Then [Jesus]said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! (Luk 24:25) This is from the well known account where Jesus walks with two disciples who are travelling from Jerusalem to Emmaus. At first sight this seems to be very harsh, but it is worth reminding ourselves about the circumstances. They had been in Jerusalem earlier that day and some women had reported that Jesus’ body was no longer in the tomb. Angels had told these women that Jesus was alive. This account of the tomb being empty had been confirmed by others visiting it. What should their reaction to these reports have been? If there had been the slightest belief in their hearts, they should have been searching throughout Jerusalem to try and find the risen Lord. But instead, they just went about their normal business and presumably had some appointment in Emmaus that took them there. Jesus was absolutle right that it was foolish to leave Jerusalem with the information available to them, and they were doing it because they did not believe either what had been told them, or what had been written about the Lord’s resurrection in the Old Testament. It is worth contrasting their actions with those of Mary, who finding that the tomb was empty, asked the next person she saw where His body might be. The person that she asked, was the risen Lord!
The redeeming aspect of the story of the road to Emmaus, is that Jesus sought them and explained to them the details of His resurrection. That was grace, that those who had foregone their right to find Him, were still found by Him!
The story shows us how easy it is to be unbelieving. It is worth examining the things you read in the bible and your own understanding, and ask yourself whether you really believe these things. If you do, it will affect the actions you take and the way you behave. James put it simply when he wrote, “… I will show you my faith by my works.” (Jas 2:18b) and he went further and wrote, “… so faith without works is dead …” (Jas 2:26b) Does your faith affect the way you live?