13 Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, 16but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. 18Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” 19He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. 21But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. 22Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, 23and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. 24Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.” 25Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! 26Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” 27Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.
28As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. 29But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. 30When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. 32They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” 33That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. 34They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” 35Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.
The Lord is Risen! Maybe we don’t see it at first. We’re like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, blundering into the truth, so caught up in our experience of the events of Holy Week that we can’t even see the grace of God appearing before our eyes. When enough bad has happened, it’s hard to expect something good. It’s like Jesus has stumbled into our conversation and we’re not expecting him. Where have you been? Haven’t you seen the news—sickness everywhere, hospitals overrun, no end in sight? We don’t know what God will say to all of that; but maybe, as Jesus interpreted the horror of Holy Week to the disciples, something about his presence will make us say, “stay with us, for it is evening and the day is almost over.” In the quiet, after the busy day, in a hectic season, maybe then we’ll recognize God in the breaking of bread, something ordinary—that, even at the worst, God is coming to turn that brokenness into life.
Stay with us, Lord. The night of Lent is gone and the day of Easter has come. Renew us in hope that our remembrance of you will be celebration, that the past we recall will become the future you are calling into being, even now. We pray in the name of the Risen Lord. Amen.
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