And rising up that very hour, they went back to Jerusalem, where they found the Eleven [apostles] gathered together and those who were with them. – Luke 24:33, Amplified Bible (AMP)

Many times over the years I have heard pastors and Sunday school teachers talk about Jesus’ appearance to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. I’ve also read the account many times for myself. One thing I don’t recall hearing any pastor or teacher discuss – and one thing I’ve never noticed when I’ve read the account – was what hit me when I read Luke 24 just the other day.

Luke 24:13 tells us that Emmaus was 7 miles (a 2-3 hour walk, depending on pace) from Jerusalem. Luke 24:29 tells us that it was evening time when the disciples asked Jesus (not knowing that it was Jesus they were speaking to) to lodge with them for the night in Emmaus. In Luke 24:31 the two disciples realized that it was Jesus they had been speaking to, and in verse 33 they got up from the dinner table and traveled 7 miles back to Jerusalem to tell the other disciples about their encounter with the risen Christ.

What I found so notable about this reading of Luke 24 is this: the disciples went immediately, at great inconvenience to themselves, to tell their brethren about seeing Jesus. At the moment they came into possession of such fantastic news, they did not let fatigue stop them, for they had already walked 7+ miles that day. They did not let the dark stop them, nor the fear of being attacked by robbers at night. They did not let the fact that going back to Jerusalem was in total contrast to their plans, for they had wanted to go to Emmaus, and they now had to leave the place they wanted to be in order to go back to the place that they had left. In short, when the disciples took possession of the good news of the risen Christ, they did not delay in getting the message out. They immediately, even at great inconvenience, went to the people that needed to hear the message.

2 Timothy 4:2 (AMP) reads:

Herald and preach the Word! Keep your sense of urgency [stand by, be at hand and ready], whether the opportunity seems to be favorable or unfavorable. [Whether it is convenient or inconvenient, whether it is welcome or unwelcome, you as preacher of the Word are to show people in what way their lives are wrong.] And convince them, rebuking and correcting, warning and urging and encouraging them, being unflagging and inexhaustible in patience and teaching.

Although few of us make a living by preaching the Gospel, we all possess the Good News, and we have a duty – and a privilege – to tell the news to whomever God shows us, when God shows us. When God makes it clear who our audience is, we need to be like the Emmaus disciples and deliver the message immediately, even at great inconvenience to ourselves, to those who need to hear it.