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Gospel: Luke 24: 13-35
That very day, the first day of the week,
two of Jesus’ disciples were going
to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus,
and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred.
And it happened that while they were conversing and debating,
Jesus himself drew near and walked with them,
but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.
He asked them,
“What are you discussing as you walk along?”
They stopped, looking downcast.
One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply,
“Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem
who does not know of the things
that have taken place there in these days?”
And he replied to them, “What sort of things?”
They said to him,
“The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene,
who was a prophet mighty in deed and word
before God and all the people,
how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over
to a sentence of death and crucified him.
But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel;
and besides all this,
it is now the third day since this took place.
Some women from our group, however, have astounded us:
they were at the tomb early in the morning
and did not find his Body;
they came back and reported
that they had indeed seen a vision of angels
who announced that he was alive.
Then some of those with us went to the tomb
and found things just as the women had described,
but him they did not see.”
And he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are!
How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke!
Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things
and enter into his glory?”
Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets,
he interpreted to them what referred to him
in all the Scriptures.
As they approached the village to which they were going,
he gave the impression that he was going on farther.
But they urged him, “Stay with us,
for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.”
So he went in to stay with them.
And it happened that, while he was with them at table,
he took bread, said the blessing,
broke it, and gave it to them.
With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him,
but he vanished from their sight.
Then they said to each other,
“Were not our hearts burning within us
while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?”
So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem
where they found gathered together
the Eleven and those with them who were saying,
“The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!”
Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way
and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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“The Road to Emmaus” is one of the final stories in Luke’s Gospel, which teaches us a beautiful lesson about life with – or without – Christ.
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It begins with two of Jesus’ disciples leaving Jerusalem, walking westward towards Emmaus.
When the Lord appears to them, they mistake him for a stranger. They share with him what they know and have seen – that the Lord was crucified on Friday, women visited his tomb on Sunday, they proclaimed it was empty, and other disciples have said the same.
But these two still don’t understand why the tomb was empty; they haven’t made the leap of faith from Good Friday to Easter Sunday.
They’re leaving Jerusalem – and their faith – behind.
***
Their journey away from Jerusalem towards Emmaus represents a soul without Christ.
Just as these two are walking westward into the sunset, into the night, so a soul without Christ is deprived of light; when faced with death, it becomes dim, restless, without hope.
***
After the Lord reveals himself to them in the breaking of the bread – a likely reference to the Eucharist, their eyes are opened.
Immediately, they change directions and rush back to Jerusalem.
Such is a soul filled with Christian faith. It’s alive, bright, desperate to share the good news of the empty tomb with others.
***
As we enter into this blessed Easter season, may the Holy Spirit fill our hearts with that same faith which allows us to discovery why the tomb was empty.
Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead. Alleluia!
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Image credits: (1) Emmaus Road, The Missional Network (2) Road to Emmaus, by Daniel Bonnell (3) Road to Emmaus, Fine Art America
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