Acts 2:14a, 36–47; Psalm 116:10–17; I Peter 1:17–23; Luke 24:13–35
A sermon by The Rev. Gene Tucker, given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, IL; Sunday, April 6th, 2008
“Forming and feeding” is the phrase that comes to mind as I consider the resurrection appearance that we have before us today, the encounter on the road to Emmaus.
Today’s reading is a history of Jesus’ forming His body, that is, the Church, and it is a blueprint for the ways in which He will sustain that body down through the ages, with the Word of God and with the Sacraments (in this case, the Holy Communion).
Luke is the only one of the four Gospel writers to record this encounter, as Jesus joins Cleopas and the other (unnamed) disciple on their journey from Jerusalem to the town of Emmaus.[1] Luke’s account is rich with detail, and his recording of Jesus’ dialogue with the two disciples offers the preacher and the listener a biblical “gold mine” of interpretive possibilities.
But, let’s look at just one aspect of this encounter, the Body of Christ, that is, the Church, that Jesus now begins to form, and the way in which He will feed this body, the Church.
As I take this approach to today’s text, I have in mind one of my seminary professors’ conviction about Luke’s writing in general: Luke seems to have in mind a deep concern for the ways in which the Church will live out the Gospel, if it is to be in the world, carrying out Christ’s teachings and commands over a long period of time. Luke’s concern is for the “big picture”, time-wise.
So, here we go….
First, let’s put today’s encounter in context as we find it in chapter 24:
Scene I: The initial discovery of the empty tomb: (verses 1 – 12) Cleopas summarizes the discovery of the empty tomb (verses 21 – 24). Notable in Luke’s recounting is that there is no face-to-face encounter with Jesus recorded here. The women come, find the tomb empty, and it is there that they encounter two angels who begin the process of putting the events of Jesus’ death and the empty tomb into its larger context by reminded them of Jesus’ words, saying, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? Remember how He told you, while He was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise.”[2] The women then return to the 11 and the others, telling them that the tomb is empty.
Scene II: Jesus begins to form the community: (verses 13 – 35) The theme we encounter first with the words of the angels in verse six is picked up again, but with more detail, as Jesus begins to explain “beginning with Moses and all the prophets” how these events pertain to His identity and purpose. Jesus’ enlightening of the two disciples, and His becoming known to them “in the breaking of the bread” inspires them to return to the 11 disciples and the other gathered with them in Jerusalem with the first actual resurrection appearance as we find it in chapter 24. Once they do, they find out from the 11 and the others that the Lord had appeared to Simon (the actual appearance Luke does not narrate, though St. Paul mentions this special appearance in I Corinthians 15: 5).
Scene III: The 11 and the rest experience the risen Jesus: (verses 36 – 49) Now, Jesus comes into their very presence just as Cleopas and the those gathered in Jerusalem are exchanging their stories. Again, the words that Jesus spoke to the two on the road to Emmaus are not only repeated, but expanded upon, “These are my words which I spoke to you, while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled.”[3] The various threads of experience that the women, the two on the road to Emmaus, Simon, and now everyone, all come together in this climactic scene.
And so, the community is formed….formed around the person and work of the Lord Jesus.
The community is formed around God’s great and eternal purposes for the redeeming of humankind. For that is surely the point of the threefold repetition of the purposes of Jesus’ death and resurrection,[4] to put securely in our minds the “big picture” of God’s eternal purposes, stretching back through time through the psalms and the prophets, all the way back to Moses and the giving of the Law.
The community is formed through the individual experiences of each member: the women, Cleopas and the unnamed disciple on the road to Emmaus, Simon, and then, everyone. Each one brings their encounter with the risen Jesus, as if to contribute their thread to the weaving of the fabric of the Church, each experience strengthening the others for the immense, long-range, work that is ahead, the work of spreading the great Good News[5] that Jesus has conquered the powers of sin and death for all time and for eternity.
One caveat must be stated here: each individual experience of the risen Jesus recorded in chapter 24 is not made up of “whole cloth”…..Each person who encountered the empty tomb or the risen Lord wasn’t merely spinning their own thread. On the contrary, the thread they contribute to the collective encounter and experience of the Lord Jesus is created as a direct result of their face-to-face encounters with the angels, and then with the risen Lord Himself. For the age in which we live, an age in which personal experience has taken such a prominent place in the creation of the Church’s collective awareness of God’s purposes and presence, is an age in which personal experience has departed – in some instances – from the witness of Scripture. Chapter 24 of Luke cautions us: if the personal experiences that individual members of the body of Christ relate deviate from the overall witness of Scripture, then those experiences can not constitute a faithful witness to the work of God in Christ Jesus.
We, the body of Christ, are formed around the person and work of Jesus Christ. That’s the clear message of the text we have before us today.
We, the body of Christ, and fed by the holy Word of God, the Bible, and by the breaking of the bread, that is, Christ’s body, as we encounter it in the Sacrament of Holy Communion.
And it is to the feeding of His body, the Church, that we now turn….
Jesus feeds His body in two ways:
With the Word of God: Notice how Luke tells us that He “interpreted to them…all the Scriptures concerning Himself”.[6] In essence, Jesus “breaks open” the word and shares it with them, much as He will do when they sit at table and the actual bread is broken and shared with them. The word came to life as Jesus opened the Scriptures to them, a sign (I think) that the written word become the living word, for Cleopas and his companion reflect back on Jesus’ teaching, saying, “Did not our hearts burn within us, while He talked with us on the road, while He opened to us the scriptures?”[7]
With the breaking of the bread: Luke is careful to tell us that it was in the breaking of the bread that Cleopas and the other disciple’s eyes were opened, so that they could recognize the Lord.
As we turn to reflect on our own day and time, the day and time in which the Lord Jesus has commissioned us to be His disciples (that is, those who follow Him) and His apostles (that is, those who are sent out into the world in His name), what application might we make from the events we read about in today’s Gospel?
The following thoughts come to mind:
- Jesus forms His body, the Church: Each of us brings our own thread to the fabric of the Church, and each is woven into the fabric, strengthening it and giving it the texture it requires in order to be effective in its service to the Lord.
Our individual experiences are founded in Holy Scripture, are guided by Reason, and are shaped by the Tradition of the Church down through the ages.[8] - Jesus feeds His body, the Church: We are nourished by God’s word, written, that is, the Bible. By God’s mercy and by His Holy Spirit, the written word becomes the living word. Holy Scripture informs and shapes our individual experiences of the risen Lord, and as our individual encounter with Christ is folded into the overall encounter with others in the body, then the Church becomes that place where the Lord uses each individual part of the body to feed and sustain other parts.
But the Word alone is not enough. Luke’s intent is clear: he wants us to know and to remember that it is in the breaking of the bread that the Lord become known to the two disciples at Emmaus. As it was for those two disciples, so it is for us, 21st century disciples: for it is in the breaking of the bread in the Sacrament of the Eucharist that we encounter the risen Christ in the Real Presence of the Eucharist. By His presence among us in this unique way, we are fed and sustained for the work God has given us to do.
One final note: notice the balance in the feeding and sustaining of the body of Christ in the two modes: Word and Sacrament.
One means does not stand on its own, both are required. At least that seems to be Luke’s message.
For the Church to be able to do its work, continual nourishment with God’s word and with God’s presence in the breaking of the bread is required.
The shape of our Sunday worship then is not at all coincidental….for we share in the breaking of the word, and then in the breaking of the bread. Each is offered, broken, and shared for the spiritual health of all present.
Thanks be to God!
AMEN.
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[1] Emmaus’ exact location is unknown. Three or four possible sites have been proposed for it, including the modern day town of Abu Ghosh. Pinpointing the location is made more difficult by the variations in the ancient texts we have of Luke’s Gospel account: some manuscripts say that Emmaus was about 60 stadia (a stadia equals about 600 feet), or seven miles, from Jerusalem, while other manuscripts say it was 160 stadia, or about 19 miles, from Jerusalem. Since Cleopas and the other disciple returned to Jerusalem immediately upon having encountered the risen Jesus (though it was late in the day), 60 stadia seems to be the more accurate distance.
[2] Verses 5 - 7
[3] Verse 44
[4] Notice that each repetition (first, the angels in verses 5 – 7, then Jesus in verses 25 – 27, and then Jesus again in verses 45 – 47) becomes more detailed.
[5] For that is what the word Gospel means, “good news”
[6] Verse 27
[7] Verse 32
[8] These three sources of authority: Scripture, Reason and Tradition, are the three traditional Anglican sources of authority, as they were articulated by Richard Hooker (1554 – 1600). Scripture stands as pre-eminent, and is supported by the other two sources. There is no “three-legged-stool”, in which all three sources stand as equal sources.
