Luke 24:13-21,28-32
13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him. 17 He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?” They stood still, their faces downcast. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have
happened there in these days?”19 “What things?” he asked. “About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed
before God and all the people. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place.28 As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. 29 But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
Reflection
In Luke 10:1 Jesus sends seventy two disciples to go ahead of Him to spread the Gospel. The two men on the road to Emmaus are most likely part of these seventy-two. In our scripture today we see again disciples that are sad after Jesus’ death. They then encounter the risen Christ. But they do not realize it is Jesus until they sit and have a meal with Him. This is why the role of Communion in our faith is so important. We can see the work of God when we share a meal together and like the travelers on the road to Emmaus we can even encounter the risen Christ. What does communion mean to you? Does the story of the travelers on the road to Emmaus change or inform that view?
