In one of the most epic stories of the Bible in my opinion, Jesus hits the road to Emmaus and finds two of His disciples traveling along. What an incredible sequence of events that was to follow. Here is the risen Jesus Christ walking around town on the road, a highway of sorts if you will, and happens upon two followers.
Of course Jesus "happening" to find them is of no random coincidence. Here the risen savior is no doubt to reveal Himself in such a way that when He ascends to the Father in heaven His followers, the church, will be able to identify Him by. It starts off with the two men discussing the events of the past weekend and being in complete sadness over the loss of Jesus and confusion over reports of the empty tomb. One of them Cleopas, asks Jesus if He is the only person who has no clue what has gone on the past few days. Jesus biting to keep it going goes on to ask, "What things?" So after they explain to Him Jesus snaps into Son of God mode again by calling them out and revealing to them everything scripture says from Moses through all the prophets concerning Himself.
Then after literally schooling them He goes to walk off away from them but as was custom back in those days the two disciples invited Jesus to eat and stay with them over night. For it was the hospitable thing to do for travelers. And then the ultimate marker of the "Where is Jesus?" question took shape as Jesus sat down with them at their table breaking bread and giving thanks. Scripture says that immediately the two men recognized Him, and Jesus vanished.
So what do we have here for the church? What are the markings of Jesus in the church that we are to recognize Him by? Well for one, by His Word. "Did our hearts not burn within us while he talked on the road with us, while he opened to us the scriptures?" We recognize Jesus by the scriptures, by His Word, which points directly to Him. If we are to read scripture holistically then we are to realize that all of scripture points to Jesus Christ, the Messiah. Some parts of Christianity will try and interpret things differently or try to crack supposed hidden codes but it is very clear here on the road to Emmaus that all of scripture points directly to Jesus. The Word of God is Christ centered in its very nature. One cannot understand God's wrath, or the sacrificial systems, or the Law, or anything else without understanding it points to the promised savior, Jesus.
But the thing that got them to stop dead in their tracks and realize who this man was, was the very fact that Jesus broke break and gave thanks to God. The end of this narrative says that their eyes were opened to Him in the breaking of the bread. Well there we are, Sunday in and Sunday out breaking bread and taking eat and taking drink of the fruit of the vine. God gives us His means of grace in Word and Sacrament so that we may grow in faith and recognize Jesus' presence among us.
One of the interesting questions is why His disciples did not recognize Him in the first place. The same question can be asked of when Mary Magdalene sees Him and thinks He is the gardener. For one, God does not reward unbelief. These two men, Cleopas and the other guy, walking along the road obviously did not know what to think about the empty tomb and therefore did not believe in it. And through the Word burning them and the Sacrament in front of them they were able to receive faith in the risen Savior. Some also try and rationalize that the act of being resurrected altered Jesus' appearance. The incredible act and light of being raised from the dead in a new glorious incorruptible body could very well have changed Jesus' appearance. But the main point to take away from this story is that although Jesus would walk the earth for 40 days following His resurrection that His followers, His church, would need to recognize Him in some way.
We recognize Jesus and His presence among us through the Word and Sacrament, God's means of grace. Wouldn't it be something on our own roads in life to share this wonderful news with those we meet? There's a world full of hunger out there, constantly searching for answers and meaning in life. Well here is life's meaning right there for them. Share that love of God and how the church recognizes God's presence among them. And invite them to taste and see the wonderful things of God in His bride, the church.
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