SECRET INTERVIEW WITH THE MESSIAH · 4/21/2019 · the crucifixion. There were Mary the mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and my wife, Mary. Jesus and the boys had nicknames for each

LIVE THE WORD & WALK WITH POWER!

April 21, 2019 Mark Wallace

SECRET INTERVIEW WITH THE MESSIAH

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Copyright © Mark Wallace. All rights reserved.

Introduction

My name is Cleopas. With me here is my wife Mary. Would you like to say hi?

[Jo says, “Hello there!”]

You may know me from the story about my special time, walking down the road with Jesus in his

newly resurrected body, as I was heading to our lovely second home in Emmaus. Who gets to do

that? Who gets to walk with Jesus Christ? Well at that time we didn’t know it was. Problem was, I

had no idea it was him. Somehow, he had that nondescript yet obvious look of a tourist trying to fit

in trying to look like an undercover journalist, I guess.

That was the time he asked us a few questions, he got us thinking and talking, and then shared with

us from his heart, every single section of scripture that pertained to the Christ. After he spoke, our

hearts were on fire and we were fired up.

A little backstory: We knew Jesus and all his Apostles as well as anyone. We had easy access mainly

because our son James was an Apostle. Plus, all but one of the boys was from Galilee; they grew up

around each other. Also, and spoiler alert; it should be no surprise to you that the other disciple that

was with me on the road to Emmaus wasn’t a man, but it was my wife, Mary. (The artists sure got

that one wrong.)

Financially, we have done pretty well for ourselves over the years; God has been good. This has

given us the means to help support our son, the other Apostles, and of course Jesus as they

crisscrossed Israel, speaking the Word and walking with power. Those boys cut a swath let me tell

you.

My wife had just trekked over 150 miles on foot with Jesus and the boys up to Galilee and back to

Jerusalem for the feast. The entourage grew with every single miracle. Mary got to hang out with

the Master on a daily basis and got to see firsthand Jesus doing miracle after miracle. Plus, she was

able to spend a couple of weeks with our son James and his Apostle buddies. We were planning to

meet back up for a mini-reunion in Jerusalem for Passover.

But…what started out as a fun, exciting, and hopeful year, turned deadly as the group came back

into Jerusalem. Jesus was arrested, tortured, crucified, but what happened three days and three

nights later, flat-out blew my mind.




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Needless to say, it had been a crazy few days; but my highlight, my zenith, the greatest day of my

life was our secret interview with the Messiah.

Purpose of the Interview

Before I get deep into the interview, there is a question I hope to answer in this talk. I will try to

answer why the resurrected Messiah spent more time with Mary and I, on the road to Emmaus,

than he did anyone else on earth after he got up? We are not Apostles, although our son was. We

are not related to Jesus, but we know his mom. So, why did the newly resurrected Christ spend

more time with us on this super special day of all days? Why us? You may be surprised at the

answer.

Backstory

All the people I am about to mention add color and texture to the secret interview. You need to

know their background for the story to have some pop.

Mary and I have raised a couple of good boys, James and Joses. James was chosen by Jesus to be

one of the Twelve, one of his Apostles. That gave us unfettered access to the Master, but I already

told you that. I was like a father figure to the boys and at times a lion tamer; I was respected by

these kids. This will be very important later on.

Mary, and a group of other ladies, sometimes traveled with the Twelve, especially when they

headed to our old stomping grounds in Galilee. Some of the women wanted to be with their sons,

others were just super committed followers of Jesus, but as the year went on, all of them were to

the women were both. They were both a follower and were totally committed.

There were at least three Mary’s on the trip back down from Galilee. This was a week or so before

the crucifixion. There were Mary the mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and my wife, Mary. Jesus

and the boys had nicknames for each which is also going to make a difference in a few minutes.

Mary, the mother of Jesus was an amazing lady. Not only did she raise about seven kids, mostly by

herself, she also was tasked by God to teach young Jesus the Word concerning what it means to be

the Messiah. BIG job! Not sure what happened to her husband Joseph though.




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Here’s where the story gets a bit more interesting and intertwined.

Young Dr. Luke, the physician-turned-writer, tells us that there are a few women who traveled with

Jesus who were delivered by Jesus of evil spirits as well as being healed physically from some sort of

sickness; and Luke made it a point to let us know that these same women were wealthy enough to

not just support themselves without having to work, but they each had enough money to help

support Jesus, the Twelve, plus others. (Lk 8:2-3)

Two of those poor little rich girls, ladies who had been both delivered and healed, had been with my

Mary almost since the inception of Jesus’ ministry. One lady was named Joanna and the other

wealthy young lady you may know as Mary Magdalen.

Mary Magdalen was from a prosperous fishing village called Magdala, on the west side of the lake.

She came from a well-off family and was able to financially support herself and the cause. Mary had

once been a hot-mess until Jesus healed her and delivered her.

Most of you have heard Mary Magdalen was healed of seven devil spirits; and I am sure you are

sharp enough to know that spirits don’t always make you act crazy, some affect the body, some the

blood, some the mind, and some the emotions. Mary Magdalen is a major player among the ladies.

She is totally committed and fully involved because she and her family are so thankful of her

deliverance. There is a lot more to her than most of you know. You will see this in a few minutes.

Another lady who traveled with Jesus and the boys was a woman named Joanna. Like Mary

Magdalen, she too was delivered of physical and spiritual problems.

Joanna is not a young lady; she is the wife of Chuza, King Herod’s financial steward. To say they are

wealthy is an understatement. He is in charge of all of King Herod’s finances, payroll, and purchases

for one of the four Roman kingdoms in Israel.

Finally, one of four main ladies who were close with my Mary was Simone, the wife of a fisherman

named Zebedee. (I love saying that name, Zebedee).




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Simone was the mother of the loud and boisterous fishermen-turned-Apostles, James and John.

(The other Apostle named James.) Jesus once called Simone’s sons the “Sons of Thunder.” (Mk 3:17)

These two boys were loud, bold, and filled any room they entered; they made a splash even if there

was no water (just like some of you) if you know what I mean. These two brothers seemed to be in

the inner circle of Jesus’ inner circle.

I need you to know that all of us deeply believed Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah and our son

believed it even deeper than we did. That’s why he was an Apostle. But unfortunately, most of us

really didn’t expect or believe that Jesus would actually rise from the dead.

I thought Jesus was going to mobilize the people and take back Israel from the Romans and from the

corrupt religious leaders. I really thought that with a little more time, Jesus would have been able to

rally the people, and assume power like David did. Little did I know how wrong I was and how God

had a greater plan for Mary and me all along.

We needed the secret interview with the Messiah and the interviewer also was going to need us.

Backstory that Everybody Knew

When we get to the interview it will be important to remember that the entire city, all the Judeans,

all the Romans, and all the Greeks (anybody who wasn’t from that area) were talking about Jesus.

Jesus had gone viral.

Here are some of the most talked about things that happened in Jerusalem in the days leading up to

his crucifixion.

Jesus ceremonially and triumphantly enters Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey, just like was prophesied. People love and respect him so much, that in unison, they take off their shawls and outer robes, cut down palm fronds, and lay them on the street for Jesus and the donkey to walk on. Super special honor, folks. People shout out “Hosanna to the King of Israel;” or Live long and strong King of Israel. The people were calling Jesus “King,” out loud. The city of Jerusalem went nuts; good nuts and bad nuts. Everyone, I mean everyone, is asking, “Who is this guy named Jesus?” (Mt 21:10)

Every day Jesus spends the day teaching in the temple courts and healing multitudes of people from all over the world. He knows he’s about to die but he’s still out there healing people and teaching. These people were from all over the world. The High Priests begin to




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plan ways to have him stopped, for good. The greatest show on earth was in town and it was Jesus. Did I mention that everyone in the city of Jerusalem was talking about Jesus? They were.

Speaking of not keeping it low-profile; Jesus throws the money changers out of the Temple court, scattering all their coins all over the place. For years these crooks had been getting rich by ripping off the people but it was allowed because the Temple got a cut. It’s always about the money. Didn’t Jesus know not to mess with the money? Didn’t he know that?! Didn’t he think that would attract attention?

After even more miraculous healings in the temple court, just outside the Temple, now all the children, all the young people who were around, began to shout, in their full outside voice, “Hosanna to the Son of David, Hosanna to the King.” Hosanna means “Be free, be safe.” They were shouting “Live strong and free oh king of Israel.” Even the kids were on-board. When you get the kids, you’ve got something going on, folks. This really riled up the elders and raised the eyebrows of the Roman occupiers. Jealousy was mixed admiration. Jesus achieved rock star status while he was there.

I didn’t even mention that the young Lazarus, a super wealthy local boy, had recently been raised from the dead and he was a walking testament to the godly power unleashed by this guy named Jesus. My God! Did you know they even had a hit out on Lazarus?

Jesus was so popular in Jerusalem that even people who weren’t from Israel, travelers, Greek speakers who converted to Judaism, figured out where Jesus was staying and asked the Apostles if they could have a word with him. Everybody knew Jesus was in town.

I hope you are getting the point that EVERYBODY in town, local or traveler, Roman or Greek, knew

Jesus was in town, everybody. (Jn 12)

I am not going to go into the betrayal, the illegal night trials, the religious people tricking the

Romans into thinking Jesus committed a capital crime, the savage beatings, the crucifixion, and his

final song before giving up his life.

This interview is all about hope, all about the purpose of the resurrection. The main point of the

secret interview was Jesus’ way of finding a way to get the Apostles to believe that he actually rose

from the dead. You’ll see exactly what I’m talking about in a minute.

Within a twelve-hour period, Jesus appeared five separate times, to different groupings of people,

and changed his form five times as well. Again, he did all this just to get people to believe that he

had in fact, actually rose from the dead.




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Now, let’s get this interview started.

Lead Up to The Interview

If I have told this story once I have told it a thousand times so bear with me.

Young Dr. Luke the traveling companion with the Apostle Paul, was inspired by God to pen the

interview we had with Jesus as he was trying out his freshly minted resurrected body. Those of you

who are fortunate enough to have a copy of Dr. Luke’s writings, find the part about our trip to

Emmaus. (My producer is informing me to tell you it starts in Luke 24:13.)

Like I said before, Mary and I, like Jesus and all but one Apostle, all hail from the Galilee area. We

made a little money over the years so we also have a little place, a second home in Emmaus. That

famous historian fella’ named Josephus stated that Emmaus was about a seven-mile roundtrip from

Jerusalem which is a little over an hour walk each way. So, we would just stay there when we’d

come to town. We’d walk there for supper, spend the night, and come back to town and that’s what

we were doing now.

Emmaus is a beautiful little town, with spring-fed streams, green and lush, huge trees, plus it has

natural hot spring baths. Because it is in a strategic spot on the road to Jerusalem from the coast, it

will soon become a Roman Colony which means it will be a tax-free zone. Tax free! You wonder why

we moved there?

So, after the crazy emotional last few days, Mary and I leave the noise and confusion of Jerusalem

behind and are walking back to our quiet little place right off the road in Emmaus. Problem is, my

lovely wife Mary was not too happy with me for three main reasons.

One, because we left our son, the Apostles, and all her friends while everyone was grieving over the

death of Jesus.

Two, because all the Apostles, including our son, told the women that they were crazy for saying

that they had seen angels and had actually spoken to and hugged the risen Christ.




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Three, because “I” didn’t believe my Mary. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting Jesus to actually rise from

the dead, I was expecting him to rise up and rally the people, and take over Israel like a king. Most of

us thought that; all the men thought that, and now he’s gone.

Up to the point that we left the fellowship of the Apostles, not a single one of us men had actually

seen an angel nor had we seen the risen Messiah. Only the women “said” they did. We didn’t

believe them.

So, like the stubborn fool I am, I told Mary, “Enough is enough; we’re heading home.” This is where

the fight began.

Mary didn’t want to make a scene, so she left with me, fuming. We didn’t have luggage because we

typically ate supper and stayed the night at our little house in Emmaus. In fact, Mary probably

already had things set up for tonight’s supper.

Ladies, I’m sure that none of you have ever tried to tell your husbands something you did and they

act like they don’t even hear you? I’ll bet none of you ladies have ever been hurried out of a party or

social event, or rushed out of a family gathering before you were ready to go because your man

wanted to go? I’ll wager that none of you have ever been treated like you’re just an irrational and

emotional little girl by your big strong husband? I’ll bet that’s never happened to any of you. Well, it

happened to me.

Here is some background as to what got my Mary so pissed at me.

My wife had been traveling with Jesus and the Apostle boys off and on for the better part of a year.

We gave money, a lot of money, supplies, and, like a few of the other ladies, she helped in any way

she could. She was involved, Plus, like I said before, our son James was one of the Twelve Apostles,

which is why we had backstage access to Jesus. My Mary loved and respected Jesus with all of her

heart and loved even more spending time with our son James.

She had seen miraculous healings; seen lives changed instantly and forever. Blind men could now

see. Jesus and Peter walked on water. Storms were stopped. Fish were caught. Tens of thousands

were miraculously fed—twice. At least three people were raised from the dead over the past year,

one of them just recently, Lazarus. That wealthy young man who was a real good and close friend of




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Jesus’ had been dead in the grave for four days and Jesus healed that guy. He came walking out of

that tomb like a mummy, like he was wrapped in 75 pounds of these grave clothes. It was a sight to

see. Wow!

Makes me think, if you can be healed of that disease called death, you can be healed from anything.

But I digress. Back to the interview.

My Mary was angry with me because, after all the miracles she had seen and talked about over the

past year, I did not believe her. Neither did any of the other men.

So, we said our goodbyes, left the apartment our son was staying at with the other Apostle boys;

wound our way through the noisy, dusty, crowded streets of Jerusalem, and walked out the western

gate into the sun. It had been a crazy confusing day but it was nice to be going home; at least I

thought it was.

Jerusalem was set on a hill so the afternoon view heading west was breathtaking, it always was. We

started walking down the solid, 12-foot wide, curbed Roman cut-stone road, heading down to our

beautiful Emmaus. The trees were already in full leaf and the road dropped softly into the valley like

a song. The sun was in our eyes.

Once we were a few hundred yards away from Jerusalem, and had managed to separate ourselves

from the other travelers, we went at it. I was angry that Mary had embarrassed me and our son

back there in front of the Apostles for saying that she had seen angels and she had seen Jesus risen.

I didn’t believe a word of it. She was none too happy with me either because I didn’t believe she saw

what she said she saw. We were having one of those low voice, act like you’re not having a fight,

type of fights.

The Secret Interview with The Messiah

This is the point; this is right when somebody walked up behind us. Have you ever had someone just

come up behind you, and you know they are listening to your conversation, so you try to talk a bit

quieter and switch to that coded talk that only good friends and married couples know? You leave

out words and say things just a little bit different. Well, that was us. There was a guy right next to us.




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We then notice that this guy was walking in step with us. He’s right in sync with us. He basically just

joined our little two-some and now it was a three-some. It was a little bit weird but it didn’t seem so

weird. He made himself part of us.

He seemed to listen intently for a few minutes, smiling, looking at each of us as we argued as

privately as we could, and then he started asking us questions. Don’t you love it when someone you

don’t even know, somebody you’ve never seen before, starts asking you personal questions? We

had no clue who this guy was. He just looked like any other traveler.

We didn’t realize it at the time but he began to interview us. We didn’t mind. It was a nice break to

distract us from the crazy week and from our little fight. Plus, the young man looked nice enough,

was about our son’s age, pretty good shape, and seemed very interested in our

conversation/argument. Here is how it went, in my own words. (Lk 24:17 summarized from the

Voice)

Traveler (the interloper): Your conversation seems a bit heated and unhappy, plus you look both sad

and bit angry at the same time. Mind if I ask why?

We stop walking and just stand there, mouths open in disbelief, looking at the eavesdropper. Who

the heck is this guy? I ask him.

Me: How is it even possible you have been in Jerusalem the past few days and you don’t know what’s

going on? Everybody knows what’s going on. The Judeans know what’s going on. The Romans know

what’s going on. The Greeks know what’s going on. Did you just fall out of a fig tree? You must be

the only visitor in Jerusalem who hasn’t heard about what’s been going on?

Traveler: 19What are you talking about?

Mary: It’s all about a man named Jesus from Nazareth. He was a mighty prophet who did amazing

miracles and preached powerful messages to anyone who would listen. 20Our chief priests and

authorities hated him, were jealous of him, and tricked the Romans into executing him by way of

crucifixion; staked up on a busy road, between four criminals.




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Cleopas: 21We had been hoping that He was the One—you know, the One who would liberate all

Israel from Rome. Anyway, that all happened three days ago. 22Earlier today, some of the women, in

our group, including my Mary here, really shocked us. They went to the tomb early this morning, 23but they didn’t see His body anywhere. Then the women came back and told us what they saw.

Mary said: That’s just part of the story. Here’s how it really went down.

My girlfriends and I (Mary Magdalene, Simone, Joanna, and a couple of others) had seen Jesus

buried improperly so we bought spices and were going to go back to the sepulcher after the weekly

Sabbath to bury him right. As you know, the Sabbath ended at sundown yesterday; Saturday. So

early this morning we gathered the spices and wrappings and went back to rebury Jesus properly. As

we got close, we noticed that someone had already moved the huge stone that covered the tomb

and that the guards were gone. It seemed a little bit weird.

We looked inside the tomb and there was a handsome young man just sitting there which also

seemed a little out of place. It turns out he was an angel, who told us Jesus was not there, that he

was risen. It was a little bit freaky, if you know what I mean, so we hustled back to tell our sons and

the other Apostles in the B&B. No one believed us, not our son, not the Apostles, not my husband,

not anyone. Frustrating!

Cleopas: Hold on a second Mary. One of Jesus’ Apostles, Peter, and a young man ran to the

sepulcher for a look-see and only saw the hollow tube of grave clothes, in the empty cocoon shape of

a human body, but no Jesus. Peter thought they moved the body but the young man with him

believed he actually rose through the grave wrappings. That got me scratching my head.

Peter went back to the rental and told everyone that the body was gone, but the grave wrappings

were just laying there in the shape of a man, but empty. Crazy!

Young Mary Magdalene had followed Peter to the grave but stood back a bit. (Jn 20:3-9)

My Mary: Me and all the other women went back for a second look after they heard Peter. I think

we had to make sure we saw what we saw. Nobody likes to be called crazy.

Now the story really gets good. Before we got to the grave, Mary from Magdala was already there.

In tears, she stooped down, peeked in, but this time she saw two young men, one at the head and




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one at the feet of the hollow grave clothes. They ask her why she is crying. Young Mary didn’t yet

believe that Christ was risen so she told them she wanted to know where the body was. (Jn 20:11-18)

Pretty bold.

Mary Mags becomes aware that someone is standing right behind her, in her comfort zone, and she

turns around, still balling her eyes out, and sees a man standing there dressed like a gardener, like

the caretaker of the cemetery. He too asked her why she was crying and what she was looking for.

Mary Mags now asks that gardener guy where he moved the body.

I’m not sure how Jesus can keep a straight face here. He had to be coming out of his skin. This is

Jesus’ first real resurrection appearance; incognito.

Mary turned back toward the tomb, still crying, and Jesus then said her name in a special nickname-

way that separated her from all of the other Mary’s. He said something like, “Mary” or “Maria.” She

recognized the voice, turned around and he now looked like the pre-crucifixion Jesus.

That is the instant Mary Magdalen realized it was Jesus that he had risen from the dead. This was his

second form change. (Jn 20:11-18)

Wow, what a moment! Mary from Magdela, one of the most supportive and faithful women over the

past year, was the first person on earth to see the risen Christ. (Mk 16:9)

Mary from Magdela reached out to touch Jesus but he said, “Don’t touch me yet because I still need

to ascend.” I’m not sure why he said this because of what was about to happen.

Within moments of Jesus telling her not to touch him, the other women, Joanna, Samone, a couple of

others, and me showed up and just grabbed him, and he didn’t stop us. They knew exactly who it

was. Maybe Jesus was just having fun with her? Maybe it was for dramatic effect, I don’t know. He

was a joker at times. We know that.

Then we all went back to the stubborn men again, but this time with radiant smiles on our faces.

What a difference when we walked in and all the men were crying and grieving. We told the men

that this time at the grave we actually saw Jesus; he is risen. True to form, the Apostles and the other




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men, including this guy here, STILL didn’t believe us. Unbelievable! What’s it gonna’ take for these

men to believe?

Cleopas: Come on Mary, why are you filling this man’s head with this foolishness. Haven’t we been

through enough? Sir, this rising from the dead thing is what we have been bickering about since we

left Jerusalem.

Traveler: 25Come on, you two?! Why are you being so five senses? Why are your hearts so sluggish

when it comes to believing what the prophets have been saying all along? 26Didn’t they all say it had

to happen this way? Didn’t the Anointed One, the Christ, have to experience all kinds of sufferings

before he could finish his work and come into his glory?

27If you two are going to Emmaus, and since you are talking about the Christ, I have just enough time

to share with you, from memory, every single scripture concerning the Messiah, starting with Moses

and then working through all the prophets. I have mastered the verses on the Messiah. An hour or so

should do it.

Cleopas: Just as the welcome traveler finished reciting the passages concerning the Christ, we got to

the village of Emmaus. He blew us away. Instead of arguing or weeping or grieving we were on fire. I

think Mary and I have a new friend now. We like this guy. We didn’t want him to stop sharing the

Word with us.

But…instead of following us to our home, he acted like he was going to just keep heading west. Now

I think, “Typical Jesus.” He did the same thing to the Apostles when they had been out all night on

the boat and Jesus, walking on the water, acted like he was going to walk past them. But that’s

another story. (Mk 6:45)

We basically begged this guy to stay over because it was supper time and the sun was going down.

He had to need a place to stay. He came in and sat.

Mary always has food partially prepared when we leave in the morning so me and Mr. Traveler just

sat down, and talked, and waited for dinner.




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When the bread and wine were served, something happened that rang a bell in our hearts. He did

something that the Apostles had been talking about since the last supper. They called it the

memorial. It was when Jesus said that the broken bread represented his broken body and the wine

represented his blood that was shed for our forgiveness of sins.

What happened next happened pretty much stunned us. This traveler, our new friend, didn’t wait for

us to serve him; he served us. He took a small warm round loaf of bread Mary set out, picked it up

and blessed it, then he broke it into a few pieces, and gave it to us. We took a little bite.

If I remember right, the only time those four words are used together was at the miracle feeding of

the 5000, that last supper memorial, and now here in Emmaus. He took, he blessed, he break, and he

gave.

This is what some people now call communion or the Love Feast.

This stranger took a loaf of bread, blessed it with prayer thanking the Father for it, then he broke off

a piece for himself and gave the rest of loaf to us. He said, take and eat, this bread represents my

body which was broken for you for your healing. Remember me.

Then he picked up the wine, blessed it, and passed it to us. He then said, this wine represents my

blood that was shed for the remission of your sins.

Then, the second he gave us the bread, the traveler instantly changed into pre-crucifixion Jesus, we

now recognized him, and then he just flat-out vanished. Poof! He’s gone and we’re just sitting there

with bread and wine in hand.

I was like, “What?!” Mary was like, “What?!”

I guess the Interview must be over, but it wasn’t.

NOW, I finally believe he IS risen. I now believe he actually did rise from the dead. We just spent

about two hours with the risen Christ. Unbelievable! I still didn’t understand why though. Why us?

Why did he spend so much time with us? Why did we do this communion type thing there that day?

Why did he disappear right then? Why?




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Mary: 32Cleopas, my heart felt like it was on fire when we were walking with him down the road and

when he was sharing those scriptures. Talk about hot flashes. Woah!

Cleopas: Mary, those scriptures he quoted, one after the other, for almost an hour ignited something

in me like I had never experienced before. I can’t believe he is really up. But actually, I now l can

believe that he rose from the dead. Those verses helped me get to that place.

So sorry I doubted you Mary when you told me you had seen him earlier. So, you have seen him twice

today and I’ve only seen him once. Wow! What an interview.

33We better high-tail it back to Jerusalem because Peter and the boys need to hear that Jesus did rise

from the dead; our son James needs to hear this too.

Well, when we got back to Jerusalem, and entered the place our son and the Apostles were staying

at, only eleven of the Twelve were present. Thomas was out doing something which meant that

Judas was there. I had my suspicions about that boy.

Before we could tell them what happened, a few of the Apostles told us that Jesus had appeared to

Peter. Some didn’t look so convinced. There was no one, excuse me, no man, to corroborate Peter’s

story. The women could but there wasn’t yet a man who could until we walked in.

Me and Mary looked at each other with that knowing glance of married people. It had to have

happened in the hour it took us to get back to Jerusalem. The moment Jesus disappeared from our

dining area, while we were doing that communion thing, he somehow was instantly in Jerusalem

meeting with Peter. This guy could move fast.

His rising from the dead is still the single most important detail of the day. Somehow Jesus had to get

his Apostles to believe that he rose from the dead or else he could never lead them into that new

birth.

Mary and I finally had our chance to share what had happened on that walk to Emmaus with, what

we realized later, was the resurrected Christ.




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Weirdly enough, it was obvious, from the looks on some faces, that some of the Apostles still didn’t

believe us nor did they believe he was risen; maybe a couple did. I’m not sure.

Then we went into telling them how he took, blessed, broke, and gave the bread, like the Apostles

had said Jesus had done it during their last supper together. They all got that.

As we were telling the story, about the bread representing that his body was broken for our healing.

Poof, Jesus himself, in all his glory, appeared in the middle of the group at the exact same point in

the conversation he left at our house.

Talk about emphasis! Do you think the bread and the wine, the broken body and shed blood are

important? I should say so!

In Summary

I know that the reason the newly risen Christ spent so much time with us, was because he needed at

least one respected man, to believe he had risen from the dead. The women already believed. He

needed someone that all the Apostles would listen to. He knew that because I was the father of

James that they would at least hear me out. He also knew that I would repeat many of the verses

Jesus had told us on the Emmaus road interview, so I did, and he knew that I would mention the

communion, which we did. Nobody outside that room would have known how Jesus handled the

memorial of the bread and wine at the last supper, no one but the Apostles.

Well, it worked. We were able to help a few of them over the hurdle of believing that Christ truly

rose from the dead.

The Apostles, and our son, were finally ready to hear that Jesus was raised from the dead some 72

hours after he was buried, and he appeared five times that day:

1. The first person Jesus appeared to was the young, faithful, and supportive Mary Magdalene.

2. Next, moments after he appeared to Mary Magdalene, he appeared to my Mary, Joanna, Simone, and a few other ladies. They held onto him like there was no tomorrow.




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3. Third, he did that secret interview with me and my Mary on the road to Emmaus. It was the second time Mary saw him but the first time for me.

4. Fourth, while we were speed walking back from Emmaus to tell the others in Jerusalem and we told the story, Jesus appeared to Peter alone.

5. And the fifth and final time Jesus appeared in his resurrected body that day was when Mary and I were sharing about the secret interview, relayed the verses Jesus shared, and just when I started talking about how the broken bread represented that his body was broken for our healing, poof, Jesus, appeared in front of the Apostles, the ladies, and the others in that room. This time he had pierced hands and feet. Plus, he ate with us all. Hey, that’s pretty cool!

What a crazy day! What and amazing God! What a multidimensional multifaceted Savior!

Looking back, I think that the real reason young Dr. Luke was not inspired to say exactly who walked

with me down the road to Emmaus is because:

God wants you to visualize yourself as that second disciple.

God wants you to picture yourself walking with Jesus and breaking bread with him.

God wants you to see yourself walking with the resurrected Christ.

But…the BIG lesson of the day is for each of us to believe that Jesus Christ, did in fact, rise from the

dead. He is still risen!

This ends our Secret Interview with the Messiah.

God bless!

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SECRET INTERVIEW WITH THE MESSIAH · 4/21/2019 · the crucifixion. There were Mary the mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and my wife, Mary. Jesus and the boys had nicknames for each