Luke 24:13-35
It turns out Emmaus was a party town, something like a miniature Las Vegas. For some reason the two disciples, one of whom was named Clopas, were taking that six mile walk from Jerusalem. You get the feeling from the story that they lived there, but not necessarily. It might have been an inn when they invited Jesus to dine with them. But Emmaus was a party town where people made their money running gambling dens and selling wine and beer.
Clopas and his companion, probably his wife but I don’t know for sure, had been followers of Jesus. Clopas is interesting because there is another man in scripture, called Cleopas, who seems to be an uncle of Jesus, maybe related to Joseph. And it wouldn't be surprising if some of Jesus’ extended family were followers. We suspect James and John might have been cousins. Clopas and his companion were not apostles. They probably would make a day of going out to hear Jesus when he was in the area, but the rest of the time it was ordinary work. Jesus didn’t really ask for much, just that his followers believed in him. For Clopas and his companion that meant paying more attention to the ten commandments, and especially the two commandments of the Lord -- love God with everything you’ve got and your neighbor as yourself. Following those commandments was not as easy as it sounded, and seemed to open unending possibilities, but the disciples of Jesus were trying.
And then came the devastating moment when Jesus was arrested, tortured and crucified. Some of the things Jesus had said toward the end of his life made it seem that he was the Messiah, and maybe more than that. He said a lot of things that were just on the edge of blasphemy -- “I and the Father are One”. “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.” And the miracles. Clopas and his companion had heard about them, probably did not witness them personally; but the stories of healings seemed to back up what Jesus claimed about himself. But it seemed as though all that power, all those teachings, were really nothing compared to the power of the Jewish and Roman authorities.
So when Clopas and his companion decided to go to Emmaus they were through with all this nonsense. Emmaus was close to Jerusalem, but a long way away in its orientation. Jerusalem was the center of the religion, the home of the temple. Emmaus was the rejection of religion in a way -- a place that said, “Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we all die.”
In other parts of the post-resurrection story, we hear different reactions to Jesus’ death and the despair that his followers must have felt. Peter and the gang decide to go back to Galilee, back to the place they started following Jesus. They embraced the familiar, maybe remembering the excitement of those early days. If you read the stories, you get the feeling that no one quite knew what to do. But the resurrected Jesus is never far. He’s hard to recognize -- almost like he keeps you from recognizing him until you've demonstrated some degree of faith. Mary Magdalene didn’t believe Jesus had risen, but she demonstrated great love in seeking the body to bury properly. The apostles thought they’d seen a ghost, but they had good hearts and at least were trying to stay together. Thomas may not have believed but at least he was willing to meet with his fellow apostles in that upper room. And on the shore one of the apostles thought to himself -- that guy with the fish, he’s doing something that Jesus would do, he’s feeding us. And so it is with the Clopas and his companion. It was one thing to talk theology to pass the time on the road, but that didn't do much. It was when Jesus sat down and broke bread that the scales fell from their eyes and they ran back those six miles convinced that they had seen the Lord.
We know that at the Ascension of Jesus, which we will celebrate in a few weeks, this was the end of the period when He would appear ot his followers. But he did tell his disciples that He would be with us all days until the end of the world. He told them, and us that where two or three are gathered together in his name he would be there. And he said, what you do for the least of my brothers, you do for me. Jesus is still with us as he promised. He is there when you and I get together over a parish event. He’s there when we stop to help that lady who lives out of a shopping cart. He’s there at a family dinner, the school of love, as Saint John Paul called it. He’s there in you when you do something that Jesus would do in your place. Jesus continues to reveal himself to us in many ways. Let us pray that we will recognize him, especially in ourselves. Saint Bernadette, whose feast we celebrated last week, had this to say: “Allow Jesus to dwell in your heart; he will owe you rent.
.
