The two disciples on the road to Emmaus spent a lot of time with Jesus. Yet post-resurrection, even as Jesus talks with them and opens the scripture to them, they don’t recognize him. They meander on the road, headed away from Jerusalem and toward their home in the dusk of the day. They invite him to stay, evidently concerned for anyone who must travel the roads at night.
All of the walking, talking, scripture, and even very presence of Jesus himself doesn’t produce recognition in them.
I take a lot of comfort from that. If Jesus himself doesn’t spark recognition in them, how can I expect doctrine, worship, creeds, prayers, or scripture to produce anything in me, let alone faith in the one who remains unseen? I can be in worship every Sunday, attending every Bible study, devout and chaste, even leading the congregation, and still be without faith, even unfaithful.
Yet, if we stick with the story, we see Jesus stick with them. He stays in the encounter and breaks bread. Suddenly they recognize him and find themselves altered by the entire encounter, from beginning to end. Jesus vanishes, but it’s no matter to them. They sprint the distance back to Jerusalem to tell everyone they’ve seen the Lord. They run a 10K in the dark. Nothing matters but spreading the word, “He’s alive!”
Our scripture reading, study, worship, creeds, and prayers serve as our own walk from Jerusalem to Emmaus. We ponder what these things mean as they build in us the potential for recognizing the risen one. When he encounters us, we too are thrilled at the discovery that Jesus is not a flat, dead character on the page of some ancient book, but the risen Lord, alive and real. We recognize him on our own road, in the breaking of our own bread, and we too are never the same.
