Day 49 - Tuesday, April 14
Hymn of Victory: Unto the myrrh-bearing women the Angel cried out as he stood by the grave: Myrrh-oils are meet for the dead, but Christ has proved to be a stranger to corruption. But cry out: The Lord is risen, granting great mercy to the world. O Christ! by Your Resurrection, You stopped the lamentation of Eve, O God! You commanded Your apostles to preach: The Savior is Risen!
Scripture: Luke 24:13-35
And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. And they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them. But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him. And He said to them, “What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?” And they stood still, looking sad. One of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to Him, “Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days?” And He said to them, “What things?” And they said to Him, “The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to the sentence of death, and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened. But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning, and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had also 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 exactly as the women also had said; but Him they did not see.” And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.

And they approached the village where they were going, and He acted as though He were going farther. But they urged Him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is getting toward evening, and the day is now nearly over.” So He went in to stay with them. When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight. They said to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?” And they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found gathered together the eleven and those who were with them, saying, “The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon.” They began to relate their experiences on the road and how He was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread.

Poetry: 
Seeing the Light
by Caroline Finkelstein

   Light falls on the cup and the plate,
fluted spoons, the blue in the milk,
        salt, the half-eaten egg, the table,
someone half-dreaming. Light falls on the clock.

            Light falls on our uncles the fish,
on disguise, on sleight-of-hand,
    on doctors with shaky investments.
               It falls on the mess of the willow,
mistakes in the garden: too many roses,
              on children allergic to bees, their fathers
    in terror through summer, on a body
                                             all out of breath.

           Light plays on the righteous,
on waste, on the harvest of insistent arrangers,
    on obsession, on justification: that dance
designed in the mind,
                            in the water 
light copies the reeds bending and weaving,

    and it falls on the roofs of houses,
little houses resting on ground
    that was, just moments ago, submerged by the sea.
         Light travels that fast.
It falls on me. Just moments ago
                           I had no vision at all.

LIGHT OF THE WORLD

Light moves.  Light illumines.  There is never a time when it is completely still, and rarely a moment when it conceals.  Our scripture reading today speaks of the interaction between movement, illumination and light; or rather, it speaks of an interaction with Jesus.  

The disciples are weary.  They have experienced the darkest of days and nights and are travelling from Jerusalem along the road to Emmaus.  Luke tells us that they are not silent travelers, they were in deep discussion concerning the events of the previous days.  While the travelers remain in darkness, the reader is given 20-20 vision in recognizing the Light of the World who joins them on their journey. The dramatic irony is further emphasized by the disciples’ desire to illuminate their fellow traveler with all that has happened in Jerusalem - ‘Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?’

Not only does Jesus ‘know the things that have happened’, but he orchestrated them before the beginning of creation, the disciples were verbally processing with the one who spoke ‘let there be light’!  As they walk towards Emmaus, the ‘true light who gives light to everyone’ was walking them through redemption’s story, through the Old Testament prophets, through ‘all the scriptures concerning himself’.... And yet despite this, their hearts and minds were not yet awakened to a point of understanding.  They grope in the darkness for meaning.  They remain ‘foolish’ and ‘slow of heart’...and yet… They later acknowledge those same slow hearts to have been ‘burning’ as the scriptures were expounded.  Light moves, and light illumines yes, but not always quickly. Sometimes it takes the slow plodding of a journey or the methodical unpacking of a truth.  

As with their hunger for food, so too their desire to unpack the scriptures increases as they draw nearer to home and invite the fellow traveler to dinner. As Jesus blesses the food, the disciples finally recognize him - ‘light falls on the cup and the plate’, and most certainly ‘light falls on the clock’ causing that moment to last seemingly beyond its allotted time, creating sufficient time and space for light to move and light to illuminate. The disciples finally grasp who was eating with them - the Risen Lord (gasp!) - ‘Just moments ago I had no vision at all’.

‘He is Risen indeed! Hallelujah!’ 

Today’s artwork beautifully conveys this sharp intake of breath by the disciples, and is certainly on the lips of readers a millennia later.  Artist, Wantian Cul, captures this moment of recognition with a work that exudes movement of light and hints at future action.  Likewise, recognition of the risen Lord does not ask for ‘gasps’ alone, it asks for a reciprocal movement towards others.  This light is to be shared.  The disciples ‘got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem’ to share their experience, an action that is also to be our calling as children of the light. 

As light moves and illumines, so too must the Christian shine the gospel message into a dark world. The Lord help us to do just that today!

Prayer:
O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of bread: Open the eyes of our faith, that we may behold him in all his redeeming work; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
(Book of Common Prayer 1979).

Sian Draycott
Torrey Honors Institute
Biola University

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