Meeting risen Christ

We notice this essential/accidental distinction in the sermon Luke creates for Peter to deliver on the first Pentecost (Acts 2: 14, 22-28). He begins with the accidentals: "Jesus was a man whom God sent to you with miracles, wonders and signs as His credentials." Then he shifts to the essentials: "God freed Him from death's bitter pangs...and raised Him up again, for it was impossible that death should keep its hold on Him."

The rest of the first reading is just a "Davidic" quote, reinforcing our indispensable belief in Jesus' resurrection.)

The unknown author of I Peter even goes so far as to root our faith in God in Jesus' resurrection (I Pt 1: 17-21). "It is through Him (Jesus) that you are believers in God, the God who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory." We can't imagine what kind of a God we'd be believing in today if Jesus weren't raised.

Risen Christ

Those evangelists who include encounters with the risen Jesus in their Gospels aren't just interested in showing He's still alive after His death; they're also very particular about the circumstances in which these faith-building meetings take place. They construct them to mirror the circumstances in which their readers encounter the risen Jesus in their lives. This is particularly true in Luke's account of the disciples on the road to Emmaus.

Notice how Luke carefully builds the narrative. Mr. and Mrs. Cleopas are in the process of doing the very thing Jesus commanded His disciples not to do: leaving Jerusalem. Jerusalem is where Jesus is, the place where Luke's post-resurrection appearances are to take place. That's why Jesus doesn't meet the two head on; He overtakes them from behind -- from Jerusalem.

For theological reasons, Luke has the two travelers concentrate their conversation on Jesus' death. And though they end their introductory remarks to Jesus about "some women from our group" who returned from an early morning visit to His tomb with a tale about "a vision of angels," they still haven't experienced Him alive.

That holds true even after Jesus interprets "for them every passage of Scripture which referred to Him."

Broken bread

At thing point, they remember their discussion along the road and realize why "our hearts were burning...as He talked to us...and explained the Scriptures to us." They immediately race back to Jerusalem and inform the others that "they had come to know Him in the breaking of bread."

Trained from childhood to focus on Jesus' presence in the bread and wine, we miss much of what Luke is trying to convey. The "breaking of bread" is a term the early Christian community applied to the entire Eucharist. As the bishops of Vatican II stressed, the risen Jesus is certainly present in the bread and wine, but He's also in the Scriptures which are proclaimed, and in the community which gathers to remember His dying and rising.

If our belief in Jesus' presence in the bread and wine helps us better understand His presence in the word and one another, we really will leave our celebrations with "burning hearts."

(04-11-02) [[In-content Ad]]