Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here

 

The White Angel, 1235, fresco. Mileseva Monastery, Serbia

 Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome brought spices, that they might come and anoint Him.  Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.  And they said among themselves, "Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?"  But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away -- for it was very large.  And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed.  But he said to them, "Do not be alarmed.  You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.  He is risen!  He is not here.  See the place where they laid Him.  But go, tell His disciples -- and Peter -- that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you."  So they went out quickly and fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were amazed.  And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.  

 

Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons.  She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept.  And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.  After that, He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country.  And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either.   Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.  And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.  He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe:  In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."

 

So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.  And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs.  Amen.  

 

- Mark 16 

 

Yesterday we read that there were also women looking on from afar at the Crucifixion as Christ died, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joses, and Salome, who also followed Him and ministered to Him when He was in Galilee, and many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem.  Now when evening had come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, coming and taking courage, went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.  Pilate marveled that He was already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him if He had been dead for some time.  So when he found out from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph.  Then he bought fine linen, took Him down, and wrapped Him in the linen.  And he laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock, and rolled a stone against the door of the tomb.  And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses observed where He was laid.

 

  Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome brought spices, that they might come and anoint Him.  Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.  And they said among themselves, "Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?"  My study Bible explains that because Christ died so close in time to the Sabbath, the burial customs of the Jews could not be completed.  So these faithful women have gone as early as possible in order to complete the rites of burial.  Regarding Mary the mother of James, some patristic commentary teaches that she was the wife of Alphaeus, the this James was one of the Twelve (Luke 6:15).  But the majority hold that this is the Virgin Mary, who was in fact the stepmother of a different James, "the Lord's brother" (see Matthew 13:55; compare to Mark 15:40, 47).  In certain icons of the Myrrhbearing Women the Virgin Mary appears, and in a hymn by St. John of Damascus, it is sung, "The angel cried to the lady full of grace, 'Rejoice, O pure Virgin:  your Son is risen from His three days in the tomb."  Many teach that Salome was the wife of Zebedee, and the other of James and John.  

 

 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away -- for it was very large.  And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed.  The stone had been rolled away, my study Bible notes, not to accommodate Christ's exist from the tomb, for in His resurrected body, He needs no such accommodation (John 20:19).  Instead, we're to understand that this was to allow the witnesses -- and ourselves -- to look in and see that the tomb was empty.  

 

 But he said to them, "Do not be alarmed.  You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.  He is risen!  He is not here.  See the place where they laid Him.  But go, tell His disciples -- and Peter -- that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you."  So they went out quickly and fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were amazed.  And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.   The messenger (the "young man," an angel) mentions Peter specifically and thus reveals a special care for the one who had denied Christ (see this reading).  My study Bible cites the commentary of Theophylact, who writes that Peter would have said of himself, "I denied the Lord, and therefore am no longer His disciple."  This angel's command is a promise that Peter is forgiven.  That the women said nothing to anyone does not mean that they never said anything -- it means that they kept silent until Jesus appeared to them (see the verses that follow).  

 

 Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons.  She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept.  And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.  After that, He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country.  And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either.   Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. My study Bible first tells us that two early manuscripts do not contain these and the following verses as part of St. Mark's Gospel, while nearly all other manuscripts ever discovered have them.  They are canonized Scripture and are considered by the Church to be inspired, authoritative, and genuine.  The text here tells us that Christ appeared in another form to two of the disciples as they walked and went into the country, and that He later appeared to the eleven (see Luke 24:13-43).  Christ's resurrected body transcends not only physical space and time, but appearance as well, according to my study Bible.  He was sometimes recognizable to His disciples, while at other times He was not. 

 

 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.  He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned."  This is the Great Commission, Christ's final commandment given on earth.  It is to be lived out in the Church until the Lord returns again.  My study Bible comments that to make disciples cannot be done in the strength of human beings, but only in the power of God.  The power of the Resurrection isn't just for Christ Himself, but is given to all believers for Christian life and mission. 

 

"And these signs will follow those who believe:  In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."  To speak with new tongues is the capacity to speak in languages that one has not learned in order to edify others in worship (1 Corinthians 14) and to preach the gospel (Acts 2:1-11).  To take up serpents is a reference primarily to spiritual battle against demons, my study Bible says.  So, therefore, Christ is promising here to deliver believers from the powers of sin.  Moreover, it would include certain physical protection as well.  St. Paul was bitten by a serpent and suffered no harm (Acts 28:3-6), and according to tradition, Barsabas Justus (Acts 1:23) was forced by unbelievers to drink poison and survived.  However, my study Bible adds, while God's grace can protect believers from both physical and spiritual harm, to test god by deliberately committing harmful acts against oneself is a grave sin (Deuteronomy 6:16; Matthew 4:7).

 

 So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.  And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs.  Amen.  This describes what is called the Ascension of Christ, which is celebrated forty days after the Resurrection (Acts 1:3).  My study Bible comments that it fulfills the type given when Elijah ascended in a fiery chariot (2 Kings 2:11), and it marks the completion of Christ's glorification and lordship over all creation.  At the Incarnation, my study Bible explains, Christ brought His divine nature to human nature.  In the mystery of the Ascension, however, He brings human nature to the divine Kingdom.  Christ reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit in His glorified body, revealing His glorified human nature -- indeed, human flesh -- to be worshiped by the whole angelic realm.  At Vespers of Ascension, the Orthodox sing, "The angels were amazed seeing a Man so exalted."  In some icons of the Ascension, Christ's white robes are tinted red to indicate the shedding of His blood for the redemption of the world and the ascent of that life-giving blood into heaven (Isaiah 63:1-3; see also Psalm 24:7-10).  

 

 In today's reading, the risen Christ gives His final commandment on earth:  "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.  He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned."   At this stage in the reading of the Gospel, we know what these disciples have been through, what their supporters (and relatives, often mothers) have been through.  We know the struggle, the teaching, the campaigning (so to speak) in ministry, and all the things Jesus and they have been through, including the testing and of course the final effort to bring down and to kill Jesus, the attempt to rid themselves of Him by the religious leadership.  We know the manipulation, the false witnesses, the attempts to entrap Him, and we know there is more to come for His disciples.  And it follows, of course, that the same is in store for the Church, as it is even today.  But we need to ponder His words.  What does it mean to believe?  What does it mean to be saved?  And what does it mean to be condemned?  As is often pointed out on this blog, the word translated as "believe" has as its root the word meaning trust in the Greek (πιστις/pistis).  Think what it means not simply to believe as a kind of flat statement to the effect that you will agree with a teaching, but to trust in a Person.  It adds an entirely different dimension to Christ's teaching to understand belief in this way.  We put our trust into Christ for all times, for every moment in our lives, in our doubts and fears, even when we're terrified to go forward, think what it means nevertheless to trust.  This is a deep personal relationship, which extends to complete communities and forms and shapes those communities.  We are baptized into His life, even as we symbolically die in the waters of baptism.  That is a depth that we can't comprehend, but nevertheless, we trust and go forward into what that means, and the experience of that faith.  This is what it is to be saved, that ongoing forward motion of what it means to trust, and to grow in trust, to entrust our depths -- even those we don't know -- to Christ and to the work of the Holy Spirit, and the Church not built by hands.  What does it mean to be condemned?  In St. John's Gospel, we read the words of Jesus to Nicodemus, "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God" (John 3:18-21).  We so often forget that we are all offered salvation, but not all of us is prepared to take up this trust, to return to Christ the love that He offers to us in His saving gospel.  He asks for our trust, but not all are willing to give it -- and we must note that trust is related to truth.  What hides from the light?  What do we want to hide from the light?  To be condemned is not to be condemned by Christ but to fail to take up that salvation that He offers, to return His love for us by loving Him.  Just like the first disciples had work to do to be His followers, let us not forget He's asking us to take up our own cross, and to follow Him.  He doesn't promise it will be free and easy, but that the way is narrow.  We are all invited in.  How many of us will take up His offer?  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?

 

 But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.  Now behold, two of them were traveling that say day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem.  And they talked together of all these things which had happened.  

 

So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them.  But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.  And He said to them, "What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?"  Then one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to him, "Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there these days?"  

 

And He said to them, "What things?"  So they said to Him, "The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him.  But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel.  Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened.  Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us.  When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive.  And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see."  

 

Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!  Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?"  And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.  

 

Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther.  But they constrained Him, saying, "Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent."  And He went in to stay with them.   Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.  Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.  And they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?"  So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, "The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!"  And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.  

 

- Luke 24:12–35 

 

Yesterday we read that after the women returned to Christ's tomb and prepared spices and fragrant oils, they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.   Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.  But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.  Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.  Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?  He is not here, but is risen!  Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.' "  And they remembered His words.  Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.  It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles.  And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them. 

 

  But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.  Now behold, two of them were traveling that say day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem.  And they talked together of all these things which had happened.  The two of them are Cleopas and, according to tradition, St. Luke himself.  My study Bible notes that it was a common literary device for a writer not to give his own name (see Mark 14:51; John 21:24).  

 

 So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them.  But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.  And He said to them, "What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?"  Then one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to him, "Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there these days?"  My study Bible explains that the nature of the resurrected body is so different from its previous state that it is not immediately recognizable (John 20:14; 21:4, 12; see 1 Corinthians 15:35-44).  It's also able to take different forms -- which is what occurs here (see Mark 16:12).  My study Bible notes also that the Lord's resurrected body transcends not only physical space and time, but also appearance.  Sometimes He is recognized by His disciples, and other times He is not.   Also, here the text tells us that their eyes were restrained.  My study Bible comments that Christ intentionally prevents them from recognizing Him in order to expose their doubting thoughts and then cure them by means of the Old Testament Scriptures, as we read a little further along in today's reading.

 

 And He said to them, "What things?"  So they said to Him, "The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him.  But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened.  Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us.  When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive.  And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see."  My study Bible comments that the disciples' hope for redemption was still imbedded in a foolish misunderstanding of the Messiah as a political savior or deliverer.  With Christ's death, this earthly hope had been dashed. 

 

 Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!  Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?"  And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.  My study Bible says here that it is partial faith to believe either in a messiah who only suffered or one that would only reign in His glory.  Complete faith, it notes, sees the Messiah as encompassing both, for all of this was foretold in the Law and the Prophets.  

 

 Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther.  But they constrained Him, saying, "Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent."  And He went in to stay with them.   Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.  Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.  And they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?"  So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, "The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!"  And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.  Christ breaks bread in the same manner as at the Last Supper, my study Bible notes (see Luke 22:19), and so images the Eucharist of the New Testament Church.  All who commune with the Lord in His risen Body in faith have their eyes opened to know Him, for the Lord is known most perfectly in the breaking of bread.   They say to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us . . .?"  My study Bible calls this the inescapable effect of hearing the Holy Scriptures taught correctly and with faith (see 2 Timothy 2:15).  This burning, it says, is the conviction that the words and promises are true. 

 

 As we see from the text, the risen Christ is capable of seemingly anything.  Where and when He appears to His disciples doesn't have to be "logical" to us.  It doesn't have to make material sense, or even sense in terms of what we think of as normal limitations of time and space.  Even Christ's risen Body seems possibly to take on different forms.  At least we know, as well, that whether or not people discern who He is may be limited by Christ Himself.  Certainly we can look around ourselves and know that there are those who discern the "things of God" and those who do not, who simply can't perceive what others perceive in faith.  There are modern stories of conversion in the Orthodox Church in which people walk into a church filled with icons and other aspects of religious worship and are immediately struck by the presence of heaven there.  For others, there may be no response whatsoever.  However perception happens to us, however it is that faith grows in us, my study Bible says the description by the two disciples of their response to Jesus' word is telling and universal.  They say, upon reflection, "Did not our hearts burn within us . . . ?"  So how does Christ reveal Himself to you?  That is, the unlimited, risen Christ who has no barriers of time or space, and can apparently appear in any form? In the Orthodox Church, we encounter Christ through worship, through icons, through prayer, through His saints, through His angels, and in any number of ways that are uncountable.  In Romans 1, St. Paul speaks of the glory and truth of Christ showing through all of creation:  "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead . . ." (see Romans 1:18-23).  For this author, the sudden insights or revelations that come through faith and worship in the Church have come gradually and over time, but it is clearly a spiritual process, evolving from Baptism to the present day, and always grace that is at work.  "Did not our hearts burn within us . . .?" describes a feeling of recognition, a stirring of the depths of what is inside us, an identity deeper than we know, in a place where Christ knows us and we will eventually come to know ourselves as well.  The apostles are those who have come first in this New Testament story, who have experienced and known the risen Christ, to whom He appears and makes Himself known.  For they are the first, whom we follow, even as they followed the prophets and other Old Testament Scripture as a guide to the Christ, the Messiah.  Although Christ is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, we observe that the manifestation of the fullness of God's truth is nonetheless something that may be missed unless we have the eyes to see and ears to hear.  Let us honor the mysterious working of grace in all the unexpected ways we've been given for God's power to manifest, most especially on this walking trip to Emmaus for two of the disciples.  Let us recognize the burning in our own hearts that kindles itself when God is present to us one way or another.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?

 

 But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened. 

Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem.  And they talked together of all these things which had happened.  

 

So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them.  But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.  And He said to them, "What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?"  Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, "Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?"  And He said to them, "What things?"  So they said to Him, "The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him.  But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel.  Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened.  Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early astonished us.  When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive.  And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see."  

 

Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!  Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?"  And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.  Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther.  But they constrained Him, saying, "Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent."  And He went in to stay with them.  

Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.  Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.  And they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?"  So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, "The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!"  And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.

 

- Luke 24:12–35 

 

Yesterday we read that the women who had followed Jesus from Galilee rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.  Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.  But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.  Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.  Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?  He is not here, but is risen!  Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.'"  And they remembered His words.  Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.  It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles.  And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them.  

 

  But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.   We recall that Peter acts even as the other apostles disbelieve the women who had conveyed the message of the angel at the tomb.   See yesterday's reading, above, in which "their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them."  Seeing the linen gravelothes lying by themselves, Peter marvels to himself at what had happened.  

Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem.  And they talked together of all these things which had happened.   The two of them are Cleopas and, in accordance with tradition, Luke the author of our Gospel.  It was a common literary device for a writer, my study Bible explains, not to give one's own name (see Mark 14:51; John 21:24).

So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them.  But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.  And He said to them, "What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?"  My study Bible comments that the nature of the resurrected body is so different from its previous state that it is not immediately recognizable (John 20:14, 21:4, 12; see 1 Corinthians 15:35-44).   The body is also able to take different forms, which is what occurs here (see Mark 16:12).  That their eyes were restrained tells us that Christ intentionally prevents them from recognizing Him.  My study Bible explains that this is in order to expose their doubting thoughts and then cure them by means of the Old Testament Scriptures (see the verses that follow in today's reading).  

Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, "Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?"  And He said to them, "What things?"  So they said to Him, "The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him.  But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel.  Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened.  Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early astonished us.  When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive.  And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see."   My study Bible explains here that the disciples' hope for redemption was still imbedded in a foolish misunderstanding of the Messiah as a political savior or deliverer.  With Christ's death, this earthly hope had been dashed. 

Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!  Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?"  And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.  Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther.  But they constrained Him, saying, "Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent."  And He went in to stay with them.   My study Bible says that it is partial faith to believe in a Messiah who only suffered or one that would only reign in His glory.  Complete faith sees the Messiah encompassing both, as all of this was foretold in the Law and the Prophets -- as Jesus reveals to them by expounding to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.

 

 Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.  Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.  My study Bible points out that the Lord breaks bread in the same manner as at the Last Supper (Luke 22:19).  In so doing, He images the Eucharist of the New Testament Church.  It notes that all who commune with the Lord in His risen Body in faith have their eyes opened to know Him.

 

And they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?"  So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, "The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!"  And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.   The disciples ask, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?"  This, my study Bible says, is the inescapable effect of hearing the Holy Scriptures taught correctly and with faith (see 2 Timothy 2:15).  This burning is the conviction that the words and promises are true.  We note once more that Christ is known most perfectly in the breaking of bread.

I love that the disciples speak of the effect of recognition as they experience it:  "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?"  It is an intriguing way to phrase what it feels like when something strikes us as very true -- and very commonly it happens that this recognition comes when reading Scripture.  But that burning in the heart is a response that comes not from simply hearing, but from hearing kindled with faith, and signifying recognition of a truth that hits us in the heart.  That is, in the deep place where we truly live, where our soul resides.  In this way, the Gospels have recorded for us just what this feels like, and we who have had similar experiences can affirm what we share with the disciples.  While there are many reports of people seeing a vision of Jesus, here the forms that Christ takes make it clear that we might not recognize it when He is close to us, or when we are in a place in which we can draw upon the truth of Christ's message for us with sudden recognition.  One might be sitting in class, in a cafe, in an airport, on a bus, or driving to work.  As we read from this appearance, there really is no limit to the places where we might experience Christ in some way or another.  And this should be comforting to us, because it means that there is no circumscribed limitation on how, where, why, what, and when Christ comes to us -- or when knowledge of His truth might somehow be revealed so that our hearts also "burn" within us.  This is the first noticeable effect of Resurrection, that now there are no limits on Christ.  He has conquered the limitations of the world, and opened up the ways in which we might come to truth, to know God -- and more importantly, to participate in the grace of God.  In John 16:33, Jesus declares, "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."  This is one aspect of overcoming the world, that with Christ's Resurrection, there is no restriction on how God can come to us, on where God's energies can find us, on that journey toward the fuller knowledge of Him that this promises.  Here is the first effect of Resurrection, the flowering of the events of Christ's Passion, and of His ministry and mission into our world to experience life as we do.  In fact, for many people perhaps, the reports of such experience are so commonly known as to simply be dismissed and ignored, perhaps as "idle tales" produced by certain types of people.  But such dismissal isn't possible after an experience of the same.  In fact, if we look around, we just might find that Christ comes to people in many ways, including those they might not recognize.  Let us be grateful for this opening up, as seen by many in the tearing of the veil in the temple.  We might read it at once as a response of shock at the death of Christ the Son; but just as with the Passion itself, we need faith to see also that it is the universal opening of grace for all.

And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread

 

 But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.  Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem.  And they talked together of all these things which had happened.  So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them.  But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.  And He said to them, "What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?"  Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, "Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?"  And He said to them, "What things?"  So they said to Him, "The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him.  But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel.  Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened.  Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us.  When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive.  And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see."  Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!  Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?"  And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.  

Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther.  But they constrained Him, saying, "Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent."  And He went in to stay with them.  Now it came to pass, as he sat at the table with the, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.  Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.  And they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?"  So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, "The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!"  And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.

 

- Luke 24:12–35 

 

Yesterday we read that the women returned from observing Christ's tomb, and prepared spices and fragrant oils.  And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.  Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.  But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.  Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.  Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?  He is not here, but is risen!  Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.'"  And they remembered His words.  Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.  It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles.  And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them.  

 

But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.  Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem.  And they talked together of all these things which had happened.  My study Bible notes that the two of them are Cleopas (identified in verse 18), and according to tradition, Luke himself.  It was a common literary device for a writer not to give his own name (see Mark 14:51, John 21:24).  

 

So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them.  But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.   My study Bible comments that the nature of the resurrected body is so different from its previous state that it is not immediately recognizable (John 20:14; 21:4, 12; see 1 Corinthians 15:35-44).   In addition, the resurrected body is also able to take different forms, which is what occurs here (see Mark 16:12).  That their eyes were restrained suggests that Christ intentionally prevents them from recognizing Him in order to expose their doubting thoughts, and then cure them by means of the Old Testament Scriptures (see verse 27).  

And He said to them, "What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?"  Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, "Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?"  And He said to them, "What things?"  So they said to Him, "The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him.  But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel.  Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened.  Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us.  When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive.  And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see."   My study Bible tells us that the disciples' hope for redemption was still based in a foolish (verse 25) misunderstanding of the Messiah as a political savior or deliverer.  With Christ's death, this earthly hope had been completely dashed.  

 

 Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!  Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?"  And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.  My study Bible comments that it is partial faith to believe either in a Messiah who only suffered, or one that would only reign in His glory.  Complete faith sees the Messiah encompassing both, for all of this was foretold in the Law and the Prophets.  

Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther.  But they constrained Him, saying, "Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent."  And He went in to stay with them.  Now it came to pass, as he sat at the table with the, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.  Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.  And they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?"  So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, "The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!"  And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.  My study Bible points out that Christ breaks bread in the same way He did at the Last Supper (Luke 22:19), imaging the Eucharist of the New Testament Church.  It says that all who commune with the Lord in His rise Body in faith have their eyes opened to know Him, for the Lord is known most perfectly in the breaking of bread.  The disciples ask one another, "Did not our heart burn within us . . .?"  My study Bible comments that this is the inescapable effect of hearing the Holy Scriptures taught correctly and with faith (see 2 Timothy 2:15).  This burning is the conviction that the words and promises are true.

This recognition of Christ in the breaking of the bread is something strong and powerful, and also recognizable.  It also teaches us something important about memory in the Christian religious sense.  In our celebrations and feasts and commemorations we do just that -- we remember, we commemorate.  But memory in this special religious sense is not just a mere observation of something that happened in history.  To remember or to recall, as do the disciples here, is to recover the meaning of this event for ourselves yet again.  Moreover, it is to participate in, to have an experience of that original event.  This is an important religious (or spiritual) understanding.  All of the historical practices of the Church, especially those found in particular symbols, or even priestly gestures which serve as symbols, are meant to evoke something.  They are not empty symbols, but are done with faith and in a certain manner in order to recreate meaning and experience, inviting us into the realities of the mysteries of God and the events of the ministry of Jesus Christ, and the subsequent apostles and saints who have lived this holy life.  In our faith, we don't look at historical events of the past as mere textbook examples of something that happened once upon a time.  We are meant to relive and recover those realities -- we enter into a communion and participate in something living and real and present today.  In Christ, and in this kingdom of God brought near to us (Luke 10:9, 11), there is no such thing as time.  That is, everything is sustained in the presence of God, in this place of spiritual meanings that don't pass away with the ticking of the clock or the time of the original events themselves.  This is what it is to be imbued with spiritual reality and presence.  In the holiness of various types of relics, even in the presence of a saint or Christ Himself evoked through prayer with an icon, in our worship services, we enter into the presence of communion.  We worship with uncountable angels at the altar; we are, together with Isaiah and the Evangelist of the Revelation, in the presence of the angels who worship in heaven (Isaiah 6:1-3, Revelation 4:8), even with us as we worship on earth.  We enter into a glorious communion with the great cloud of witnesses spoken of by Paul (Hebrews 12:1), and all of these things give meaning and substance, and spiritual weight, to our present circumstances.  And this is the way that we encounter our Lord.  Just as He taught the disciples on the road to Emmaus, He lives in the Scriptures, in the Law and the Prophets, and in the New Testament as well.  He lives with us in our services, in our prayers, even where two or three are gathered together in His name (Matthew 18:20), and in the breaking of our "daily bread" which is the bread of the eternal day of the Kingdom.  The gesture of Christ in the breaking of bread is an evocation of the Eucharist, and it ever remains so.

 

Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther. But they constrained Him, saying, "Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent"

 But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself what had happened.

Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem.  And they talked together of all these things which had happened.  So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them.  But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.  And He said to them, "What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?"  Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, "Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?"  And He said to them, "What things?"  So they said to Him, "The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him.  But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel.  Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened.  Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us.  When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive.  And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see."  Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!  Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?"  And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.

Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther.  But they constrained Him, saying, "Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent."  And He went in to stay with them.  Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.  Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.  And they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?"  So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, "The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!"  And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.

- Luke 24:12-35

Yesterday we read that the women who had prepared spices and fragrant oils to anoint Christ's body rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.  Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing spices which they had prepared.  But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.  Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.  Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?  He is not here, but is risen!  Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.' "  And they remembered His words.  Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to the rest.  It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles.  And their words seemed like idle tales, and they did not believe them.

  But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself what had happened.  The apostles don't believe what the women tell them happened at the empty tomb (see yesterday's reading, above), but St. Peter ran to the tomb, and  saw the linen cloths by themselves.  He alone marvels to himself what had happened.  After his experiences of denial (see this reading), we can simply imagine the tumult of his feelings.

Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem.  And they talked together of all these things which had happened.  The two of them are considered by tradition to be Cleopas (named in the text further on) and St. Luke himself.  Like the unnamed "beloved disciple" in John 13:23, who is considered to be St. John himself, so here it is assumed is the common literary practice of a writer not giving his own name.

So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them.  But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.  My study bible comments that the nature of the resurrected body is so different from its previous state that it isn't immediately recognizable (John 20:14; 21:4, 12; see 1 Corinthians 15:35-44).   My study bible notes that this resurrected body can also take on different forms, which is what occurs here (noted as well in Mark 16:12).  The nature of the resurrection transcends not only physical space and time, but also appearance.  Sometimes Jesus is recognized and other times not.  On the text's telling us that their eyes were restrained, my study bible comments that Christ intentionally prevents them from recognizing Him in order to expose their doubting thoughts, and then illuminate and heal them through the means of the Old Testament Scriptures in His reply to their subsequent discussion.

And He said to them, "What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?"  Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, "Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?"  And He said to them, "What things?"  So they said to Him, "The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him.  But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel."  My study bible comments that the disciples' hope for redemption was as yet embedded in a foolish misunderstanding of the Messiah as a political savior or national deliverer, such as an earthly king in the image of David.  But with Christ's death, this worldly political hope is gone.

"Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened.  Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us.  When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive.  And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see."  Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!  Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?"  And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.   We observe also that these disciples are stupefied as to the subsequent events that have taken place since Christ's crucifixion; they simply do not know what to make of them.  My study bible says here that it is partial faith to believe either in a Messiah who only suffered, or conversely, one who would only reign in His glory.  A complete faith is one that sees the Messiah as embodying and encompassing both -- as all of this has been foretold in the Law and the Prophets. 

Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther.  But they constrained Him, saying, "Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent."  And He went in to stay with them.  Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.  Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.  And they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?"  So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, "The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!"  And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.  My study bible comments that the Lord breads bread in the same manner as He did at the Last Supper (22:19), giving an image of the Eucharist of the New Testament Church.  It notes that all those who commune with Christ in His risen Body in faith have their eyes opened to know Him, as He is known most perfectly in the breaking of bread (as expressed in the final verse of today's reading).  The disciples remark to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us":  My study bible calls this the inescapable effect of hearing the Holy Scriptures taught correctly and with faith (see 2 Timothy 2:15).  It says that this burning is the conviction that the words and promises are true. 

How does Christ appear to us?  Modern times are not such as those right after the Resurrection, and before Christ's Ascension.  But to us faithful who live now Christ "appears" in various ways.  As my study bible says, He is in the Eucharist for the faithful.  In the privacy of our prayer, our Lord's presence may be felt as response, especially, as with the apostles who feel a burning in their heart, in a kind of inner communion in the depth of the heart, the place of the soul.  Sometimes this is felt as a deep and full silence, especially in the words of the Christian mystics and desert hesychasts in the long tradition of the Church.  But, like the apostles who journey toward Emmaus, Christ's presence can come to us any time, when we least expect it, especially in an answer to a prayer, a deep wish for communion, a true longing of our faith.  This is not a spectacular occurrence, something we necessarily need to share with the world (but perhaps with someone close to us spiritually, or a pastor who shepherds us in the faith).  Our lives are meant for this communion.  This is what our faith is, indeed, all about.  Christ is not a deliverer in the material sense, although we may be surprised what results in life from our faith, especially when we seek that communion and guidance through all circumstances.  But let us note once again the "quietness" of this encounter.  They, the two disciples, do not even recognize their risen Lord.  They speak and empty their hearts in a long discussion about what has happened to their Master, what they expected, what they have subsequently heard after His death, all the things that perplex them, trouble them, consume them in their lives which have been so turned upside down through events they can't understand.  In the privacy of their walk along the road to Emmaus, in the quarters they will share with this stranger, they confess.  That is, they empty out their hearts of all the things that are troublesome and worrying and perplexing and confusing.  They can't make head or tail now of their faith and even their Lord.  But He is there in the midst of them, and responds to what is, in fact, to my way of thinking, a model of confession, which can be made to a spiritual elder, a pastor, any true friend in the faith.  And then they are given the word that they need in response.  This "Stranger" at first chastises and corrects them, saying, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!  Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?"  Then He educates and explains, opening up their eyes to what they already know of the Scriptures:  And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.    Finally, they persuade Him:  "Abide with us."  And this is the place of the Lord that we know, the One who tells us, "Abide in Me" (John 15:5-6).  This is the place where we find Him in our midst, in the Church, and especially in the sacrament of the Eucharist, our communion in Him and with Him.  These are realities that live to us, but only through faith, and we must find them in seeking them (11:9-10).  The disciples who have no idea what has really happened to their Lord, and what will transpire to them, simply are images of our own place in our faith.  We need the Lord's presence to illumine us, and to keep walking that road with Him, for He is present to us, but we need to ask and seek and knock.  He asks us to abide in Him, and also to let Him in to abide with us.

As He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight

 But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.

Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem.  And they talked together of all these things which had happened.  So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them.  But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.  And He said to them, "What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?"  Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, "Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in those days?"  And He said to them, "What things?"  So they said to Him, "The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him.  But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel.  Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened.  Yes, and certain women of our company who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us.  When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive.  And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women has said; but Him they did not see."  Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!  Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?"  And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. 

Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther.  But they constrained Him, saying, "Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent."  And He went in to stay with them.  Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.  Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.  And they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?"  So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, "The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!"  And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.

- Luke 24:12-35

Yesterday we read that on the day of Preparation, after Jesus was laid in the new tomb, the women returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils.  And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.  Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.  But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.  Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.  Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?  He is not here, but is risen!  Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.'"  And they remembered His words.  Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.  It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles.  And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them. 

  But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.  In yesterday's reading, we're told that the women's story of what happened at the tomb was greeted by the apostles as if they were simply idle tales, and they did not believe them.  But we see this immediate response by Peter, who is spurred to run to the tomb.  The reading seems to indicate that he does believe the women, as he is marveling to himself at what had happened.  Peter has his own reasons for wanted to see for himself, after his repentance for denying Christ as Jesus foretold he would.   See this reading, and story of Jesus' last personal glimpse at Peter.  Further down in today's reading (verse 34), the disciples declare that Christ has appeared to Simon [Peter], but we don't know exactly when or where this even occurred as it is not recorded in Scripture; perhaps it happened at the tomb.  St. Paul refers to it in 1 Corinthians 15:5.

Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem.  And they talked together of all these things which had happened. These two are Cleopas (mentioned in verse 18), and by tradition, Luke the Evangelist himself.  It was a common literary device for a writer not to give his own name, and one which other Evangelists follow also (see Mark 14:51; John 21:24).

So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them.  But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.  My study bible tells us that the nature of the resurrected body is so different from its previous state that it is not immediately recognizable (John 20:14; 21:4, 12; see 1 Corinthians 15:35-44).   The resurrected body is also able to take different forms, which is what occurs here (see Mark 16:12).  To say that their eyes were restrained means that Christ intentionally prevents them from recognizing Him.  This is in order to expose their doubting thoughts and then cure them by means of the Old Testament Scriptures (verse 27).

And He said to them, "What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?"  Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, "Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in those days?"  And He said to them, "What things?"  So they said to Him, "The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him.  But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel."  We see the focus of the disciples; it is still on the hope of the Messiah as a political redeemer or deliverer of Israel.  With His death, this earthly hope is finished. 

"Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened.  Yes, and certain women of our company who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us.  When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive.  And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women has said; but Him they did not see."  Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!  Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?"  And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.   My study bible here indicates that it is partial faith to believe either in a Messiah who only suffered or one that would only reign in His glory.  Complete faith sees the Messiah encompassing both.  As Jesus indicates here, all of this was foretold in the law and the Prophets. 

Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther.  But they constrained Him, saying, "Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent."  And He went in to stay with them.  Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.  Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.  And they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?"  So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, "The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!"  And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.    Here Christ breaks bread in the same manner as He did at the Last Supper (22:19).  It gives us (and the disciples) an image of the Eucharist of the New Testament Church, my study bible notes.   It tells us that all who commune with the Lord in His risen Body in faith have their eyes opened (verse 31) to know Him.   Christ the Lord is known most perfectly in the breaking of bread (verse 35).  The disciples say to one another,  "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?"   My study bible calls this the inescapable effect of hearing the Holy Scriptures taught correctly and with faith (see 2 Timothy 2:15).  It is the conviction that the words and promises are true.

It's very intriguing that the Scriptures give us this taste of the resurrected life in the image of Christ's body and appearance.  It tells us that the very nature of the resurrected body is so different from the earthly that here and in other encounters with those who were close to Him, Christ was not recognized by His own followers.  Moreover, as my study bible points out, the resurrected body is able to take different forms.  A further intriguing fact is the idea that the eyes of these disciples were restrained; that is, they were prohibited from recognizing Him.  All of this adds to the sense that the things of the resurrection may be here among us, and even interacting with us, and yet their very nature is quite "other" than the earthly.  That is, the things of God don't necessarily correspond to the same "rules" as our daily earthly life would have us believe are absolute.  Faith itself works like this; it's not defined by "earthly" rules.  It does things that are not predictable based on previous experience.  It gives us things that by "logic" we shouldn't have -- like, for instance, an experience of tremendous love that doesn't belong in our previously known vocabulary of personal experience.  Faith can help us with sudden insights we didn't think ourselves capable of -- or wisdom we didn't learn from a book.  The experience of the holy does not comply with the limitations we normally assign to our lives or to the worldly rules we think everything must obey.  And so it is in these encounters with Christ.  Furthermore, that they know Christ in the breaking of the bread teaches us truly about communion -- not only the Communion of the Eucharist, but the communion of the holy with all things.  In the Book of Acts, St. Paul addresses the Athenians at the Areopagus, at the shrine to the unknown God, teaching them something akin to what we learn in today's passage.  He says that God has made all people in such a way "that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring'" (Acts 17:27-28).  This divine nature, in which all is encompassed and held, permeates all things.  As St. Paul says, and as today's encounter teaches us, He is not far from each one of us.  In the breaking of the bread, however, we are told an even deeper story:  that in the Eucharist He makes Himself present, that as we do this "work" of the liturgy, we are to understand His presence even in the elements of the world, and with us, and within us, and among us.  For this is the reality of the divine nature, which, in St. Paul's words, is "not like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising" (Acts 17:29).  This presence connects to us through faith, and may be made present to us in any form and even through the elements of life in our world.  In short, there really are no limitations to what the holy can do or be, for, as Luke reminds us, "with God nothing will be impossible" and "the things which are impossible with man are possible with God"  (1:37, 18:37).   Jesus' appearance to the apostles reminds us that we can take nothing for granted where faith is concerned, and put no limit on existence itself.  Furthermore, God's presence is possible anywhere, in any form.  But, as with His ministry, the connection we make with the holy is through faith. 

Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed it and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight

 But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.

Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem.  And they talked together of all these things which had happened.  So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them.  But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.  And He said to them, "What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?"  Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, "Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?"  And He said to them, "What things?"  So they said to Him, "The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him.  But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel.  Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened.  Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us.  When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive.  And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see."  Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!  Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?"  And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.  Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther.  But they constrained Him, saying, "Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent."  And He went into to stay with them.  Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed it and broke it, and gave it to them.  Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.  And they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?"  So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, "The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!"  And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.

- Luke 24:12-35

Yesterday, we read that after the women had gone to see had gone to see Christ's tomb, and to prepare spices and fragrant oils, they rested on the next day because it was the Sabbath, according to the commandment..  The next day, which was the first day of the week (Sunday), very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.  But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.  Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.  Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?  He is not here, but is risen!  Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.'"  And they remembered His words.  Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.  It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles.  And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them.

 But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.  Of the apostles who scorned the women's story of the news of the Resurrection, it seems to be only Peter who has run to the tomb to see for himself the evidence of their story.  Peter, as always, is one in the Gospels whose emotions are always evident and exuberant.  Everything he feels, he lives.  It seems to be a connection with his capacity for deep faith, his depth of sincerity, and he is the first one to be at the tomb and to marvel.  Let us remember also that he has a very personal failure and encounter with Christ to heal from.

Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem.   These two are Cleopas and, according to tradition, the Evangelist Luke himself.  My study bible reminds us that it was a common literary device for a writer not to give his own name (see Mark 14:51 and John 21:24).

And they talked together of all these things which had happened.  So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them.  But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.  A note here tells us that the nature of the resurrected body is so different from its previous state that it is not immediately recognizable (John 20:14, 21:4, 12; see 1 Corinthians 15:35-44).  It's also able to take different forms, which is what occurs here (see Mark 16:12).   My study bible also reports that Christ intentionally prevents them from recognizing Him in order to expose their doubting thoughts and then cure them by means of the Old Testament Scriptures (see later verses in today's reading).

And He said to them, "What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?"  Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, "Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?"  And He said to them, "What things?"  So they said to Him, "The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him.  But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel.  Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened.  Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us.  When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive.  And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see."  We see the expectations of these disciples, couched in contemporary expectations of Messiah.  My study bible says their hopes for redemption was still embedded in a foolish misunderstanding of the Messiah as political savior or deliverer.  With His death, this hope is finished.

Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!  Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?"  And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.  My study bible says that it's partial faith to believe either in a Messiah who only suffered or one that would only reign in His glory.  Complete faith means an understanding that the Messiah encompasses both -- all of this was foretold in the Law and the Prophets, as Christ points out to these disciples although they don't know who He is.  Our faith is so much more than one separate from the other; it is both, for without both the true saving mission of Christ cannot be complete.

Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther.  But they constrained Him, saying, "Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent."  And He went into to stay with them.  Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed it and broke it, and gave it to them.  Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.  And they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?"  So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, "The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!"  And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.  My study bible says here that the Lord breaks bread in the same manner as in the Last Supper (22:19), which is an image of the Eucharist in the New Testament Church.  All those who commune with the Lord in His risen Body in faith, my study bible tells us, have their eyes opened to know Him, "for the Lord is known most perfectly in the breaking of bread."  The effect of hearing the Scriptures taught correctly and with faith is their "heart burning within" them.  (See also 2 Timothy 2:15.)  My study bible says, "This burning is the conviction that the words and promises are true."

The breaking of the bread becomes an image multiplied in our minds for its impact here. St. Augustine teaches about the essential nature of this part of the story:  the disciples have no idea who they are talking to until this moment.   He says, "The Lord’s absence is not an absence. Have faith, and the one you cannot see is with you" . . . "They know Christ in the breaking of bread. It isn’t every loaf of bread, you see, but the one that receives Christ’s blessing and becomes the body of Christ. That’s where they recognized him. They were overjoyed and went straight to the others. They found whom they already knew. By telling what they had seen, they added to the gospel. It was all said, all done, all written down. And it has reached us"  (Sermon 234.2).  Many ancient commentators write of the "darkness" that pervades the story of the crucifixion, up until this moment of enlightenment, revelation.  Although the disciples have all been warned repeatedly by Jesus about His death, they were unprepared in their minds for the truth of the Resurrection.  It seems that it is just the women who can accept the word of the angel, who reminded them of the prophetic words of Christ Himself  (see yesterday's reading).   But for these disciples, and hence for all the rest of us, it is in the breaking of the blessed bread.  St. Ephrem the Syrian has written of this moment in one of his hymns --  "Even when the army surrounded Elisha, a voice proved the key to the eyes of the shepherd.  When the disciples’ eyes were held closed, bread too was the key whereby their eyes were opened to recognize the omniscient:  saddened eyes beheld a vision of joy and were instantly filled with happiness" (Hymns on Paradise 15.4).   The breaking of the bread isn't something that comes about by accident, and it's not just a "good idea" for a kind of symbolism.  It's a deliberate revelation; it's a revelation at the Last Supper in which Christ solemnly teaches to "do this in remembrance of Me," and it's a deliberate moment of revelation here in today's reading.  When we start to understand something that has been deliberately revealed, we're not just talking on the usual "human" terms of understanding of life events, but rather a deliberate kind of scene that is given us for the purposes of continual revelation of things beyond our present understanding, meanings that keep intervening and revealing new insights for our own lives and the manifestation of our faith.  This is what the Eucharist is, a gift, a revelation that keeps on giving in more dimensions than we can acknowledge or know, and on into the future.  This is Mystery, and it is the reality of God present in our midst, even at our table.