Tuesday, April 7

Scripture: Luke 24:28-35
So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.

THE LORD IS RISEN INDEED!

Jesus was crucified, died and was buried. That much they knew when they set out toward Emmaus.

On the third day he rose again, but that was the piece they were missing as they journeyed. They had been told about the resurrection that very morning; given a chance to believe and to trade sadness for joy. The women who discovered that the tomb was empty had brought news of it to them, straight from the mouth of an angel at the gravesite. But the disciples dismissed it as an “idle tale” (Luke 24:5-11). For it had been three days since the terrible events at Golgotha, and they despaired.

Their journey began that very day, the third day. They were sad. They had hoped Jesus would be the one to redeem Israel (Luke 24:21). Jesus had celebrated the Jewish feasts with them, performed miracles, and even spoken of his death and impending resurrection “on the third day” (Luke 9:22). The disciples had hopes and expectations. All of this was in the past tense now.

Along the road to Emmaus, they encountered Jesus, who employed the charade of an anonymous fellow traveler. This traveler’s interpretations of the Prophets concerning the Christ stirred the disciples’ despondent hearts as they walked. He was someone whose mastery of Scripture, perhaps, reminded them of Jesus. Perhaps they were doing themselves a wistful favor in retaining his company over supper.

So the three sat down to eat at the end of a seemingly unremarkable and disappointing day. Maybe because he was older than the other two, or maybe out of respect for his knowledge of the Prophets, the third traveler was tasked with blessing and breaking the bread—a common enough ritual.

But they flew back in their chairs when he did!

Instantly they realized Jesus had been with them all along! What was the tell? Was it the gesture of his hands? The turn of his wrist as he broke the bread? Was it the intonation of his blessing? The scar on his hand as he offered bread from his palm?

Survey the moment: despair is obliterated in a shockwave of hope realized. See the fruit; see the meat; see the bread; the utensils; the pitcher; see the arms; see the fingers; the knuckles; the brows. See the unknowing innkeeper’s hand upon Christ’s shoulder, participating in the proof. It is Jesus in the flesh. The Lord is risen, indeed.

This Erwin Olaf image is a reiteration of one by Caravaggio that tells the same story. The Emmaus story is the story of re-encountering Christ when we least expect to, believing his promises only in hindsight. Sometimes we, like the disciples captured here, grieve the seemingly unfulfilled promises of God despite him being, immutably, a God of his word. The disciples’ body language says it all: no one saw this coming. But they are instantly aware that they should have seen it coming. Did Jesus not foretell it? Did their hearts not burn as he taught them along the road? Their impulse upon seeing the proof is to affirm it: “The Lord is risen indeed.” May that be our impulse as Christ continually reveals himself to us.

PRAYER
Lord, Thank you for always keeping your word. Help us to guard hope when disbelief tempts us. Teach us to believe you, and magnify our rejoicing at every fulfilled promise. Risen Lord, reveal yourself to us.
Amen.

Juliana Semione, Administrative Assistant, Office of the President