On the Road with the Risen Christ—Lectionary Reflection for Easter 3A (Luke 24)
Luke 24:13-35 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
13 Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14 and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15 While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, 16 but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17 And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. 18 Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” 19 He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. 22 Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, 23 and when they did not find his body there they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see him.” 25 Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! 26 Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” 27 Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.
28 As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. 29 But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he vanished from their sight. 32 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?” 33 That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem, and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. 34 They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” 35 Then they told what had happened on the road and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.
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It is
the third Sunday of Easter, which means we continue to ponder Jesus’
resurrection appearances. This serves as a reminder that Easter isn’t just a
one-and-off event. Each of the Gospels has its own set of stories that
speak to the resurrection. Some are compact, like Mark. Others are more
expansive. While there are similarities and differences in these stories,
especially among the Synoptic Gospels, they all affirm the message that death
could not hold Jesus at bay. One of the most memorable of these resurrection stories
concerns Jesus’ appearance to two disciples who are on the road to a place
called Emmaus. Luke even gives us the name of one of the travelers. That person
is named Cleopas, a name found nowhere else in the New Testament. This person’s
identity is as mysterious as the destination toward which they’re heading.
Unfortunately, the other disciple remains anonymous, which provides room for
speculation as to this person’s identity. Whoever they are, this pair of
disciples know Jesus. In fact, they’ve heard stories from some of the women in
the community that Jesus might be alive, though they can’t confirm the reports.
Nevertheless, for some reason, they’re heading away from Jerusalem toward a
mysterious village. We don’t know why they seem to be fleeing Jerusalem
and as for the destination (Emmaus), perhaps doesn’t matter either. What
matters appears to be the journey that ultimately will lead to an encounter
with the risen Christ.
When it
comes to the resurrection appearances, the Gospels make a number of claims,
even if they’re made implicitly. The first claim is that the risen Jesus is not
a ghost nor a hallucination. He has a physical body of some kind. It might be
what Paul calls a spiritual body, but it still has physicality. He can be
touched. He can eat bread and fish. Nevertheless, there’s something different
about this body. Jesus can appear in a room or a location without opening doors
or traveling by foot or other means. He’s just there and then not there.
Besides, in several cases, including this reading, his disciples find it
difficult to recognize him. So, there’s something different about the embodied
state of the risen Christ. Nevertheless, as Greg Carey notes, “the bodily
nature of Jesus’ resurrection matters.” Yes, there are complications in this
regard. Nevertheless, he notes that “early Christians had other options for
imagining Jesus’ triumph over death: most obviously, spiritual appearances. Yet
the tradition insists upon bodily resurrection” [Death, the End of History, and Beyond, p. 199].
There
are many questions surrounding the message of Jesus’ resurrection. Many
Christians, including many clergy, find it difficult to affirm the bodily
resurrection of Jesus. As for me, I understand the challenges to this message,
but even though I cannot scientifically prove the point, I have embraced the bodily
resurrection of Jesus, believing that it has important implications for what it
means to be a Christian.
With
that background, we come to Luke’s story of Jesus’ encounter with the two
disciples on the road to Emmaus. That these two disciples are heading away from
Jerusalem, suggests that they weren’t seeking to encounter the risen Jesus. We
could even say that they weren’t seeking God. Instead, they were seeking to
escape what was taking place back in Jerusalem. They had heard reports of
Jesus’ appearances to the women and Peter, but for them, that wasn’t enough.
Perhaps disappointed that the Jesus movement hadn’t panned out they headed out
on the road, hoping to make a new life.
While
they might not be looking for Jesus, Jesus went looking for them. As the pair
headed toward Emmaus, Jesus suddenly appears on the road and invites himself to
walk with them. The two disciples welcome Jesus to join them on their journey.
Apparently, Jesus didn’t look too dangerous, but they don’t seem to recognize
him. As they walked down the road, Jesus asked them what they had been
discussing before he joined the conversation. Luke tells us that when he asked
them what they had been discussing, they stopped, stood still, and looked sad.
At that point the disciple named Cleopas asked with surprise: “Are you the only
stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there
in these days?” (vs. 18). Jesus feigns ignorance and asks them what things had
happened in Jerusalem. They then spoke of Jesus of Nazareth, the one who they
had believed “was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the
people.” Unfortunately, the chief priests and leaders condemned him and crucified
him. We need to stop here and take note of where they placed the blame. They
don’t say anything about the role the Roman government played, even though
crucifixion was a Roman form of execution. In other words, Luke seeks to avoid
blaming the Romans for Jesus’ death. This is deeply problematic and another
reason why we need to be careful not to blame Jews for Jesus’ death.
They
continue their report of things that took place in Jerusalem by telling Jesus
that they had hoped Jesus would redeem Israel. While that didn’t take place, they
had heard reports that some of the women had gone to the tomb early that
morning and found the tomb empty and encountered angels who told the women that
Jesus was alive. Not only that but others from the group went to check out the
report given by the women (after all, a woman’s witness didn’t have the same
level of authority as a man’s witness). These visitors (perhaps Peter and the
Beloved disciple) found things much the same as reported by the women.
After
the two disciples finished telling the story of what had happened in Jerusalem
earlier in the day and week, Jesus begins to speak. While he had earlier
feigned ignorance, now he’s ready to reveal himself to them. He does this
slowly by rehearsing the story of redemption. Just so we don’t get the idea
that Jesus was meek and mild, Jesus, according to Luke, suggested that they
were foolish and “slow of heart” because they had missed the point of the
prophets who had spoken of Jesus. While they were disappointed that Jesus had
been executed, the still unrecognized Jesus asked them whether Jesus needed to
suffer and then enter into his glory. In other words, he wanted to know if they
had been paying attention to what they had been taught by Jesus. Perhaps
knowing that they hadn’t yet connected the dots, he began to lay out the Gospel
message beginning with Moses and the prophets, interpreting what they had to
say about him. One would assume that Jesus taught them everything they would
need to know, but they still don’t seem to get it.
Perhaps, despite
Jesus’ ability as a teacher, they needed something more to clinch the
deal. That something more took place in the context of a meal. As they drew near the village, the sun was
setting and evening was about to begin. Once the sun goes down you don’t want
to be traveling. It just wouldn’t be safe. While bad things happen during
daylight hours. The many mass shootings we’ve been witnessing seem to all take
place during the day. Nevertheless, especially during the period under
discussion, it was best not to travel at night. As they reached the village,
Jesus acted as if he was going to continue down the road. The pair, perhaps
recognizing the dangers of traveling at night, invited him to stay and enjoy a
meal with them. Jesus accepts their invitation. Whether this was some kind of
an inn or the home of the pair, Jesus joins them.
This is
where things get interesting. When the three travelers sit down for dinner,
Jesus takes on the role of host. While the pair had invited Jesus to join them
for supper, once they sit down their roles reverse. What occurs next mirrors
the story of the Last Supper. In Luke’s version of the Last Supper, Jesus tells
the gathered disciples that he won’t eat or drink again until he does so in the
kingdom of God. Having said this, Jesus “took a loaf of bread, and when he had
given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, . . . he did the same with the
cup after supper” (Lk 22:14-20). I omitted several important words from Luke 22
but note how Jesus “took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them” (Lk
24:30).
After
Jesus blesses and breaks the bread and gives it to them, he disappears from
their sight. It’s at that moment, right before he disappears after breaking the
bread and giving it to them that “their eyes were opened, and they recognized
him” (Lk. 24:31). Might we call this a sacramental moment? If so, might this
suggest that the Eucharist could be a converting ordinance? Baptist theologian
Molly Marshall suggests that “surely Luke 24 offers an emerging Eucharistic
theology. The promise of this text is that Jesus will meet his beloved ‘in the
breaking of the bread.’” And rooted in this Eucharistic theology is the
importance of hospitality, and thus here we see that “Eucharistic hospitality
should emulate the expansive welcome portrayed in this text.” [Feasting on
the Word, Year A, Vol. 2: 422]. If this is true, shouldn’t we open
the Table not just to those who have been initiated but to all who would come?
If the Table is opened to all, might those who come and are receptive, have
their eyes opened as well? As we ponder this story, it seems to me that the
Eucharistic theology that it undergirds calls for the church to welcome the
stranger. Not only that, but it’s possible that the Stranger could become the
host at the church’s Table. What might that say about the way we decide who
gets to preside at the Table? Of course, opening the Table in this way is a
risky move, which might be why the churches decided to fence their Tables.
Having
had their eyes opened as Jesus broke the bread, the two disciples began to
ponder their earlier conversation with this stranger who had joined them on the
road to Emmaus. 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?” (Lk. 24:32). Yes, their eyes and their hearts opened up to the message
Jesus had shared with them. They weren’t ready to take it all in until they
gathered at the Table. Then Jesus’ teaching began to make sense (might this
suggest a connection between Word and Table?). Cynthia Jarvis puts it this way:
By word and sacrament, Christ opens the eyes of them who rejoice that they have reached their destination in him. Christ’s church has been making diligent use of his given means of grace since the evening of the first day of the week, in hopes that, on the way home, perhaps two in the crowd might even say, one to the other, “Did not our hearts burn this morning as the scriptures were opened to us.” [Feasting on the Word, Year A, Volume 2: 423].
With
this discovery that Jesus had revealed himself to be alive, and that he had
warmed their hearts so they might understand more fully the message, these two
disciples who had left Jerusalem behind, even though they had heard reports
that Jesus might be alive, decide to head back to Jerusalem to report to the
community what had happened to them. Cynthia Campbell and Christine Coy Fohr,
note that “when the disciples recognized the risen Christ at table, they
remembered what they already knew: that death had not had the final word. And
so they ran to share the good news. And what could have ended with an
individual dying on a cross was resurrected into a movement of people called by
God to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly in this world” [Meeting Jesus at the Table, p. 118].
As we
encounter Jesus in the breaking of bread, how might this encounter transform
our lives? How might we embrace the message of resurrection at the Table such
that we can be a blessing to the world that God loves?
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