3rd SUNDAY OF EASTER
1Peter
1:17-21
Luke 24:13-35
“Weren’t
our hearts burning within us when he was
talking to
us on the road and explaining the Scriptures?”
Last Sunday,
we heard the Johannine account on the two apparitions of Jesus to his
disciples. We learned that peace and reconciliation were two precious Easter
gifts, which the risen Lord bestowed on them. And we learned too, that the
Lord's appearance instilled strong faith in the apostles and even enabled the
doubting Thomas to utter his great profession of faith.
Today’s
gospel is another account of his apparition to the other two disciples as they
walked along the road to Emmaus. This account is both historic and symbolic. As
it further shows the fact of the resurrection, it also portrays that our life
of faith is just like a journey towards a deeper discovery and a more intimate
relationship with the Lord. It was a great encounter, indeed, that we cannot
help but meditate on its three salient aspects: one, encountering the Lord on
the road; two, encountering him in the scripture; three, encountering him in
the Breaking of the Bread.
1. The
appearance of the risen Lord at the road to Emmaus is first and foremost an
encounter on the road. "That very same day, two of them were on their
way to a village called Emmaus ... Now as they talked this over, Jesus
himself came up and walked by their side.” --- The road stands for
two contrasting realities: in the beginning, the road symbolizes frustration,
despair, doubt and sorrow; but in the end, the same road becomes a path of
courage, hope, faith and joy.
To these two
disciples, the road to Emmaus was a journey back home. But not only that. They
decided to return home because they were so frustrated. Such turning back was,
therefore, a sad one, with their faces down cast. And there was one
reason for that. They never expected that the Messiah upon whom they laid
everything would just end up hanging on the cross “Our own hope had been
gone that he would be the one to set Israel free.” But with his death, all
had been in vain. This 7-mile journey back home would then become so difficult
and tiresome, the road would seem so winding and long.
But not
really. As Jesus walked with them, things turned out different. Little by
little, the load became lighter and lighter. As the mysteries were unveiled
before them, the scriptures became burning with meaning,
filling their hearts' desire. And when they finally recognized him at the breaking
of the bread, their eyes became wide open to the truth that their battle
was won. Thus, the journey that began with frustration and sorrow had now to
end and be gone. A new journey must begin. And this time it would be a journey
filled with hope and joy. So, at once, they traced their footsteps back on that
same road. But now, the road was no longer difficult and long. It had become
easy and short. For indeed, they had to hurry the good news that they too had
become witnesses to the resurrection!
2. “Weren’t
our hearts burning within us when he was talking to us on the road and
explaining the Scriptures?" --- The Emmaus story was also an encounter
with the Lord in the Scriptures. In his lifetime, Jesus would always refer to
the scripture. Every messianic movement,
should we say, was always a living reflection of what has been written. This
Jesus always insisted. But sadly, this they did not understand. It would still
take a risen Jesus to explain to them that nothing happened by chance. That he would suffer and die was not an
accident; and much less was the fact that on the third day he would rise from
the dead.
"Was
it not ordained that the Christ should suffer and so enter into his
glory?" --- Everything
was but a fulfillment. The providence of God is just so immense that it
encompasses everything, including history. In this sense, everything happens in
God's time, and nothing happens outside it and without him knowing it. So, if
these two frustrated travelers failed to grasp the mystery of his passion,
death and resurrection, it was all because first and foremost they failed to
capture the message of scripture. Good for them, the risen Lord walked with
them on that long and winding road. And by going through Moses and the
prophets, these poor travelers once more encountered the Lord, not only on the
road they passed by but in the scriptures they heard explained.
Christian
journey is no less like this. The scripture must hold so large a place, as
every pilgrim travels in this life's long and winding pilgrimage. The road becomes
precisely the right path of the journey because of the scripture that guides
it. And the scripture in turn becomes that meaningful precisely because its
message is meditated and understood as pilgrims walk along the road.
3. “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
recognized him…” --- The seven-mile-travel was long enough to making
acquaintances and getting to know each other. And given the circumstance of how
well did Jesus explain the meaning of scripture, and given the fact that the
two were disciples, they must have had all the good reasons to suspect that
someone not ordinary was with them, and that this someone must be familiar. But
surprisingly, these two travelers never recognized the Lord until the breaking
of the bread. Certainly, the glorified body of the risen Lord must have looked
quite differently. But more than that, the Emmaus encounter has much deeper
message to say.
Encountering
the Lord is likened to a ladder, which every step brings us to a higher
cognizance of his person. The first step would be meeting him down the road,
the most basic and universal way of encountering the divine in the midst of the
world. The second and higher step would be encountering him in the scriptures,
a way given to a more privileged people gifted by divine revelation. But the
highest of all is encountering him in the breaking of the bread, the only means
he reserves to those who receive him in the sacrament of his body and blood. In
other words, our apostolate and all the good works we do on the road and the
preaching we make about the Word of God must all point and reach out to the
highest expression of our faith: the Holy Eucharist. After all, in every moment
that we break ourselves with and for the people on the road, and every time we
turn ourselves into pieces as a painful reward to do witness to the Word, we
become one with him who gives himself totally in the breaking of the bread.
Our own life story is an Emmaus story, too; or at least, must be one like it. We encounter the living Lord daily through the less fortunate brothers we meet and walk along with on the road. We also encounter him much deeper as the living Word in the scriptures that we read and meditate upon. And finally, we encounter him more intimately and personally as we partake in the breaking of the bread.