Walk to Emmaus... Broken, Blessed, and Sent

After the resurrection, Jesus appeared for the first time in the gospel of Luke to two new-to-us disciples as they return home to Emmaus. They are understandably devastated at Jesus' crucifixion, but Jesus meets them in their brokenness. He blesses them in their joy they rush to spread the good news. How does Jesus meet us in our brokenness? How does Jesus reveal himself to us? How do we experience relationship with Jesus? How does Jesus inspire us to go out and share the good news? Join us in this week's conversation on the story of the walk to Emmaus. 

Luke 24:13-35

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Scripture quotations from the COMMON ENGLISH BIBLE. © Copyright 2011 COMMON ENGLISH BIBLE. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Welcome back to another episode of Facets of Faith. We are back with another post-resurrection story, this time from the Gospel of Luke. It is the famous story of two disciples walking to Emmaus and Jesus showing up, surprising them, and inviting them into relationship. In this conversation, we dive into what it must have been like to be those disciples, to be brokenhearted, and for Jesus to step into that vulnerability, to bless them, and to then send them into the world to proclaim the good news.

SPEAKER_01 0:39

On that same day, two disciples were traveling to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking to each other about everything that had happened. While they were discussing these things, Jesus himself arrived and joined them on their journey. They were prevented from recognizing him. He said to them, What are you talking about as you walk along? They stopped, their faces downcast. The one named Clopas replied, Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who is unaware of the things that have taken place there over the last few days? He said to them, What things? They said to him, The things about Jesus of Nazareth, because of his powerful deeds and words, he was recognized by God and all the people as a prophet. But our chief priests and our leaders handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him. We had hoped he was the one who would redeem Israel. All these things happened three days ago, but there's more. Some women from our group have left us stunned. They went to the tomb early this morning and didn't find his body. They came to us saying that they had even seen a vision of angels who told them he is alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found things just as the women said. They didn't see him. Then Jesus said to them, You foolish people, your dull minds kept you from believing all that the prophets talked about. Wasn't it necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and then enter into his glory? Then he interpreted for them the things written about himself in all the scriptures, starting with Moses and going through all the prophets. When they came to Emmaus, he acted as if he was going on ahead. But they urged him, saying, Stay with us, it's nearly evening, and the day is almost over. So he went in and stayed with them. After he took his seat at the table with them, he took the bread, blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them. Their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, but he disappeared from their sight. They said to each other, Weren't our hearts on fire when he spoke to us along the road and when he explained the scriptures for us? They got up right then and returned to Jerusalem. They found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying to each other, The Lord really has risen. He appeared to Simon. Then the two disciples described what had happened along the road and how Jesus was made known to them as he broke the bread.

SPEAKER_00 3:19

Thank you. So as I mentioned in the beginning here, it says, I think it started off with that same day or something along those lines. So in case you didn't quite catch it, that same day is the same day of resurrection. So we are jumping gospels a little bit here. Last week we were in John. Next week we're back in John. This week we're in Luke. So and we haven't been in Luke, I think, at all since we started this podcast. But for Luke, the 24th chapter is where we get the resurrection. The women go to the tomb, they find it empty. Peter goes to confirm the facts, sees it's also empty, and then kind of we have a cut scene here where we're all of a sudden on this road to Emmaus. We don't really know where Emmaus is. We don't know who Cleopus is. This is the only time Cleopus shows up, but this is the first post-resurrection appearance Jesus has in the Gospel of Luke. This one, this story shows up in our lectionary readings, I think two of the three years. So I'm curious what you two have heard of this, where your questions are.

SPEAKER_01 4:41

Until he started with blessing the bread, breaking it, and then all of a sudden their eyes could see who he was.

SPEAKER_00 4:50

Yeah, that's definitely one of the points that is very common when it comes to preaching this text. Um, because there, I mean, there's so many ways you can take it. How often do we not recognize Jesus in our own midst and things like that? We talk or we wonder why they didn't recognize Jesus. Um, some people will talk about how there's not this intellectual aspect to encountering Jesus. There's this revelatory nature in the breaking of the bread, this experiential relationship experience that happens at the breaking of the bread, and so they need that moment to recognize Jesus. Some people will just go on and say they are too deep in their grief or too distracted by their conversations because when it talks about they were talking and discussing what had happened, when you go to the Greek in there, it's actually very um emotional, it's very intense the way that they're talking. So this isn't just like amicably, you know, la-di-dad-di-da. Did you hear about what happened to Jesus? Yeah, that was really terrible. Um they are in a heated conversation, and so maybe the emotionality of that distracted them. But yeah, the fact that they didn't recognize Jesus is always a rich detail for interpretation and discussion. I wonder though, if sometimes the fact that he shows up to these guys or these people, we don't know. The um the other disciple might be a woman, we don't, we don't know. Um, but the fact that Jesus shows up to these two on their way to Emmaus might be related to the fact that they were returning home, presumably, like they had been in Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover, they witnessed the death, they waited through the Sabbath, and then they were returning home. And when they were returning home, it was as if nothing had changed in their lives. And so Jesus appears to them to make it known and plain to them that all of a sudden nothing was the same anymore. And things had changed, and therefore they were changed too. Um, so kind of like a quick before you go, I got something for you commentary.

SPEAKER_02 7:06

How would you like to just walk along for a couple hours and listen to Jesus talk about Moses and Elijah and like all of it and break it down? That'd be great.

SPEAKER_01 7:16

And they must have sensed something because they they asked afterwards after he's left, weren't our hearts burning? You know, so he he must have kindled something in their hearts and they must have recognized, wait a minute, this this is truly the rabbi. This is Rabboni here.

SPEAKER_00 7:32

Yeah. So I always find it interesting because it is neat. I think, well, I go back and forth between wondering if I would be totally engrossed by Jesus explaining all of Scripture for several hours while I'm walking, or if my mind would just like turn to mush and I'd get glassy-eyed and be like, whatever you say, sure. Um, but as they're walking along, as they're in basically this deep, deep Bible study, faith doesn't come through the intellectualization. Faith doesn't come through the Bible study, faith comes through the experience and the relationship. Um, we need the Bible study, we need to dive deep, and we need to have kind of that moment of all the pieces and parts coming together and seeing how it all culminates in Christ and all this good stuff, but at the same point, faith and our connection to God can't be just intellectual. We need to have that experience, that sacramental quality to it of Word of God and presence of God coming together.

SPEAKER_02 8:37

Yeah, it's both. Yeah. I mean, they're not talking about the pirates, they're talking like they're not talking about current events, if you will. They're talking about Jesus is talking, well. They are talking about current events. Yeah, but Jesus is talking is interpreting strip scripture. There's there's a personal relationship and then a conversation about the the word. Right. So yeah, it's kind of it that that is kind of cool. I don't think my eyes would be glossed. I'd I think I'd be I'd ask a bunch of questions.

SPEAKER_00 9:10

Well, but don't forget, they didn't know it was Jesus. So here's this guy who is totally oblivious to the fact that all of Jerusalem was in an uproar a couple days ago. Like, has he been under a rock and now he's just gonna keep blabbing at you for several hours as you're walking along a road? You want to talk about the current events, and he's talking about Moses. I don't know, I wonder if they got a little frustrated with him at times.

SPEAKER_01 9:33

Yeah, as you as you were saying it, I was thinking to myself, if I had been one of them, it's like, we just told you what just happened, and now you want to talk about all this past stuff, you know. But obviously it it it stirred something in them.

SPEAKER_00 9:48

Oh, absolutely. I think there was some some quality of that conversation that had them wanting to listen and pay attention. Because when they got to Emmaus and Jesus goes to keep on walking, which I think is always a little funny, like, okay, but he goes to keep on walking and they're like, wait, wait, wait, stay. And they're they offer hospitality, they offer to host him. Of course, once they get to the table, the tables are turned, not to there's a good one. No pun intended. Um, but Jesus becomes the host at the meal after they sit down or after they recline at the table.

SPEAKER_01 10:22

I think of today's world, what it would be like if we had that personal relationship with Jesus, you know, even if we didn't know it was him. If he had come to us now and said, you know, hey, do you remember when? You know, and then he goes through with this whole litany of things describing what was happening or what was going to happen. And we we kind of go, Who is this guy? And then all of a sudden, we get hit over the head with it.

SPEAKER_02 10:53

I think it would be really different. I think we would be kind of completely different. Well, I don't want to say completely different. Oh, absolutely we would. I would. I would be, yeah, but I think you would be just more of the good and like less of the bad, if that makes sense. Like you wouldn't be completely different. Your the the light, and by you, I'm using that in the plural sense, right? Right. Your light would shine brighter, and your the the darkness in you would almost be extinguished, right? Because you're like literally in the presence of God, like Christ. You know, that that would be and then the world would be better.

SPEAKER_01 11:38

Well, to take to take it a step further, as we believe that the bread and wine consecrated is the body and blood of Christ. We are now in the presence of Christ, but we also recognize Christ in each other. So why wouldn't that change us just as much? We're hearing the gospel, we're hearing the word of God every week, and we're we're taking Jesus into our bodies through the bread and wine, you know, as the consecrated body and blood of Christ. That should be as much as what those guys felt at Emmaus.

SPEAKER_02 12:14

Well, that gets back to what I I want to agree with you, but I think it gets back to what Pastor said that it's intellectual. It's faithful, but it's into but it's it comes from our minds. Right? Like the not our not our faith, but like the those those words and those sentiments come from the intellectual um thought process of how our minds work. Yes, I know that when I receive Holy Communion, it's the presence of my Lord and Savior, and at the risk of heirsay, but Jesus personally is not sitting here next to me like he was at the Last Supper with the with that group of followers. It's the same but different. And I I can't explain it any different than that. It would be different.

SPEAKER_01 13:12

Yeah, yeah, I I see that, but I think there is an intellectual and then also a physical part of it too, because yes, we hear the word of God proclaimed and and preached, and as we believe that this is the body and blood of Christ, we take that in, then we should have that same feeling if we if we truly recognize that as the presence of Christ, and as we consume that, that should be enough to change us all.

SPEAKER_02 13:41

Well, there are moments like there are moments I f maybe it's just harder, and that's maybe what I'm trying to get at, is it's it's harder to recognize that. Yeah, there are times, like during a service, where there's moments, snippets. Pastor will say something in a sermon, or uh a particular part of the liturgy or song will hit me in a in a specific way, and you can I you know like I can feel the I can feel the presence, right? And it is like, oh, okay, yeah, you have God's here. And then it goes, fades, yeah, like it fades. And I'm okay, like we're still like we're still here, and I know, again, intellectually, yeah, it disappears. There you go. It like Jesus comes and he disappears. Why does he gotta do that? Like just hang out, just stay with us.

SPEAKER_00 14:30

Help us. I I'm just loving this so very much. Um, partially because this is actually mimicking a conversation I was having with a bunch of a room full of pastors about seven hours ago. Um we were all kind of struggling with the same thing of how often do we over-intellectualize worship? How often do we think of worship as something we do as opposed to something we experience? Because don't forget, once again, the gospel was not written to just recount the happenings, the gospels were written down so as to pass the faith along so as to invite other people to continue to experience the presence of God in Jesus Christ in these stories and in these happenings. Um, because in theory, like you said, David, in theory, we come to worship, we hear the word of God, we have the scriptures opened up to us through God's spirit moving in and through us. I'm not gonna say that I'm gonna open all scriptures to you, I'm not that bold. Um, but we have the scriptures that are opened up for us in our hearts. We experience the real presence of Jesus Christ, we break the bread, we have that experiential physical connection to everything that God is in that moment. What gets in the way of us experiencing worship in that way, in that transformative way, and what holds us into that intellectual nature of it? And then so then what stops us to from going out and running out saying, guess what we just experienced? Because I also always wonder the the two that leave Emmaus and run back to Jerusalem, they what does it say? They they went back to the disciples or the eleven and they described what had happened. I wonder what they said. Yeah, and then what would we say? What should we be saying if we were to walk out of worship, having felt like we encountered God in the way that worship is intended to help us encounter God? So I realize that's like five questions all in one. The question of um what stops us from experiencing worship, what limits us with intellectualizing worship, and then also what would it look like for us to be transformed by the worship experience, by the experience of encountering Jesus in word and in bread. We're called to go out and to proclaim the good news. And it doesn't mean that we say you have to believe in Jesus. That's not what Cleopas and the other disciple did. They went back and they said, This is what happened to us. We don't go out and say this is what happened to me. We I mean, I'm not saying we should not go out and say you must believe in Jesus. But we are called to say, I have experienced God in word and in bread, and it transformed my life, and I want to tell you about it. What stops us from doing that? I I think it's a fear. Um I don't know that it's a fear of offending, but it's a fear of being rejected, maybe. Uh it's a fear of um almost a fear of joy. To be passionate about things involves a level of risk and a level of vulnerability. And if we we are passionate in a way that turns to anger, that's less risky because that holds the other at arm's length. But if we are passionate in a way that is about joy and celebration and excitement, you are opening yourself to someone tearing you down. And I think we have such a cynical society that we don't want to go out and say, I have seen the Lord, because if you let that joy, that celebration, that abandonment of uh of restrictions out there, then you run the risk of people knocking you down, making fun of you, saying, Are you nuts? Um, because that's what happened to, I think I don't think it's might, I think it's a different gospel, but that's what happened to the women. The women came back and they said, We know that Jesus is risen. And they're like, You're telling tales, ladies. Um So I think that we just it's a very natural fear, but I think it's a fear of it's the risk of joy, it's the risk of passion. So I don't want to just throw this problem out there and leave everyone hanging. So I want to offer a thought for a way that we can dip our toes into the waters of coming out of the worship experience and sharing what we have, what has happened to us and through us and in us in that worship experience. Um because I I mean I'm a pastor, right? Like I should be the most bold proclaimer out there, right? But I also struggle with talking to people and I don't want to be pushy and all this kind of stuff. But I've started just putting in a few extra words to sentences, um, and it's because of my faith. And so it'll be things when people talk about um why do you do this or or what are you doing or whatever? It's because of my faith, I bought some um fruity pebbles to go in the food pantry because I know that a girl loves them. Because of my faith, I choose to go to Bible study because of my faith. And when I put those couple of words in, for me, it's my way of practicing just a little bit of speaking to the transformational nature that faith has in me without it becoming I need to sit here and expound upon all of scripture to you and sit you down for an hour-long lecture about how important faith is to me. But it creates an open door, I think, just a little bit. Um, or when I'm checking out at the grocery store and I'm buying food for something, or they look at me because it's a really weird combination of items for messy church or whatever, I say, I'm I'm a pastor and this is for church, and these are the things that help the kids connect to the gospel. Um, so just having those little one or two sentence add-ons, I think, is a great way for us to start to practice um what it's like to be explicit about the transformational quality we experience in worship. I don't know what do you think?

SPEAKER_02 21:06

So let me take that another step and say that I have I've done I've done that at work to a very small degree, like in my professional life. Um and I am a very different person at the church versus the person that I am at work. I mean I'm the same person, but I do like I'm very rigid at work. The point behind that is the few times that I've allowed, you know, because of my faith type air quotes for those online, the few times that I've allowed my faith to escape, it actually returns to me. So like I I've made some just again very random once a quarter type comments to various people. And then four or five months will pass, and I've had people come to me and say, I know that. I I know that you're a you're a believer and and you go to church and stuff. Can you say a prayer for would you mind saying a prayer on Sunday for somebody, right? I have a very specific individual in mind. Um and that comes that comes back. I'm not a preachy person at work. I'm a taskmaster at work. But I let a little bit of it out, and it's recognized, and then it's returned, and and then it's then it's impactful. I know that the little bit that I've let out has obviously impacted individuals.

SPEAKER_00 22:29

Well, and to pull all of this back to this walk to Emmaus, um, Cleopas and the friend, my poor friend, um they are broken and they are vulnerable and they are raw because they watched the person, as it said, that they had hoped. Their hopes were dashed. They had hoped that Jesus would be the person who would redeem, who would bring everything back to the way it was supposed to be. They had hoped. Past tense, completed past tense. And the hope is gone, they are broken. And that's where Jesus met them. Jesus meets them in their brokenness, blesses them, and in that blessing, in that feeding of body and soul, which hopefully we receive in worship, they are emboldened to go out and proclaim the good news, having gone through all of that with Jesus. And so maybe when we come to worship, when we come to experience the good news in word and in sacrament, in word and in bread, when we bring our vulnerabilities and our brokenness into worship, we let God do what God does in the brokenness and create new life and new hope. Maybe each week we can take something from that and go out into the week so that we can say, because of my faith, because of my relationship to God, because of my experience in worship, I can or I do or I will, and then just having those few extra words and an engagement throughout the week. And that's a way that we can take the good news, like they did in here, from Emmaus back to Jerusalem and celebrate and let that joy be known. There are some interpreters out there that will look at the fact that it says Cleopus and another disciple. And there is some there is some thought that by leaving the second disciple unnamed, it gives room for the listener, the reader to put themselves there. And how are we living in our brokenness? How is Jesus meeting us in our brokenness and blessing us such that we are emboldened, invigorated, and inspired to go and share the good news. Thank you so much for joining us in this conversation. As always, we would love to hear your thoughts, your own questions, and your responses to this text and this conversation. So feel free to drop us a review, feel free to drop us a comment, and let us know how this conversation has inspired you to go and proclaim the good news in your own life, or maybe what questions it has brought up in your own life. And with that, let us pray. Oh God, your son makes himself known to all his disciples in the breaking of bread. Open our eyes to our faith that we may see him in his redeeming work, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.