Today's Readings
(Audio)
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.
Jesus could have walked up and made himself known, telling them, 'Hey, it's me. The women were right. They really did see angels. And what they were told by the angels was true'. If we were writing the script for Jesus it is likely it would have been something like that. We would probably prefer the most straightforward option. But apparently there was something to be gained from the fact that he was not immediately recognized. Just as Mary Magdalene recognized him when he called her name so too was there a specific and intentional way that he had planned for Cleopas and his companion to recognize him. Apparently a straightforward approach would have led to a superficial result. But an intentional self-revelation at a precise moment could make a lasting impact on one's life.
“What are you discussing as you walk along?”
Why take the time to hear their jumbled interpretation of events? Why not set them straight immediately, if that was the plan? It seemed that only if they were forced to fully articulate their current understanding, if Jesus met them precisely at the level where they were, could they transcend it and move beyond it. This speaks to a general need for educators to not simply blast students with knowledge bombs, but to see where they are, and where, therefore, the next step ought to be.
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?”
It may not have been obvious to them, but after having it explained to them from the Scriptures by Jesus himself, the foretelling of the suffering of Christ by the prophets, as well as its necessity, would forever after be obvious. They had been foolish and slow of heart to believe. But in a way, this was because needed Jesus to first unlock the meaning of revelation, of "all the Scriptures", to them. Human wisdom was foolishness from the perspective of God (see First Corinthians 3:19). They needed the God-man himself to teach them the necessity of the divine folly of the cross.
Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets,
he interpreted to them what referred to him
in all the Scriptures.
They were at what must have been the greatest bible study in history. But even still, even with the teacher and the subject matter, they did not yet recognize Jesus. They had progressed with him to what we might call the Liturgy of the Word but still did not recognized him. Their hearts did burn within them as he opened the Scriptures to them. But even so, he did not yet reveal himself fully. It was only in the breaking of the bread that his presence would be fully revealed.
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.
Again, this revelation probably was probably different from anything we would expect. We would expect the Jesus drawing near, or at least his explanation of himself from his word, to be the moment he was revealed. But instead, it was through the Eucharist. Outsiders would see in the Eucharist only gestures, words, and rituals. But Jesus wanted his disciples to understand that the most deep and abiding form of presence he had to give was found under the appearance of bread and wine. The other forms in which Jesus was present to them, or in which he is present to us (in the community, in the priest, and in the Scriptures) are meant to culminate in our recognition of his presence in the breaking of the bread, "the source and summit of the Christian life" (see CCC 1324). Why wait until that moment to reveal himself? Precisely to give an experiential reality to the primacy of his presence there.
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.
Has Jesus been made known to us in the breaking of the bread? We may have what is sometimes called a testimony about how we came to know Jesus or to know him in a deeper way. But do we have a Eucharistic testimony? Do we have a soundbite or elevator pitch ready to help us to share our love of Jesus in the Eucharist with those who do not yet recognize him there? Let's ask God to help us to remember all he has been for us in the Eucharist and inspire us to share that truth with others.
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