“In the breaking of the bread"
Luke 24:36-48

Easter 3A, April 6, 2008

A Sermon by Fr. James Haney V

Luke places our focus on two of Jesus followers, one of whom is named Cleopas. The identity of other disciple is unknown. It could have been a man. Or it might have been Cleopas' wife.

In any event, it must have been a depressing Sunday for them. In ch24, v13, we're told that they're heading home to the village of Emmaus. Jesus was executed on Friday. Saturday was the Sabbath, so they couldn't travel then. Sunday is their first opportunity to go home. So they begin to walk the 7 miles from Jerusalem to Emmaus. 

Remember what it would have been like from their standpoint.   These two had had a rough time. They had experienced all of the ups and downs of Holy Week: excitement at Jesus' triumphal entry to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday; worry when events turned against him, when he was arrested, when he was put on trial; and utter dejection when he was crucified. They had thought he was the one. They had thought that he was the Messiah. But now he was dead. A week earlier they would have been full of hope. But Holy Week ended for them in a dead end of despair. So on Sunday, they leave Jerusalem behind. They leave the pain and anguish of the cross behind, and they head for home.   

And somewhere along the way, v15, Jesus, the risen Jesus, starts walking with them. But as so often happens in these Gospel accounts of the resurrection, the two disciples don't recognize him. v17 Jesus starts walking alongside them, and he asks what they're discussing. 

And when he does that, Luke says, end of v 17, that they "stood still, looking sad." In other words Jesus question stops them dead in their tracks. That tells us that the reports they might have heard about the empty tomb really didn’t mean much to them. They were still sad. They were still paralyzed by their grief.

Then, Cleopas is able to muster a response. But he acts as if Jesus has just fallen off of the turnip truck, or as if he's just stepped out of a flying saucer. He says, v18 "Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?" 'Where have you been? How could you possibly not know what's going on.'

And in v19 they tell Jesus all about Jesus. They tell how Jesus was arrested and put to death. And the clincher is the statement in v21: "We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel." In other words, 'We had hoped he was the Messiah.'  

Remember, they thought that the Messiah was going to be a conqueror, that the Messiah would come as a warrior and king.   The fact that Jesus was executed as a common criminal, the fact that Jesus suffered and died, meant to them that there was no way that he could have been the Messiah.  In their interpretation of the Old Testament, what happened to Jesus meant beyond any shadow of a doubt that he was NOT the one they'd been waiting for. And so, the two disciples are sad as they are making their trip to Emmaus. They believed that their hopes, their dreams, their future lay dead at the foot of the cross.

Now, the irony is absolutely delicious. These disciples think that Jesus is the only one who doesn't know what's going on. But in fact, Jesus is the only one who REALLY knows what's going on.    He's the only one who truly understands what it really meant to be God's chosen, God's Messiah. 

So Jesus, walking along with them says v25, 'No, no, you've got it all wrong.'   "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared!" And then he asks them v26, "Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?"

And then, v27 Luke says that Jesus explains scripture to them. He speaks of all the scriptures concerning himself, beginning with Moses, and moving to all of the prophets. 

We don't know exactly what he said. But from the context, we can make a good guess. Jesus apparently shows them that the OT points in many places to a Messiah that would suffer, to a Messiah who would give his back to be beaten, a Messiah who would be rejected and put to death. Jesus shows them in their scriptures that, contrary to their expectations, the Messiah would come not as a conquering king but as a suffering servant.  

Jesus apparently tells them that the events of Holy Week were not unexpected. Instead they were very much the way things were supposed to be. These things occurred just as they had been intended from the very beginning.

And thus v28, after walking and talking with Jesus, and listening to him, they reach Emmaus as night is falling. Jesus acts like he is going to go along the road. But, v29 they ask him to stop and stay with them. And Luke tells us that Jesus does. v30 While reclining at the table with them Jesus takes bread, he blesses it, he breaks it, and he gives it to them. Does that sound familiar? Take bread; bless; break; give? Sounds just like another Supper a few nights earlier.

v31 It is at that moment, in the breaking of the bread, that they realize who this is that is sitting with them. They realize that it is Jesus himself.   And then Luke tells us he disappears from their sight.   

And then, v32 they start talking about their experience of Jesus that day: "Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?" They're so excited that they can't stay in Emmaus. v33 They are so excited that they head on back to Jerusalem.   And they go and tell the other disciples the good news that Jesus truly is alive. And v35 they tell how they traveled with him through the Scriptures, and how they recognized him in the Breaking of the Bread. 

Now, if you think about it, in a very real way the pattern of Emmaus is the pattern for our Christian lives. It's the pattern of our Christian worship, week after week. We are invited to meet Jesus in Scripture. Then we are invited to meet him in the Breaking of the Bread. 

We gather together to encounter God's word. We hear it read in the lessons. We meditate on it together and grapple with it during the sermon. We're not supposed to come to scripture and try to conform it to our preconceived notions. Instead, we are called to wrestle, to dig, to grapple with scripture in order that it can transform us. 

And afterwards, we break bread and share the cup. We do the same thing Jesus did. We take. We bless. We break. We give. Again, we do this in order to let it change us. We 21st century disciples still gather to meet our Lord in the same way as those first century disciples: in breaking open Scripture, and in the Breaking of the Bread.   

That's good news for us. It means that we can encounter the Risen Christ in 2008. Christianity is not just based on the testimony of the original 500 people who witnessed Jesus' resurrection. Our faith is not a second hand faith. Relying simply upon the faith of those firsthand witnesses who lived 1,979 years ago would hardly be enough to sustain us today. Knowing only that some people met the Risen Christ a long, long time ago would make for a meager faith, a paltry faith, a sad faith indeed.

Instead, we are given the opportunity to meet the Risen Christ firsthand. To hear his word in the reading of Holy Scripture. To meditate on his word, inviting his Spirit to speak to our hearts. To come to his table, to meet him most intimately in the breaking of the bread.

Some Christian groups make a big deal of having an Altar Call, a time to come forward and publicly commit or recommit your life to Christ. You have the opportunity to make an altar call every week. To sit in Jesus' presence as we meditate upon his word. To come to God's table to meet our Risen Lord, present in bread and wine. We leave behind our failings of the past week. We recommit ourselves to follow him as our Lord. And he responds by feeding us with his very own life and presence.

Come meet the Risen Lord present in Word and Sacrament. Come to God's table, and be fed. Let your heart burn within you in the presence of the Living Christ. "Be present, be present, O Jesus, our great High Priest, as you were present with your disciples, and be known to us in the breaking of bread."

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Of all the Resurrection appearances, today's Gospel is my favorite. The Road to Emmaus. Luke ch24 p964. We're not going to hear from Luke again until Christmas time. So let's look carefully at his account of Easter day.