LUKE 24:13-35
AFTER HIS RESURRECTION,
EVERY APPEARANCE OF JESUS WHICH IS RECORDED IN THE GOSPELS IS EITHER
TO HIS APOSTLES OR TO A FEW OF THE FAITHFUL WOMEN – EXCEPT THIS
ONE. WHO IS CLEOPAS AND WHO IS THE OTHER DISCIPLE? THERE'S BEEN A
LOT OF SPECULATION. THE STORY I LIKE BEST IS THAT THIS CLEOPAS IS
THE SAME PERSON REFERRED TO IN ANOTHER GOSPEL AS CLOPAS, THE HUSBAND
OF A WOMAN NAMED MARY, WHO IS THE MOTHER OF JAMES AND JOSES, WHO WERE
COUSINS OF JESUS. SOME SCHOLARS HAVE CLAIMED THAT CLOPAS IS ALSO
CALLED “ALTHEUS” AND THAT HE AND JOSEPH, THE FOSTER FATHER OF OUR
LORD, WERE BROTHERS. SO MAYBE JESUS' UNCLE AND AUNT WERE THE TWO
DISCIPLES WHO WERE ON THE ROAD TO EMMAUS. WELL, WE'LL NEVER KNOW,
AND IT DOESN'T MATTER, REALLY, BECAUSE LUKE TELLS US THIS STORY NOT
BECAUSE HE IS TRYING TO RECORD HISTORY, BUT BECAUSE IT HAS SOMETHING
TO TELL US, HIS READERS.
IN THE DAYS OF JESUS
EMMAUS WAS A PLACE YOU WENT TO GET AWAY FROM IT ALL. IT WAS KIND OF
LIKE A SPA, AND THE NAME OF THE TOWN MEANS “WARM SPRINGS”. WE
DON'T HAVE ANY OTHER REFERENCES TO THIS TOWN IN THE BIBLE, AND ODDLY
ENOUGH, THERE ARE FOUR PLACES AROUND JERUSALEM THAT CLAIM TO BE THE
ORIGINAL EMMAUS. BUT THAT'S NOT IMPORTANT EITHER. THE TWO DISCIPLES
HAVE BEEN DEVASTATED BY WHAT HAS GONE ONE IN JERUSALEM OVER THAT
PASSOVER, AND THEY ARE LEAVING THE PLACE IN WHICH THEY HAD HOPED THE
KINGDOM OF HEAVEN WOULD BE USHERED IN, AND GOING TO A PLACE OF
REFUGE. THEY'VE PRETTY MUCH GIVEN UP ON GOD'S PROMISES.
YOU AND I FACE THAT
DANGER, OVER AND OVER AGAIN. WE ARE FAITHFUL, WE GO TO CHURCH, WE
TRY TO KEEP OUT OF TROUBLE AND SAY OUR PRAYERS, BUT DAYS COME WHEN WE
ARE DISCOURAGED, WHEN SOMETHING HAPPENS THAT MAKES IT SEEM AS THOUGH
GOD ISN'T PAYING ATTENTION. IT'S EASY TO GIVE UP. THAT DOESN'T MEAN
WE LOSE OUR FAITH, BUT IT MAY MEAN THAT WE EXPECT VERY LITTLE FROM
OUR FATHER; AND EXPECTING LITTLE, WE OFFER LITTLE. LIVING OUR FAITH
IS A BATTLE, AND SOMETIMES WE ARE TEMPTED TO RETREAT, JUST AS THE TWO
DISCIPLES WERE.
IT'S INTERESTING THAT
AFTER THE DISCIPLES EXPLAIN WHY THEY ARE DISCOURAGED, THE FIRST WORDS
JESUS SAYS TO THEM ARE “WHAT LITTLE SENSE YOU HAVE! HOW SLOW YOU
ARE TO BELIEVE WHAT THE PROPHETS ANNOUNCED!” IF OUR FAITH HAS LOST
ITS EDGE, IF OUR CHRISTIANITY HAS BECOME TASTELESS AND GRAY, JESUS
TELLS US THAT OUR INDIFFERENCE IS NOT BECAUSE OF THE FAITH OR BECAUSE
OF GOD; IT'S REALLY BECAUSE OF OURSELVES. AND HE GOES ON TO TELL US
WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT.
THERE WAS A RECENT
ARTICLE ABOUT A PASTOR WHOSE CONGREGATION WAS DIMINISHING. HE AND
HIS PARISH COUNCIL TRIED EVERYTHING – BAKE SALES, OUTREACH
PROGRAMS, OUTSIDE SPEAKERS – YOU NAME IT, THEY DID IT. THE VERY
FAITHFUL OF COURSE SHOWED UP FOR EVERYTHING; BUT THE REST DIDN'T AND
THE CHURCH CONTINUED TO WITHER AWAY. FINALLY THE PASTOR STARTED A
BIBLE STUDY GROUP. THE FIRST GROUP HAD SIX INDIVIDUALS. OVER TIME,
HOWEVER, MEMBERS BROUGHT OTHERS, AND SOME STARTED OTHER GROUPS, AND
AFTER A COUPLE OF YEARS, THERE WERE ABOUT 80 PEOPLE WHO WERE ACTIVELY
STUDYING SCRIPTURE. AND THIS MADE A HUGE DIFFERENCE. BECAUSE THESE
PEOPLE WERE ON FIRE, AND THEY WERE THE ONES WHO BEGAN TO BUILD UP THE
CHURCH AGAIN. JESUS TURNS THE DISCOURAGED DISCIPLES ATTENTION TO
SCRIPTURE, AND THEIR HEARTS BEGIN TO BURN WITHIN THEM. SAINT JEROME
RIGHTLY SAID, “IGNORANCE OF SCRIPTURE IS IGNORANCE OF CHRIST.”
AND JESUS HIMSELF SAID THAT WHERE TWO OR THREE ARE GATHERED TOGETHER,
HE WOULD BE THERE. WHAT BETTER WAY TO MEET JESUS THAN TO STUDY
SCRIPTURE TOGETHER!
WHEN THEY ARE READY FOR
THE EVENING MEAL, THE DISCIPLES INVITE THE STRANGER TO SHARE SUPPER
WITH THEM. IT IS THERE THAT JESUS REVEALS HIMSELF – BUT HE DOES SO
IN THE BREAKING OF THE BREAD. THAT'S KIND OF A MYSTERIOUS PHRASE.
LUKE'S READERS WOULD HAVE SEEN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THAT AND THE
EUCHARIST THAT THEY CELEBRATED EVERY SUNDAY. BUT EVEN TODAY, WE
LEAVE OUR TROUBLED WORLD OUTSIDE THE DOOR, COME IN TO HEAR THE
SCRIPTURES, AND THEN JESUS AGAIN REVEALS HIMSELF TO US IN THE BREAD
AND THE WINE. BEING A CHRISTIAN, SOMEONE SAID, IS LIKE BEING IN LOVE
WITH SOMEONE WHO IS FAR AWAY. YOU GET A LETTER; YOU HEAR THE VOICE
OVER THE PHONE; YOU FIND LITTLE THINGS AROUND YOUR HOUSE THAT REMIND
YOU OF THE PERSON. ALL OF THESE ARE WONDERFUL OF COURSE, BUT THEY
REALLY BUILD UP IN YOU A LONGING TO BE WITH THAT PERSON. WHEN JESUS
REVEALS HIMSELF TO US IN WORD AND SACRAMENT, THAT'S KIND OF A
FORETASTE OF HOW IT WILL BE WHEN WE ARE UNITED WITH HIM IN PERSON.
IF WE DON'T LEAVE MASS WITH A SENSE OF LONGING WE ARE MISSING
SOMETHING.
JESUS AFTER REVEALING
HIMSELF VANISHES. IS HE STILL WITH THEM? THEY CERTAINLY HAVE BEEN
CHANGED, AND NOW THEY RUSH BACK TO THE CITY WHERE ALL THEIR HOPES
WERE DESTROYED. WHEN YOU AND I PARTICIPATE IN THE BREAKING OF THE
BREAD, WE ARE CHANGED, IF WE ALLOW THE LORD TO CHANGE US. JESUS
BECOMES PART OF US, AND WE, PART OF HIM. WE ARE HIS BODY, AND LIKE
THE TWO DISCIPLES, WE SHOULD BE REFRESHED, READY TO CONFRONT OUR
JERUSALEM, OUR WORLD WHERE IT SEEMS AS THOUGH GOD HAS FORGOTTEN.
BECAUSE GOD HAS NOT FORGOTTEN. HE IS IN THE PROCESS OF TRANSFORMING
THE WORLD. AFTER THE TWO DISCIPLES ENCOUNTER JESUS, THEY CAN'T WAIT
TO GO OUT AND SPREAD THE NEWS THAT JESUS IS ALIVE, THAT JESUS IS IN
THEIR MIDST. AND WHEN THEY MEET THE APOSTLES THEY FIND THAT THEY
HAVE ALSO EXPERIENCED THE RISEN CHRIST, AND THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY
IS BORN. YOU AND I ARE MEANT TO BE THE PRESENCE OF JESUS; YOU AND I
ARE REALLY THE HOPE OF THE WORLD. NO ONE ELSE.
SO THE STORY OF EMMAUS IS
OUR STORY, AND TODAY WE SHOULD ASK, ARE OUR HEARTS BURNING WITHIN US?
HAVE WE ENCOUNTERED THE LIVING, RISEN CHRIST? AND IF NOT, MAYBE WE
MIGHT HEAR THOSE WORDS OF JESUS: “WHAT LITTLE SENSE YOU HAVE! HOW
SLOW YOU ARE TO BELIEVE WHAT THE PROPHETS ANNOUNCED!” AND WE WILL
TAKE THE REMEDY JESUS HIMSELF OFFERS – TO STUDY THE SCRIPTURES,
WHERE WE WILL LEARN ABOUT CHRIST, AND TO DO SO WITH EACH OTHER,
BECAUSE THEN JESUS WILL BE THERE; AND AFTER ENCOUNTERING HIM IN THE
WORD AND THE BREAKING OF THE BREAD, ALLOWING HIM TO TRANSFORM US AND
MAKE US WHAT WE TRULY WERE MEANT TO BE.
