The appearance on the road to Emmaus; Luke 24:13-35. (2024)

TWO of the 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 Messiah 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 pillars of the community of the resurrection

We say that the Christian community is formed by the resurrection of Jesus. Todays gospel shows us how the resurrection gives birth to the Church. How does the risen Lord fashion a people into a truly Christian community? And what do we do to allow the Lord to build our Christian community?

The experience of the disciples who meet the Lord on the way to Emmaus tells us that the Sacred Scriptures will help us understand Jesus role in the history of Israel and the whole of salvation history (Lk 24:25-27). The Word of God, however, is not only about Jesus. Gods Word will take root in our hearts and will give way to radical change in our lives only if it is the risen Jesus who explains it to us. It is the risen Lord, not the learned scholar, who makes the heart burn (Lk 24:32). It is Jesus speaking His Word who changes people and makes them His own.

Side by side with Sacred Scriptures comes the Holy Eucharist. It is the way through which people who partake of a meal together grow and become a Christian community. It is in the table of fellowship, when Christs "breaking of the bread" is recalled, that our eyes are opened and we recognize Him (Lk 24:30-31). The risen Christ must share our meal. He must be the one to take the bread, and give it to us. Only then will our table of fellowship truly become a revelation of the Resurrection. In this fellowship, He is the head; those who participate become His Body and His People.

When the community recognizes the risen Lord in His Word and in the Eucharist, it will stand up together, set out at once, and joyfully announce: "The Lord has truly been raised." Believing in the resurrection, the community will proclaim the Good News (Lk 24:35). This proclamation rests on the experience of listening to Jesus as He explains the Sacred Scriptures and sharing the meal which He has prepared. The Word of God, the Eucharist, and Proclamation of the Faith are the three foundations of our Community of the Resurrection.

In our own community of believers how do we rate the importance of the three foundations of the Church?

SOURCE: "365 Days with the Lord," ST PAULS, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 895-9701; Fax 895-7328; E-mail: [emailprotected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.