This month we celebrate the great “three days” of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and the Easter Vigil (Holy Saturday). The liturgies of these days comprise one continuous celebration of the Lord’s Supper, Christ’s atoning death and his victory over sin and death in his resurrection. The fact that the liturgy is continuous, beginning with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, indicates that the mysteries we celebrate on each of these days must be seen as interrelated. They form the “Paschal Mystery.” Every liturgy is a celebration of the dying and rising of Christ, and the saving benefits of the Paschal Mystery are mediated to us through the sacraments.
As I continue my series on the Eucharist, I thought it appropriate to comment this month on a passage that brings together the Eucharist and the Paschal Mystery. Luke 24:13-35, the episode of two disciples of Jesus encountering the risen Lord on a journey from Jerusalem to Emmaus and recognizing him as they break bread with him, is an ideal passage for my purpose. I urge you at this point to open your Bible and read the story.
As the episode begins, we should not miss the time-setting Luke gives to the story, which is “that same day,” viz., the day on which some disciples find Jesus’ tomb empty, but do not fully comprehend the meaning of this fact. Episodes such as this one and the remaining ones in Luke 24 explain why the tomb is empty–the Lord is risen! The Emmaus story comes to a climax at a meal at which the two disciples and the risen Lord recline. As Jesus breaks bread with them, several truths concerning Jesus come to light.
1. A sense of hope for the disciples. The irony in the scene of the disciples conversing about the persecution and death of Jesus the great prophet in the presence of the risen Lord, of whom they are unaware, could not be more intense! The disciples are downcast because their hopes that Jesus would be the one to “redeem” Israel were dashed when he died. A key word in the Emmaus story is “to recognize” (Greek, epignōrizein, Luke 24:16, 31). The disciples’ recognition or lack thereof of the risen Lord has everything to do with their demeanor. It is not just a matter of recognizing Jesus the great prophet they had known, but recognizing that the Jesus they knew is now the risen Lord. When the disciples recognize the risen Lord, they regain the hope they had lost, but the object of their hope has changed. Their former hope that Jesus would redeem Israel probably reflects the common expectation of a military and priestly leader who would wrest the Jews from Roman dominance. Recognizing Jesus as the risen Lord means that he has redeemed not only Israel but all people by making forgiveness of sin possible (see 24:47). The recognition that leads to the disciples’ hope occurs as they witness him take, bless, break and give them bread, even as they might have seen him do in the feeding of the multitude (Luke 9:16). Recognizing the risen Lord’s victory as we partake of the Eucharist is a source of hope for all who receive it.
2. Verification that the Scriptures point to the events involving Jesus as being part of God’s continuous plan of salvation. Luke takes great pains, both in his Gospel and in the Acts of the Apostles to relate the events of Jesus’ life and the ministry of the church to Scripture. In the Emmaus story, this happens when Jesus addresses the disciples’ disappointment over his suffering and death. The risen Lord asserts that “it was necessary” (a favorite phrase of Luke) that the Messiah suffer these things (Luke 24:36, note the hint that the one they witnessed suffering is the Messiah!). While no Old Testament passage makes such a direct statement, passages such as Isaiah 52:13—53:12 (which depicts the Lord’s suffering servant) and Psalm 22 (which depicts the triumph of a righteous sufferer) would support Jesus’ assertion to Cleopas and his companion. This association of the Messiah’s suffering with the Scriptures will enable the disciples to view Jesus’ suffering in the context of a much larger picture which incorporates God’s progressive plan of salvation, a plan which envelopes the entire story of our Old Testament. Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection can be reliably accepted as events which have relevance to our lives, in part because they are not haphazard, isolated events, but happenings within a divine plan of salvation history.
3. The risen Lord is one and the same as Jesus of Nazareth the disciples knew in his public ministry and crucifixion. Not only is a connection made between Jesus the Messiah and the Old Testament, but between the current experience of the two Emmaus disciples and the story of Jesus of Nazareth. When the risen Lord begins to converse with the disciples they briefly summarize the public ministry of Jesus by mentioning not only his passion and death but also that he was “a prophet powerful in deed and word” (Luke 24:19). Another connection is made when the risen Lord “takes,” “blesses,” “breaks” and “gives” bread to the two disciples, even as he had done when he performed the messianic sign of feeding a multitude (Luke 9:16). Jesus’ resurrection gives powerful significance to his teaching, preaching and mighty deeds, and vice-versa. Our experience of the risen Lord in the Eucharist means that we can embrace his words and the meaning conveyed by his mighty deeds. Conversely, Jesus’ call to conversion and proclamation of God’s mercy in Luke’s story point to the significance of his death as atonement for sin and his resurrection as a confirmation of his victory over sin and death.
4. Revelation that Jesus has been raised. The most critical spiritual development which must happen for the disciples in Luke’s story and for any who would believe in Jesus thereafter is faith in his resurrection and in its significance for salvation. Some in the Scriptures have the advantage of experiencing an appearance of the risen Lord, but not all would-be followers do. The two Emmaus disciples come to resurrection faith when they witness the risen Lord taking the same actions with bread that Jesus the prophet had done when he performed the messianic sign of feeding a multitude. The Emmaus story suggests that all who participate in the Eucharist in any age find themselves reliably in the presence of the risen Lord, and thus resurrection-faith is possible in any age for anyone. For those who struggle with faith in Christ’s resurrection, perhaps due to the fact that the resurrection is an event which transcends time and history, the Emmaus story proclaims, “You can believe it!”
Reflection Questions
● How do you encounter the presence of the risen Lord when you receive the holy Eucharist?
● How is the holy Eucharist a source of hope for you?
● How does the holy Eucharist help to strengthen your faith in Jesus Christ and his message?