Road to Emmaus

 

Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.” Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.

As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

As someone whose mission in life is to draw people to a knowledge of Christ, I always look for Scriptural models to follow, and in today’s passage we find one of the most powerful ones there is. It is one that I have adopted many times, and I have realized it accomplishes much more than the “you-gotta-give-your-life-to-Jesus-right-now” approach that some take.

What is this model? Step 1. Go near. We can preach to thousands, as Jesus himself did, but he didn’t forsake the personal one-on-one approach. When he sensed there was a need, he would get personal. In this story, two disciples were discussing all the things that had happened and were troubled by it. They Scripture says that, “while they were talking, Jesus came near and went with them.” It is interesting that “their eyes were kept from recognizing him” because Jesus wanted them to focus on what he was saying.

Step 2. Listen. We may want to launch straight off into a conversation about how we need to believe in Jesus or be damned, but if we listen to the people we are witnessing to, we can learn about them and what their needs are. True witnessing is about caring and compassion. “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?”, Jesus asks, noticing that they were sad. And by the tone of the response, he also noticed they were angry (we will reflect upon their anger another time), but he let them speak. 

Step 3. Respond directly, and with the word of God. When Jesus finally responded, he was direct (in his typical style). “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared!”, he said, before beginning to explain everything that had happened through the Scriptures. We can give people our own “gyan” (Sanskrit: spiritual knowledge), but only the word of God has real power, and as God promises, his word will not return to him empty (see Isiah 55:10-11).

Step 4: Break bread. When they reached Emmaus, Jesus made to move on but the two insisted he stay with them. At the table, Jesus takes bread, blesses it, breaks it, and then gives it to them, and in that moment they recognize him. Through the breaking of the word, they were beginning to see, but it took the breaking of bread — a Eucharistic moment — for their eyes to be opened. The bread signified his body --- remember Jesus’ words at the Last Supper. 

There is much more to be mined from this passage and I hope that you will do so.