Message:

Today’s gospel story takes us on a journey that starts in disappointment and ends with commitment.

Luke 24:13-35

What are we to make of this story? What is Luke trying to tell us? Well, perhaps the first thing to acknowledge is that it – like the other resurrection accounts – does not paint a simple and consistent picture.  

Mystery lies at the heart of the Easter story.  

Sometimes the gospel writers suggest that Jesus appeared as a physical human person; “Touch the wounds in my body”he said to Thomas. He ate breakfast on the beach with his disciples.  

Other times the gospel writers suggest that he appeared less bodily and more as a spirit; telling Mary not to embrace him because he had not yet ascended and later appearing to the disciples through locked doors.  

In this account there was some of both. Physically joining their walk, gathering with them around the table and breaking bread – but then vanishing!   

So, I ask again, what is Luke telling us in his account of an encounter on the dusty road to Emmaus? Well, perhaps he is telling us that we encounter Jesus in three places:

Firstly, we encounter Jesus “In the word”. In scripture. Jesus used his scripture, our Old Testament, to help those he met on the road to Emmaus understand his place in the bigger story. “Beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures”. We, of course, have the New Testament to tell us much more of Jesus, his story and his mission. We encounter Jesus “In the word”

Next, we encounter Jesus “In sacrament”. It was in the breaking of the bread that they recognised the stranger was Jesus. We too encounter Christ when we share in the sacrament that contains the words Luke used here “he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them”.We encounter Jesus “In the sacrament”

Finally, we encounter Jesus “In community”. The followers of Christ, though they thought him lost to the cross, continued together to share his story, follow his way.  Immediately after this encounter with Jesus Luke tells us that “They got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together”. There, they found the others had their own Easter stories to share with them. Stories shared with each other. We encounter Jesus “In community”.

Like the first followers of Jesus, we too are invited to find him in Word, in Sacrament and in Community. And, like the first followers of Jesus, once we find him we too are challenged to follow his way.

StF 308: On the journey to Emmaus 

Prayer of Intercession:We encounter Jesus “In community”, a community that struggles with the same things that he encountered when he walked the streets of Palestine.

• A community still scarred by war, not the occupying Roman armies but by the drones, missiles and bombs that fly from all sides in the wars in the middle east and Europe. We pray for all those trapped in wars and that somehow & someway a just peace will arise that will enable all people to live in peace and security.  
• A community still scarred by illness and disease. While many illnesses that Jesus encountered can now be controlled and cured, others evade the skills of the scientists and doctors. We pray for all those struggling with illness and for those who love and care for them.
• A community still divided by wealth and poverty, that still contains the homeless and the refugees. Just as Jesus opened his heart and his arms to the marginalised we too pray that we might show them support, understanding and love. Amen.  

I once thought our closing hymn was a simple hymn, perhaps written for children rather than adults, but not now. It captured the mystery of the Easter story perfectly and defiantly: I danced on a Friday when the sky turned black It’s hard to dance with the devil on your back. They buried my body and they thought I’d gone But I am the dance and I still go on!

StF 247: I danced in the morning

Blessing:

May the peace of God enfold us, the love of God uphold us and the wisdom of God direct us.

Amen