Message of Abbot Paul - Easter Wednesday
Message from Fr Paul for Wednesday, 7th April 2021
Everyone has a favourite Easter story and for many of us it is Jesus and his disciples on the road to Emmaus, which is today’s Gospel passage from Luke, (Lk 24: 13-35). How can you not warm to this story? It’s so beautifully written. Although we all know the story well, I’d rather reprint it whole and then say a few words about it.
“Two of the disciples of Jesus were on their way to a village called Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking together about all that had happened. Now as they talked this over, Jesus himself came up and walked by their side; but something prevented them from recognising him. He said to them, ‘What matters are you discussing as you walk along?’ They stopped short, their faces downcast.
Then one of them, called Cleopas, answered him, ‘You must be the only person staying in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have been happening there these last few days.’ ‘What things?’ he asked. ‘All about Jesus of Nazareth’ they answered ‘who proved he was a great prophet by the things he said and did in the sight of God and of the whole people; and how our chief priests and our leaders handed him over to be sentenced to death, and had him crucified. Our own hope had been that he would be the one to set Israel free. And this is not all: two whole days have gone by since it all happened; and some women from our group have astounded us: they went to the tomb in the early morning, and when they did not find the body, they came back to tell us they had seen a vision of angels who declared he was alive. Some of our friends went to the tomb and found everything exactly as the women had reported, but of him they saw nothing.’
Then he said to them, ‘You foolish men! So slow to believe the full message of the prophets! Was it not ordained that the Christ should suffer and so enter into his glory?’ Then, starting with Moses and going through all the prophets, he explained to them the passages throughout the scriptures that were about himself.
When they drew near to the village to which they were going, he made as if to go on; but they pressed him to stay with them. ‘It is nearly evening’ they said ‘and the day is almost over.’ So he went in to stay with them. Now while he was with them at table, he took the bread and said the blessing; then he broke it and handed it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognised him; but he had vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us as he talked to us on the road and explained the scriptures to us?’
They set out that instant and returned to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven assembled together with their companions, who said to them, ‘Yes, it is true. The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.’ Then they told their story of what had happened on the road and how they had recognised him at the breaking of bread.”
Jesus comes up and begins walking in the same direction as the two disciples: he walks with them and listens to what they have to say. He is patient and polite. In exactly the same way, he walks with us, he listens to what we have to say, our thoughts, worries and anxieties. When he asks them what they’re discussing, they stop dead, their faces saddened by the events of the past few days. He allows them to speak and to pour out their hearts to him, a complete stranger. Something prevents them from recognising him, perhaps they didn’t know him that well and were simply part of the wider circle of followers. It appears that no one recognised him, his resurrection was so unexpected. Somehow, they had to learn again how to know him. We are told that one is called Cleopas, but what is the name of the other? Could this disciple have had your name or mine? They tell him everything, even the hope they had that he would have been a political Messiah and the one to free Israel from Roman occupation. They relate the story of the empty tomb, the women and the angels and the fact that some of the disciples had visited to tomb and found it empty. Then Jesus explains the meaning of the scriptures to them, what was said about the Christ by the prophets and by Moses himself in the Law, but even then, they do not recognise him.
When they come to the village, they invite him to stay the night and have a meal. He accepts their hospitality as he does ours today. Jesus lives not only in our churches and in the sacraments; he lives in our homes, with our families and in our hearts. He is always present in our midst. Have there been occasions when we have not invited him to stay with us? Jesus doesn’t force his presence upon us, but humbly waits to be invited. “Stay with us, Lord, for day is almost over.” It is only when, as a guest, he is invited to break bread at table that they finally recognise him, but he is gone from their sight. It was the experience of a moment, rather like those flashes of the Divine we get in contemplative prayer or when reading the scriptures. Both disciples agree, “Did not our hearts burn within us as he talked to us and explained the scriptures to us?” There are times when our hearts burn too, for Jesus does speak to our hearts, of that there can be no doubt. They rush back to Jerusalem, where the community is sharing news of the resurrection and they are able to “tell their story.” Jesus wants us to tell our story of how we came to faith, how we came to recognise him, know him and love him. We, too, have a story to tell of what has happened to us on the road of life and of how we have recognised him in the breaking of bread, not just in the Eucharist, but the very bread which is life itself with all its hardships, deceptions, struggles, hopes, fears, failures, successes and joys. Wherever we have been, whatever we have done, Jesus has always been with us, but most especially in bereavement and death. He is the Resurrection and the Life.
