Oak Chapel United Methodist Church

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Can you put yourself in the place of these disciples walking down the road on their way to Emmaus? Over the span of one week they had experienced a wide range of emotions. Starting with Palm Sunday they had experienced the exhilaration of the crowds cheering as Jesus entered Jerusalem. By Thursday Jesus had been betrayed and arrested after the Passover feast. Following his quick trial and conviction, Jesus was crucified on Friday and placed in a tomb. What a mood swing - from exhilaration to despair! The one they had followed was dead.

Even though the women had brought the message of the resurrection, because the men had not seen Jesus, they doubted. Thomas was not alone when he did not believe the report of other disciples seeing Jesus. He wanted proof.

Maybe Thomas and these disciples did not want to get their hopes up again only to be dashed like they were when Jesus was crucified. Peter had run to the tomb, but he did not see Jesus there, only the burial cloths. We do not know what the disciples were thinking. But we are told that these two disciples were sad, and they expressed disappointment. The resurrection was not real to them.

Jesus Appears

Mark's gospel tells that Jesus appeared to two disciples "as they were walking in the country," but Luke gives us more of the story, which begins on the day of the Resurrection. The two disciples are headed away from Jerusalem towards Emmaus. The Passover was finished. Jesus' ministry seemed to be finished. The Sabbath was over, and despite the report of the women, they had not seen Jesus.

They had plenty of time to discuss the events of the past week on their way to Emmaus, and they had plenty to sort out on their journey. In their grief and sorrow they were probably wondering what Jesus' ministry was really about and what had been accomplished other than some excitement. When Jesus approached and joined them, they did not recognize Jesus, and this "stranger" did not seem to know what had happened. Their disbelief that someone would not know what they would be talking about is expressed by their action and their words. They stood still, as if dumbfounded by Jesus' question, and looked sad. "Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?"

Telling the Story to Jesus

Then they proceeded to tell Jesus the whole story from their perspective, describing Jesus as a powerful prophet, mighty in word and deed. And in one statement they reveal how much Jesus had meant to them and their hope for Jesus' ministry - "But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel."

Redeem as it is used here is a close family member who has the right and responsibility to redeem you -- to pay for your release -- should you fall upon hard times, be sold into slavery, lose your land, or otherwise become destitute. Redemption, in its fullest Old Testament context, includes intervention which could set you free if you found yourself a prisoner or a slave. Such release was also part of the laws governing the Jubilee year (Deuteronomy 15), the arrival of which Jesus had announced previously in his first public sermon on Isaiah 61:1-5 (Luke 4:14-21).

Here Luke surrounds Jesus' whole public life with his followers' hopes that his coming would finally free Israel from slavery to Rome and restore Israel to its rightful place among the nations. However, when Jesus joins the disciples on the road, these hopes are dead, along with the great prophet who was to make those hopes real.

After listening to them relate the story of the women's report, Jesus chastises these two and interprets the scriptures to them, but even after this the disciples do not recognize Jesus. When Jesus appears to be going on from the village, the disciples encouraged him to stay because it was late in the day. Only when Jesus took bread and blessed it and handed it to them did they realize who he was. Suddenly the resurrection had been made real to them, and they rushed back to Jerusalem to tell their story to the others.

It is interesting to note that even though tour guides in Israel will take you to Emmaus, there really is no consensus as to where the Emmaus in this story is located. In a way, this mystery adds to the meaning of the story for us today. It does not matter where Emmaus is actually located. Wherever we are in our life journey, the Risen Lord is with us even if we have some doubts. Christ will travel wherever his followers are going. Christ will appear wherever we break bread. Christ is here with us now.