To Jerusalem!

Today’s gospel reading, Luke 24:13-35 is a beautiful and hopeful one. In the story, two disciples of Jesus are traveling away from Jerusalem to a village called Emmaus. While they are traveling, they are discussing and recounting the story of Christ’s Death and Resurrection. Along the way, Jesus joins them, but the two disciples do not recognize him as the Christ. It is only after Jesus explains the meaning of the old testament and breaks bread with them that they come to know and recognize Jesus.

Why is this story so beautiful and hopeful? What is the meaning? In order to understand, I not only placed myself as one of the disciples walking away from Jerusalem, I also meditated on the significance and importance of the disciples walking away from Jerusalem.

I believe that in this Gospel, Jerusalem represents a place of grace. I believe this because Jerusalem is the place where Jesus’ most significant actions happened. Jerusalem is where the last supper was held. Jerusalem is where Jesus died on the cross. Jerusalem is where Jesus rose from the dead. It is where the Holy Spirit comes down upon us, etc. Because Jerusalem is the center of Jesus’ activity, it must be significant that these two disciples of Jesus are walking away from Jerusalem, the place of Jesus’ most important acts of grace.

What’s so beautiful about this? It’s beautiful because even though these disciples are walking away from grace, from Christ as the center of their lives, Jesus comes to them and walks along with them anyway. He seeks them out. When the disciples don’t recognize him, Jesus doesn’t give up on them. He continues walking along with them, and after listening to them tell the story of his own Death and Resurrection (a story they don’t understand) he explains the story-- the whole story! Jesus takes his time in clarifying the story of his Death and Resurrection by retelling and explaining the Old Testament, “Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the Scriptures” (Luke 24:27).

Because the disciples still don’t fully comprehend, Jesus stays with them and feeds them, “And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them” (Luke 24:30). It seems that Jesus has not only fed them physically, but also spiritually. By eating the bread of Christ himself, the disciples eyes and hearts are opened. It is then that they recognize him and understand the story of the old testament and Christ’s death and resurrection, “With that their eyes were opened, and they recognized him…” (Luke 24:31). Once they recognize Jesus, they return to the place of grace, “So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem…” (Luke 24:33).

Why is this so hopeful? It's hopeful because the disciples are you and me. It is through this story that Jesus shows that no matter where we are, no matter how far from grace we may wander, he will never leave us. In fact, he will be walking along with us. He will listen to us. He will patiently show us who he is and he will feed us with everything we need to return to his place of grace. In all our faults, sins, and misunderstandings of him, he loves us and wants to draw us close to him. He wants us to know and see him for who his is. He will do whatever it takes to help us grow close to him and his unfathomable love.