suffered himself. God is not to be found in the powerful courts and press conferences of the empires of this world but in the shattered lives of war-torn victims. The cross reveals God holding in his arms the grieving mother or father of a suffering child. God is found among the broken in his brokenness.

Prayer:

Lord,

Some disappointments

Are hard to bear

Death and the physical loss of loved ones

Shapes the demeanour

You walk with grief

Even if you walk with another

Grief still accompanies you

Like an old friend

Lord,

Can I ask you a question

Do you sometimes

Hide yourself in grief?

In your own grief as well as mine?

Because grief can feel good

Grief can make my loss touch love

And feel almost blessed

I sometimes think that’s when I know it’s You

You said ‘Blessed are those who mourn’

Lord,

This story speaks to me about

Spiritual grief

Cultural wars

Divided churches

Broken friendships

Betrayals

All swirling around in the mix

It’s then I want to flinch — walk away

But your hiddenness keeps me walking towards Emmaus

You still walk with me

In search of the burning

The revelation

The resurrection