A Sermon for the Third Sunday of Easter
April 23, 2023
The Rev. Robin Teasley
Now on that same day two of Jesus' disciples 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. Luke 24:13-35
Have you ever been some place, and come face to face with someone that you know you know, but whom you cannot place or name for the life of you? It often happens when you see someone out of the usual context and it can be very disconcerting at first. I’m not talking about the many brief memory losses we all experience – what is his name? I just can’t remember it. I’m talking about seeing someone you never expected to see in that place or at that time, and when you do, when you finally recognize them, there is surprise, joy, and amazement. It’s not unlike when a five year old sees her teacher in the grocery story. There is a moment of disbelief followed by awe. You mean my teacher goes to the grocery store and does not live at school?
When I was a child, there was a knock on our back door the day before Christmas and I went to the door and looked through the glass. I didn’t know who it was, and yet, I knew that I did. It was surreal until my aunt said, “Open the door and let us in!” My aunt and her family lived in Mississippi and they were not supposed to be at my back door in December. But they had come to Richmond to surprise us all for Christmas. It took me a minute to recognize family when I wasn’t expecting to see them, and then I was overjoyed!
The Emmaus account is a beautiful portrayal of this kind of surreal encounter, a delayed recognition. Cleopas and his companion are walking along recounting the recent events to an unknown traveler who has joined them on the way, when Cleopas says, “But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.” He is not in any way expecting to see Jesus. These two followers are most likely returning from Jerusalem to their homes in Emmaus, sure that what had seemed to be a new life was now over. They were grieving the loss of Jesus their friend, mentor, spiritual director, and fearless leader. They were grieving the loss of their hope for a new way of life, a new world order.
Most of us have experienced loss of one kind or another. The death of a loved one, the end of a relationship, the illness of a close family member that changes our life, or a job loss and the financial instability that follows. Or maybe we can recall the times when we lost the class election, did not make the cut to be on the team, never got that acceptance letter to the only college we wanted to attend. Some of us experience a loss of such immensity that we cannot even imagine taking the next step on the journey, and this can temporarily blind us to Resurrection hope.
Surely we have all found ourselves on this road to Emmaus. But the good news for us is that it’s exactly when we are on this road to Emmaus that Jesus comes alongside us. Our challenge is to believe, to trust, that we are not alone on the road, and to recognize that Jesus is with us, right where we are, walking with us through our doubts, losses and grief.
This is not easy, as we can see. The two disciples are so engrossed in their sad story that they do not even recognize Jesus, even as they see him and talk with him. It takes two or three hours to walk seven miles and in all that time, they do not see Jesus when he is walking beside them. They do not recognize his voice when he is speaking to them.
And this, for me, is really good news, because I have found myself in this situation over and over in my life when I had hoped things would be different. Jesus has promised to be with us when there appears to be no hope, right in the middle of our worst nightmares, right in the middle of the messiest or the most embarrassing parts of our lives. Even if we cannot see or hear Jesus, he is there.
So here’s our dilemma, just as it was a dilemma for Cleopas and his friend. Where do we turn when things fall apart in our lives or in the world? What do we do when the earthly and material things, the people and systems of society in which we have trusted, believed, and hoped fail us?
We return to the story and we look for Jesus. The disciples knew the story, they only needed reminding, they only needed to hear it again. Jesus used the Hebrew Scriptures to explain their experiences to them. Though these followers believed Jesus was a prophet, and had hoped that he was to redeem Israel, they still did not make the connection between the risen Christ and the person in their midst. Words alone did not make that happen. The risen Christ cannot be fully defined with words, just as all mystical experiences are in some way beyond words. The risen Christ must be experienced.
Somehow, when Jesus played host at the meal in their home, their universe shifted. “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.”
What follows is fascinating. First, the disciples looked back on their experience and saw Christ in it. “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” Secondly, they were compelled to witness, to share with others what had happened to them. They returned to Jerusalem that very night and told the others of their encounter with the risen Christ, of how “he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.”
The Risen Christ appears to us in the midst of our dashed hopes and shattered dreams. The risen Christ comes to us as we hear the scripture, as we worship and study together, and as we receive the sacrament of bread and wine. All of these things that we do in community strengthen us and help us see Christ more fully; they empower us to go out into the world to share what we have been given.
Christ and his Disciples in Emmaus, Jacob Andries Beschey
We make Christ known in moments of hospitality and generosity with others, both friends and strangers. We make him known as we minister to each other, telling the places where we have seen the risen Christ in our own lives, and where we see him in the lives of others, because sometimes it’s hard for us to see and hear Jesus, even when he is right in our midst. We are called to come alongside those who had hoped, and those who may be losing hope, and make the risen Christ known to them, because we know how powerful and life changing it can be to become aware of the risen Christ in our own lives.
May we expect Christ to come near and even surprise us, even in the grocery store, knocking on our back doors, and everywhere.
“Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him…”
Comments
Post a Comment