Luke 24:13-35 Common English Bible (CEB)
13 On that same day, two disciples were traveling to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking to each other about everything that had happened. 15 While they were discussing these things, Jesus himself arrived and joined them on their journey. 16 They were prevented from recognizing him.
17 He said to them, “What are you talking about as you walk along?” They stopped, their faces downcast.
18 The one named Cleopas replied, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who is unaware of the things that have taken place there over the last few days?”
19 He said to them, “What things?”
They said to him, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth. Because of his powerful deeds and words, he was recognized by God and all the people as a prophet. 20 But our chief priests and our leaders handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him. 21 We had hoped he was the one who would redeem Israel. All these things happened three days ago. 22 But there’s more: Some women from our group have left us stunned. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 and didn’t find his body. They came to us saying that they had even seen a vision of angels who told them he is alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found things just as the women said. They didn’t see him.”
25 Then Jesus said to them, “You foolish people! Your dull minds keep you from believing all that the prophets talked about. 26 Wasn’t it necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” 27 Then he interpreted for them the things written about himself in all the scriptures, starting with Moses and going through all the Prophets.
28 When they came to Emmaus, he acted as if he was going on ahead. 29 But they urged him, saying, “Stay with us. It’s nearly evening, and the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 After he took his seat at the table with them, he took the bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 Their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he disappeared from their sight. 32 They said to each other, “Weren’t our hearts on fire when he spoke to us along the road and when he explained the scriptures for us?”
33 They got up right then and returned to Jerusalem. They found the eleven and their companions gathered together. 34 They were saying to each other, “The Lord really has risen! He appeared to Simon!” 35 Then the two disciples described what had happened along the road and how Jesus was made known to them as he broke the bread.
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Good morning. I just want to say . . . I really miss seeing you all. You are in my prayers, as I hope I am in yours. When I find myself wanting to break out of my house I think of all of you, and how important it is to stay home and keep us all healthy. It is also important to keep ourselves spiritually healthy. In March I began posting a daily Bible Study titled 30 New Days. At the end of 30 days, we reached the end of that Bible study. So this past Monday I began a practice of writing a Daily Journal entry in my blog “Everyday Thinking”, the link to which is posted on Facebook, or if you don’t do Facebook, can be found on our website. I find writing a daily meditation on a scripture verse has been very helpful in my own spiritual journey. Perhaps you will also find it to be so.
So. The Road to Emmaus. I’ve always found this passage a bit confusing. I mean, I kind of understand Mary at first not recognizing Jesus, thinking he was the gardener. After all, who expects to see someone that you watched die and be entombed to be walking around talking a few days later? It might have been like the time I ran into my hairdresser at the laundromat. Not only was she in the wrong place, but she didn’t look the same. She was in shorts, with her hair in pigtails and no makeup - a very different look than I was used to, so it took a minute to place her. Plus, Mary was upset and had been crying and, I don’t know about you, but when I cry my vision gets pretty blurry. But she knew him as soon as she heard his voice.
Here we have two of Jesus’ followers walking along the road discussing the recent events in Jerusalem when they were joined by a stranger. We know it was Jesus, but Luke tells us they were prevented from knowing him. This stranger wanted to know what they were talking about so they told him about Jesus and how he was a prophet, whom how they thought was the Promised One, but that he had been killed so maybe not. But then his tomb was discovered to be empty and now they were all confused and astounded. I can just see Jesus walking alongside them, shaking his head as they expressed their uncertainty, so he used the rest of the journey to set them straight. Mind you, this was roughly a 2 1/2 hour walk, so he had plenty of time to school them. I wonder if this was the first “Come to Jesus” moment? Anyway . . . two and a half hours on the road, listening to Jesus talk about the prophets and their prophecies about the Christ . . . and they didn’t know him. Yes, I know we are told they were prevented from knowing who he was, but I mean really. Mary recognized him as soon as he spoke, but Cleopas and his friend had no idea who their companion on the way was until . . . they were together at the Table and he broke the bread.
The Road to Emmaus. The Upper Room offers a program called the Emmaus Walk. It begins with a 3 day short course in Christianity, and continues as small groups of participants meet regularly to support each other in their ongoing walk with Christ. The object of the Emmaus Walk is “to provide an opportunity to meet Jesus Christ in a new way as God’s grace and love is revealed to each participant through other believers”. I know a few people who have participated in this Walk, and each of them has told me what a huge difference it made in their spiritual lives. Perhaps the most important thing they shared with me is that this is not intended to be a “me looking for Jesus” sort of journey, but a “me and you and that other person over there looking for Jesus in each other” sort of journey, holding each other accountable as they continue their walk together.
We talk about that sometimes, about how important it is to see Jesus in the face of other people. We work hard to encourage seeing Jesus in the other - the grumpy person in the checkout line, the homeless woman, the immigrant, the politician we don’t like. And admittedly that can be really hard. We might have to break through our own prejudices and preconceptions about that other before we can begin to see Jesus in them. Some of you may have seen images of the bronze sculptures known as The Homeless Jesus by the artist Timothy P. Schmalz, which is a man huddled on a park bench, wrapped in a blanket. The only way you can tell this is Jesus is by the wounds in his bare feet sticking out from the end of the blanket. There are now many copies of the Homeless Jesus around the world, in front of churches and on university campuses. It has been described as a "visual translation" of the Gospel of Matthew passage in which Jesus tells his disciples, "as you did it to one of the least of my brothers, you did it to me”. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeless_Jesus ) Everywhere it has received both blessings as a sharp reminder of these words of Jesus and criticisms as “an insulting depiction of Jesus.” It can be hard to see Jesus in the other.
A greeting common in India is namaste, which said while holding ones hands together as in prayer and bowing to the other person. It means “the divine in me respectfully recognizes the divine in you” or “I bow to the divine in you.” While we might not say namaste or bow, the practice of respectfully looking for the divine, for Christ, in the other, no matter who that other is, will help us to recognize them as our neighbor, and as such, someone we are to love as we love ourselves.
Sometimes it can be difficult to see Jesus in the faces of people we know well, our families and loved ones, for instance. Especially if we are suddenly forced into being together 24/7. I live alone, which has its own difficulties. But I do live with four cats who are suddenly needier than they have ever been. They can be annoying, actually, making it hard to get anything accomplished. Just try typing around a 14 pound lap cat. But they are cats, not people. They sleep for 12 - 16 hours a day. They are not family members or roommates. I don’t have to homeschool them or keep them entertained or put up with hearing the same joke for the zillionth time or pick up their socks. Even people who dearly love one another and usually get along perfectly can start being snarly when they don’t get any time away from each other. For most persons and families, however, recognizing Jesus in each other’s faces will not be terribly difficult. You might need a time out, a few minutes to yourself. It could be a time of prayer or coloring or reading or playing a game on your phone or screaming into a pillow - whatever works to help you to stop focusing on the thing that is irritating and remember what you love about the others in your household.
It will be so much harder, however, for those who have difficult family lives. Some are living in situations where verbal and emotional abuse is constant, where every moment is fraught with emotional pain. Others are dealing with physical abuse and are stuck, quarantined, sheltering in place with their abuser. Not surprisingly, calls reporting incidents of domestic violence have increased since the shelter in place orders went into effect. The pain of emotional and physical abuse may prevent us from seeing Jesus in the other. As a survivor of domestic violence myself, I am not sure I could have done it while living with my abuser or for a number of years afterwards. We do know that the disciples were able to recognize Jesus only when the time was right. Perhaps this will also be the case for those who cannot get away from their abuser while sheltering in place. Although if you can get away to a place of safety, please try to do so. Stay safe. And Know that although you may not be able to see Jesus in that other, Jesus is walking alongside you even as he walked with the disciples on that long ago Easter evening.
These two travelers had set out on the road to Emmaus uncertain, confused by the events of the last few days in Jerusalem. They had been so hopeful that Jesus was going to set everything straight, that he would be the savior of Israel they had been waiting for. And then he died, a terrible death, crucified like a criminal, and when he died on the cross, so too had died their hope. Then came the news that he wasn’t in the tomb. They didn’t know what to think. They were stunned.
We also are stunned. We are living in a time when everything changed in a flash, just as it did for the disciples. Just as they were unprepared for Jesus’ arrest and trial and death, so too we were unprepared for a pandemic. We looked to our leaders, to the experts, for answers, and there were none. The disciples had no one to ask. They had to sort of figure it out as they went along, as do we. They met a stranger who walked with them and explained all the prophecies to them. They invited him to dinner.
“After he took his seat at the table with them, he took the bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.” And suddenly the two travelers were able to recognize him. And as soon as they recognized him, he disappeared from their sight. And they immediately went back out on the road and made another two and a half hour journey to tell the other disciples that they had seen the risen Christ. A new thing had happened, Christ had risen. So they immediately went out to spread the Good News, to share with the others the teachings that Jesus had shared with them along the road to Emmaus - the words that had set their hearts on fire.
And then . . . they waited for the next new thing to happen. They waited in a new world where they knew not what would come next. As do we. But unlike those two disciples, we know that Christ is risen. We know that he walks along side of us every step of the way on this new journey we are taking. We know that he is always with us in the breaking of the bread.
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