Spring has arrived, and new life is all around us. Even though there may still be some cold days ahead, the sunlight, warmth and gentle breezes are already transforming our world. The grass is turning green, shoots are coming up from the ground and robins are hopping on our lawns. We longed for these things as we passed through the cold, dark winter.
In this hemisphere, we associate the Easter season with spring, new life, longer daylight hours and warming trends. These elements of spring are all very pleasing and help to lift our hearts, and, if we let them, can serve to remind us that Easter is a time to celebrate our new life in the risen Lord.
The Easter season is all about faith in Jesus, who moved from darkness to light, death to life, and struggle to glory. He teaches us to bear our crosses in life with our minds and hearts fixed on the resurrection and eternal life.
Our faith has been handed down to us from the Apostles, who followed Jesus, listened to his teaching, beheld his healing works, witnessed his death, Resurrection and Ascension, and received the gift of his Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Faith in Jesus, crucified and risen, is at the center of our lives as Christians.
In his book, “Is This All There Is? On Resurrection and Eternal Life,” the late theologian Gerhard Lohfink, writes about the appearances of the risen Lord and shares some significant insights on the Emmaus story from Luke’s Gospel: “The Easter narratives in the gospels…show that encounters with the Risen One were events completely unexpected by his disciples. They could understand the whole thing only as God’s act of deliverance done for Jesus. As God had so often acted in Israel, liberating the people from Egypt and again and again rescuing them from death, so now God had rescued Jesus.”
The story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus illustrates how an unexpected encounter with Jesus changed everything for them. It is a story of journey, illumination and discovery.
Within the Gospel of Luke, we encounter the theme of journey. Jesus reveals much to his disciples through his teachings on the long trip from Galilee to Jerusalem before his death. He reveals even more to the disciples on a journey from Jerusalem to Emmaus on the day of his Resurrection. On this journey, he reveals to them the meaning of his suffering, death and Resurrection.
Lohfink writes about the disciples of Jesus struggling with the reality of the Crucifixion of Jesus: “We may well suppose that they were all utterly appalled and profoundly disappointed, perplexed, and subject to resignation as they hesitantly began to return to normal life.”
Lohfink continues, “The Emmaus story probably reflects this mood very accurately, namely, in the conversations of the two disciples of Jesus whose hopes have been destroyed, who are sorrowing, baffled and simply going away.”
Theirs is a journey with heavy hearts, doubt, anxiety and disappointment. However, they encounter a stranger on the road who illuminates their hearts and minds. The stranger breaks open the Scriptures and gives them new insights into the meaning of the suffering and death of their master, a teaching which stirs the hearts of the disciples.
The disciples’ recognition of Jesus takes place in their interaction with him, showing him hospitality, sharing a warm place as night was falling and breaking bread with him. It is in these actions that their eyes are opened, and they discover that they are in the presence of the risen Lord.
Lohfink writes that this “encounter with him opens the disciples’ eyes and causes them to get up right away and return to Jerusalem, where they learn that “the Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” (Luke 24:34)
In our journey of life, we carry burdens, suffering, guilt, anger and disappointment. Much of life seems like a journey into nightfall. However, the Emmaus story and the Easter season illuminate the night. As Christians we are invited to allow the stories and traditions of salvation history to inform us and shape us. As we break bread with friends and strangers, we cannot help but wonder at the power of Christ’s presence, transforming us to be a people of hope — a resurrection people — with eyes opened and hearts on fire.
