(Note- in the Bible account, only one of the two travellers is named. It’s implied both are men, but not outright stated- so I'm challenging the idea of characters being male by default, and imagining this story from the point of view of a woman).
Johanna sighed as they turned out of Jerusalem onto the road towards Emmaus. It seemed a long, weary journey to make, today of all days, and the road ran through dusty, dry, empty country. She wished they could have stayed in Jerusalem a bit longer, to find out what the meaning of the strange rumours they had heard that morning were, but Cleopas was set on making the journey so she had to follow him.
“Do you think it’s true, what Mary said?” she asked him as they left the city behind for the rocky road.
“How could it be?” he asked. “You saw as well as I did, they crucified him. They wouldn’t have taken him down unless he was dead- the Romans make sure of these things. Mary was just overcome with grief and thought she saw what she wanted to see. Poor woman- I hope someone takes care of her.”
“She’s not given to imagining things- or to drinking, before you suggest that. There must have been something to make her think she saw him.”
“She’s been through a lot.”
“We all have.”
Someone else was walking the road in the same direction as them. Cleopas exchanged greetings with him as they drew level. Johanna felt as though there was something familiar about him, but did not know what. Presumably she had seen him at the Temple services, or behind a market stall.
“What were you talking about?” the man asked.
“Don’t you know?” Cleopas said in surprise. He and Johanna stopped and looked at the man. “Haven’t you been in Jerusalem? Haven’t you heard about what’s been happening?”
“What things?” the man said.
“Where have you been?” Cleopas said. “About Jesus of Nazareth, a prophet. We thought he might be the one who would redeem Israel, but they killed him, the chief priests and the Romans.”
“This is the third day since it happened,” Johanna said. “But this morning, some of the women who followed him went to the tomb where he was laid- and his body wasn't there! They came back and said they had seen a vision of Jesus- that he was alive.”
“Some of the men went to look after that,” Cleopas said. “They found the tomb empty, but they didn’t see any sign of him.”
The stranger looked at them both and smiled. There was something about that smile that Johanna felt she should recognise- but she couldn’t place it.
“How silly you are,” he said to them. “Don’t you believe all the prophets said? Didn’t they say the Redeemer would have to suffer like this before the world could be saved?”
Johanna and Cleopas stared at him. What on earth did he mean?
The stranger smiled again.
The journey through the wilderness seemed short to Johanna. The stranger walked alongside them, explaining to her and Cleopas what the scriptures said about the Redeemer. She found herself understanding texts she had never understood when they had been read in the synagogue, and seeing a new side to prophecies she had thought she understood.
They reached Emmaus long before she felt tired of the conversation. She was surprised to see that the sun was low in the sky and evening was near. The stranger made as if leave them, but Cleopas- prompted by a glance from Johanna- invited him to join them for a meal. She was glad when he agreed. There was something about this stranger- something familiar, although she still could not say why. He was wise, though.
They sat down at the table. Cleopas invited the stranger to bless the meal. The man took up some bread, looked at them with the same smile, and then gave a prayer of thanks. He broke the bread into pieces and gave it to them.
Suddenly- it was as if a blindfold had fallen from her eyes- Johanna knew who the Stranger was. It was Him! Jesus, who she had seen dying on a cross, who had died, who had been buried. He had walked alongside them all the way from Jerusalem- why had she not recognised him?
“Lord...” she breathed.
And then- he had gone. She did not see where or how, he simply was no longer there. For a moment she was afraid she had imagined the whole thing. She looked at Cleopas. Clearly he had recognised Jesus too, and was staring, open-mouthed, at where he had stood.
They stared at each other for a moment in silence. Then Johanna spoke. “Didn’t your heart burn inside you when he explained things to us on the road?”
He nodded. “We must go back and tell the others.”
If the journey had felt short before, it felt shorter still now, as they hurried back to Jerusalem. In that day’s journey they had gone from confusion and despair to joy and the beginnings of a deeper understanding. Jesus really had died, but now he was alive again, and death was no longer the end. Johanna still didn’t feel she understood everything, but it certainly made more sense than it had this morning. There was hope now, not just for Jews, not just for men, but for all people. People like her.
They entered Jerusalem and rushed to the place where they knew the disciples were staying. Cleopas hammered on the door until it was opened. They tumbled into the room where the disciples and other believers, including the women who had been at the tomb that morning were sitting. They began to pour out their story, full of joy where that morning there had been only grief.
“It’s true! He is risen!”
Based on: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2024&version=NIV verses 13-35
