In today’s Gospel we have the well-known story of Jesus’ appearance on the road to Emmaus. Luke tells us that the disciples came to recognize Jesus “in the breaking of the bread.” This phrase was the way the early church referred to the Eucharist or the mass. Two of the disciples, perhaps husband and wife, were returning to Emmaus from Jerusalem after the passion and death of Jesus. As they were walking along Jesus, unrecognized by them, walked along with them. They reported all that had taken place in Jerusalem:
“Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people…handed him over to a sentence of death and crucified him. But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel.” (Luke 24:19-21)
They were perplexed because they had heard reports of an empty tomb, but they still had not come to faith:
“…and besides all this, it is now the third day since this took place. Some women from our group, however, have astounded us: they were at the tomb early in the morning 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.” (Luke 24:21-23)
Faith comes by Jesus’ interpreting or “opening the Scripture” and “the breaking of the bread.”
“Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the scriptures.” (Luke 24:25-27)
These two disciples quickly return to Jerusalem to proclaim the resurrection and share their experience with the risen Lord:
“they…returned to Jerusalem where they found gathered together the eleven and those with them who were saying, “The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!” Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.” (Luke 24:33-34).
The Lord is also made known to us at the Eucharist, the “breaking of the bread.” As we take out own journey on the road to Emmaus, we hear the words of the Eucharistic Prayer that echo the words of today’s Gospel:
“You are indeed Holy and to be glorified, O God, who love the human race and who always walk with us on the journey of life.
Blessed indeed is your Son, present in our midst when we are gathered by his love, and when as once for the disciples, so now for us, he opens the Scriptures and breaks the bread.” (Eucharistic Prayer IV for Various Needs).
Image: “Home-baked Bread” by rdpeyton is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.