In the Breaking of the Bread

Since Easter we’ve been looking at the 4 Gospel accounts of the women who came to the tomb on the first day of the week-only to find the stone rolled away and Jesus risen. Mary Magdalene features in all these accounts, but there are others to whom Jesus appeared that first Easter day. Among them are Cleopas and his companion. Last year I wrote about the response of these witnesses. Today, we continue our theme of the changes wrought by the Resurrection experience in those who encountered the Risen Lord.

Mary found herself turning from Dark to Light, the Myrhh Bearers found that there was a new and deeper righteousness than tradition. The angel told the women to “Look and See”. The Resurrection ushered in a new creation and we are called to be part of that creation. So, too, are we called to both see life through new eyes and be seen as witnesses to that new life.

Cleopas and his friend left Jerusalem feeling very sad. All their hopes for Messiah have been dashed by the Crucifixion. They tell the Stranger who joins them, “The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.” (Luke 24:20-24)

Even though they have heard the report of the women, they cannot believe that such a thing is possible. While it isn’t stated, the men probably mutter that “the women had some sort of hysterical response to finding the body gone.” After all, Peter and John checked it out and didn’t see Jesus.

The Stranger sets them straight, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” Cleopas and his friend may have stopped and stared at the Man with them. This was not the normal teaching of the rabbis. He doesn’t stop there. “Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.” (Luke 24:25-27)

It’s no wonder that they ask him to stay and eat with them when they arrive in Emmaus. The pair have found hope in the Stranger’s words. They want to hear more. Instead, they get a revelation of Who their Companion has been when “he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them.” In that moment they understood and he “vanished”.

Immediately “They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem.” During the seven mile walk-or more likely run-the pair were, no doubt, buoyed by the amazing news they had to share. When they arrived, “they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, ‘It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.’ Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.” (Luke 24:33-35) 

Jesus had revealed himself to Cleopas and companion in the ‘breaking of the bread’-reminiscent of the Last Supper with them all and foreshadowing the Eucharist. The travelers went from great sadness to greater joy when they understood that the Lord was indeed alive and that all that happened was part of the fuller plan of salvation history.

Where does Jesus reveal himself here and now? How does Jesus among us impact and inform our own walk of faith?

This Sunday as you receive the Eucharist, I offer to you a saying attributed to St. Augustine:

See what you BelieveBecome what you See

As the Bread and Wine, the Body and Blood, are presented, consider all that those elements mean and represent. Oswald Chambers reminds us, “The process of being made broken bread and poured-out wine means that you have to be the nourishment for other people’s souls until they learn to feed on God. They must drain you completely— to the very last drop. But be careful to replenish your supply, or you will quickly be utterly exhausted. Until others learn to draw on the life of the Lord Jesus directly, they will have to draw on His life through you. You must literally be their source of supply, until they learn to take their nourishment from God. We owe it to God to be our best for His lambs and sheep, as well as for Him.”

How can you and I be the Broken Bread and Poured Out Wine to those we meet day-to-day?
See you in Pentecost!