Jesus turned their sadness into Joy!

Luke 24:13-35 

Two of the disciples of Jesus were on their way to a village called Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking together about all that had happened. Now as they talked this over, Jesus himself came up and walked by their side; but something prevented them from recognising him. He said to them, ‘What matters are you discussing as you walk along?’ They stopped short, their faces downcast. Then one of them, called Cleopas, answered him, ‘You must be the only person staying in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have been happening there these last few days.’ ‘What things?’ he asked. ‘All about Jesus of Nazareth’ they answered ‘who proved he was a great prophet by the things he said and did in the sight of God and of the whole people; and how our chief priests and our leaders handed him over to be sentenced to death, and had him crucified. Our own hope had been that he would be the one to set Israel free. And this is not all: two whole days have gone by since it all happened; and some women from our group have astounded us: they went to the tomb in the early morning, and when they did not find the body, they came back to tell us they had seen a vision of angels who declared he was alive. Some of our friends went to the tomb and found everything exactly as the women had reported, but of him they saw nothing.’ Then he said to them, ‘You foolish men! So slow to believe the full message of the prophets! Was it not ordained that the Christ should suffer and so enter into his glory?’ Then, starting with Moses and going through all the prophets, he explained to them the passages throughout the scriptures that were about himself. When they drew near to the village to which they were going, he made as if to go on; but they pressed him to stay with them. ‘It is nearly evening’ they said ‘and the day is almost over.’ So he went in to stay with them. Now while he was with them at table, he took the bread and said the blessing; then he broke it and handed it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognised him; but he had vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us as he talked to us on the road and explained the scriptures to us?’ They set out that instant and returned to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven assembled together with their companions, who said to them, ‘Yes, it is true. The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.’ Then they told their story of what had happened on the road and how they had recognised him at the breaking of bread.

Food for thought!

The Gospel of today is about change, from nonsense to sensible; from hopelessness to hopefulness. Jesus' death was a disaster in many ways; it disappointed everybody, including his close followers, the disciples. In this true story, they don't hide their frustration: "Our own hope had been that he would be the one to set Israel free." Their hopes were that Jesus was the man to lead them. But when they least expected, he vanished in a very shameful manner. Jesus disappointed his own. Before we go any further,  do you have anyone who might have disappointed you? Think of him as you read on.  

Notice how Jesus makes sense of things that are humanly senseless. The whole situation seemed to these two men to have no explanation, to be disappointingly absurd.. These men's hopes and dreams had been shattered. There was only regret. That is, until Jesus came and walked with them; he came and talked to them, and slowly but gradually the meaning of his suffering and death became clear and the darkness became light; it all became meaningful. With Jesus life is meaningful; he makes our nonsense become sensible; our meaninglessness become meaningful; our night become day; our sunset become dawn; he makes us see our problems and crises as opportunities; he makes life come out of death.

What Jesus did to the two disciples of Emmaus, he does to you and to me; he does to our life, our families, our communities. That is why you should never consider your life meaningless; with Jesus life is very meaningful. "Don't you see that these things in your life had to happen? Are you so thick- headed! So slow- hearted?" Let Jesus into your problem and your problem will cease to be a problem but a prospect. Try it. This means looking at your problem or looking at the person who disappointed you through the eyes of Jesus. Where Jesus is, there is hope and love and prospects. 

Jesus acted as if he were going on!

Did you notice that Jesus made as if he would have gone on? He would not force himself upon them; he awaited their invitation to come in. God gave to men the greatest and the most perilous gift in the world, the gift of free-will; we can use it to invite Christ to enter our lives or to allow him to pass on. When they did invite Jesus, he came as he says in the Book of Revelation: “I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20).

The disciples recognized Jesus when he broke the bread!

It was at an ordinary meal in an ordinary house, when an ordinary loaf was being divided, that these men recognized Jesus. It is not only at the communion table we can be with Christ; we can be with him at the dinner table too. He is not only the host in his Church; he is the guest in every home.

They didn't waste a minute. They were up and on their way back to Jerusalem!

See how these two men, when they received such great joy, hastened to share it. It was a seven miles journey back to Jerusalem, but they could not keep the good news to themselves. The Christian message is never fully ours until we have shared it with someone else. Learn to share your joy and your joy will share you. Share your pain and your pain will vanish; share your doubt and your doubt will go. They found the Eleven and their friends gathered together and told them their story too: "It's really happened! The Master has been raised up-- Simon saw him!"

When they reached Jerusalem, they found others who had already shared their experience. It is the glory of the Christian that he lives in a fellowship of people who have had the same experience as he has had. It has been said that true friendship begins only when people share a common memory and can say to each other, "Do you remember?" Our friends are those who share our memories, our experiences, our ups and downs. Jesus is our true friend. He comes to us even when we are on our way to Emmaus.