LK 24: 13-35
(Laterally Luke…Easter 3…2017
(for MT 28:8-15a see: matthewinthemargins.blogspot.com.au)
The Road to Emmaus account is one of the most popular in the NT. But you & I can’t stay walking that same road & expect to meet the raised Jesus there. He’s long gone past. Today it’s a matter of meeting Him somewhere along our own ‘roads’. ‘Journeying’ has long been a religious theme. However, to make our journey come alive - that’s what Resurrection’s about, surely - we need to make it in our own space & time. Open to meeting up with the raised Jesus Christ in & among all kinds of people. Let’s try it like this:
A couple of Christians are driving to a little place called Emmaus, a few kilometres from wherever their Jerusalem happens to be. Talking about their faith & what’s happened to Jesus. But it’s hard to hear each other above the radio blaring! Up ahead, they spot a hitch-hiker. ‘Will we pick this guy up?’ they wonder. They decide to pick this chap up. After they’ve been driving a few minutes, the stranger says, “I’ve been looking at your faces in the rear mirror. You both look so down in the mouth. Is something wrong?” Cleo, the one whose car they’re in, says, “Louder. I can’t hear you!” “I asked why you two are looking so grim!” Cleo’s mate chimes in, “ Aren’t you from around here? Don’t you know what’s been going on these last few days?” “Do you mean about Trump, & Trumbull? About France, & North Korea & Syria?” their passenger asks. “No, we mean about our friend Jesus, the Prophet, & how our church leaders & politicians got together to get rid of Him!” “They killed Him not far from this very spot. But now, His body seems to have disappeared according to friends.” The stranger says loudly, above a Coke ad, “Turn that thing off, while I tell you what really happened, & why it had to happen.” By now they’re on the outskirts of their Emmaus, & Cleo & his mate spot a burger bar. They say to the stranger, “We’ll pull over here & have a burger. On us, of course! Tell us about it inside”. So they all get out & go in, & Cleo orders burgers & beers. They’re all pretty quiet while they're waiting, When their burgers & beer come, & Cleo & his mate are just about to bite into theirs, the stranger says grace, takes the top off his bun, breaks it, gives them each half of it, & promptly disappears Cleo & his mate look at each other, dumbfounded! How is it they hadn’t recognised Who This Was as He’s ridden with them! They race out to the car; hop in; hop out again, & go back & grab their burgers & beers they’d left.They hop back in again, & burn off back to their Jerusalem. Slam the brakes on outside the house where they’re sure the rest of their mob’s gathered! Knock & knock till someone peeps out, sees they’re friends, unbolts the door, & let’s them in. They’re still blurting out their story when Jesus Himself comes among them. Even when Jesus greets them with His Peace, they’re pretty uneasy, & scared…..
Where to from here? Depends on our own Jerusalems & Emmauses! Where we’re coming from & going to in life. But how about exploring all that like this? Discover for ourselves how & when & wherever the Raised Christ will bless us with Peace & Faith, & all the other gifts He has in store for us.
