Heading says it all. And no I don’t think Jesus is actually a lich, but it got your attention didn’t it?
Luke 24:13-35; 1 Peter 1:17-23; Psalm 116:1-4,12-19; Acts 2:14a,36-41
Our gospel lesson today is one of my favorites. The women had just come back from the empty tomb and told the disciples that Jesus had risen, but except for Peter (and John, as we read in John’s gospel) no-one believed them. Peter on the other hand ran to the tomb, and looked in to see Jesus’ grave cloths sitting there but no body in sight. But even then, Peter wasn’t convinced, though he did go away wondering to himself what was going on.
Some time later that afternoon, two of Jesus’ disciples were walking away from Jerusalem headed toward Emmaus, which Luke tells us is around 7 miles from Jerusalem. As often happens when you walk with someone, they started talking: “Wow can you believe this week?” “I know right?! I saw Jesus die but now the women are saying he’s not in the tomb?” At some point in their conversation, Jesus walked up with them and asked “What have you guys been talking about?”
That question was enough to stop them in their tracks. “I thought everyone knew what was going on in Jerusalem? You must be the only one in town who doesn’t.” Jesus, who at this point is hiding his identity from them, then asks, “What happened?” So they tell him: “Well, there was a man from Nazareth, Jesus was his name. He was some kind of prophet, and he did all kinds of amazing things. But the chief priests and elders convinced Pilate to crucify him. We were all kinds of excited until then, because we thought he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. But now, three days later, some of our women have been saying he’s alive, just like he said he would be. We don’t know what to think.”
Jesus, still hiding himself from them, said, “You’re being foolish! Have you even read the Scriptures? They all say that the Messiah has to suffer and then be glorified.” And then the conversation that everyone wants to get in on: Starting with Genesis, Jesus explains everything in the Old Testament that pertained to him. Not only that, but he did it in a few hours.
When they got to Emmaus, Jesus’ travelling companions tried to convince him to stay with them, but he acted like he was going to keep going. After some insistence, Jesus stayed, and then when he broke bread, they recognized him for who he is, and then felt a little silly for not figuring it out earlier. The next day they got back to Jerusalem and said to the Eleven, “Guess what! We saw Jesus on the road!” and the Eleven told them, “We know! We’ve seen him too!”
Now what’s always kind of interesting to me, is not that they didn’t recognize Jesus, that’s actually talked about in Isaiah 53, but what’s interesting is what it was that led them to recognize Jesus: the breaking of bread. It wasn’t his teaching; it wasn’t his appearance. They recognized him at a meal.
Now there are a number of people out there who link this meal to something of which we are quite familiar: Holy Communion. Luke 24:30 reads, “When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and began to give it to them.” Luke 22:19, part of the account of the Passover meal at which Jesus instituted Holy Communion, reads, “And he took bread, gave thanks, and broke it, and gave it to them.” It can’t be a coincidence that those two passages use the same language.
Just as it was in the breaking of the bread that those two disciples recognized Jesus, we too recognize him when we will break bread later in the service. It’s not a midmorning snack. We don’t just celebrate Jesus’ death for our sins, though that is a part of it, we celebrate his rising as well. Remember on Easter, when I talked about how forgiveness of sins and eternal life in Christ is linked? Well, as we receive the body and blood of Christ in communion, in with and under the bread and wine, we also have our sins forgiven and can rejoice in eternal life with him.
When we break bread in Communion, it’s not just a symbol or a memorial. We really do meet Jesus in this meal. The bread IS Jesus’ body, broken for us, and the wine IS Jesus’ blood, shed for our sins. When we take part in this Sacrament, we see Jesus, risen and victorious. And we know for certain that he is risen <pause>, he is not dead, and we can praise God with the disciples as we celebrate it.