This week, we continue our exploration of the post-Resurrection appearances of Jesus. Today we look at one of the earliest and most familiar ones—the Road to Emmaus.
The account comes in the Gospel of Luke right after the
women encounter the angels at the empty tomb (see last week). Two of the
followers of Jesus are going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from
Jerusalem. They are talking about everything that happened over the past
few days when a stranger catches up with them. He starts the conversation by
asking, What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?
Cleopas responds, Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know
the things that have taken place there in these days?
Jesus, probably tongue in cheek, asks, What things?
Immediately they say, the things about Jesus of Nazareth [who] our chief
priests and leaders…condemned to death and crucified him….it is now the third
day since these things took place…some women of our group…were at the tomb
early this morning…they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a
vision of angels who said that he was alive.
Imagine the scene, the grieving followers returning to their
home with more questions than answers. They had seen their rabbi, who they had hoped
was the one to redeem Israel, brutally killed. Now the women, surely
delusional, claim to have seen angels, but there is no body at the tomb. No
wonder they are talking as they walk.
Jesus is about to give them some answers. First, he seems to
chide the pair, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all
that the prophets have declared...beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he
interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures. They
must have been stunned as this stranger interpreted the Hebrew prophecies as telling
how the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory.
Has there been a time when suddenly a passage of scripture
seems crystal clear and has more impact on your situation than ever before?
The travelers on the road are so impressed that they invite Jesus to eat with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?’ That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem. This icon called ‘Road to Emmaus’ is by Sister Marie Paul OSB of the Mount of Olives Monastery, Jerusalem (1990). It shows both the journey to Emmaus and the revelation in the bread.*
Jesus is known by the action of blessing and breaking the
bread. The pair don’t hesitate, they return to Jerusalem to tell everyone else
what happened. On Maundy Thursday, I heard a sermon that traced God’s action as
always being Taking-Blessing-Breaking-Giving.
·
God Takes human form and Blesses it. God is
Broken on the Cross as Gift to all creation.
·
Jesus Takes bread and Blesses it many times.
Then Jesus Breaks the Bread and Gives it to feed the 5000 and for the last
supper and other times.
·
God Takes our lives and Blesses them. God Breaks
us as Gift to the world.
When have you felt Taken-Blessed-Broken-Given?
The Sunday Gospel (John 15:1-8) is an expression of another
way God Takes-Blesses-Breaks-Gives. Jesus states, I am the true vine, and my
Father is the vinegrower. God Takes and Blesses Jesus as the Vine. Then God
Breaks the branches by pruning. God looks at every branch that bears fruit
he prunes to make it bear more fruit. Jesus says we are then Given by
abiding. He promises, Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit,
because apart from me you can do nothing…My Father is glorified by this, that
you bear much fruit and become my disciples.
We are promised that we are Beloved—Taken and Blessed as God’s own. Then we are pruned and Broken so that we bear fruit Given to the world as disciples. It is never fun to be pruned or broken. However, just as a human vineyard owner tends and prunes the vines to get a better harvest, the pruning is for our own good. Sometimes we can feel like the pruning is too harsh, until we come to the other side of some trial. Then we see how God has strengthened us through the trouble and made our faith stronger so that we can do God’s work better.
* I found the icon on a blog by Patrick Comerford who has
some interesting points about the way Jesus listens patiently to Cleopas and
his friend; and about entering into the hospitality of God. You might find it
interesting.
