As we read through this Gospel, we are still on that first Easter Day. It is now the evening; the sun has set. We began the day with the women going to the tomb to prepare the dead body of Jesus for burial, only to find the tomb open, the body gone and an angel telling them that Jesus us not dead. He is alive. They go back and tell the disciples what they had seen and the men say, "Women! They are so hysterical!" Peter goes out to see for himself and meets Jesus, the risen Lord — Peter is convinced! He comes back and tells the others, "Well, the women were right this time!"
Cleopas and his friend had decided to go back home and a stranger joined them on the road to their village of Emmaus. He talked to them a while and because it was the close of the day, they invited him in to dinner. As he said the blessing and broke the bread, their eyes were opened and they realized that the stranger was really Jesus — and then he was gone! Caiaphas and his companion headed back to Jerusalem and that is where we pick up the story.
Cleopas and his companion have returned to Jerusalem on the run. They find the eleven and the women in that locked upper room, probably the same room where they had shared the meal on Thursday night with the not yet crucified Jesus. When they arrive, they tell their excited story that Jesus was known to them in the breaking of the bread. The others say that Peter saw him too, so it must be true.
And then, Jesus is there — locked doors and all, he is there. We are told that when he appears to them, they are all terrified because they think they are seeing a ghost. They knew no one had opened the door. Even the women, Peter, Cleopas and his companion (who had already seen him that day) were terrified. Everybody is afraid until Jesus says, "You know,out in Emmaus, as soon as I broke the bread, I was gone and I am still hungry. Do you have anything to eat?" They had some broiled fish which he ate and then their faith was strengthened.
After that, Jesus explains to them, one more time, what he told them on the road from Galilee to Jerusalem. Very patiently and kindly, he explains to them that all of the law of Moses, the books of the prophets and the psalms, all pointed to his arrival, his death and his resurrection. He says to them, "Now you are to stay in Jerusalem and witness here first. You have seen all this so you are to witness to the resurrection here in Jerusalem." In the next sentence, which we did not read, he tells them to stay until they are filled with the Holy Spirit and then to go into the world.
Ever since, we Christians have sought to have our fears quieted, our faith strengthened and to see Jesus as he reveals himself to us in the breaking of the bread, even though, more often than not, when we come to the altar and receive the bread and the wine, we do not really believe that Jesus is going to appear to us in that meal. But Jesus does appear. He makes himself known in the breaking of the bread and in the fish around the meal table. Then he says to them, "Today, stay in Jerusalem."
We have this image of a holy city of Jerusalem as a place of refuge, and a place where you could be close to God. But remember what day this is, and remember these disciples are not at home. The disciples are not from Jerusalem. Jerusalem is not a home for them. It is not a safe place for them. They are in a locked room because they are afraid they are going to be arrested, and come sunrise Monday, they are going to be executed. They had come to Jerusalem, not to come home, they had come reluctantly to Jerusalem with Jesus for the Passover, and reluctantly to face what he was telling them would happen — that he would be handed over to the authorities for death. They abandoned him in his moment of need on Thursday night. They watched from behind rocks and trees and bushes as he was executed and snuck away into the darkening afternoon and twilight to hide from the soldiers and from the Sanhedrin and to weep, more than likely, with terrible grief at their cowardice.
On Sunday morning, Cleopas and his companion slipped out of the city and attempted to go back to Emmaus. Peter, James and John were already talking about going back to Galilee and picking up where they had left off as fishermen — back to the fishing industry. All the others gathered here today are lying low and plan to return to their various homes as soon as they can sneak out of the city without being caught. In the midst of that, Jesus comes to them in their moment of fright and fear and desire for their simple old life, and he says to them very clearly, "Disapproved! You can't go back. You have to stay and witness in the midst of this."
Over and over again, we, too, come to a moment of confident faith, perhaps in our adult baptism; perhaps when we baptize our children; perhaps when the bishop lays his hand on us at confirmation. Over and over again, we come to that moment of confident faith and that moment is quickly followed by questions and confrontations. We are always surprised at it, even though as soon as Jesus was baptized, he was driven into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan; but he came through it okay and pioneered the way for us.
When we see that ahead for us, when the questions and confrontations come to us, we want to settle down and fall into a routine and substitute discipleship by imagining that the city of God, the church and its rituals are our sources of strength and our measure of witness. Then Jesus walks into our moments of confident and easy Christianity and says quite clearly, "Disapproved!"
At its very best, this hour on Sunday morning, this time of the "apostles' teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread and the prayers" opens our eyes to the presence of Christ among us. At its very best, it calms our fears and equips us with the courage to resume our pilgrimage — even if it is not safe, even if it is not comfortable, even if it is not convenient.
So if you have to come to your own moment of faith, and then have returned to a former way of life where Jesus is absent, may this day be to you as it was to Cleopas and his companion; may your heart burn within you because Jesus is your companion. This day, may you be sent running back to the place, not of safety, but of pilgrimage back to a journey of finding and following and discipling. May Christ stand in our midst today and assure you and me and all the rest of us of his living presence with you and his promised gift of the Holy Spirit. May Jesus come into our midst today and give you both the will and the courage to continue the journey and to witness to his resurrection and to yours. AMEN
The Rev. Dr. Robert Certain
rgcertain@stmargarets.org
07 May 2000