There are specific stories or events recorded in the Evangelists’ account of the life of Jesus Christ that seem to have stronger attraction for us. Today’s Lucan gospel story is one of those stories. In the story of the Emmaeus Highway events there is a particular sentence that reflects both confusion and doubt. Luke has written these words spoken by an seemingly unknown fellow traveller to a Cleopas and another disciple of Jesus who were getting out of town, as it were: “Oh, how foolish you are and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared.”St. Mark made a similar observation in his gospel: “they (disciples) did not believe (that Jesus had risen).” St. Matthew wrote “they doubted.” Lastly, St. John wrote “they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.” These were the closest associates of Jesus. They had heard him make many references in his preaching about the long-awaited Messiah whose mission would be completed only by his dying and rising.
Their experiences raise the question: Do we, almost 2000 years after the event, do we take this Easter Sunday event for granted? To believe in the fullest degree means that I have to have in my mind and heart as understanding and acceptance of the whole story of what I mean when I say “I believe.”
On this Easter Sunday afternoon, you might ask yourself just what “he is risen” means for you. If the itinerant Galilean preacher was crucified and buried and that was the “end of the story,” perhaps we might not be here today. The life and messages of Jesus’ life would become simply a part of recorded near-East history. Perhaps we would not have an area of the world called “the Holy Land.”
If Jesus had not risen, imagine all that might never had happened. For me, first and foremost, I would wonder about the promises of forgiveness for my sins and a new life that he preached would be so much better than anything experienced in human life.
If this Jesus, the Messiah, had not risen, as the prophets said he would, could we ever believe that God, the Father, the Creator, had another kingdom, another place where my soul would be with him, where I would know the fullness of Jesus’ loving mercy.
Each time I read or hear read the Emmaeus story, my heart, my attention become focused. Like the two travelers in Luke’s gospel, my heart is set afire. I want to have the same experience they had. I want to know and feel what it means to believe “he is risen.” If I truly come to believe that Jesus is truly risen, as the two disappointed disciples did, then I will know that the journey we call the spiritual life is a genuine life in which I am coming to know the truth. The Divine will become the center of my life. I will be learning that the Spirit of God is so much greater, so much more exciting than my own human capacity. My “I believe” bring to me the experience of “the highest level of belonging to the Creator of the galaxies and bring a part of the human (and redeemed) race” (Nouwen, Home Tonight, p 43).
