Emmaus Road

The road between broken hearts and burning ones.

It is Easter day, but you wouldn’t know it. The women have gone to the tomb and run back saying its empty, but no one knows where the body is. No one has seen Jesus. It has been three days already, and so these two men are walking away. They are on the road to Emmaus, a seven mile journey outside of Jerusalem.

They are broken-hearted. Their hope is as rocky as the ground they cover. They shook off the dreams like it was the dust on their sandals. Game over. It is time to surrender and go home.

And so they are walking away. While they walk, they are processing all that has happened in Jersualem. Remember when we were all shouting Hosanna? Remember when he flipped the table? Remember all the times Jesus healed?

But then everything changed. It all turned ugly. And now Jesus is dead. They never saw it playing out quite like this.

And while they were talking suddenly Jesus appeared and came near to them. But the text tells us “their eyes were kept from recognizing him.” Hmm, that’s interesting. It seems to keep happening. Mary thought Jesus was a gardener. Thomas wasn’t sure until he touched the wound. And now here he is with followers on the road and they can’t seem to recognize Jesus.

Does Jesus place a veil over their eyes? Maybe the disciples just can’t conceive of Jesus alive and so they aren’t expecting it. We don’t know, but we know for now, the disciples take Jesus for just another stranger walking along on the road.

And Jesus asks them, “what are you talking about while you walk?”

Suddenly the disciples stop in their tracks. They were so caught up in their sadness that they didn’t realize anyone else was with them. Then Cleopas looks at Jesus and says sarcastically “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place lately?” Kinda like who are you and have you been living under a rock?

Jesus says “what things?”

The men begin to tell him about Jesus of Nazareth who was a prophet and did mighty things. But then the chief priests and leaders handed him over and he was crucified and killed. They said “but we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.”

But we had hoped. Oh my how much weight these words carry. Have you ever been there? But we had hoped it would all be different. But we had hoped it wouldn’t come to this. But we had hoped they would get that job. But we had hoped the report would be all clear. But we had hoped we would be safe. But we had hoped this season of life would look different. But we had hoped to get the part, to be on the team, to get accepted, to ace the test. But we had hoped to live many years together, for better or for worse.

Oh Lord have mercy on us. On the way out of Jerusalem we say “but we had hoped.” But it’s too late now.

But thank goodness resurrection doesn’t have a limited radius. It expands out to us and meets us on the road.

Cleopas and the other are walking along with this “stranger” about their dashed hopes and Jesus says “Oh how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared!” This stranger on the road says “how could you not see and believe all the prophets told you? Don’t you know this had to be so?” Then Jesus begins to walk along with them and explains to them how the scriptures point to Jesus.

Wow! I wish I could have been there. I wish I could have known what he said. To have Jesus explain the scriptures! I mean, talk about a lightbulb moment. Talk about having your eyes opened. I would sign up for that lecture in a heartbeat.

But the men still didn’t recognize him. They drew near Emmaus and Jesus began to continue on ahead. But something was different about him. Maybe the disciples thought he was a great teacher. It was almost dark, so they urged him to stay. They wanted to be in his presence.

This apparent stranger accepts and goes inside. They sit down together at the table and there is some bread there. The man who is a guest in the home suddenly turns into a host as he reaches out and takes the bread. But he does something different. He begins to bless it. Then he breaks it and hands it to the men.

And in the breaking of the bread, everything changes. Their eyes are opened and they suddenly see Jesus, the resurrected Lord sitting there at the table with them. I wonder if he smiled at them, love pouring from his face as he vanished from their sight.

He was there the whole time. The presence of God was with them all along the road. They thought they were walking away from the tomb, but resurrection followed them and met them. Resurrection sat at their table and broke bread.

I may have shared this story before with you about my Uncle Jimmy but I think it bears repeating this morning. My uncle is retired from the military. He always attended church and is a Christian man. But years ago when we served on an Emmaus walk together, everything changed. I was in high school at the time.

During the retreat, it came time for those of us who were part of the team to serve one another Holy Communion. I remember turning to face my uncle. I remember breaking the bread and saying “the body of Christ, broken for you.”

In that moment, my uncle was forever changed by the grace of God upon his soul. Extravagant poured through ordinary bread and ordinary words. This is such a profound moment for both of us that he gifted me this beautiful Emmaus stole. So that when I wear it one day in the future, I will always be reminded of what can happen in the breaking of the bread.

Of all the things that happen in the story of the Emmaus road, it is in the breaking of the bread that they see Jesus. And they say to one another “were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road?” In the breaking of the bread, broken hearts begin to burn and eyes begin to open. In the breaking of the bread, we are made whole. In the breaking of the bread, hopelessness begins to proclaim “he is risen.”

When we break bread together, we meet Christ at the table with us and find that he has been there all along. Friends, I have seen this happen more than once. I have broken bread for nonbeliever,s for enemies, for those who are dying, for those who can no longer remember, for those too little to fully understand. On Maundy Thursday this year, I watched as you washed one another’s hands and served one another this holy meal. Several of you shared how meaningful it was and how those you may not otherwise be connected to now have an even stronger bond you wouldn’t have had otherwise. This is the bond of Christ that is formed in the breaking of the bread.

I realize we don’t have Holy Communion on the table this morning, but I am willing to bet each of you in this room will leave here this morning and go on your way, and you will find your way to a table. You will find your way to some sort of bread.

And as you gather around with one another and talk about how bad this sermon is, I hope when you begin to break bread, that you will realize Christ is with you. The resurrection has followed you. And that hope is with you even now.

Kate Bowler puts it this way in her Blessing for when all hope seems lost.

“blessed are we when we realize that suddenly, already, you are right here, saying: “peace be with you!” *I say saying “the body of Christ broken for you.” breathing life and hope and truth, filling everything, until the walls are dissolved and we are free to move in faith again.”