During this season of Easter, we hear again the stories of the Resurrection appearances. Among my favourites is the compelling story of two disciples’ encounter with a stranger as they trudge the road to Emmaus.
Only a few days after the crucifixion, these disciples have likely heard the wild rumours about the empty tomb and the missing body of Jesus. They’re likely weary from all the tension grief, and drama of the past several days. They’ve left Jerusalem, the scene and source of much of their anxiety, and are heading down the dusty road to Emmaus, some seven miles away. Emmaus means “warm spring.” Maybe they were headed there to soothe their bodies and spirits in the healing pools.
As they walk and talk together, Jesus draws near and begins to accompany them, “but their eyes were kept from recognizing him.” Soon the three are deeply immersed in conversation and as the Stranger listens intently, they recount for him all that’s has happened, how their hopes were dashed, how disillusioned they are. He points out how slow they are to believe what they’ve been taught and goes on to interpret the scriptures for them. Yet still they do not realize just who it was speaking to them. In fact, it isn’t until they sit down to a meal together that their eyes were opened. And notice that they did not open their own eyes: “their eyes were opened for them.”
Their eyes are opened to the Story, one so much bigger than all the bewildering stories they’ve just recounted. It is while they share the evening meal that heir eyes – and their hearts, are opened to the wonder and grace of God in all creation. It is in that moment they become known and embraced by the Christ who listens, who himself is acquainted with grief, who accepts consoles their pain by a knowing, gentle love. The road, the conversation, the meal, the friends – even the Stranger – these were all ordinary made extra-ordinary through the grace of God.
This is precisely where Christ meets us “on the road”: where life is painful and seems most chaotic. For most of us, God’s grace doesn’t come in the sudden revelation or even while we are praying or reading scripture. God’s grace appears on the ferry to work, in the hall at school, as we lounge around the dinner table. God’s grace comes in plain and ordinary moments, in the commonplace struggles of life, in the middle of ordinary conversations, in the stuff we do everyday.
C.K. Chesterton wrote, “The world does not lack for wonders – only for a sense of wonder.”
“Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” Their sorrow blinded them, only to be restored in hindsight.
So then, think back: has your heart ever burned within you?
Take some time to look for God’s grace in your own life: in your loved ones, in your parish, in your neighbourhood – wherever you live and move and have your being. Look for God’s grace also in those people and places that are not a close-up part of your daily life. God’s grace is not just yours or mine. Despite evidence to the contrary, in personal battles or global ones, on all sides, God is present in the midst of it all. It becomes our prayer then that eyes may be opened . . . and hearts burn with love instead of hatred.
We’re all on that Emmaus road, trying to make sense of whatever troubles or confounds us. And whether we’re open or able to see or not, the Risen Christ walks beside us, loving us more than we can imagine, no matter who we are or what we’ve done. To encounter Jesus on the road and to see him in the ordinary minutia is to trust the One who breaks the bread will also mend the broken hearted. This is what it means practice resurrection, to live the life of wonder and of grace and of gratitude.
So, in your prayer ask Jesus to stay awhile. Tell the risen Christ all of the things that have happened, even those things you “had hoped” would be different. Even if there have been broken hearted days for you, ask him to stay with you. He knows the way – He is the Way.
Rev. Frances Drolet-Smith
Diocesan Representative, the Anglican Fellowship of Prayer
Photo by Thapanee Srisawat on Unsplash
“Lord Jesus, stay with us, for evening is at hand and the day is past; be our companion on the way, kindle our hearts, and awaken hope, that we may know you as you are revealed in scripture and the breaking of bread. Grant this for the sake of your love. Amen.”
Book of Common Prayer, Episcopal Church, p. 134)
