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Scripture: Luke 24:13-43
Now on the same day that the women and Peter had seen the empty tomb, two of the disciples were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were 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 al 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 into sty with them, 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 upon 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.
While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, {Peace be with you.” They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet: see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wonderfing, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence.
Teaching:
Have you ever had the embarrassing experience of seeing someone you think you know and yet not sure it is? They look slightly different than the last time – new hair-do or color, lost a little weight, could it be the same person? Or we see them out of the usual context in a place we never expected – in an airport or at a dinner party with a completely different group of friends, or at a hospital while visiting someone else – it's a little awkward – not sure we are seeing the person we think we are seeing?
Perhaps that is how Cleopas felt as he and another follower of Jesus walked on home to Emmaus two days after the crucifixion. It was later that first Easter Day. They had heard of the empty tomb from the women, but they weren't sure what to believe about it. Cleopas wasn't part of the inner circle of the twelve apostles. He is mentioned only this one time in the Gospels. His companion isn't even named. They were just two ordinary people grieving the death of Jesus. They knew his reputation as a prophet, had been part of the crowds that listened to him teach, been a disciple, a follower, and imagined with the others that he might be the new David, a military leader who could reclaim Israel from Roman rule – but at this point, that hope was lost. They certainly weren't looking for him. Then, suddenly a man came walking along beside them but in their sadness they barely looked up, didn't recognize him. He tried to make conversation asking what they were talking about. In his pain, Cleopas lashed out, “Where have you been? Are you a stranger around here? Don't you know what has happened in the last few days?”
Cleopas gave him a brief summary of events and “the stranger” responded in kind. “You fools! Don't you get the connection?” As he walked along with them, he reminded them of Scripture passages that pointed to him and his ministry of love and justice as well as his suffering. He interpreted beginning from the time of Moses. Perhaps he quoted from the scrolls of Exodus and Leviticus or from the Prophets Isaiah, Amos or Micah with verses such as: “Don't oppress aliens for you were once aliens in Egypt. Don't ill-treat widows or orphans. If they call for my help I will certainly hear them.”1 “If you lend money to any of my people, to anyone poor among you, do not demand interest from them.”2 “If you take someone's cloak in pledge, return it to him at sunset. It is all the covering he has; it is the cloak he wraps his body in; what else will he sleep in? If he calls to me, I shall listen. At least with me he will find compassion!”3 “Do not be unjust in administering justice. Neither be partial to the poor nor overly impressed by the great, but administer justice to your fellow citizens justly.”4 “When you reap the harvest in your country, do not reap to the very edges of your field, nor gather the gleanings of the harvest. Leave them for the poor and the stranger.”5 “Comfort my people, Comfort them.”6 “Don't be afraid. I will help you.”7 “Be a light to the nations, open the eyes of the blind, and free the captives from prison”8 “Share your food with the hungry, shelter the homeless poor. If you see someone needing clothes, clothe him and you will be bridge-builders, restorers of streets to be lived in.”9 “Let justice flow down like water and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”10 “This is the kind of worship that pleases me – to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God.”11
Cleopas and his friend still didn't recognize him but since it was getting late, they invited him, a stranger, to stay with them. It was then, in the shared meal, in the giving and the receiving of bread, that the “Aha” happened. The light went on for them and they recognized him only to have him suddenly disappear again. But, they had been changed, transformed in new way. The connection between the Scriptures and the life he taught and lived burned in their hearts. It all began to make sense to them. They realized that during Jesus' ministry they had experienced in every way the compassion of the God of Scriptures – a compassion that threatened the power-brokers of every era both political and religious – and risked confrontation and retaliation, retaliation on a cross.
Yet, that living breathing man of compassion that they thought was dead had searched them out, had found them, had walked along side of them on a dusty road, had listened to them, talked with them and broken bread with them – two ordinary men from the little village of Emmaus – a village that disappeared long ago.
Gregory Boyle, a Jesuit priest in Los Angeles, writes of the incredible living power of the love and compassion of God that we know in Jesus – in his life and ministry and his suffering and resurrection. Can it be experienced in our world even today – can we know him? Can we see him? In Boyle's recent book, Tattoos on the Heart, he tells of the young men and women who are his congregation in the highest concentration of gang activity in downtown L. A. Some live in the neighborhoods, some are in juvenile hall and some in prison. All need someone to walk alongside them, to really see them, to listen to them, to help them know that that they truly are loved by God for being just who they are, the person God created them to be. He tells a story of fifteen-year-old Rigo in a county detention facility near Glendora. Boyle asked him about his father. “Oh,” he says, “He's a heroin addict and never really been in my life. Used to always beat me up. He's in prison right now. Barely ever lived with us.” Remembering what life was like with him, Rigo began to cry, rocking back and forth inconsolably. As he composed himself, Boyle asked, “And your mom?” He pointed across the yard from where they were standing to a tiny woman. “That's her over there. There is no one like her. I have been locked up for more than a year and a half. She comes to see me every Sunday. You know how many busses she takes every Sunday just to see me?” Then he began to cry again… it takes him time to regain his breath through his tears. “Seven buses. She takes…seven…buses. Imagine!”12
The expansive heart of God who walks miles to find us is the same who takes seven buses just to arrive at us. In Jesus' life and ministry and in his death and resurrection we see his longing to walk alongside of us, to be with us wherever we are, in solidarity with us no matter what is happening in our lives. Can we see a living Jesus today? Does he look like a tiny Hispanic woman with a heart full of love?
Many of you know that Westminster sent two medical teams to Haiti in the mid-1990s. They served at Hopital Ste. Croix in Leogane. Even closer to the epicenter of the recent earthquake than Port-o-Prince, the hospital was severally damaged. Some repairs have been made and it is now being use by Doctors Without Borders. Matt Cobb and Jim Clark, fire captains from Larkspur, hearts filled with compassion, cared for patients there recently on their humanitarian trip walking alongside those in desperate need.
Before the firefighters arrived, thirty-six earthquake victims had been waved onto planes by U. S. marines in the chaotic aftermath of that January 12, devastation. Some had been pulled from rubble. Some lost parents, siblings or children. Many were seeking food, safety or medical care at the Port-o-Prince airport. Terrifying aftershocks prompted quick evacuations with no time for immigration processing. When they landed in the U.S. without visas, they were taken into custody by immigration authorities and held for deportation. Those deportations to Haiti had been suspended indefinitely, so there they sat in a jail in Florida. In February, legal advocates stumbled on the fact that they were incarcerated and had little or no mental health care to deal with their trauma. As late as this past Wednesday, they were still in custody though lawyers from the Immigrant Advocacy Center had urged their release for weeks. Finally, with the help of Allison Kent and others from the Advocacy Center, they were released on Maundy Thursday into the arms of relatives and friends here in the United States waiting to provide home, comfort and compassion for them. Can we see Jesus living today? Does he look like a Larkspur fire captain or paramedic traveling thousands of miles to care for others or like a young lawyer working non-stop to gain release of earthquake victims jailed for over two months.
Today we pray for Gunner Sandberg and his family as we know a whole community is walking with him through his slow, difficult healing, May he very soon emerge from the darkness he has experienced and be fully in the light. We are encouraged by the progress he has made and pray that he and his family and medical professionals are comforted in the companionship and presence of God's love through Jesus walking with them in his ICU room, up and down the halls of Marin General Hospital and across the internet in all the love that is sent his way.
After Jesus departed from them in Emmaus on that first Easter night, Cleopas and his unnamed friend left immediately and returned to Jerusalem. They found the eleven and other of Jesus' companions and followers there. With excitement, they told of Jesus meeting them on the road and realizing it was he when he broke bread with them. As they were talking, Jesus again stood among them encouraging them to believe that they were actually seeing him. “Touch me and see – my skin and my bones, my hands and my feet.” In the most human of requests, he asked, “Have you anything here to eat?” He longs to be with us, to grab a fish sandwich, a burger or a latte, to listen and to walk with us in the midst of our day-to-day living, our human confusion, our pain, our loss of hope and also in our joy, our love and happiness. He may not look like the portrait that was on the wall in your Sunday school classroom years ago but you are his beloved. He would take seven different bus trips just to be with you.
Jesus Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!
1. Exodus 22:20-23
2. Exodus 22:24
3. Exodus 22:25-26
4. Leviticus 19:15
5. Leviticus 23:22
6. Isaiah 40:1
7. Isaiah 41:13
8. Isaiah 42:7
9. Isaiah 58:7-12
10. Amos 5:24
11. Micah 6:8
12. Boyle, Gregory Tattoos on the Heart p. 26-27
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