That very day, the first day of the week
The first day of the week: that is, the Lord's day, the day on which Christians commemorate the resurrection of Jesus himself. But these disciples on the road to Emmaus did not yet realize the new meaning of the day. To them it was just one more repetition of the cycle of the old creation, which alternated between initial hope and final disappointment. From Adam to Moses to Noah to David there had been moments of profound hope, that restoration and renewal had finally come. But the disappointment that ensued always seemed to outweigh the hope.
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?”
These disciples had a limited and conventional understanding of what had happened to Jesus. They thought they were at the end of one more cycle that had begun in hope and ended in despair. Jesus himself did not immediately correct them. He did not interject with a, 'Well, actually' but rather listened to first understand the story in which the disciples believed themselves to be, asking "What sort of things?" We can imagine the undercurrent of amusement as Jesus himself was the only one who really did fully understand "the things that have taken place there [in Jerusalem] in these days", a playfulness expressed as patience with the old and incomplete narrative they were able to offer.
“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;
The knowledge of the resurrection makes it impossible on the one hand to be too serious about the world's narratives of despair. But on the other hand it does not on that account make us indifferent or impatient with those who still believe such stories. Rather, from the resurrection we gain the patience and perspective that allows us to respond with empathy. Jesus himself took the time to hear what the disciples believed to be the case so that his response could correct it and provide the more complete account.
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?”
Once the disciples came to the end of their story Jesus revealed what was the case in actual fact. They believed themselves to be in one story but he revealed that they were in another entirely. They were expecting liberation from Rome but he brought liberty from sin, liberty from the cycles of hope and despair of the old creation. Yes, he called them foolish, but not as a condemnation. They indeed would want to be foolish in this light because it meant that what they had believed heretofore was no longer final or ultimate. What was this new story that they were called to believe?
Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets,
he interpreted to them what referred to him
in all the Scriptures
It was in one sense the old story but seen with new eyes and from a new perspective. The Scriptures had spoken of Jesus all along, of the necessity of his death and the inexorable certainty of his resurrection. The disciples simply hadn't had eyes to see it, because such eyes were only given as a result of the intervention of the Holy Spirit. This is why they would later exclaim, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?"
The Scriptures themselves are not ultimate, but are meant to prepare us for the revelation of Jesus himself. As with these disciples that revelation comes to us most fully in the Eucharist, the breaking of the bread, that we receive at mass.
With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him,
but he vanished from their sight.
The visible presence of Jesus was taken from them, but his presence within them was beginning to become a reality. From doubt and despair they were transformed into witnesses who themselves spoke his word, as they "recounted what had taken place on the way".
Peter and John knew that although the visible presence of Jesus was no longer with them he was not on that account less present. He was still moving among his body, teaching, healing, and giving freedom by the power of his name.
Peter said, “I have neither silver nor gold,
but what I do have I give you:
in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, rise and walk.”
We have been with Jesus on the road to Emmaus, but we still sometimes lack the assurance of his presence in his body that came to define the early Church. Let us look to the breaking of the bread with expectation that Jesus will reveal himself to be even more present than we have yet dared to guess. Only then will we truly become his body and begin to manifest his presence to the world, a presence of more value by far than silver or gold.
Look to the LORD in his strength;
seek to serve him constantly.
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