Keeping the Faith with Jesus on the Road

 

Op weg naar Emmaüs, Harmen ter Borch, after Gerard ter Borch (I), 1650 [https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/]

On the last day of a Holy Land trip we visited the church commemorating the encounter “on the road to Emmaus” of two disciples on the afternoon of Easter Sunday with an unrecognized man who turned out to be Jesus. (Luke 24:13-35)

At first they thought him to be ill-informed as, while in their grief-struck flight from the city of Jerusalem they went over the events of the past few days, from Palm Sunday to Good Friday and on to the supposedly hysterical reports of the women who found the tomb empty that morning, he asked them what they were talking about and they react: “Are you the only one who doesn’t know what’s been happening?” 

Then he in turn with patience interprets the events of the past few days, not on the surface level of what’s happening but on the deeper level of what is really going on, preparing them for the deeper revelation of what is really going on in the Breaking of the Bread, that is, the revelation of the Messiah.

As they talk along the way the apparent stranger lays out for them all about the Messiah throughout the Scriptures. 

What really opens their eyes is not theological argument by itself but the experience of the living Lord, his loving presence, … as they are there with him, in conversation, their hearts burning as they hear the Word, and then their eyes, opening wide, as he takes, blesses, breaks, and offers, the Bread that is his own Body, the Paschal Lamb of the New Covenant.

What happens to us when we listen to the Word he speaks to us?

What happens when we accept the Bread that he offers us?

Yes there is sustenance, nourishment, and reassurance of his presence.

And yet there is even more going on, when we accept that bread.

We become what we receive.   

It is not only about how he is present in the bread (or how we take in that bread) it is about how we are incorporated into him. 

It is not just about getting the body of Christ into you - or how that happens - it’s about getting you (incorporated) into the Body of Christ.

When have you been on this road, away from disaster and disappointed hope, headed perhaps back to the familiar, the secure, however wise your decision to leave it in the first place?

When have you fallen in with strange company and learned something new, something that changed your perspective?

When have you received the bread, blessed and broken, that changed your life? That caused you to look with fresh eyes on the world around you, on your companions and yourself? 

How about today?

So then let us pray:

Abide with us - abide in us.

Abide with us as the stranger encountered on the road.

Abide with us as the unrecognized teacher revealing the hidden mysteries of faith.

Abide with us as the patient companion, the inquisitive fellow, who seeks us out for fellowship and a mutual opening of hearts.

Abide with us as the priest, who takes, blesses, breaks, offers… himself, that we might see him and hope anew when hope is lost.

Abide with us as the Messiah you yourself prepare us to accept, the one who is Redeemer and Salvation for all people.

Abide with us as the mysterious stranger who knows our hearts and warms us to the core.

Abide in us as the fire within, and enkindle by knowledge and love, en-flaming experience, your holy spirit. Lead us into all truth, not merely pointing the way, but being the way.

For you are the Road on which we must travel, the journey’s end at its beginning, the impetus of our movement and the welcome of our rest. AMEN.

The Rev. John Leech serves as a priest associate at the Episcopal Church of Saint Matthew, Tucson.