By: Erin M Diericx 

A sermon given on Luke 24:13-35.

The road to Emmaus is a similar story to us. Two of Jesus’s disciples are on their way to Emmaus, where they lived perhaps, when a man starts walking with them and asking what they are discussing. You can almost imagine the shock of the two disciples. How could the man not know what conspired and happened in the last few weeks? How could he not know about Jesus, the great prophet? How could he have missed all of the commotion?

We have all been taken back when someone has approached us and asked what was all of the commotion about. We no doubtably vocalized, “Have you been living under a rock? How do you now know?” It would be like someone who did not know about the pandemic or like someone who you saw everyday but did not know you were eight months pregnant. There is some kind of shock that someone could miss all of the commotion.

We have also been last to know something. Maybe you would absorbed in your own work that you have not had time to watch the news. Or maybe you are wilderness guide and had just come back from being in the woods for three months without any contact from the news media. Or maybe you were sick and were put in a comma for three months. There are a number of reasons why we have been left out of the loop.

So similar to what we would do, the two disciples describe at length about what has conspired in the last three years. The disciples tell the man about the man named Jesus from Nazareth who was thought to be a prophet, because he healed the wounded, comforted the sick, drove out demons, rebuked satan, and on and on until they came to the part where the Jewish authorities had him put on trial, tortured, and crucified and ultimately killed. It was three days since Jesus died, and the women who had gone to his tomb to mourn reported that his body was missing from the tomb and they saw angels who said, Jesus was alive, risen from the dead. And other disciples raced to the tomb to see it was as the women had reported.

You can almost see the baffled looks on the disciple’s faces. They do not get it. And you can also see the man who (spoiler alert) is actually Jesus himself is disconcertment that the disciples missed the whole reason why he was crucified and died and why the women found the tomb empty and were told he was alive. The disciples know so much, and yet they cannot get past the empty tomb; the body is missing. So the man gives the disciples a quick Jewish history lesson; starting with Moses, King David, and the other prophets who had prophesied about the Messiah. And the disciples still did not get the nudge.

Since it was getting dark, the two disciples invite the man to stay with them. Even in their bafflement of the tomb being empty, the disciples help the stranger. This must have warmed Jesus’s hearts; his disciples may not understand the ending, but they did grasp the greatest commandment of loving their neighbor as themselves; all was not lost. So the man agrees to stay with the disciples, and at dinner, he takes bread and blesses it … and … and … and the two disciples finally realize the man is Jesus Christ himself, not a stranger, but the man who they have followed for three years and had watched be tortured, crucified, and die. The two disciples understand now why the tomb is empty, because … because … because he has risen, he has conquered the grave, death no longer has claim on their lives. The story does not end with Jesus from Nazareth dying on the the cross, but it continues with Jesus conquering the grave and ascending to heaven, the Kingdom of God, so we can have eternal life.

Once the shock subsides, once they fully comprehend what has just happened, the two disciples realize Jesus has vanished, gone, and they get up from the table and rushed back to Jerusalem to tell the other disciples what had happened. In recognizing the stranger as Jesus Christ himself, the disciple’s eyes are opened and come to realize the significance of the cross; death is no more, the promise of eternal life is real and tangible thing.

So where are we in the story? How can we relate to the two disciples on their way to Emmaus? There are times when we just feel far  away from God, Jesus Christ, and like the disciples, we just don’t get where Jesus is or what he is up to. We get lost in the tangible things; the things that we can reach, touch, grasp, dissect or experience, and explain. Sometimes, like the disciples, we miss the point. We miss what Jesus is doing in our lives and in the world. And, like the disciples, all we have to do is reach out and take his hand; to climb onto his lap and be in his presence; to share a meal with him and listen and be presence. Jesus Christ, our Savior, through God the Father and the Holy Spirit is always, always with us. All you have to do is reach for his hand and be in his presence.

Let us pray…

O Lord, Thank you for overcoming the grave, death itself, and being always presence. Help us to reach out and take your hand; to be in your very holy presence. Grant us the wisdom to see what you are doing in our lives and in the world through the Father and the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen!