Two disciples had been on their way to Emmaus. They were leaving Jerusalem, their hopes shattered after Jesus’ death. Then they met the risen Lord. They didn’t recognize him at first, but they did after he opened the Scriptures for them and broke bread with them. After their encounter they returned to the community in Jerusalem with the news of what had happened. While they were still speaking to the community, Jesus stood in their midst.
Jerusalem is where the disciples assembled. The community in Jerusalem may be together, but they are not a true community. They are fragmented by fear and disappointment. Hopes were shattered when Christ was killed and now they may also be in danger — next on the list to be disposed.
At our Easter Vigil Mass we heard Mark’s account of the empty tomb (16:1-7), there the young man told the women to go tell the disciples, “He is going ahead of you to Galilee, there you will see him, as he told you.” Today we are in Luke’s gospel and he takes us back to Jerusalem for Jesus’ appearances. For Luke Jerusalem is the place the Holy Spirit will come upon the disciples to begin the church and its mission to the world. Luke will tell that story in the beginning of his second volume, the Acts of the Apostles. But not yet. Today we are with the huddled and fragmented disciples. At this point they have only known death — not resurrection.
How many in our congregation are in a similar place? They can identify with the disciples in Jerusalem, having experienced death and disappointment. Jesus may be in their midst, but their experience keep them from seeing him. They are like the disciples for whom Jesus seems like a ghost, a figment of imagination and of no help right now. In their distress, some in the pews around us might be asking, “Did those gospel writers pull one over on us? In their need for consolation did their imaginations carry them away?”
What makes the story realistic is that at first, the disciples didn’t recognize Jesus — which is also true in the other resurrection accounts. Despite the witness of the women and the two from the Emmaus road, the disciples still don’t believe. Who can blame them?
At this point the disciples only see a ghost. What will help them is that Jesus comes and bids them, “Peace be with you.” He is encouraging them not to be afraid. It’s still not enough. Then he invites them to touch him. Still more, he asks for food and eats in their presence. The resurrected Christ is very physically present, very much as he was when they traveled and ate together. Still, he’s different; more is needed. He is not just someone who somehow survived what was done to him and escaped. He didn’t experience a near death on the cross — he died.
Jesus reminds them that he is the same, yet there is something very different about him. The one they knew is with them, he has proven that by establishing his physical presence. Yet, the disciples need more in order to accept his new presence with them. What he did for the disciples on the road to Emmaus he does again. He expounds what the Scriptures had said about him. This is a favorite theme in Luke: Jesus is the fulfillment of the promises God made to their ancestors. Do they see that? Can they understand what God can do for us — bring new life after death? Jesus doesn’t choose just certain Scriptures as proof texts. He tells them “everything written about me in the law of Moses, and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled.”
These Easter days our priory chapel has lilies in front of the altar. It’s an appropriate symbol to signify Jesus’ death and resurrection — hope from a place of self-offering. But we also have flowers in front of our ambo (pulpit), another reminder that Jesus’ life, death and resurrection are present to us in the proclaimed Word of God. When the Word is proclaimed once again we meet the risen Lord.
Note the last line of today’s passage. After opening their minds to understand the Scriptures, Jesus says one more thing to them and us. “You are witnesses of these things.” Hearing the Scriptures opened is not a Bible class, or historical look-back. Once the disciples and we experience the risen Christ we are reminded we must witness to all we have heard and seen.
In the New Testament “witness” means “martyr.” That’s what is asked of us by the risen Christ. We must give our lives as witnesses to him. Each of us must show concretely our belief in the resurrection.
Jerusalem may be the location of today’s passage, but it is just the starting point. In the beginning of Acts the risen Christ tells the disciples they are to wait “for the fulfillment of my Father’s promise” (1:4). He was speaking of the Holy Spirit, who would drive those newly anointed out of the upper room to be witnesses to the whole world. Many of those first “witnesses” will shed their blood because of their faith — and this martyrdom for the faith continues to this day in many places in the world.
It would be very cozy, once the assembly has gathered on Sunday, to shut and bar the doors of our church. Together, with like-minded people, we could celebrate our faith in Christ at the Eucharist. To increase the good feelings we might practice our hymns until everyone knew them very well. Then we could burst out in full-throated song together. Afterwards we would share a pot luck dinner, sing more hymns, say our farewells, “See you next week,” unbar the doors and return to that cruel world outside.
Sounds nice, except it is not our Christian faith. We are to be witnesses to Christ to that outside and, sometimes, very cruel world. That’s who we really are, bearers of the risen Lord to the world. We do share a meal together, the same meal Jesus gave those disciples on the road to Emmaus. The Scriptures are opened for us and we break bread together. It’s a good reminder that our Eucharist isn’t a meal just for our needs. It is also a nourishment for us Emmaus disciples who have a long road ahead of us. As we travel that road we will have to be “witnesses” for our faith, even if it costs us.
Being Christians in the world asks a lot from us. We need help and we get it from our God who opens our minds “to understand the Scriptures” and feeds us with the body and blood of our risen Christ at this Eucharist.