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A Reflection for
Wednesday in the Octave of Easter
By Kevin Clarke
Link to todays reading below
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Then the two recounted what
had taken place on the way
and how he was made known
to them in the breaking of the bread. (Lk
24:35)
The days after the worrying
events outside the empty tomb must have been a time of confusion and deep
anxiety. The hopes of many of the disciples dashed at the crucifixion,
they only began to grasp how little they understood about this Messiah
they followed and the meaning of that miraculous Passover
celebration—their own expectations and ambitions thrown into a heap of
frustration and fear.
What kind of messiah was this?
What had become of the power he had demonstrated through the miracles he
worked? Where was his authority over life and death, surrendered so
passively on the cross?
Some thought they followed a
Messiah who would come into his reign in their time, a counterforce of
shock and awe that would end their humiliation and liberate them from
their oppressor. How could they accept this Messiah who meekly accepted
his fate?
These disciples on the road to
Emmaus loudly pondered the astounding events in Jerusalem. What did it
all mean?
Were they on the road to Emmaus
to abandon this rabbi and his teaching, to get back to their old lives,
casting aside everything they had seen and struggled to understand?
Starting down that road, they
did not yet perceive the radical message in the miraculous works and
mercy of Jesus. This reign would be ushered into power by revolutions
within the heart of each person, not struck into being at the end of a
sword.
We are all on a road to Emmaus,
following a path that is at points lonely or diverted by apprehension and
sorrow. Do we really see the people who travel with us? Do we recognize
the miracle of their humanity and a mystical connection that binds us
all?
In the simplest acts of
hospitality, at a table of fellowship, so much obscured by apprehension
and sorrow can be restored in empathy and affection. Jesus walks beside
us, waiting for an invitation to break bread and, in mercy and love, to
reveal himself.
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