We shift gears a bit this weekend. The Gospel we hear comes from Luke instead of John. The entire Gospel of Luke is written as a journey TOWARDS Jerusalem. The geographic journey moves hand in hand with the unfolding of both the identity and the mission of Jesus. The Gospel is a story that peaks with the Resurrection of Jesus, which takes place in Jerusalem, but that peak is not fully embraced. It needs additional insight, discovery and recognition.
This week’s passage begins with the two disciples walking AWAY from Jerusalem. This signifies the dashed hopes of early followers of Jesus who sensed their identity as followers of Jesus died with His death. This contributes to their lack of understanding, even amidst rumors. They had heard that Jesus was no longer in the tomb and angels had announced that he was alive. Despite this news they are moving away from the destination and fulfillment of the risen Christ’s mission.
Even with this news and the fact that he then walked with them, they still did not recognize him. Recognition is further delayed, even though Jesus interprets all references to him in scripture. But something is brewing in them. They sense it, but don’t admit it. Something is beginning to burn in them.
Jesus professes to walk beyond Emmaus, but the disciples are intrigued. Their curiosity of him is percolating. This leads them to urge him to stay with them. This invitation is very significant. It leads to Jesus staying with them, joining them at table, taking, blessing and sharing bread, the very heart of the Eucharist that we share to this day and will forever. This is so central to our recognition of him in our midst.
More importantly this ritual encounter is manifest in three ways:
• they recognize Jesus
• their percolating intrigue turns into burning hearts
• and they return to Jerusalem
This sacred encounter, if you will, completely turns them around. At the beginning of the story they are walking away from the place of community and support and ongoing realization. At the end they return to it. This encounter also causes them to revisit the scripture class that Jesus gave them on the road and this underscores the importance of all scripture in our Eucharistic experience. Recognition in sharing bread causes reflection on earlier experience.
That’s how powerful Christ’s presence can be in our lives. Celebrating the Eucharist can take us back to revisit previous experiences and to find life and insight in them.
They go back to Jerusalem to join others who have encountered the risen Christ. Jesus then appears to them again, and the writer tells us that the disciples were startled, terrified and this time they think he is a ghost. Similar to the post-resurrection narrative from John, Jesus assures them, invites them to investigate the wounds of his resurrected body, and then interprets more scripture to remind them of his earlier predictions of his rising.
He then leads them across the Kidron Valley and up a mountain in Bethany less than a day’s journey from Jerusalem and there blesses them and ascends into heaven.
With real recognition fueled by the ritual of breaking and sharing bread and reflection on scripture, they then return to Jerusalem one more time. This time they are energized with truth and life and trust in the living Christ in their midst. They are filled with great joy and their regular reverent prayer and gathering in the Temple inspires so many others to join them.
They then begin to repeat this story and bread breaking combination on a regular basis, and thus come to know who Jesus really is. They tell and retell the stories. They gather at table, break bread and realize the Real Presence of Christ over and over again.
Why is this important for us?
• Don’t life’s struggles prevent us from recognizing Christ in our very midst?
• Aren’t our hopes dashed sometimes?
• Don’t we have moments in life that cause us to revisit previous experiences and admit that our hearts might have been burning, even though we didn’t admit it?
• Don’t stories and meals work together in powerful ways to enhance our recognition of the sacredness of life?
• Isn’t celebrating the Eucharist at Mass a great way to encounter the living Christ?
These are all things we may want to ponder throughout this beautiful Easter season.