Easter 3

Preparation

Please begin by reading Luke 24:13-35 in your Bible. If you do not have one at hand, we have provided the text for you at the end of this reflection.

Reflection--An Encounter

Life is full of disappointments and sometimes you just want to get away from it all.  Sometimes it may be a series of little things; your pet just dug up you favorite rose bush, traffic is terrible, your boss is cranky and demanding, some plan falls through, somebody fails to keep a promise or remember some important event—an accumulation of the fruits of human frailty.  Sometimes it is far more than that; unexpected news that you have a serious illness, a loved one dies, you are betrayed or abandoned by someone you trusted to the depth of your soul.  Sometimes things are so bleak that you just want to get out of town and head for Emmaus¾wherever, or whatever, that may be for you.

One of the reasons that you may be going is that in the bleakness of your situation you think that Jesus has preceded you in going away; somehow also unable to bear the constant failures of humanity anymore.  It is hard to remember, in the midst of disappointments and discouragement, the way he said he would come back to you when you needed him.  Perhaps you imagine that he somehow does not know what you are feeling.  You may even be angry as you go, “Are you the only one who does not know the things that have taken place in these days?  I thought you were the one who came to redeem us.  Where are you?”

The odd thing is that Jesus is really always wherever we are.  It is just that our eyes get closed by our focus on the moment’s losses.  “How slow of heart,” he may chide us.  “Do you still not understand?  Don’t you remember what you learned of me from the words of  long ago that told you of my coming and of my work here?  Don’t you remember how I have been with you so many times before?” 

Then, somehow, things get explained to us all over again; perhaps by a stranger we meet along the way, perhaps by a view of a sunset or the sea, perhaps by something we “just happen” to pick up and read, perhaps by the loving words of a friend, perhaps by old memories stirred up.

What comes next is up to us.  Jesus, with us through the Spirit, never forces his way in; going on ahead to meet us somewhere else later and letting us have our solitude if we insist, but also with an ear open to the invitation, “Stay with me.  Come in and break bread with me.”

And when we extend the invitation, suddenly it is Jesus who becomes the host and we who become the guest.  It is we who are blessed and fed.

When we have had enough to meet our needs, our sharp awareness of Jesus’ presence fades, but we are left with what it takes to get back on with life¾memories of how our hearts burned within us while Jesus was there.  We can go back, our sorrow replaced with joy, to be ambassadors of Christ to others who are searching and say, in whatever words speak to them where they are, “Jesus is risen indeed!” 

revclay

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Luke 24:13-35

     Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened.  While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him.  And he said to them, "What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?" They stood still, looking sad. 

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?" 

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, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him.  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. 

"Moreover, some women of our group astounded us.  They were at the tomb early this morning, 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.  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." 

Then he said to them, "Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared!  Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?"  Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures. 

As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on.  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. 

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; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together.  They were saying, "The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!"  Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.  [NRSV]