The Road to Emmaus

Sunday 26^th – Easter 3 - The Road to Emmaus

Acts 2: 14a, 36-41. In the Lukan scheme of the giving of the Spirit on the Jewish feast of Pentecost, Peter stands to address the crowd and this truncated (by the lectionary compilers) version we have set for us today concentrates on the fact that because of the Easter events – the crucifixion, resurrection and the giving of the Spirit, God has declared “Jesus is Lord” that is Jesus and not Caesar. Therefore, what the people need to do in response is repent. To turn their lives around and accept that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself (2 Corinthians 5:19). This requires a mental, spiritual, and behavioural change so large Jesus said it would be like being “born again”

1 Peter 1: 17-23. Christians are called “exiles” in this letter which most agree is meant metaphorically, meaning that a Christian’s real home is in heaven. And we are to live in “reverent fear” of God. Reverent fear would be best described as reverent awe nowadays as a reaction to a divine experience. In this letter again it talks of being “born anew” – not just a private spiritual experience but affecting the whole way we act, think and see the world and others.

Luke 24: 13-35. This masterful “Road to Emmaus” story is a perfect example of the parabolic nature of Luke’s storytelling. It answers the question, how is disbelief dispelled and Jesus revealed to followers? Jesus had been travelling with them unawares but was revealed through him interpreting the scriptures to them (placing their former teacher in a cosmic divine context)  and finally being revealed in the breaking of bread – something that doesn’t happen mechanically, or through intellectual endeavour but is a gift of God. Here we have the basic eucharistic structure taking shape that would underpin Christian liturgy until the end of time.

No resurrection appearance story better reveals its parabolic nature than Luke’s “Road to Emmaus” story.

It concerns a couple described as disciples – so followers of Jesus in his life – who are as yet confused and disorientated regarding his wider, indeed cosmic significance. They describe Jesus as a prophet.

And doesn’t this describe a lot of people who acknowledge Jesus as a prophet or great teacher, or a healer or a combination of all those things but stop short of accepting him as Son of God and God’s anointed one to reveal God’s eternal saving will for all creation

The story tells us that Jesus travels with the disciples without him being recognised (which is significant), even while they recount the strange rumours they have been hearing about events around Jerusalem.

Significant because the recognition sought is not just recognising a person but recognising the deeper meaning and being of that person.

How does Jesus reveal himself to the pair?

He expounds the scriptures to point out where he has been foretold. Now the mere fact that he has to do that is testament to the fact that it is not obvious. It is hidden in plain sight we might say nowadays.

St. Paul, writes that Jesus died and was raised “according to the scriptures” without giving much of a clue where in the scriptures these passages occur. There is little that is clearly stated, just hints and nudges and symbols. I think the servant songs of Isaiah have served the church best and can be most clearly interpreted as relating to a suffering messiah, but they are no silver bullet.

In the end it comes down to faith and faith is a gift of God. A crucified Messiah is as Paul says “foolishness to the gentiles and a stumbling block to Jews”. You may be able to convince yourself intellectually of the truth of the resurrection but I wouldn’t bet on it. For Christians faith comes first and understanding follows.

So when we look at the pages of the Hebrew scriptures through the lens of our faith in the resurrection of Jesus and when we do that certain things leap out at us and speak to us.

Seeing the Messiah and the Spirit of the Messiah in the pages of scripture is the first thing that Christians do. And the Church has been doing that ever since.

Then they invited Jesus to stay with them, and I think for Christians the invite is important. For Jesus to become visible or tangible to us we have to invite him to stay with us, in our hearts. We have to open the door of our hearts to him and invite him in, just as it is implied in the famous Holman Hunt painting “The light of the world”.

Jesus accepts the invitation and sits down, takes bread, blesses it, breaks it and shares it with them and this is the point that Jesus becomes real to them – in the moment of love shared in a tangible way.

Here the last supper and the feeding miracles are recalled in this symbolic act.

Then Jesus disappears from sight. We don’t and can’t have Jesus with us as a physical presence. He is carried with us in our hearts when he is made real in our lives, both through the Eucharist itself and spiritually through Eucharistic living.

How do you live Eucharistically? Always remember that Eucharist means “Thanksgiving”. To live thankfully and gratefully for life itself and its beauty and diversity is to open up our minds and souls to God, the creator and sustainer and redeemer of all life.

We give thanks in the Eucharist for God’s loving sacrifice and service in Jesus Christ so we try to love as we ourselves were first loved.

The Eucharist is not just a church service, it is an attitude of heart and mind, an attitude that unites Christians from every land, language and culture.

The Spirit of God or the Spirit of Christ (the same thing) revealed in loving service transcends denomination and is at the heart of church worship and church life.

God in Christ reconciled the entire world to himself. The church are God’s agents proclaiming anew to each generation that reconciliation to a world that, just like those two disciples in Luke’s story, didn’t quite yet understand the significance of Jesus. We need to understand that we have to be Christ to the world – that he wouldn’t be a physical presence with them.

In his Spirit we are his presence in the world which is my cue to end with that wonderful saying by Teresa of Avila.

Teresa of Avila (1515–1582)

Christ Has No Body

Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.