Jesus appears on the road to emmaus.

Today’s Gospel story is one of my most favorite Biblical accounts of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is the appearance of Jesus on the Road to Emmaus. I find this story very fascinating because it gives you an idea of the depth of understanding that the disciples of Jesus had. Remember almost all of them, except St. John the Beloved, deserted Jesus when he was crucified. But now that his prophesy that he would rise up on the third day was starting to unravel, they were awestruck by this event. You can read it in Luke 24: 13-35.

‘That very day, [the first day of the week,] two of [the disciples] were going to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus, 14 and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred. 15 And it happened that while they were conversing and debating, Jesus himself drew near and walked with them, 16 but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.

17 He asked them, “What are you discussing as you walk along?” They stopped, looking downcast. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know of the things that have taken place there in these days? 19 And he replied to them, “What sort of things?” They said to him, “The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over to a sentence of death and crucified him.

21 But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel; and besides all this, it is now the third day since this took place. 22 Some women from our group, however, have astounded us; they were at the tomb early in the morning 23 and did not find his body; they came back and reported that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who announced that he was alive. 24 Then some of those with us went to the tomb and found things just as the women had described, but him they did not see.”

25 And he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! 26 Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the scriptures. 28 As they approached the village to which they were going, he gave the impression that he was going on farther. 29 But they urged him, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.” So he went to stay with them.

30 And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. 31 With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight. 32 Then they said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning [within us] while he spoke to us on the way and opened the scriptures to us?” 33 So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem where they found gathered together the eleven and those with them 34 who were saying, “The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!” 35 They the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.”

It seems that the resurrected Christ came back to this world after three days inside the tomb, totally disappointed with his disciples because they did not learn anything that he had taught them in the last three years! Perhaps, I could be wrong, maybe it was just Cleopas and his companion who didn’t get it. This is why our frustrated Lord exclaimed, “Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke!” Then once more he gave them a litany of what was written about the Messiah from the time of Moses to the time of the prophets.

Most if not all of the disciples of Jesus were present in the many miracles that he did: From the miracle of the loaves, the cure of the man born blind and the raising of Lazarus from the dead. This is not to mention that our Lord Jesus always taught them especially about his role as a Messiah. Hence I can understand his frustration after his resurrection.

The story about the Road to Emmaus is especially important in the sense that most of us Catholics, especially those lukewarm Catholics were already bombarded by the gospel or scripture that they hear when they go to mass on Sundays. I know this first hand, because I was once like that, a nominal Catholic who did not know Scripture.

But in the Year of the Holy Spirit, I was called to serve the Lord as a lay person, then when I started reading the Bible again, I felt that I too could say exactly the words that Cleopas said to the other disciples “Were not our hearts burning [within us] while he spoke to us on the way and opened the scriptures to us?” Indeed, when you read the Bible, our Lord speaks to you.

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