That very day, the first day of the week,
The first Easter Day
two of the disciples
What you and I are – disciples, followers of Jesus.
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.
It is characteristic of these beautiful stories of the visible presence of the risen Jesus, that the disciples do not at first recognize him. The writers seem to be saying, it is really him, it is Jesus – however he is (to use the great word of Paul) changed.
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,
It is not surprising we do not recognize the name, because there was a wider group of disciples of Jesus beyond the original twelve – a wider group of men and women.
That wider group includes all those who have followed Jesus as disciples down through the centuries. And includes you and me today.
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 (Jesus) 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?"
“Was it not necessary” – characteristic of the Gospels to say that Jesus “must” do what he did. I believe the “must” – what was necessary – was that Jesus face what came in self-giving love, not running away, taking on suffering inflicted on him.
Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.
Jesus had a profound sense that in his ministry of self-giving love he was fulfilling all that had been spoken and written about who God is, and who the Messiah was to be, and what faith means, in the Hebrew Bible.
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."
For me these simple words “stay with us” are among the most beautiful in the New Testament. They were not sure who this was, but asked him to stay with them. So we ask the risen Lord, who we cannot see, to stay close to us.
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.
This was evening on Sunday, the first Easter, and on the evening of the Thursday before he had done exactly the same thing – he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them” – and it was when he did it again that they recognized him.
Just so in the Gospel on Easter Day (John 20:1-18), when Jesus was present with Mary Magdalene, it was when he spoke her name, when he said simply “Mary” as he had so often before, that she recognized him.
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?"
I believe the risen Christ draws near to us when we read the Gospels, when we read the Bible. I believe God the Holy Spirit – dwelling within us – lights up passages and phrases and images in the story as we read it. Not always, not everything, but we should pay attention to phrases or images that catch our attention.
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.
Risen Jesus, be known to us in the breaking of the bread.
(Raymond Webster)
