The Hitch Hiker

The HITCH-HIKER
(Luke 24: 13-35)

Cleopas and I were on a trip from Jerusalem
 to Emmaus when we saw Him. 
He was standing by the road, waving down
 the cars that were zooming past. 
Apparently, He needed assistance. 
I parked and asked him to come in.
“We’re going to Emmaus, sir- is that 
ok with you?”
“Thanks, mate! Emmaus is fine” He said.
He eased himself into the backseat. 
I drove off, continuing the journey. 
It costs us nothing to assist a stranger, 
I thought. 
There are always hitch-hikers on this 
road every time. 
And at this time of the day, it gets more 
dangerous standing by the road looking 
for a ride.
Now, Cleopas and I had been talking 
about the strange things that had been 
happening in Jerusalem these past days 
before we picked the Hitch-Hiker. 
We continued our discussion as we drove 
along the road to Emmaus. 
The Hitch-Hiker barged in: “Gentlemen, 
what are you guys talking about?” 
What nerve! Well, it’s not your fault. 
It’s my fault for picking you up in the 
first place!
I was a bit angry over the Hitch-Hiker’s 
seeming sense of entitlement and rudeness. 
But Cleopas responded to Him, “are you 
a stranger in Jerusalem? Haven’t you heard 
about the things that have been happening 
in Jerusalem these past days?” 
I glanced at the rear view mirror to see the 
Hitch-Hiker’s face: He looked surprised. 
Okay, it seems He’s unaware of the latest 
happenings in Jerusalem. 
Seems He’s not from these parts- I must
 have judged Him too hastily.
“It’s about Jesus”, I replied him. 
“He was a prophet, mighty in words and 
actions, performing miracles, healing people 
of all kinds of sicknesses and diseases. 
He even raised some dead folks!” 
The Hitch-Hiker’s eyes widened in surprise. 
“He raised dead people? 
Dead, as in dead-dead?” 
The Hitch-Hiker’s reaction was funny- 
I almost laughed, if not for the grave mood 
we were in.
“Yes, dead, as in dead-dead! One of our 
friends, Lazarus was dead for a few days. 
He was out of town when Lazarus died, 
we called Him up before he died, 
He couldn’t come over until a few days 
after Lazzy’s death, and to everybody’s 
shock and surprise, He raised him up! 
We were desperate for Him to come over
 before Lazzy died because we had seen 
Him heal sick folks before. 
Seeing Him raise Lazzy from the dead 
was another level altogether!”
The Hitch-Hiker looked deep in thought. 
“So where’s Lazarus now? Is he still alive?”
“Yeah!”
“And this Jesus?”
“He was crucified a few days ago. 
The government found something to accuse 
Him of and sentenced Him to death. 
It was all politics! 
They just wanted Him out of the way because 
He was becoming very popular and they feared 
He would sooner or later have enough followers 
to take over power from them”, Cleopas responded.
“We actually thought He was the one that 
would bring independence from Rome to 
Israel. 
The surprising thing now is, we are told 
earlier today that His body is missing- some 
folks went to His tomb and saw it empty, 
they told us. 
Honestly, I don’t know what to believe
 anymore!” I added in frustration.
“Hey calm down, sir! Please concentrate on 
your driving, don’t let this upset you- 
we’re still an hour away from Emmaus”, the 
Hitch-Hiker said. 
He continued, “But guys, don’t you know that 
this Jesus was just fulfilling the prophecies 
about Him? It had been prophesied from 
the books of Moses to the book of Malachi 
that he would go through crucifixion, death 
and resurrection!”
Now, this was an eye opener for Cleopas 
and I! 
It never crossed our minds before. 
“How so?” Cleopas asked. “How versed are 
you in the scriptures? Do you read them often?” 
the Hitch-Hiker asked. 
Cleopas and I looked at each other. 
“Well, not exactly- we don’t read them 
that often”.
“See? That is the problem! If you understood 
the scriptures, you would not be sad and 
despondent that Jesus was crucified. 
He was born to be crucified! 
Did you not hear John the Baptist call Him 
the Lamb of God? Did you not hear Him say, 
“if I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me”? 
Did you not hear Him say, “Destroy this temple 
and I will raise it in 3 days”? Have you not read…”
the Hitch-Hiker continued to explain the 
scriptures to us and everything suddenly 
made sense!
When we got to Emmaus. 
The Hitch-Hiker got down, thanked us and 
stood by the road again. 
“Hey, dude- are you going further? 
It’s already late- why not continue your 
journey tomorrow morning? 
You can stay with us, no worries.”
He agreed. 
We got home and my wife prepared dinner. 
As we sat down to eat, the Hitch-Hiker took 
the loaf of bread, gave thanks and broke it. 
Then it happened: We recognized him! 
The Hitch-Hiker had been Jesus all along! 
We went on a 2-hour journey with him, 
but we did not recognize him!
And in that moment, he disappeared.
My wife screamed.
Cleopas screamed.
I grabbed my car keys.
 “Cleopas, we have to go back to 
Jerusalem NOW! 
We have to go see the other guys
 immediately!” 
My wife protested, “It’s late, dear- why 
not tomorrow? 
You can call them and tell them what 
happened. 
Please you guys need to eat!”
Cleopas was already out of the door. 
We did not feel hungry anymore! 
“Babe, some things are best said 
face to face. 
This is not a phone matter! 
I want to see Peter’s face when I tell him! 
I want to break the news to them all at 
the same time- a phone call won’t do!”
I rushed into the car and we zoomed off, 
back to Jerusalem. 
To think we discouraged the Hitch-Hiker
from continuing his journey because it 
was late! 
Now, we’re on the road back to Jerusalem. 
The road did not seem dangerous to us 
anymore- we had met and seen Jesus!
“That was Jesus!” Cleopas said repeatedly. 
“O my God, that was Jesus! 
No wonder our hearts burned within us 
when He explained the scriptures!”
“Yeah!” I responded. 
“It’s ironic how we were WITH Him on a 
2-hour journey and we were unaware and 
we were ignorant of so many things. 
Now, we’re going back on a 2-hour journey 
WITHOUT him, but this time, we have 
KNOWLEDGE!”
Cleopas nodded in agreement.
 “Yes. Knowledge sure makes a difference...”

Haruna Daniels